[Vision2020] Barack Obama: Racism You Can Believe In

[Chasuk]

On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 06:06, No Weatherman <no.weatherman at gmail.com> wrote:

> "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he
> was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He
> happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up
> in the concept." — former Democratic Party nominee for VP Geraldine
> Ferraro
> http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/clinton-backer.html

I'm going to be honest, I don't perceive this as racism.  I know that
some would hold that racism is any distinction or decision made --
positive or negative -- based on taxonomy -- but I don't believe that
to be true.  Racism involves more; racism is making distinctions or
decisions based on the belief that taxonomy makes one inherently
superior or inferior.

Obama isn't better than me because he is black, nor is he worse.
However, he is arguably "better" than me, by some definitions and
measures.  I am voting for him because I believe he is "better" than
his opponents.  Does his race enter into it?  Unavoidably, yes.  But
not in the way that Ferraro impugns.

I didn't vote for Jesse Jackson.  I didn't vote for Al Sharpton.  I
wouldn't vote for Louis Farrakhan.  not because they are black, but
because they are otherwise unappealing.  But I do know people who
voted for Schwarzenegger and Reagan because of their celebrity.  Quite
a few old ladies have confessed to me that they voted for Kennedy
solely because he was handsome.  In that way, they were lucky to be
who they were, and it would be silly to criticize them for it, because
we aren't replacing human nature anytime soon.

> "Barack . . . he's talking down to black people . . . telling niggers
> how to behave." — civil rights activist Jesse Jackson
> http://www.chocolatecity.cc/blog/2008/07/17/jesse-jackson-barack-telling-niggers-how-to-behave/

I rather suspect that Jackson has a mouthful of sour grapes.

> Sen. Barack Obama's chief strategist conceded that the Democratic
> presidential candidate was referring to his race when he said
> Republicans were trying to scare voters by suggesting Obama "doesn't
> look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."
> http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=5495348&page=1

I don't understand the relevance of this.  Republicans try to scare
voters by subtly invoking race, and a Democratic acknowledges it.
What of it?

> If Sarah Palin visits Manhattan she would be "gang-raped by my big
> black brothers." — Obama supporter Sandra Bernhard
> http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/09/19/2008-09-19_sandra_bernhard_issues_gang_rape_warning-2.html

Sandra Bernhard is a comedienne, in the style of Sarah Silverman.  she
says shocking things for laughs.  You either find her funny or not
funny.  I don't even need to know the context to understand this.

> More than a third of all white Democrats and independents — voters
> Obama can't win the White House without — agreed with at least one
> negative adjective about blacks, according to the survey, and they are
> significantly less likely to vote for Obama than those who don't have
> such views.
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26803840

Some Democrats and some Independents are racists.

> The Republican National Committee's complaint about "foreign"
> contributions to Barack Obama's presidential campaign is a directed,
> political tactic designed to raise questions about Obama's foreignness
> and otherness.
> http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/discuss_1.php

the uneducated are frightened by "otherness."  The Republican National
Committee knows this and is taking advantage of it.

What are these citations supposed to demonstrate?