And it got me thinking.
What if CNN.com is right? What if an Obama presidency was actually worse for black Americans than if he didn't get elected? I guess that's what CNN.com is really talking about, right? Aren't they just saying, "Take a minute Black America (or BlAmerica) and think about this. Are you really sure you want to vote for a black guy? Haven't things been pretty good for you under a 232-year string of white guys? Aren't you afraid that you'll jinx things by breaking that streak?"
Maybe they're totally right. Maybe this article isn't just a piece of bullshit journalism (who said that? it sure wasn't me!) that gives scholarly, conservative white guys a venue to voice their barely disguised racism. So those white guys can say awesome stuff like this: "So many whites want to be able to say, 'I'm not one of them, those bad whites. ... Hey, I voted for a black guy for president.'"
That's a quote from conservative smart guy Steve Sailer, who posits that some whites who support Obama aren't driven primarily by a desire for change, but instead would cast their votes for Obama as a sort of "White Guilt Repellent." (His words. And also a new fragrance from the makers of Axe!)
As if that's a bad thing.
As if, let's say, it was a bad thing that Jackie Robinson got into major league baseball if you could prove that Branch Rickey only did it because he felt guilty. As if, something as monumental as the first black President would only really "count" if it totally changed race relations forever.
Nope, sorry, none of that's good enough. I guess the ends don't justify the means unless the motivations behind the means justify the ends in the first place. Confused? Don't be! It's simple: Barack Obama getting elected president is only good for BlAmerica if all of the people who voted for him did so for non-racially motivated reasons. Because if even one white person votes for Obama out of "white guilt" then his presidency will "hurt" BlAmericans.
Makes perfect sense.
1 comment:
I think this article also panders to what James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal calls the "race grievance industry," which has a stake in promoting white guilt and black resentment. At its forefront, people like Steve Sailer, who you quoted, and Jesse Jackson, who would see Obama castrated. They prefer to see those old tropes remain. Distractions.
Ultimately, I don't care what an Obama presidency would do for race relations. I prefer to look at what it would mean for America vs. a McCain presidency.
But CNN should get a break. They have to manufacture news. They can't cover carp pedicures 24/7.
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