Posted Jan 13th 2008 9:19PM by Faye Anderson
Filed under: BlackSpin, Elections, Barack Obama, Hilliary Clinton
Now that the Democratic presidential campaign has moved beyond Iowa and New Hampshire, race moves to center stage. Indeed, the mainstream media narrative that Sen. Barack Obama "transcends" race is the real fairy tale.
More than 100 years ago, W.E. B. DuBois wrote that "the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line." The political sparring over whether Sen. Hillary Clinton made racially insensitive remarks about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shows that race remains a problem in the 21st century.
On "Meet the Press," Clinton complained that "the Obama campaign is deliberately distorting this." She added: "I think it is such an unfair and unwarranted attempt to misinterpret and mischaracterize what I've said."
Obama shot back: "Senator Clinton made an unfortunate remark, an ill-advised remark, about King and Lyndon Johnson. I didn't make the statement. I haven't remarked on it, and she, I think, offended some folks who felt that somehow diminished King's role in bringing about the Civil Rights Act. She is free to explain that, but the notion that somehow this is our doing is ludicrous."
It's ludicrous for Obama to think he can have it both ways. He hopes to stay above the racial fray at the same time his campaign plays the race card in South Carolina, where African Americans make up half of Democratic primary voters.
Obama must walk a fine line as he holds out to white Americans the promise of absolution for racial injustices. As Rutgers University historian David Greenberg recently wrote: "Ultimately, it [Obamamania] is a fantasy of easy redemption. America's racial history -- mixed into our culture at its foundation -- will be with us always, even as personal prejudice recedes and inequality is chipped away. For all we know, a President Obama might make the so-called underclass his top priority."
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário