Divides Obama Doesn’t Bridge
Froma Harrop says it very well.
I guess I’ve lived and worked in the black community long enough to recognize the sentiments expressed by Jeremiah Wright and to just shrug it off. I’ve heard it too many times, from so many otherwise normal-seeming people to just see it as regrettable but common. I was also deeply moved by Obama’s speech in response to it all. But to look at all the commentary, and the polls, and it appears that a lot of people just do not and will not understand.
Unlike some, I don’t see this destroying his candidacy or his party, but it’s turned some things pretty sour. I guess that was to be expected sooner or later for the once-too-perfect candidate.
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22 comments
You’re right about the “do not and will not understand” bit.
When I posted about it, I noted that some “may understand the experiences that could lead Wright to use such fiery anti-American rhetoric in his sermons” knowing full well that a lot of people would not and do not want to understand.
We’re still a nation in denial - to a large extent we’ve accepted the sins of our past but continue to be wilfully blind about how that past continues to shape the present and constrains all our futures.
It makes me sad rather than angry, but either way it doesn’t bode well either for Obama’s candidacy or for national reconciliation.
The way I see it, we’re two generations into a process that’ll take 3-4 generations to conclude. Some other time I’ll explain how I came to that, but basically blacks only truly became fully American in the mid 1960s and exhibit most of the same behavior patterns of immigrants who arrived around the same time. It takes time.
I remember seeing an in-depth biography of President Lyndon Johnson where they interviewed many of the people who worked for the President, and more than one noted that Johnson was deeply wounded at the race riots and other boiling anger that erupted from the black community AFTER he had signed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. Here they finally had what they wanted, in large part thanks to him and guys like Everett Dirksen, and the result was anger and riots and crime sprees and more. Or so it seemed. That’s not really so much the result as the boil finally being lanced. It’s painful but understandable.
Dean:
Politics isn’t about what you or others think “should” be, it’s about realities in the real world. And that’s why Obama has stumbled badly this past week.
I don’t have any desire to be seen as “sensitive” to black rage. I frankly find it utterly offensive, regardless of the supposed historical justification for it. To see it played up by a couple of privileged blacks who have led lives of obvious privilege is going to anger a lot of people who have just as much personal justification for THEIR grievances as angry blacks have for their own.
This isn’t going to destroy the Democrat party by any means, but it’s going to give Hillary a nice wedge to use to convince super delegates (most of whom are white) that Obama’s long association with Wright and his wife’s impolitic (literally) comments do not bode well for the very “reconciliation” that Obama claims to represent.
The problem Obama has is not that he is associated with such a race-baiting, seditionist, certified nut-case “reverend”. The problem Obama has is that he built his “bridge” to white America by pledging that he was just the opposite, but now it is clear that he has sat in a pew while his “mentor” spewed such hate and did nothing about it.
To many white folks (and I’m not in the least embarrassed to say that I am one of them) that smacks of exactly the sort of hypocritical political opportunism that Obama has claimed is antithetical to his purpose.
What this situation makes clear is that Obama has used racial divides to build his career in politics. He went to that church specifically to build his “street cred” with blacks so that his half-whiteness could be excused. He did it so that he could network with influential members of the Chicago black community. He did it for purely political purposes.
Which means that he put his CHILDREN in front of that spittle-flying racist anti-American nut-job for 20 years just so he could one day run for President. And now he is, and that very association is going to damage him.
And it absolutely and most appropriately should damage him.
What it means for the general election is unclear at this time. It’s far too late for Democrats to throw him over the side of the boat now, they are stuck with him for better or worse. What this has done is make Republican’s chances for keeping the White House go from a wild dream to a very real possibility.
CosmicConservative’s last blog post..On the road again?
Rev. Wright represents a major factor in the continuation of the problem. He is feeding racism with hatred rather than letting it end.
By taking his children to Rev. Wright to learn morality, Obama is showing that he is not willing to let racism end, either.
I don’t believe that anyone is required to understand, let alone accept, racism.
Also - if this level of invective is common to the Black community, something is dreadfully wrong with them. I’m under no obligation to heal it for them, nor to support anyone who accepts it.
Whether I feel like being understanding or healing or not doesn’t matter. This isn’t about how I relate to my next door neighboor who goes to such a church. This is about the Presidency and appointments to positions of power and policies. By willing to associate with these anti American For Whatever Reason types, Obama has now created doubt regarding his appointments and policies. Not acceptible for the highest office in the land. And not the right way to heal racial divides.
I wouldn’t be at all comfortable seeing our country led by a white man who had spent 20 years or so listening to weekly sermons by some kluxer or christian identity racist, all in the backwoods of northern Idaho.
And for that identical reason, I wouldn’t be any more comfortable with our country led by a black man who had spent some 20 years of his life listening to sermons by a black racist church preacher on Chicago’s south side.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
I said when this first broke that it would be difficult to gauge the impact precisely because people are uncomfortable telling pollsters that this sort of thing bothers them.
But they don’t mind expressing that sentiment in the voting booths.
Today Wright’s successor attempted to paint those who had objected to Wright’s comments as KKK members or as Romans crucifying Jesus.
Obama had better have his supporters and surrogates learn the first rule of holes. And fast.
CosmicConservative’s last blog post..Obama’s NEW pastor violates first rule of holes
We’re still a nation in denial - to a large extent we’ve accepted the sins of our past but continue to be wilfully blind about how that past continues to shape the present and constrains all our futures.
You say “nation,” but what you mean is white people, and in that context, I disagree. Whites have been acknowledging and accepting the sins of the past for years. They have expunged racism from the law. They’ve gone further and rewritten the law to impose racism against Whites into the law. They’ve poured billions of dollars into the Black community and continue to do so.
It’s no longer fair to say Whites are blind to the past, the present, or the future. There’s only so much they can do about the past, and they have done it — mostly without receiving credit. Fair enough. Having done what they can, Whites have mostly moved on.
Whites just don’t have the incentives to hate Blacks the way they used to, and by and large most don’t. People act in their own self interests, which means that White business owners, consumers, and employers are happy to do business with Blacks, because it improves their bottom line. There’s just no profit in racism anymore.
A large portion of Blacks have moved on also, for the same reasons. Their interests are also best served when they simply move on and work to improve their lives. That’s why we’re seeing the number of Black millionaires skyrocket, why we’re seeing Black CEOs in charge of large corporations, why the Black middle class is growing like crazy, and why Black home ownership is at an all time high.
On the other hand, there is a large group of Blacks who haven’t moved on. They see everything through the lens of racism. This is a choice they make, and there is little that Whites or other enlightened Blacks can do about it. They can’t heal those who wallow in racism, because they don’t want to be healed.
And it is these “wallowers” that, as you put it, are “wilfully (sic) blind about how that past continues to shape the present and constrains all our futures. They don’t see how they continue to poison themselves and hold themselves, and the country, down.
And they don’t want to see, because the truth is that they act on incentives too. They have learned that there is money and power in racism — whether it be people who sell it, like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, or people who buy it, like the congregants in these “black liberation theology” churches. By preying on White guilt, they keep a constant stream of money coming into their communities, going to programs which the years have shown us do not work. But it makes heroes of these Black leaders, and makes others, Black and White, feel like they are doing something to solve the problem and fight injustice.
They’ve even done a fine job of rigging this game they play, where they claim a “conversation” about racism is needed. But it’s not a real conversation. Someone like Jeremiah Wright can say anything he pleases and be excused for it and praised as a great Black leader. Meanwhile, Whites sit in silence because they will be called racist for any utterance in response. So, Whites shut up — allowing the “wallowers” to claim that Whites don’t want an open discussion — and Whites go back to living their lives.
One day, Obama gives a speech proclaiming that it’s time to have an open discussion about racism in America. The very next day, Obama and his staff squelch that conversation by saying it’s a distraction and we need to be talking about the “real” issues in this campaign. He isn’t interested in a conversation about race. He never was. He’s been campaigning for a year and never chose to broach subject — not until the world caught the stench of his preacher/mentor/father figure.
And the game continues…
Freeven’s last blog post..I need a new word
Dean wrote: “I guess I’ve lived and worked in the black community long enough to recognize the sentiments expressed by Jeremiah Wright and to just shrug it off.”
The soft bigotry of low expectations!!!
HankB
p.s. Courtesy of Tim Russert this morn, before Easter services, I had the pleasure/misfortune of actually seeing a video snippet of the revered Jedidiah Wright—the man is a wacko.
What Freeven said.
And both Blacks and Whites know it.
Which is why Chris Rock makes big $$ having fun with the absurdity of it.
@ Freeven:
“You say “nation,” but what you mean is white people”
No I meant “nation” - white people don’t have a monopoly on denial. Like you said:
“On the other hand, there is a large group of Blacks who haven’t moved on. They see everything through the lens of racism. This is a choice they make, and there is little that Whites or other enlightened Blacks can do about it. They can’t heal those who wallow in racism, because they don’t want to be healed.”
[…] CAN OBAMA BRIDGE THE DIVIDE AS HE HAS SUGGESTED? Dean Esmay has his doubts. […]
Barack Obama’s speech was moving in that he opened up about his relationship to Rev. Wright (also acknowledging white resentment was great). But it’s just small fry in the greater scheme of race relations. Time is racism’s ultimate enemy. And honestly, it’s the only “entity” capable of dealing with our lingering race issues. Frankly I don’t give a frog’s fat arse about black or white resentment. I care more about the state of our economy which puts many of us, black, white, red, yellow, green, and cyan at risk.
“I guess I’ve lived and worked in the black community long enough to recognize the sentiments expressed by Jeremiah Wright and to just shrug it off. ”
A few years ago, I was reading a magazine on health, directed at a black readership, in the doctor’s waiting room. There was an interview with former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders. She attributed the spread of HIV in black communities to “racism” - with no elaboration and with no other contributing factors mentioned. It was as if she felt that her pronouncement would be self-evident to the interviewer. Rather a narrow approach for a former Surgeon General, I thought.
I think that a lot of white Americans are just beginning to recognize how much many blacks continue to focus on racism. Dennis Prager noted that the reaction among blacks to the O.J. Simpson verdict would just about end white participation in the Civil Rights movement. I remember in our office a “walking on eggshells” atmosphere between blacks and whites after the verdict.
Since that time, I think that a lot of whites, myself included, have tended to “shrug off” - dismiss from mind - many statements by prominent blacks which deserved close questioning and clarification.
The cyan people control the banks and the military-industrial complex. Don’t deny it, you know it’s true.
Dean,
Right now, you’re looking pretty cyan to me.
As Mitch Hedberg said, “Fuck purple people!”
Elisha Feger’s last blog post..Update on the Met Opera Illnesses
I grew up with a lot of white racists. I forgive most of them and think people should get over a lot of that too.
Watch the movie “American History X” some time and maybe you’ll know where I’m coming from.
Money quote:
Uh, No, I sure as hell do not. There is not one black person in this country that is being held back by slavery or Jim Crow laws. That is a crock of shit and saying so every time it is stated as truth would do more to end racism in this country than all the eloquent Obama speeches rolled into one.
And sorry to say so, Dean, but you are a prime offender in this regard, laughing off the insane ramblings of people like Rev. Wright. He is a grade A first class asshat and unless people start pointing out just how big an asshat he really is, people are just going to keep on following him.
And, Dean, racists of one stripe do not displace or excuse racists of another stripe. I would also point out rather forcefully that one person’s racist tendencies do not equal a reverend with that kind of following preaching racist hatred week in and week out.
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