03-15-2008, 02:53 AM
When this thread initially started we had discussed how race, ethnicity and identity inspite of being the elephant in the room was not being discussed openly. The Ferraro incident is again an example of this. A strange case of where a society tries to appear aloof to such matters as race, ethnicity, identity etc when they are just around the corner..
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/...ity_politi.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Ferraro committed that most egregious foul in the game of identity politics. She spoke of race and gender -- but especially race -- in an unapproved way.
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she said. "And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position."
Was her comment racist and deserving of denunciation? Or was she partially, if clumsily, right?
Hold that thought while we visit Adelfa Callejo, a revered 84-year-old lawyer/activist and Clinton supporter in Texas, who said last month that Obama would have trouble with Latino voters because he is African-American.
"When blacks had the numbers, they didn't do anything to support us," Callejo said. "They always used our numbers to fulfill their goals and objectives, but they never really supported us, and there's a lot of hard feelings about that."
True or false? Racist or observant?
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->As for Ferraro, her statement wasn't racist so much as it was racial. It is, in fact, unlikely that anyone else with Obama's experience -- just two years in the U.S. Senate before he began running for president -- would get this close to the White House.
There are lots of reasons for Obama's success that have nothing to do with race. But there's also this: <b>You can't separate race from who Obama is.</b>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The article ends with..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Thus distracted, we ignore the real monster, whose name is Identity Politics.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/...ity_politi.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Ferraro committed that most egregious foul in the game of identity politics. She spoke of race and gender -- but especially race -- in an unapproved way.
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she said. "And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position."
Was her comment racist and deserving of denunciation? Or was she partially, if clumsily, right?
Hold that thought while we visit Adelfa Callejo, a revered 84-year-old lawyer/activist and Clinton supporter in Texas, who said last month that Obama would have trouble with Latino voters because he is African-American.
"When blacks had the numbers, they didn't do anything to support us," Callejo said. "They always used our numbers to fulfill their goals and objectives, but they never really supported us, and there's a lot of hard feelings about that."
True or false? Racist or observant?
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->As for Ferraro, her statement wasn't racist so much as it was racial. It is, in fact, unlikely that anyone else with Obama's experience -- just two years in the U.S. Senate before he began running for president -- would get this close to the White House.
There are lots of reasons for Obama's success that have nothing to do with race. But there's also this: <b>You can't separate race from who Obama is.</b>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The article ends with..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Thus distracted, we ignore the real monster, whose name is Identity Politics.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->