Race And The Obama Campaign

Perhaps it was a bit naïve for Barak Obama to believe that he could slide through the dirty game of American politics without the issue of race becoming a focus point on his campaign. Looking back several months now, it appeared that he had avoided discussing race on any real platform outside of touting the progress of the United States during the California Democratic debates. Instead he spoke of Uniting the United States after eight of divisive politics and pulling US forces out of Iraq, along with creating “Green Jobs” with the production of a renewable energy infrastructure, all issues that many White Americans consider safe. He even rode a wave of inspiration with those three words, “Yes We Can,” a campaign message that first started with current Obama Adviser David Axelrod during his own political run. His approach put him ahead of Hillary Clinton in most, if not all the polls, in the months of January and February and he was all but on his way to ending the race during the Ohio and Texas primaries. But this is American politics and to think for a second that the best in the game wouldn’t play the race card is more than a bit of a mistake

 

 

During his rise in the polls, several Karl Rove like tactics were already being too used to put questions into minds of the voters. The first rumor that started circulating around the web was that Obama was a Black Muslim, despite the fact that he had been going to the same church for the past years. The rumor stated that he gave up his mother’s religion and joined the nation of Islam. The aim was to stir the hornet’s nest of current US suspicion of Muslims in a fashion not so dissimilar to that of the American hatred towards the Japanese during War II or the Communists the cold war. Anyone who has followed politics for any amount of time could see that the situation was heading towards a, “oh no here we go again” scenario. Conservative talk show hosts, Bill O Reily of Fox and Glenn Beck even did their best not to disprove the message when the issue was brought up on their shows.

But the issue didn’t really hurt the support he was receiving even among white republicans to what was meant to be a Rovenian type of trick which fell flat on its face. The issue of race came up again during the South Carolina primaries when former president Bill Clinton dismissed Barak Obama’s victory in the state. Clinton remarked that Jessie Jackson also did well in South Carolina in the 1983 elections, but then went on to become a non-factor. Clinton has since back peddled from the remark stating that he took too much heat over it. However the aim of the message was clearly to entrap Obama in the race net. The remark actually back fired on the Clinton’s as Hillary’s numbers began to drop. Mr. Obama continued deliver the message of Unity which put him in front of both of his presidential rivals.

The latest attempt to lay the topic of race at the feet of Barak Obama was by former liberal icon Geraldine Ferraro. Ferraro, like Bill Clinton tried to dismiss the Obama rage by connecting his race to the sudden surge of his popularity. While the move only led to Ferraro’s resignation and more bitterness by the Obama people towards Hillary Clinton, It was the spiritual leader and close friend to the Obamas that forced the Illinois senator to go where he once tried to avoid, on the path of race. About a week after Ferraro’s statement, Pastor Jeremiah Wright of the Trinity United Church of Christ gave a sermon where stated that the United States was built on bigotry and then went onto say three words that could amount to a bomb to the Obama campaign, “America God Dam.” From that point on it as been little more than damage control for the Barak camp. Any ties that Obama has with the preacher have become fatal. So it came as no surprise that it was time the for the presidential candidate gave a speech dealing with the issue of race. The surprise came when Obama refused to disown his friend Wright.

In the speech, Barak Obama recognized the racial divide between Whites and Blacks and he acknowledged the frustration and anger by both parties. Barak Obama warned the country that the anger over the issue is real. He then called for understanding and unity among all the races. It was in fact the important speech that he needed give if he has any chance to put the issue of race to sleep for the foreseeable future. The bad news however, while Obama might have tried to avoid the topic altogether, White America seems to want no part of it and now we may be seeing the unfortunate backlash with the decline in his numbers. Since the remarks by Wright and the speech itself, Hillary Clinton has regained the lead and some white supporters of his have turned to the Clinton camp.

The real question here has yet to be asked by the mainstream media, why is White America so turned off by the issue? The answer could very well be two fold. First, the US seems to be country of sweeping problems under the rug. Something like race is on top of that list. By not facing the racial divide, it allows some within white communities to believe that there is no longer inequality among non-whites in this country, despite numerous reports by the human rights commission to prove other wise. According to a report from United for a Fair Economy, on the present pace, it would take African Americans 594 years to close the economic gap. But lets make no mistake, the, to acknowledge the racial economic, health and education gap would mean that someone would have to take responsibility for what is commonly referred to as “sins of the father.” And in a society where tradition is more important than progression. Questioning ones ancestors is unacceptable.

The second reason for the rejection of the race issue could stem from the fact that many Whites find themselves slipping economically. At a time where  jobs that have long been held by the white community are no longer safe and are being sent overseas due to the disastrous economic policies like NAFTA and CAFTA, many of the Anglo population are more worried about the dying communities around around them which you can see in the South and the Mid-West.

Until next time.

 

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