Part of the reason I was a silent Obama supporter was because I had an incling that this was not a fight he could win. The fight I am referring to is not the Democratic election but rather the Presidency itself. I have never been naive; and while I haven't been the target of racism and discrimination first hand, I know the country I've grown up in. And I know, no matter how great thou art, a black president there may never be.
What America needs IS change. But progress is a slow and often painful process. We are not so far removed from the days the Civil Rights Movement...change has yet to come full circle. So while I am grateful to be alive to witness the announcement of first black presidential nominee, I fear that this too shall pass. And John McCain will likely be our next president.
Am I'm just being pessimistic? Maybe. But you know that insecurity in the pit of your stomach when you sense something bad is going to happen?
Well that sense of doubt was only confirmed when I read this . The words a former Democratic voter set us back at least 50 years. "I'm not a Democrat anymore because the Democrats don't want me! And I don't want them! Democrats are throwing the elections away, for what? An inadequate black male?"
So it isn't pessimism. It is the reality that the country we live in can refer to someone as influential as Barack Obama as an inadequate black man. It is the knowledge that we have only taken a few steps in the walk toward equality...the journey is miles long.
2 comments:
This is exactly why this presidential election is so fascinating to me.
America is so redonkulous! I mean... racism has been thrown into spotlight in such a way that how can America refuse to take notice that prejudice is still a huge issue in this country??
And I say racism and not sexism because I am pretty confident that had Clinton (not Obama) won the Democratic Presidential Nominee race, Obama supporters would've displayed more willingess to turn their support to Clinton. Despite the fact that she is a woman and despite the fact that she is white.
Now, I'm not a Democratic per se... I like to refer to myself as an Independent. But these supposedly die-hard democrats who have once supported Clinton are now voting for McCain because she didn't win the nominee?
Let's be serious... Clinton and Obama have their share of differences but share much more similiar platforms than they do with McCain. The only reason I can see for Clinton supporters to NOT turn their support to Obama now is because they are afraid to vote for a Black Man! And it just truly disgusts me. (And I'm not referring to only white people... this goes for the black, brown, yellow, red, whatver who are not willing to vote for Obama, consciously or unconsciously, based on the color of his skin.)
Remember my group project back in the fall? How I talked about the presidential election being this major case study of the glass ceiling in America? For women? For minorities?
What I am hearing loud and clear from that article is that America is saying that, out of the underrepresented groups, if a (white) woman can't do it, then nobody can (qualified or not).
Me again... this post on Jack & Jill's blog sums up exactly what I mean about the Democratic nominees race and what Obama has symbolized (continues to symbloize) for Black America:
http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2008/06/how-obama-won-past-helps-present.html
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