White Men's Souls
"There are racists in western Pennsylvania, as there are in most pockets of our country," N.Y. Times columnist Frank Rich writes in today's edition. "But despite the months-long drumbeat of punditry to the contrary, there are not and have never been enough racists in 2008 to flip this election. In the latest New York Times/CBS News and Pew national polls, Obama is now pulling even with McCain among white men, a feat accomplished by no Democratic presidential candidate in three decades, Bill Clinton included.
"Nor is America's remaining racism all that it once was, or that the McCain camp has been hoping for it to be. There are even 'racists for Obama,' as Politico labels the phenomenon: White Americans whose distrust of black people in general crumbles when they actually get to know specific black people, including a presidential candidate who extends a genuine helping hand in a time of national crisis.
"The original 'racist for Obama,' after all, was none other than Obama's own white, Kansas-raised grandmother, the gravely ill Madelyn Dunham, whom he visited in Hawaii on Friday. In 'Dreams From My Father,' Obama wrote of how shaken he was when he learned of her overwhelming fear of black men on the street. But he weighed that reality against his unshakeable love for her and hers for him, and he got past it.
"When Obama cited her in his speech on race last spring, the right immediately accused him of 'throwing his grandmother under the bus.' But Obama's critics were merely projecting their own racial hang-ups. He still loves his grandmother. He was merely speaking candidly and generously -- like an adult -- about the strange, complex and ever-changing racial dynamics of America. He hit a chord because many of us have had white relatives of our own like his, and we, too, see them in full and often love them anyway.
"Such human nuances are lost on conservative warriors of the Allen-McCain-Palin ilk. They see all Americans as only white or black, as either us or them. The dirty little secret of such divisive politicians has always been that their rage toward the Others is exceeded only by their cynical conviction that Real Americans are a benighted bunch of easily manipulated bigots. This seems to be the election year when voters in most of our myriad Americas are figuring that out."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 26, 2008 at 9:02 AM
comment #1
Gordie Lachance
says ...
Here's something that will never be discussed by anyone.
Human beings are biologically predisposed to hate and be prejudiced against one another. There is a slight chance that another million years of evolution could change that, but for us here and now, that's what people are.
Since it's no longer socially acceptable to direct that hatred towards another's religion, race, sex or ethnicity, we are all lining each up according to what political candidate we support or what color state we're from. Not only doesn't anyone seem to have a problem with this, it's encouraged. It's a national sport. Everything is politicized, from the movies and tv news networks we watch to the newspapers we read.
Don't get me wrong. Democracy is good. Intelligent political debate is good. But if we keep making entertainment out of fostering outright hatred for the opposing party, we're doomed.
Posted by Gordie Lachance
at October 26, 2008 9:27 AM
comment #2
Sabina E
says ...
Gordie, you are totally correct and I whole-heartedly agree with you.
I watch a 2002 Hindi (NOT Bollywood) film called "Mr and Mrs Iyer" about a Tamil Hindu woman's racism and prejudices against Muslims until she was forced to go on a bus journey with a Muslim companion. In the film there were riots and violence committed against Muslims and Hindus, which forced the Hindu woman to confront her own bigotry and then her hatred softened as she started to develop feelings for her Muslim companion.
It was so sad and disturbing. Racism and hatred exists everywhere.
Posted by Sabina E
at October 26, 2008 10:43 AM
comment #3
George Prager
says ...
Elisabeth Hasselbeck stumping for Sarah Palin today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSi9Tc46yFw
She may be the dumbest woman on the planet (sorry Josh Massey). Maybe they thought Palin would come off like Abe Lincoln after Hasselbeck's introduction. (She did).
Posted by George Prager
at October 26, 2008 11:53 AM
comment #4
D.Z.
says ...
"White Americans whose distrust of black people in general crumbles when they actually get to know specific black people, including a presidential candidate who extends a genuine helping hand in a time of national crisis."
I doubt they're less racist, just more willing to open up, given their lack of options. If Kennedy, Carter, or even Clinton were black, though, we might end up seeing different outcomes during their respective runs. I think what's really changed in recent years is not that bigotry is frowned upon, but that you can open up to others about these biases without being treated like a pariah. The reason Obama can be honest about his grandmother, for example, is that he doesn't tackle the problem in a preachy Jerry Springer sort of way.
I'm not saying that being prejudiced is now socially acceptable, but that the global community we've created works both ways. In other words, you do get exposed to unsavory types who might not care about your well-being. But in return, they might learn more about you than they would have during the McVeigh days. And, thanks to the internets, they can expand their information in the comfort of their own homes, without any of the social ostracism from other racists which might occur if they were watching tv or reading a newspaper and/or library book. So this helps them evolve from future skin-head terrorists to the next Archie Bunker, and maybe, if we're lucky, the 1970s George Wallace.
Posted by D.Z.
at October 26, 2008 2:56 PM
comment #5
azmoviegoer
says ...
I agree with what Mr Rich says and I pray to God that he is right when the final vote tallies come in and Obama wins by a landslide. So why am I so terrified that McCain/Pain (intentional sic) is going to find some diabolical, undetectable way to steal this election? And why is it that the reports of voting machine malfunctions only happen in districts that are pre-dominantly democratic? I have yet to hear of any problems in cities with large republican populations. What's to stop a mass engineering of voting machine problems in these same democratic districts between now and on election day. I know that I come off as completely irrational and paranoid ,but that is what watching my country being completely raped and pillaged over the last 8 years by Bush and his cronies has done to my psyche. Given his poll numbers, McCain seems awfully calm and serene about his chances of winning. What does he know that we don't?
Posted by azmoviegoer
at October 26, 2008 3:05 PM
comment #6
fran phelan
says ...
Obama did throw his white grandmother under a bus. He could have mentioned a white friend or even a black friend for that matter- but family is family and obviously he does not seem to have a clue about this.
I have to admit it's the one thing in his campaign that really pissed me off.
Posted by fran phelan
at October 26, 2008 9:08 PM
comment #7
jodyr
says ...
Human beings are biologically predisposed to hate and be prejudiced against one another.
Nonsense.
There is no biological imperative to hate. If territoriality was really a problem, there would be no human society. The idea of the "other" gets tagged with some fear, but the hate part is primarily cultural and much easier to change, as these last months bear witness to.
Posted by jodyr
at October 26, 2008 9:21 PM
comment #8
T. S. Idiot
says ...
"He hit a chord because many of us have had white relatives of our own like his." Frank's saying only white people are racists? Suggesting that all his readers are white? Being sloppy in the current Times tradition?
Posted by T. S. Idiot
at October 27, 2008 12:00 PM
comment #9
janee
says ...
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Posted by janee
at May 18, 2011 6:44 AM