One of my favorite columnists, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, recently wrote an article entitled “Obama Can't Talk About Race Even If He Wants To” and I quickly began to agree with him. The truth of the matter is when than candidate Barack Obama gave his “A More Perfect Union” speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 18, 2008 he spoke about race and gave us, the American people, the momentum to discuss race. However for many of us, we have not been so welcoming to discuss race as much as we like. The national dialogue on race has not started and perhaps will never start as long as there are some people who are quick to call racism toward anything that someone says or does to President Obama and as long as some who oppose Obama simply oppose him on the fact he is black.
However race in America is not about Obama and it is not simply about black & white in this great nation of ours. In fact, race in America has always been an issue that even some of our best politicians have tried to avoid at all cost and even some of our own leaders in all ethnic communities tend to shy away from race at least publicly. Nonetheless Hutchinson says, “The bitter truth is that President Obama can’t talk about race even if he wants to. This has absolutely nothing to do with his mixed racial upbringing, or his straddle of many worlds. It has everything to do with politics.” Hutchinson is right Obama can’ talk about race even if he wants to because that would only make some of Obama’s loyal supporters begin to question is he a racist or does he only care about colored people thus playing into the hands of those who already scream that Obama is a racist such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.
Hutchinson says the exact same thing, “If Obama spoke out on race he’d confirm the deep suspicions of the right that he’s a closet racial panderer, ala Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. He’d also get creamed as a Democrat who tilts to minorities. Democratic presidents and candidates Clinton, Gore, and Kerry in four presidential elections avoided that tag like the plague. It was deemed a political kiss of death. Obama followed the same script to the letter during the presidential campaign. He talked race only when he was shoved to the wall forced to denounce his former pastor Jeremiah Wright. That was the price to save his campaign.”
Therefore, what amazes me about those who scream for Obama to address race in America, is when can’t we as Americans address it on our own. We all know that racism, bigotry and prejudice exists in this nation but so few of us are willing to sit down with people of different races and ethnicities to discuss race in this nation head on. The national debate to discuss debate should have begun the day after Obama gave his “A More Perfect Union” speech but for a lot of us, we ran away from a national discussion. We can’t expect for Obama to discuss race when so few of us are even willing to sit down with those we say are racists or bigots yet alone we are willing to sit down with those we call our friends to discuss race out of fear that it could ruin the friendship.
I understand that excuses for not discussing race are the same ways rooted in way we don’t discuss religion, race or politics over dinner. Nonetheless, it has to come a point in time when we as Americans discuss race through national dialogues in order to understand the ethnic divides that exist in our nation are a result of us not discussing race to understand it. Obama can’t discuss race for us because he well knows that the GOP lost an election, but it still packs a wallop. It can disrupt, obstruct, and create chaos for his administration, his political agenda, and him personally. As Hutchinson wrote, “And it does it not only because that’s the warfare that Republicans wage against Democrats anyway, but because the GOP has masterfully reignited its populist base against Obama. The base is rock solid conservative, lower income white male loyalists, with a heavy mix of hard line Christian fundamentalists. Despite the GOP’s wailing that racism has nothing to do with the white fury at Obama, the final presidential vote gave ample warning that many white voters do not and will not accept a black president. Contrary to popular belief, McCain (not Obama) won a slim majority of the vote of white independents in the final tally. Obama bombed badly among Southern and Heartland America white voters. They gave McCain nearly 60 percent of the overall white vote. The percentage he got was even higher among white males.”
So with information like that it understandable why Obama can’t afford to discuss race every time a racial issue emergences or the national media questions his administration to comment on race matters in America. Think about it, McCain would not have been competitive in the presidential campaign without the white males vote. The flip side is that Obama would not have been competitive if African-American voters had not turned his election into a virtual holy crusade and gave him a record percentage and record number of their vote. Hispanic, Asian, young voters, and a significant percentage of independents, and progressives also gave him overwhelming support.
Hutchinson said, “It's true that blue collar white voters have shrunk from more than half of the nation's voters in the past decade to less than forty percent in national elections. This hardly means that the GOP's white vote strategy is doomed to fail. Elections are usually won by candidates with a solid and impassioned core of bloc voters. White males, particularly older white males, vote consistently and faithfully. And they vote in a far greater percentage than Hispanics and blacks have in most elections.”
Thus, the race issue isn’t just about Obama speaking on because he has too much to lose if he does but what do we as Americans have to lose by having a civil debate about race as Obama politely put it last March. Race in America can’t be addressed by simply having the President of the United States of America speak about it but it starts with us as Americans discussing it. In fact the racial discussion has been mute to some degree until now and that is why if we don’t discuss it now than we could face major problems in the future. If we are to become that more perfect union than we have to find a way to start a national ongoing dialogue from state to state, from city to city, from town to town, from community to community, and from block to block about race in America and how we can bridge the racial gaps as well as understand other cultures and ethnicities in order to move forward as a nation.
By having a national ongoing racial dialogue, perhaps we will understand why blue collar white male voters can be easily aroused to vote on the emotional wedge issues; abortion, family values, anti-gay marriage and rights, and tax cuts. By having that discussion, we can perhaps understand why blacks are so loyal to the Democratic Party and its agenda. Having a national race discussion in this nation can help us understand the differences in education, employment, and other issues that have divided us time and time again as we attempt to become a more perfect union.
Hutchinson says, “GOP presidents and aspiring presidents, Nixon, Reagan, Bush Sr. and W. Bush, and McCain and legions of GOP governors, senators and congresspersons banked on these voters for victory and to seize and maintain regional and national political dominance. It didn’t work for the GOP in 2008 only because of Bush. His mangle of the war and the economy, and the terrible stench of GOP corruption and sex scandals, was too much even for legions of traditional GOP voters to stomach. Their vote for Obama or more likely their decision not to vote at all was more a personal and visceral reaction to their horror of the mess Bush and the GOP made of things. The GOP may well be an insular party of Deep South and narrow Heartland, rural and, non-college educated blue collar whites. But this isn’t a demographic to sneer at. Their numbers are still huge.”
Therefore, it is time to discuss race in America in order to understand our differences and to make sure we deal with them head on. Race in America can’t be solved by one person and not by the President Obama because he has so many other issues to deal with it. This is why we as Americans must deal with race head on by having a national dialogue about it. Hutchinson pointed out that, “the recent straw poll among religious conservatives which put former Arkansas Deep South, religious fundamentalist governor Mike Huckabee at the top of their vote heap as their presidential pick in 2012 should not be laughed off or ridiculed. Huckabee’s base will be the same conservative white voters who turned out in record numbers to put Bush over the top twice in 2000 and 2004. They haven’t gone away. And race always lurks just underneath the surface to add an ugly but potent color to their vote and national politics.”
If Obama ran around and talked candidly about race or tried to spark a dialogue on race as some clamor it would turn his administration into a referendum on race. This would set the GOP counterinsurgency on fire. Obama can’t talk about race even if he wants to but we as Americans can. No longer can we run from the race debate or race discussion. In fact we must run toward it and look to address it once and for all. A national race dialogue would only help us understand some of the cultural and ethnic issues that have festered in this nation for far too long. Obama can’t discuss race but we as Americans should be willing to discuss it now more than ever if we are to become that more perfect union as Obama proclaimed on March 18, 2008. So who is ready for the national dialogue? I’m ready, are you?
However race in America is not about Obama and it is not simply about black & white in this great nation of ours. In fact, race in America has always been an issue that even some of our best politicians have tried to avoid at all cost and even some of our own leaders in all ethnic communities tend to shy away from race at least publicly. Nonetheless Hutchinson says, “The bitter truth is that President Obama can’t talk about race even if he wants to. This has absolutely nothing to do with his mixed racial upbringing, or his straddle of many worlds. It has everything to do with politics.” Hutchinson is right Obama can’ talk about race even if he wants to because that would only make some of Obama’s loyal supporters begin to question is he a racist or does he only care about colored people thus playing into the hands of those who already scream that Obama is a racist such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.
Hutchinson says the exact same thing, “If Obama spoke out on race he’d confirm the deep suspicions of the right that he’s a closet racial panderer, ala Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. He’d also get creamed as a Democrat who tilts to minorities. Democratic presidents and candidates Clinton, Gore, and Kerry in four presidential elections avoided that tag like the plague. It was deemed a political kiss of death. Obama followed the same script to the letter during the presidential campaign. He talked race only when he was shoved to the wall forced to denounce his former pastor Jeremiah Wright. That was the price to save his campaign.”
Therefore, what amazes me about those who scream for Obama to address race in America, is when can’t we as Americans address it on our own. We all know that racism, bigotry and prejudice exists in this nation but so few of us are willing to sit down with people of different races and ethnicities to discuss race in this nation head on. The national debate to discuss debate should have begun the day after Obama gave his “A More Perfect Union” speech but for a lot of us, we ran away from a national discussion. We can’t expect for Obama to discuss race when so few of us are even willing to sit down with those we say are racists or bigots yet alone we are willing to sit down with those we call our friends to discuss race out of fear that it could ruin the friendship.
I understand that excuses for not discussing race are the same ways rooted in way we don’t discuss religion, race or politics over dinner. Nonetheless, it has to come a point in time when we as Americans discuss race through national dialogues in order to understand the ethnic divides that exist in our nation are a result of us not discussing race to understand it. Obama can’t discuss race for us because he well knows that the GOP lost an election, but it still packs a wallop. It can disrupt, obstruct, and create chaos for his administration, his political agenda, and him personally. As Hutchinson wrote, “And it does it not only because that’s the warfare that Republicans wage against Democrats anyway, but because the GOP has masterfully reignited its populist base against Obama. The base is rock solid conservative, lower income white male loyalists, with a heavy mix of hard line Christian fundamentalists. Despite the GOP’s wailing that racism has nothing to do with the white fury at Obama, the final presidential vote gave ample warning that many white voters do not and will not accept a black president. Contrary to popular belief, McCain (not Obama) won a slim majority of the vote of white independents in the final tally. Obama bombed badly among Southern and Heartland America white voters. They gave McCain nearly 60 percent of the overall white vote. The percentage he got was even higher among white males.”
So with information like that it understandable why Obama can’t afford to discuss race every time a racial issue emergences or the national media questions his administration to comment on race matters in America. Think about it, McCain would not have been competitive in the presidential campaign without the white males vote. The flip side is that Obama would not have been competitive if African-American voters had not turned his election into a virtual holy crusade and gave him a record percentage and record number of their vote. Hispanic, Asian, young voters, and a significant percentage of independents, and progressives also gave him overwhelming support.
Hutchinson said, “It's true that blue collar white voters have shrunk from more than half of the nation's voters in the past decade to less than forty percent in national elections. This hardly means that the GOP's white vote strategy is doomed to fail. Elections are usually won by candidates with a solid and impassioned core of bloc voters. White males, particularly older white males, vote consistently and faithfully. And they vote in a far greater percentage than Hispanics and blacks have in most elections.”
Thus, the race issue isn’t just about Obama speaking on because he has too much to lose if he does but what do we as Americans have to lose by having a civil debate about race as Obama politely put it last March. Race in America can’t be addressed by simply having the President of the United States of America speak about it but it starts with us as Americans discussing it. In fact the racial discussion has been mute to some degree until now and that is why if we don’t discuss it now than we could face major problems in the future. If we are to become that more perfect union than we have to find a way to start a national ongoing dialogue from state to state, from city to city, from town to town, from community to community, and from block to block about race in America and how we can bridge the racial gaps as well as understand other cultures and ethnicities in order to move forward as a nation.
By having a national ongoing racial dialogue, perhaps we will understand why blue collar white male voters can be easily aroused to vote on the emotional wedge issues; abortion, family values, anti-gay marriage and rights, and tax cuts. By having that discussion, we can perhaps understand why blacks are so loyal to the Democratic Party and its agenda. Having a national race discussion in this nation can help us understand the differences in education, employment, and other issues that have divided us time and time again as we attempt to become a more perfect union.
Hutchinson says, “GOP presidents and aspiring presidents, Nixon, Reagan, Bush Sr. and W. Bush, and McCain and legions of GOP governors, senators and congresspersons banked on these voters for victory and to seize and maintain regional and national political dominance. It didn’t work for the GOP in 2008 only because of Bush. His mangle of the war and the economy, and the terrible stench of GOP corruption and sex scandals, was too much even for legions of traditional GOP voters to stomach. Their vote for Obama or more likely their decision not to vote at all was more a personal and visceral reaction to their horror of the mess Bush and the GOP made of things. The GOP may well be an insular party of Deep South and narrow Heartland, rural and, non-college educated blue collar whites. But this isn’t a demographic to sneer at. Their numbers are still huge.”
Therefore, it is time to discuss race in America in order to understand our differences and to make sure we deal with them head on. Race in America can’t be solved by one person and not by the President Obama because he has so many other issues to deal with it. This is why we as Americans must deal with race head on by having a national dialogue about it. Hutchinson pointed out that, “the recent straw poll among religious conservatives which put former Arkansas Deep South, religious fundamentalist governor Mike Huckabee at the top of their vote heap as their presidential pick in 2012 should not be laughed off or ridiculed. Huckabee’s base will be the same conservative white voters who turned out in record numbers to put Bush over the top twice in 2000 and 2004. They haven’t gone away. And race always lurks just underneath the surface to add an ugly but potent color to their vote and national politics.”
If Obama ran around and talked candidly about race or tried to spark a dialogue on race as some clamor it would turn his administration into a referendum on race. This would set the GOP counterinsurgency on fire. Obama can’t talk about race even if he wants to but we as Americans can. No longer can we run from the race debate or race discussion. In fact we must run toward it and look to address it once and for all. A national race dialogue would only help us understand some of the cultural and ethnic issues that have festered in this nation for far too long. Obama can’t discuss race but we as Americans should be willing to discuss it now more than ever if we are to become that more perfect union as Obama proclaimed on March 18, 2008. So who is ready for the national dialogue? I’m ready, are you?
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