Sen. Barack Obama and Mr. Deval Patrick
About a year ago, Mr. Adrian Walker, a city beat writer for the Boston Globe and an African-American, did a story on a story that Boston Magazine did on the 100 Most Influential People in Boston. The list contained exactly one person of color. Rev. Eugene Rivers placed #97.
I wrote Mr. Walker a little note suggesting, that possibly, the white liberals that dominate the social, economic and political scene in Boston might be racists. I also used an unfortunate characterization about the fortitude of those who covered the story and who did not contemplate my thesis. Mr. Walker used excerpts from my first email in his follow-up story; he received a lot of email, I guess. Mr. Walker and I have exchanged a few very cordial emails on the subject since.
I suggest that if Salt Lake City, UT had a list of the top 100 of similar color, there would most definitely be a story about the white racists in Salt Lake City; please let me know if you disagree.
Anyway, last week, a local white businessman announced he was entering the contest for Governor of Massachusetts as a Democrat. There were already three announced candidates, two white men and an African-American. The African-American, Mr. Deval Patrick (Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Clinton Administration; gee, what else would a Democrat appoint a black man to?; Clinton must take “civil rights” seriously), has been in the race from Day 1. The very early polling upon the entry of the fourth candidate showed Mr. Patrick was within the margin of error of running fourth. Again, I suggest that if the only thing that changed was the party affiliation of these four men then a story would most definitely be written about the racism practiced by those polled. Yet, the idea that some Boston Democrats could practice racism or some Boston Democrats can still hold racist views somehow is beyond consideration for everyone . . . well, except me.
If anyone can explain why the most liberal city in the Country with some of the most loyal, Democratic, African-American voters in the Country can produce just one person of color in its Most Influential Top 100 list and can also see the only African-American candidate for Governor fall to (possibly) last in the early gubernatorial election polls, I’d most definitely love to hear from you. I stand by my assertion that some to many white liberals in the greater Boston area are prepared to speak highly of an African-American (without knowing anything about the person's policy positions!) but they are not so ready to cede any local power to African-Americans.
Next, on the national level, Sen. Barack Obama is “impressive” so say all my white liberal friends (and many, many other people from around the Country). They don’t use any other word! They all got the same script . . . “impressive”. I am curious as to why this sentence is almost always spoken as, “Sen. Barack Obama is impressive for a black man.” Why can’t he just simply be impressive or brilliant? These folks literally go out of their way to bring up the Senator’s name just so they can jump on the “impressive” bandwagon. I’m quite literally under the impression that if a white liberal says, “Obama is impressive” three times at a dinner party they think they get their “I’m not a racist” ticket punched.
I’m also somewhat stunned by the additional impression I’m given by my white liberal friends that they’ve found the only impressive black man (or woman). The over-the-top praise of Sen. Obama is insulting at worst and condescending at best. Professor Mr. Shelby Steele writes an awful lot about “white guilt” and I suspect that that is exactly what is going on here. What a shame. Sen. Obama might have a great message to share and we may never get to hear it because it will be drowned out by the constant recognition of his skin color. If Sen. Obama is brilliant, I say, let’s find out. Let’s let him simply be brilliant. (I subscribe to the Senator’s official web alert page in order to stay informed on the Senator’s positions, by the way.)
Oh, and when Republicans start criticizing the Senator’s policy positions, as they surely will, let’s hope the criticism is not mischaracterized by the agenda pushers . . . I think all those that are familiar with this space know what I mean.
I do suspect that white guilt will push Sen. Obama further up the national power scale than Mr. Patrick has gone here in Boston.
Stay tuned, I'm sure I'll be writing much more about Sen. Obama in the next year or two (Vice Presidential candidate in 2008, anyone?).
About a year ago, Mr. Adrian Walker, a city beat writer for the Boston Globe and an African-American, did a story on a story that Boston Magazine did on the 100 Most Influential People in Boston. The list contained exactly one person of color. Rev. Eugene Rivers placed #97.
I wrote Mr. Walker a little note suggesting, that possibly, the white liberals that dominate the social, economic and political scene in Boston might be racists. I also used an unfortunate characterization about the fortitude of those who covered the story and who did not contemplate my thesis. Mr. Walker used excerpts from my first email in his follow-up story; he received a lot of email, I guess. Mr. Walker and I have exchanged a few very cordial emails on the subject since.
I suggest that if Salt Lake City, UT had a list of the top 100 of similar color, there would most definitely be a story about the white racists in Salt Lake City; please let me know if you disagree.
Anyway, last week, a local white businessman announced he was entering the contest for Governor of Massachusetts as a Democrat. There were already three announced candidates, two white men and an African-American. The African-American, Mr. Deval Patrick (Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Clinton Administration; gee, what else would a Democrat appoint a black man to?; Clinton must take “civil rights” seriously), has been in the race from Day 1. The very early polling upon the entry of the fourth candidate showed Mr. Patrick was within the margin of error of running fourth. Again, I suggest that if the only thing that changed was the party affiliation of these four men then a story would most definitely be written about the racism practiced by those polled. Yet, the idea that some Boston Democrats could practice racism or some Boston Democrats can still hold racist views somehow is beyond consideration for everyone . . . well, except me.
If anyone can explain why the most liberal city in the Country with some of the most loyal, Democratic, African-American voters in the Country can produce just one person of color in its Most Influential Top 100 list and can also see the only African-American candidate for Governor fall to (possibly) last in the early gubernatorial election polls, I’d most definitely love to hear from you. I stand by my assertion that some to many white liberals in the greater Boston area are prepared to speak highly of an African-American (without knowing anything about the person's policy positions!) but they are not so ready to cede any local power to African-Americans.
Next, on the national level, Sen. Barack Obama is “impressive” so say all my white liberal friends (and many, many other people from around the Country). They don’t use any other word! They all got the same script . . . “impressive”. I am curious as to why this sentence is almost always spoken as, “Sen. Barack Obama is impressive for a black man.” Why can’t he just simply be impressive or brilliant? These folks literally go out of their way to bring up the Senator’s name just so they can jump on the “impressive” bandwagon. I’m quite literally under the impression that if a white liberal says, “Obama is impressive” three times at a dinner party they think they get their “I’m not a racist” ticket punched.
I’m also somewhat stunned by the additional impression I’m given by my white liberal friends that they’ve found the only impressive black man (or woman). The over-the-top praise of Sen. Obama is insulting at worst and condescending at best. Professor Mr. Shelby Steele writes an awful lot about “white guilt” and I suspect that that is exactly what is going on here. What a shame. Sen. Obama might have a great message to share and we may never get to hear it because it will be drowned out by the constant recognition of his skin color. If Sen. Obama is brilliant, I say, let’s find out. Let’s let him simply be brilliant. (I subscribe to the Senator’s official web alert page in order to stay informed on the Senator’s positions, by the way.)
Oh, and when Republicans start criticizing the Senator’s policy positions, as they surely will, let’s hope the criticism is not mischaracterized by the agenda pushers . . . I think all those that are familiar with this space know what I mean.
I do suspect that white guilt will push Sen. Obama further up the national power scale than Mr. Patrick has gone here in Boston.
Stay tuned, I'm sure I'll be writing much more about Sen. Obama in the next year or two (Vice Presidential candidate in 2008, anyone?).
posted by Zack at 11:29 AM
3 Comments:
"...the biggest problem facing Mr. Patrick is not his identity, but his ideology. There are a great many independent and Republican voters in this state who feel that Mr. Patrick is little more than the ideological offspring of Michael S. Dukakis, the former governor who is fondly remembered by liberals and fervently reviled by everyone else. Those who remember the late Jerry Williams' criticism of Mr. Dukakis' tenure as governor will obviously be reluctant to vote for someone who seems to have modeled himself after the failed 1988 Presidential candidate..."
http://dpwatch.blogspot.com/2006/05/native-son.html
Clinton appointed Dr. Joycelyn Elders to U.S. Surgeon General so he must care about health care also.
interesting suggestion
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