How Racism Works

[rikibeth]

courtesy of whiskey_poptart

How racism works

What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review? What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class? What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said “I do” to? What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization? What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard? What if Obama were a member of the “Keating 5”? What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

— Kelvin LaFond, Fort Worth

Comments

[pnkrokhockeymom.livejournal.com]

That's awesome.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Spread it around!

[cad-red-ducati.livejournal.com]

I'm going to post this in my LJ. it's awesome, but sad.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I know, that's why I reposted it! And why I used a Marvin icon.

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that racism is the (main) reason for the numbers being as close as they are.

A typical Red State voter looks at things like "loyalty", "down-to-earth", and "patriotism" (which itself is defined as alignment with a very particular set of values). In such a set, things like "Harvard educated" work against a candidate. The magic word they trot out is "elitism".

Of course, this does feed back into racism: a "down-to-earth" African American would probably come off as "scary".

The way to flip this back on Red State voters is to play to their notions of "character": McCain has shown over and over again that he doesn't have any, and is parroting his experience as a P.O.W. to show that he had some. By trotting out his recent record, the Democrats (not Obama) have to show that he has sacrificed whatever Brownie points he ever earned.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

For the most part, I agree with you about the red-state priorities vs. the blue-state ones, and I don't think that racism per se is what's making the numbers so close.

I do think that if the races of the candidates were flipped, a black man with John McCain's personal history would be a pariah, and a white man with Barack Obama's would be held up as a paragon -- even if that same paragon would still lose the red-state vote for the reasons you've outlined. And THAT is DEFINITELY racism at work.

Two words...

[panzerschrek.livejournal.com]

"Marion Barry."

[pentane.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't a white guy with Obama's record be Kerry? Barring a major charismectomy?

Amusingly (to me anyway), Bush lost an election by being painted as a carpetbagger New England elitest (congress in Texas, and he IS a Yalie), and vowed to never be outdumbed again.

[quezz.livejournal.com]

It is. Even the Republicans are talking about the "Bubba vote," or voters who will not vote for a black man regardless of his credentials. About 1 in 4 voters in West Virginia in a recent poll admitted they would not vote for a black candidate -- in Michigan, 1 in 10.

Race is playing a pretty heavy role in this vote -- the media is downplaying it, and many voters are in denial about it too. If you look at Obama's biography compared to McCain's, this would be no contest, even on personal qualities.

My department chair's family lives in eastern Kentucky, and his mother said to him the other day, "Well, I know McCain's not a terribly good choice but...there's just something I don't trust about Obama." Further in the discussion, it became clear she had deep-seeded concerns about his race, as many people in this country do.

I think we need to start acknowledging that tag words are being used in this campaign, and that many whites in this country do not believe a black person can be "loyal," "patriotic," or "down-to-earth." If we started to have that discussion on race, we may be able to convince some voters they are making a big mistake by failing to acknowledge their own prejudices or fears of believing that race is playing a role. "Liberals" and "conservatives" alike are facing these issues, and failing to address them.

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

I hear and agree with most of what you say.

But I'm not certain about this:

If you look at Obama's biography compared to McCain's, this would be no contest, even on personal qualities.

If it were just biography, Gore should have trounced Bush; it shouldn't even have been close. For that matter, so should have Kerry. And Goldwater should have blown LBJ off the map, instead of the other way around.

There are many things wrong with how the average voter votes. Racism is certainly one of them, and may well be the dominant one in this election (for obvious reasons).

I do worry about the polls, which showed Obama with a comfortable electoral lead (until recently; I do hope the Palin Bump blows up in their faces). Several "black" candidates have seen excellent poll numbers not translate into actual votes.

[kebbykate.livejournal.com]

The way it's always worked is that the _first_ black man/white woman/Jew/Catholic/ethnic minority/homosexual has to be "ideal" and unobjectionable in every possible way in order to achieve something that would just come to a white man.

I agree about the "Red" vs. "Blue" state priorities in general, but I don't see how ditching your first wife who waited for you while you were a POW equates with LOYALTY...

[quezz.livejournal.com]

It doesn't...but Bubba's done that shit before, so he doesn't mind if McCain did.

That is...if he even knew McCain had left his wife to bag a rich blonde.

[kitwench.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to figure out why Lance Armstrong gets the superhero tag there, either...
*puzzled face*

[quezz.livejournal.com]

Lance Armstrong makes me want to vomit, so I'm with you there. :)

Unsung heroes are usually unsung because well...they are decent people who don't profit off of their accomplishments. Sad but true.

[gentlyepigrams]

So glad this is one of the brethren from Ft. Worth who calls this shit for what it is. Just like I'm so glad some of our people from the South call the McCain surrogates on their dog whistling. "Uppity doesn't have racial overtones" my ass!

What people don't understand about red-state values (and I'll thank you to remember that Texas was yellow-dog Democrat for decades up until I was in college!) is that someone like McCain is of the party and he's defined because of that as being "good", so the fact that he does all the bad things that show he doesn't have good virtues like honor and honesty and loyalty doesn't matter as much. It's like political antinomianism. Bizarre.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

What people don't understand about red-state values (and I'll thank you to remember that Texas was yellow-dog Democrat for decades up until I was in college!) is that someone like McCain is of the party and he's defined because of that as being "good", so the fact that he does all the bad things that show he doesn't have good virtues like honor and honesty and loyalty doesn't matter as much. It's like political antinomianism. Bizarre.

I remember yellow-dog Democrat Texas! I remember Ann Richards, and miss her. And how else would there have been a Molly Ivins? Miss her too.

But yeah. The "of the party" -- it's like JKR letting Gryffindors get away with what, looked at objectively, is pretty damned close to sociopathic behavior. I love the Weasley twins, but their ethics don't hold up to close scrutiny at ALL.

(edited to use a more suitable icon)

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

That's it exactly.

Thanks so much for posting this.

[kitwench.livejournal.com]

Imagine that the resume of each were swapped along with those negative traits. Imagine that the voting records of each were swapped, along with those negative traits.
This is what victim culture does.
It covers up, rationalizes, and minimizes just as does racism.
If these questions reflected reality, Would a 47 yo John McCain with Obama's resume even be considered for this Presidential race ?
Racism isn't the only factor here.

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

What is this "victim culture" business? I hear the phrase often, but no definition.

[ghilledhu.livejournal.com]

"The Man is keeping me down! I can't succeed at anything because I'm black/female/short/left-handed and the Man won't let me succeed! It has nothing to do with how hard I'm working - it's the Man keeping me down!"

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

Damn that's good.

[tyedboyne.livejournal.com]

"What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review? What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class? What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said “I do” to? What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?"

But, what if Obama were white? The double standard would not go away. I don't want to deny that racism exists, or even downplay it, but there is also the IOKIYAR (It's OK, IF You Are Republican) factor at play here. Just look at the Christofacsists giving Sarah Palin a total pass on her pregnant 17 y/o daughter. What do you think Rash Limpballs would have to say if Hillary Clinton or Barbara Boxer had an unmarried pregnant teen at home?

Blatant, in-your-face, mind-numbing hypocrisy? Yes.
Racism? Probably some, but maybe not so much as you might think. After all, look at how the Rethugs embrace the likes of Clarence Thomas and Condi Rice.

Racism can be hard to prove, but the hypocrisy here is so freaking obvious that it can't be ignored, so that's what I think Obama's peeps should be focused on.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I do not disagree!

[seaya.livejournal.com]

Tokenism isn't really a lack of racism.

[dj-ti-99.livejournal.com]

I think you will find the polls more than a little off this election. Since the last election, more people are either mostly cell, or totally cell. Most polls are conducted via land lines and the demographic for people who primarily use a land line phone is getting older and older. Also, you'll find that polls tend to rely on people who've voted previously and there are A LOT of new, young voters this election cycle.

That being said, I don't like either of them.