What’s Happening World?
I didn’t think I’d have enough time to post twice this week…but after this last political episode, I was forced to grind! OK, so if you haven’t heard the latest in Obama vs. Clinton news, one of Hillary Clinton’s top campaign finance advisors, Geraldine Ferraro, was quoted as saying:
“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position, and if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”
Of course Obama’s campaign called for (and reportedly has received notice) for Ferraro’s resignation and for Clinton’s campaign to disavow the comments as a mistake. To apologize and “disavow” is standard Washington talk after saying something that isn’t considered politically correct (that way, the issue of whether or not the speaker stands by and believes what they said is never actually addressed…)…same old, same old.
Even so…can anyone else smell the social connotations of this quote???
I never thought I’d see the day where a White person claimed that an individual was “lucky to be Black”. Well, to be brutally honest…to be “Black” has been cool for a while now. It’s cool to listen to hip hop. It’s cool to have bronzed skin. It’s cool to feel disenfranchised by the gov’t (for now…). The list goes on of course…I could list endless more “cool” things about being Black, focusing on the perceived pleasurable benefits of our culture.
BUT…
My main beef with the popularization and mainstream acceptance of SOME accents of Black culture is that whenever the DOWNSIDES of Black culture come in to play…it seems that Whites backpeddle faster than Deion Sanders on Superbowl Sunday. Would it still be cool to be Black if you were pulled over late at night? What about if you just wanted a fair shot at an equal education, would being Black come in handy then? What if you “fit the description” of a local robbery suspect (Black, 5’8 with short hair)? All I’m saying is that if individuals want to benefit from attribute of “Black culture”, then accept all of the struggles that Blacks deal with in this country as well! I’m not sure whether or not Hillary agrees with her “close friend and advisor” but the best mirror in the world is an old friend. I’m really buggin out on this one…so help me understand this question:
Why can’t Whites recognize the WORK, TIME and EFFORT Black people put forth whenever they’re in a position of power? Why does it have to be just “luck”? The old saying is that a Black man has to work twice as hard to be just as good, and I feel like Barack DESERVES to do these numbers! Not to bash Hllary, but she wouldn’t be in the position she is now if she hadn’t grown up in a wealthy suburban Chicago neighborhood…with two well-off parents…able to afford top flite secondary school and college…and marrying a President. I mean, most politicians don’t start out on the Senator level like Hillary did…what afforded her that opportunity? Now, who’s “lucky” here?
>> TCS
The Copper Sun :: The Movement [in Black] 
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When you have a black agenda, it HELPS to be black.
@ Charro: Hmm…can you explain what a “black agenda” is? I mean I can definitely see Obama’s color influencing Black voters, but at the same time, doesn’t Hillary’s sex help her retain votes? I feel that for every blind Black voter who votes for Barack, there’s a blind feminist voter lining up for Hillary…does she have a “feminine agenda”?
TCS, The agenda is for after winning the whole thing. What changes will Obama make? Listening to his spiritual advisor, and pastor of 20 years, I have an idea. Rich white folk ” Look out!” In fact all whites.
But he won’t win because America won’t surrender to terrorists foreign or domestic.
Wow!!!!! I thought I had seen some crazy stuff. But that right there takes the cake.
@ Charro: Where do I start?
1) We still haven’t addressed the “agenda” issue. Are you simply saying that Obama will be an advocate for African American concerns, issues and policies? If so, what’s so wrong with that?
2) Terrorist? How?
3) At the end of the day…THIS IS AMERICA. And in America…it’s good to be rich and White…and it always will be (the Hilton, Spears, and Bush families come to mind…)! What has Obama done now to make you so fearful of a shift in the status quo?
4) TERRORIST?!?!?!
Thanks for your comment on my blog post, TCS. You made some very good points. I hope you’ll return and contribute further to the discussion.
I’ve been checking out your blog, too. — Good stuff!
WRT this post, I agree that many whites don’t akcnowledge the work, time, and effort that black people put forth when they’re in a position of power, let alone the work, time, and effort that it takes to get to that position in the first place. But I disagree with your unqualified categorization that “whites” as a group do not recognize this.
Any time anybody makes a broad assumption about an entire group of people, based on some incidental characteristic that they have in common, the assumption is bound to be mistaken in a great many cases (perhaps even most). And, yes, I consider race to be an incidental characteristic. You many disagree with that. But it’s undeniable that every individual is influenced by all sorts of factors. Any group with which an individual identifies will influence their individual identity, but no single influence is ever more significant than the unique combination of all the elements that contribute to the total character of the individual. (Not least of which is free will, and personal responsibility for what they do and who they are.)
You can look at people in terms of race, or in terms of religion, or in terms of political orientation, or sexual orientation, or whatever filter you want to impose. But each filter you apply strips the individual of the essential individuality that’s at their core, and is who they truly are, and characterizes them as something they are not (though it may be part of them).
I’m not criticizing. You make some valid points. And everybody talks about race. But, personally, I think it’s a red herring. At bottom, you and I are both individuals. And so is everybody else.