An interesting double-bind problem, dude. Pity the...

2008-02-08T16:35:00.000-05:00

An interesting double-bind problem, dude. Pity the poor white Obamaphiles: their attempt to prove their purity only proves the opposite.

[Personal aside: I had suspected that your obstinate lack of enthusiasm for Obamamania had something to do with this. Edwards? Palease…. ]

Obamaism, in your read, is to be viewed as a heretical denial of American depravity. It offers white America a false expiation from the taint of the original American sin and improperly signifies that the white Obamaphile’s soul is pure. In your Calvinist view, the sin of American racism is both much deeper and much more abiding than a white Obamaphile wants to believe.

You are right, of course (it turns out that I think the more Calvinist position is almost always right in any controversy). But in the face of this irony, we are left with the practical question of how to respond to both Obama and the hopeful-and-redemptive-yet-oh-so-wrong theology of Obamaism. In other words, should a rejection of the self-satisfied, self-justifying delusion at the heart of Obamaism bring us to reject candidate Obama?

I would say no. This is not because I feel any particular desire to be fair to candidate Obama and not damn him on account of an Obamaism that is not a thing of his making. If I thought that damning Obama would somehow display the hollow core of the Obamaist conceit, than I would, Grand Inquisitor-like, grimly help the innocent junior Senator pack his bags for the trip to perdition.

One question we might ask is who is more likely to do anything to fight Obamaism: Clinton, Obama, or…. McCain? (This last (ludicrous) idea becomes important if we believe that support nominee Clinton is more likely to deliver us a President McCain.) But confining ourselves to the first two, I think only Obama has any chance of actually developing a successful critique of Obamaism. Clinton’s (undeserved) reputation for mouthing only liberal doctrine would likely undermine any attempt she might care to make to enlighten American understandings of the nature(s) and consequences of racism. Only a person with a reputation for being non-doctrinaire, a person like Obama, has any hope of getting folks to listen to the charge that their country is not as sinless as they want to believe. Nixon could go to China, Powell could defend affirmative action, Obama might be able to criticize Obamaism.

Of course criticizing Obamaism is not anything that any person who hopes to actually become President can do as a candidate. (Candidate Sharpton’s tongue was liberated by the fact that he was hopeless. And, notably, no white person listened to him when he wasn’t making jokes.) However, a President Obama could, conceivably, begin to talk about the realities of systems of privilege (as well as the continuation and consequence of plain-old prejudice) in this country. We have no reason to suspect that he doesn’t understand them.

I won’t predict that President Obama would make it a project to take on Obamaism. He might very well never develop the deep well of credibility he would need to tell America how racist it really is or he might decide that he wants to expend his rhetorical capital on other projects. But my position is that of the three possible futures before us, only President Obama could do any damage to Obamaism.

One last thing: I expect many younger readers of your essay will not resonate to the idea that whites are hungry to prove that they are not racists. I have the impression that many of that 18-29 demographic that is so in crush with Obama don’t feel a desire to prove they are antiracists. Rather, I think many feel that they have nothing to prove. They might well deny the significance of racism just as the whites of our generation do, but I think they don’t feel the same desire to “move on” because they think that they (if not their elders) already have.

As a Black man with a diverse group of race, gende...

2008-02-08T14:14:00.000-05:00

As a Black man with a diverse group of race, gender, & age close friends, I have heard more than a couple of white middle age/class men tell me; "...this country is not ready for a black, woman, or Mormon (not to worry about that one) President!". Therefore, the John McCain & Mike Huckabee express is still strong in middle America.

On your other point, I can see how a larger number of Blacks think racism is still alive versus a small number of Whites; It only takes a small number of bigoted, hater racist Whites to piss off a large number of Blacks! For instance, a White racist teacher, boss, or banker can discriminate against a large number of Blacks, causing lots of pain & anguish to a large number of non empowered folks.

Keep your blog alive! Is the "Ivory Tower" a metaphor for the "House Black"?

Comments on Racial and Class Discourse from an Ivory Tower in Connecticut: Gender, Race and the 2008 Presidential Race

An interesting double-bind problem, dude. Pity the...

As a Black man with a diverse group of race, gende...