[lbo-talk] Obama-mania: where is the true danger?

[John Thornton]

Charles Brown wrote:
>   
>>>> Dennis Claxton 
>>>>         
>
>
>   
>> Somehow a  bunch of white people voted for a Black person
>> for president.  It's a tiny good thing in a sea of trouble.
>>     
>
>
> "Somehow" suggests this is something new.  But couldn't it be the 
> samo "If I do this it means I'm not racist and I don't have to think 
> about all that race stuff that makes me uncomfortable." 
>
> ___________________________________
>
> CB: "Somehow" is closer to suggesting this is something rare.  Most of
> these people _already_ think they are not racists and _already_ don't
> think about all that race stuff much .  So,  this event causes them to
> bring forward the race issue, which they usually keep in denial.  And
> voting for a Black person for President _is_ a legitimately anti-racist
> act for this group of white people. It is a substantive anti-racist
> action. Not "null politics".  They put their money where their mouths -
> " I am not racist" - are. They value their votes for President.  My hat
> is off to these Iowan White voters.

I guess it's because 20 years ago Jesse Jackson won 7 primaries and 4 
caucuses that I don't see the significance of the fact that Iowans voted 
for Obama.
The fact that white voters were willing to vote for someone as 
progressive as Jesse Jackson says quite a bit.
The fact that they are willing to vote for someone like Obama seems a 
negative.
The whole "race doesn't matter" makes it harder for minority progressive 
candidates to get elected. The expectation is that now minority 
candidates will have to make the same claims as Obama, like blacks are 
90% of the way to being equal with whites, in order to be considered 
serious candidates.
Obama, Rice, Powell, etc. are, to the corporate media, the preferred 
face of minorities in public office. Anyone who opposes their 
center/right positions can now safely be ignored without fear of 
appearing racist. That is a step backwards from where I should think 
progressives would want to move.

John Thornton