There has been a spate of conservative columnists who have been chiming in on the reasons for the backlash related to Hillary's comments concerning MLK last week - check out George Will and Charles Krauthammer on the subject - and they bring up some relevant issues. I disagree with Will's assertion that it was a "misstep in a liberal minefield." It was a purely calculated Clintonian comment designed to cleave away white Obama supporters by injecting doubt as to whether a black man can be elected, as I said with much more vulgarity here and here. No misstep. Hillary doesn't misstep, remember? But both Will and Krauthammer talk about the pervasiveness of political correctness that has spread like a virus throughout the country over the last few decades. Hillary is a scion of the feminist movement, and has done much to shackle dialogue regarding such sensitive issues as race and sex. There has always been a conservative opinion that liberal policies such as affirmative action, welfare, etc., do much more harm than good to the black community - the "soft racism of low expectations," - and the danger of being labeled a racist by white liberals, bred on fervent adherence to P.C. dogma, has hampered honest dialogue. Beyond that, it is misguided in the least for white liberals to believe that they are in a better position to judge what the "right way" for blacks to succeed is, better than even the blacks themselves. The dichotomy she was trying to sell was that while MLK was a inspirational speaker and a skilled community organizer - Obama - she is the White Knight who can bring real change for blacks - LBJ. I don't know if I would go to the extremes that conservatives seem to advocate as far as cutting off all aid, or an admission that the white community doesn't owe the black community anything. But I certainly do know that Hillary is in no position to play Nanny and lead blacks to Zion.Friday, January 18, 2008
Hillary the White Knight
There has been a spate of conservative columnists who have been chiming in on the reasons for the backlash related to Hillary's comments concerning MLK last week - check out George Will and Charles Krauthammer on the subject - and they bring up some relevant issues. I disagree with Will's assertion that it was a "misstep in a liberal minefield." It was a purely calculated Clintonian comment designed to cleave away white Obama supporters by injecting doubt as to whether a black man can be elected, as I said with much more vulgarity here and here. No misstep. Hillary doesn't misstep, remember? But both Will and Krauthammer talk about the pervasiveness of political correctness that has spread like a virus throughout the country over the last few decades. Hillary is a scion of the feminist movement, and has done much to shackle dialogue regarding such sensitive issues as race and sex. There has always been a conservative opinion that liberal policies such as affirmative action, welfare, etc., do much more harm than good to the black community - the "soft racism of low expectations," - and the danger of being labeled a racist by white liberals, bred on fervent adherence to P.C. dogma, has hampered honest dialogue. Beyond that, it is misguided in the least for white liberals to believe that they are in a better position to judge what the "right way" for blacks to succeed is, better than even the blacks themselves. The dichotomy she was trying to sell was that while MLK was a inspirational speaker and a skilled community organizer - Obama - she is the White Knight who can bring real change for blacks - LBJ. I don't know if I would go to the extremes that conservatives seem to advocate as far as cutting off all aid, or an admission that the white community doesn't owe the black community anything. But I certainly do know that Hillary is in no position to play Nanny and lead blacks to Zion.
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J, Obama's home church in Chicago, Trinity United Church of Christ, and it's leader, Dr. Jeremiah Wright have been getting some negative media attention of late (i.e. the recent award they gave to Louise Farrakahn, the so-called "bigoted, racist" remarks on their homepage, like their stated allegiance to Africa the motherland, "we're unapoligetically black",etc.) How do you think this will effect the Obama campaign? Will Obama have to cut ties with his church to be a viable national candidate?
Check out my post, the Semiotics of Obama Oratory, and the link to an article detailing this very issue. I certainly don't think he should have to disavow his church, but I agree Reverend Wright has some radical rhetoric. But I think liberation theology is fascinating, and morphing it into a rallying cry for African-Americans is impressive. The article I linked to in the Semiotics post goes into much more detail, but ultimately it seems to suggest that joining the church was more tactical for a man who routinely gets labeled an Uncle Tom. Anyone who would hate on Obama for his church wasn't going to vote for him anyway.
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