Obama Race Speech
March 19, 2008
Look, it’s no secret that I digg Obama, but this speech has just made me gain more respect for the man. It’s not only the media wagging their tongues, but it’s the way he has handled himself and the way that he is tackling the issue of race. He is diplomatic in his approach, yet honest. He’s not skittish about things.
If anyone is going to deal with racial issues in the US, in a fair and honest way, it’ll be Obama. He does not deny the anger that still hangs in the air, and at the same time, he does not overlook the progress that his country has gone through.
He is the man who will “Change the Conversation”…. and if I may be so bold to say – I think that he’ll be America’s Mandela in my opinion.
I strongly recommend you read the article and watch the speech - Chicago Tribune
On the Cafferty File – Jack Cafferty poses the question “Does Obama’s race matter?”. Many interesting comments have come through. While many say that his race doesn’t actually matter, others (obviously) say it does. One commenter said that he has heard people saying “I am not voting for a black guy.” That’s no shocker to me. While Obama’s race matters in terms of the racial history and the racist rut the the world (and the US) finds itself in, it definitely shouldn’t be the focus, his merits and ability to lead is what the focus should be on, and I see that coming through from the people who are joining the conversation on blogs and other news articles.
Someone else also said that they won’t vote for Obama because of the people he associates with. This comment is linked to the statements made be Reverend Wright – the key person who actually pushed Obama to address the issue. They likened it to associating with a Nazi.
For me this is taken out of perspective. There are many people who have a streak of racism that I associate with – both black and white and I’m sure that this person associates with them also. Just about everyone does. If you say this is a lie, you’re a liar. Now if you’re going to paint Obama in the way this person does, you are being unfair.
We work for organisations and belong to groups or organisations where people have in some way or another been influenced by racism. Again, this is a rut that the world is stuck in and to deny it is to run away form reality. I’m not saying everyone is racist – heck no, but there are a lot of ordinary, well meaning, generally good people who are unfortunately influenced by the stereotypes propagated in their communities. This you cannot deny. Now we do not necessarily disassociate ourselves from them, although we do correct them when they do throw out off colour and unfair comments. Just like Obama does. He does not excuse Rev. Wright, instead he calls for all Americans to heal.
To view more comments on this issue, visit The Cafferty File on CNN’s Political Ticker
America’s Mandela…..
You may be right about that on a completely different level. As much as I respect Mandela and the sacrifices he made during Apartheid, his presidency was the DEATH of the ANC and the death of South Africa’s hopes to bring its bottom half out of poverty. Instead, he made to many compromises with South Africa’s wealthy whites in the name of ‘unity’ and the ‘rainbow nation’. The result: nothing has really improved here in the last 14 year.
So, as much as I want to love Obama, if you look at what he’s actually promising to DO, its not much different than Clinton. He’s not even willing to end the war (just wind it down). He’s making too many compromises in order to be elected and he’s going to change very little because he has some strange idea that he can end class struggle by finding a compromise between what the rich want and what the poor want.
So yes, in this respect, he’s just another Mandela. A person with whom everyone places their love and hope, but really just a big disappointment to the poor.
I think it’s unfair that you would completely rule out the good things that Mandela did during his presidency. First of all, it was a very difficult time and the major thing that he was trying to avoid, above all – was a civil war in South Africa – and that was a major achievement and you can thank your lucky stars for that! Now I’m not saying some of your points aren’t valid, they are – but you cannot overlook this crucial aspect. He made sure that racial tolerance existed even though we’d come through an extremely difficult time. So were the people wrong in putting their trust in him in that respect? I say no – he brought hope and that hope was realised through the fact that SA did not have a civil war and for the very fact that racial intergration was successful. Look, I’m not saying things are perfect, because they sure as hell aren’t – but we are a young democracy and we’ve come a long way in a short space of time – the US has had the racial intergration for much longer but things are still sticky – it is a rut that the whole world is stuck in… Mandela isn’t God – and men must change their own attitudes – but he did a lot to contribute towards just that.
I’m not completely ruling him out. However, claiming that he helped prevent a civil war depends on how you look at it. Many would say that there is a civil war in South Africa as we speak. It may not be the kind of civil war you are talking about. However, when 50% of the population are left behind despite all the promises of the freedom charter, the anc and Mandela himself, then I would venture to say that yes there is a war going on against the poor. The fact that the government is planning the eviction of hundreds of thousands of SA’s poorest residents from the ’slums’ is proof of this. So if you ask many poor people what they think, they would say there is a war going on and things aren’t really any better than apartheid. Slowly South African’s are realizing that ‘democracy’ is not a real democracy and just a smokescreen for continued oppression. And Mandela helped acheive this through his presidency.