This has been a frustrating week politically, and it has given me plenty to reflect on, especially with my work here. I won't go into all the details, but I have been working closely with the Black Student Association on my campus. Recently there has been a push by the group to change the name of Black History Month on campus and the name of their club because most white students (and some black students) are turned off by the focus on "blackness". In a school where there is already a small black minority, the group is dependent on it's ability to reach out to a white majority campus. While I understand this dilemma all to well, it saddens me deeply that we live in such a climate. I am confronting once again the fact that I am part of an institutional system that grants me privilege because I am white. At the same time, I commend these students for their passion and thei every dayr savvy. In order to "reach out" and survive every day, they must sacrifice part of their identity. I'm not sure some of them even realize this fully yet. We all do this to some extent when in a cross-cultural situation, but the problem of power is such that the sacrifice often falls disproportionately to the other. I'm daily humbled by this sacrifice and challenged to seek ways to give up my own power-based identity in response.
This all ties into our national conversation right now. Every day I think about the difficult terrain Barack Obama must navigate as a biracial candidate for President of the United States. I think about the death threats and assassination fears. I think about how he has had to navigate the lines between "whiteness" and "blackness" his entire life in a social system that wants to put him in one box or another according to convenience. I think about his wife and his children. I think about the incredible strain and political genius he must exercise every day as he seeks to authentically articulate who he is and at the same time reach out to a white majority country that desperately wants to forget his "blackness." I think he has done an incredible job.
An op-ed written in the New York Times by a Seattle native today says it clearly: the epic problem for Obama is "how to make history, without mentioning what's so historic about his candidacy." I think this quote from Ron Sims - King County Executive who ran for governor and lost - is also telling. "“He’s got to stay away from race." “He’s got to stay away from it. Race remains the one thing a black cannot talk about openly in a political campaign in this country.”
This fundamental problem is beyond politics. It's brought me to my knees.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
a civil right's lesson
Well, I was discouraged by the New Hampshire results last night. However, I was inspired once again by Obama’s concluding speech: his clear indictment of privilege and injustice in this country and his call for all of us to stand (and vote) for change.
This whole process seems to me an interesting test of prevailing narratives in our country. Already, people are talking about the reasons behind the discrepancy between pre-election polls and votes.
There were several statements made yesterday that I’m still pondering:
Gloria Steinem’s op-ed in the New York times yesterday titled “Women are Never Front Runners.” There were many things that outrage me about her argument; most strikingly, her dismissal of history. Like it or not, the uncomfortable truth is that race does matter in America. Contrary to Steinem’s argument, gender is not “the most restrictive force in American life” – except when it’s paired with race and socioeconomic status, but certainly not for white educated women like Steinem. Steinem tries to argue for gender over race saying black men have “ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women,” and she cites the fact that black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark the ballot. Excuse me? While black men may have been legally able to vote long before women, it would be another 100 years before they would gain (along with black women) full voting rights at a bloody cost. This statement is offensive. In addition, currently there are 16 women in the United States Senate. To put things in perspective: Barack Obama is the third African American to serve in the Senate since Reconstruction. I am a feminist, but I'm concerned by this posturing.
Furthermore, while I am not African-American, I find Bill Clinton’s disparaging comments about Barack Obama’s rise as a “fairy tale” disturbing. While perhaps unintentional, Hillary Clinton’s comments about Martin Luther King Jr in relation to false hope were equally patronizing and dangerous. "Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act,” Mrs. Clinton said when asked about Mr. Obama’s rejoinder by Fox’s Major Garrett after her speech in Dover. “It took a president to get it done.” Read about it here. Just what exactly is she implying? That the black dreamer needed a white man to actually get things done?
Finally, while not directly endorsed by the Clinton’s, this is perhaps the most insensitive insinuation:
"Today, in Dover, Francine Torge, a former John Edwards supporter, said this while introducing Mrs. Clinton: “Some people compare one of the other candidates to John F. Kennedy. But he was assassinated. And Lyndon Baines Johnson was the one who actually passed the civil rights legislation."
While I recognize that Obama cannot afford to get mired in a debate about racial politics, white people should be ashamed that comments like these have been made unchecked. I have nothing against the Clintons, rather I think all of the above reflects white privilege at work, and it's the elephant in this election that no one wants to name.
On a final note, I love reading the stories about Obama’s family in Kenya praying for him and crowded around the radio. Who could have predicted a relationship between our national election and a village in Kenya - it's such an inspiring visible reminder of our connection to the rest of the world. Let us remember to keep Kenya in our prayers.
This whole process seems to me an interesting test of prevailing narratives in our country. Already, people are talking about the reasons behind the discrepancy between pre-election polls and votes.
There were several statements made yesterday that I’m still pondering:
Gloria Steinem’s op-ed in the New York times yesterday titled “Women are Never Front Runners.” There were many things that outrage me about her argument; most strikingly, her dismissal of history. Like it or not, the uncomfortable truth is that race does matter in America. Contrary to Steinem’s argument, gender is not “the most restrictive force in American life” – except when it’s paired with race and socioeconomic status, but certainly not for white educated women like Steinem. Steinem tries to argue for gender over race saying black men have “ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women,” and she cites the fact that black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark the ballot. Excuse me? While black men may have been legally able to vote long before women, it would be another 100 years before they would gain (along with black women) full voting rights at a bloody cost. This statement is offensive. In addition, currently there are 16 women in the United States Senate. To put things in perspective: Barack Obama is the third African American to serve in the Senate since Reconstruction. I am a feminist, but I'm concerned by this posturing.
Furthermore, while I am not African-American, I find Bill Clinton’s disparaging comments about Barack Obama’s rise as a “fairy tale” disturbing. While perhaps unintentional, Hillary Clinton’s comments about Martin Luther King Jr in relation to false hope were equally patronizing and dangerous. "Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act,” Mrs. Clinton said when asked about Mr. Obama’s rejoinder by Fox’s Major Garrett after her speech in Dover. “It took a president to get it done.” Read about it here. Just what exactly is she implying? That the black dreamer needed a white man to actually get things done?
Finally, while not directly endorsed by the Clinton’s, this is perhaps the most insensitive insinuation:
"Today, in Dover, Francine Torge, a former John Edwards supporter, said this while introducing Mrs. Clinton: “Some people compare one of the other candidates to John F. Kennedy. But he was assassinated. And Lyndon Baines Johnson was the one who actually passed the civil rights legislation."
While I recognize that Obama cannot afford to get mired in a debate about racial politics, white people should be ashamed that comments like these have been made unchecked. I have nothing against the Clintons, rather I think all of the above reflects white privilege at work, and it's the elephant in this election that no one wants to name.
On a final note, I love reading the stories about Obama’s family in Kenya praying for him and crowded around the radio. Who could have predicted a relationship between our national election and a village in Kenya - it's such an inspiring visible reminder of our connection to the rest of the world. Let us remember to keep Kenya in our prayers.
Friday, January 4, 2008
hope - wow!
Well, the results of the Iowa primaries are in. Than and I watched all four hours of the primary coverage. My excitement grew as Obama surged ahead. By the time they called him the winner, I was ecstatic. No one who was watching last night could deny this historic moment – on both sides.
I didn’t intend to cry, but tears rolled down my face anyway when Obama gave his victory speech.
The media kept calling Huckabee and Obama insurgents. While I don’t especially like that term, the connotations of insurgent vs. the establishment does highlight the revolutionary nature of this primary. I’m proud of my generation for voting in Iowa. And I’m proud to see democracy and grassroots politics in action. And maybe most fundamental of all, I was proud to see an African-American man addressing our nation drawing from the deepest traditions of vision and change in our history and our world.
Than commented after Obama’s speech that his speech was unique in that it didn’t focus on him as an individual – what it focused on was a movement, a perspective, and a hope of a better world that we are all a part of and responsible for shaping.
Here’s what I noticed: in a single speech, Obama touched on poverty, genocide, terror, Africa, the civil right’s movement, the Iraq war, community activism, hope, unity, multiracial identity – as well as a whole host of other issues. Most of these themes were not even addressed by any of the other candidates, yet these themes are central to our present moment. And Obama gets that.
On to New Hampshire…
I didn’t intend to cry, but tears rolled down my face anyway when Obama gave his victory speech.
The media kept calling Huckabee and Obama insurgents. While I don’t especially like that term, the connotations of insurgent vs. the establishment does highlight the revolutionary nature of this primary. I’m proud of my generation for voting in Iowa. And I’m proud to see democracy and grassroots politics in action. And maybe most fundamental of all, I was proud to see an African-American man addressing our nation drawing from the deepest traditions of vision and change in our history and our world.
Than commented after Obama’s speech that his speech was unique in that it didn’t focus on him as an individual – what it focused on was a movement, a perspective, and a hope of a better world that we are all a part of and responsible for shaping.
Here’s what I noticed: in a single speech, Obama touched on poverty, genocide, terror, Africa, the civil right’s movement, the Iraq war, community activism, hope, unity, multiracial identity – as well as a whole host of other issues. Most of these themes were not even addressed by any of the other candidates, yet these themes are central to our present moment. And Obama gets that.
On to New Hampshire…
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)