I've been lurking since yesterday to see GCers' reactions.
This username will self-destruct after the post-election hoopla is over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scandia
And voting for Obama because he's black is just as wrong as voting for McCain because he's not black.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin
It's just as offensive to be against the man because of his race as it is to support him because of his race.
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At the surface level, sure.
Beneath the surface and taking a critical look, NO. There are different dynamics at play:
1. A large %, if not a majority, of people who voted for McCain would've done regardless because they are Repub. So the racial eptithets and hatred in those rallies and more subtly in some of the commercials were unncecessary political tactics if we're looking at people's political loyalties. But they were employed to spark fear and racial threat from McCain supporters and hopefully sway Independents, undecideds, and Democrats based on hatred, threat, and fear of the unknown (and not just the political unknown but racial and ethnic correlates of it). That's significant and should be rememberred when we try to act like racism and prejudice operate in the same manner for majority and minority racial and ethnic groups.
2. This is the first time a nonwhite man was a plausible candidate. So a bunch of people finally being excited by having a black man, or a woman, isn't hardly the same thing. It doesn't have the same potential impact on society as a bunch of people who are deadset on keeping white men in the White House. Different sentiments are expressed, one regarding hope and excitement for something different (even nonblacks laugh at the image of stuffy politicians as "white males in dark suits") and the other regarding a desire to keep the racial glass ceiling and a hypocritical interpretation of The Constitution and The American Dream.
3. A large %, if not a majority, of voters who voted for Obama would have voted for a Democrat, anyway. Repubs aside, many registered Independents also vote Democrat more often than not. Obama's skin color helped get new registered voters and encouraged some people to vote this time around---don't know the final stats on that so people can just theorize at this point--but a lot of these people would've voted Dem regardless if a white Dem had mobilized them the way that Obama's people did. His skin color made people more excited and was a good talking point. But it isn't uncommon for many people (read: not just black people) to religiously vote Democrat but not really know about the issues or to be able to explain their vote. This time they were simply able to say "he's black" as an additional seemingly superficial reason (that's not superficial at all given this KKKountry's history).
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I'm glad I was wrong about America being ready to elect a nonwhite POTUS. It couldn't happen with just the black and other minority vote. Whites were a large % of the vote. More work has to be done and we are nowhere near where we need to be as a nation. So I don't want people to assume that America is truly READY for a nonwhite POTUS. That remains to be seen. And structural racism and inequality did not disappear Tuesday evening so having a black POTUS does not make things better in society as a whole.
Of course, how well he will do remains to be seen. I just hope he will be given a fair chance that isn't based on his skin color and these "messiah-like" expectations. He's made a lot of promises but we should all know that the POTUS isn't in control as much as they claim that they are. He will have to do a lot that he doesn't want to do. And he won't be as honest and forthcoming as he is promising he'll be. He can't--the public can't and won't know everything.
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