Comments on Racial and Class Discourse from an Ivory Tower in Connecticut: Reverend Jackson Was Right: Uhhhhhh, His Point Tha...

What is interesting to me is the message that peop...

2008-07-17T11:03:00.000-04:00

What is interesting to me is the message that people take home from the political speeches that candidates gives, particularly white mainstream media and the white public, which I believe is eager to hear black leaders take stands that resonates with the impressions they have about black people. I did a simple Yahoo search, typing in the following words, “Obama’s Father’s Day Speech.” I then clicked on “news.” Look at what popped up: http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news;_ylt=A0geu9QKW39IooUANK1XNyoA?ei=UTF-8&p=Obama%20father's%20day%20speech&fr2=tab-web&fr=moz2 (click the next button to see how extensive the angle is about the speeches he gives to black people). What strikes me is that the headlines say nothing about the points you noted he made during the speech about structures or systems that produce so-called dysfunctional behavior among blacks. The lead is about “personal responsibility,” not structural inequality or socio-historical contexts. So, the problem, according to the media take, is not segregation, failing schools, job discrimination, etc. The problem is – in the white popular imagination filtered through the media – irresponsibility, failed parental behavior, criminal inclinations, and so on. It would be easy to give him a pass and say, “well, he is not responsible for how the media interprets his speeches.” My view is that Obama’s moves are very intentional. He is savvy enough to know what sound-bites will be picked up the next day.

I don't agree Darryl. As I remember the speech, Ob...

2008-07-16T14:41:00.000-04:00

I don't agree Darryl. As I remember the speech, Obama made five or six caveats first about why the system caused these problems, then went on to his point about black fathers, saying that fixing the system wasn't enough, the community needs to look inward.

It reminded me a bit of JFK's inaugural address where he tells his audience also to make the nation's work personal. Not quite parallel perhaps, but it's what it sounded like to me.

The other thing that I found interesting: Obama's lines about what it means to be a good father got the biggest reaction from the congregation. That doesn't mean that it was right or wrong, but he's clearly tapped into something that his mostly black audience found compelling.

Finally, it seems to me that BHO and JFK both used these sort of speechs, not because they are right, but because they can. BHO's speech plays well with some African-Americans and a whole lot of whites. And, more importantly, it's a speech that JM could never, ever make. Similarly, JFK's speech about personal responsibility played well coming from a Dem I think because it co-opted an issue that was so important to the GOP.

Michael

Interesting! I think of neoliberalism as a set of ...

2008-07-15T22:13:00.000-04:00

Interesting! I think of neoliberalism as a set of economic policies. While I think that Obama shares one critical aspect of the neoliberal agenda, eliminating the concept of the public good in favor of the idea of “personal responsibility”, I’m not sure if he shares even more critical economic ideas, such as neoliberalism's obsession with the free market, privatization, cutting public subsidies, and deregulation. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if he did.

i don't think the language of "accomodationism" wo...

2008-07-15T15:07:00.000-04:00

i don't think the language of "accomodationism" works here. it's more like "neoliberalism." i was on a show with amiri baraka last week. and on wchb earlier that morning. the wchb link isn't available....but the baraka joint is. go to my blog.