ReillyT
Senior Member
Nice edit.
I found the need to edit because my original response was just in answer to your question, and I was reasonably sure it would be misconstrued if I didn't qualify it.
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Nice edit.
Ravir...Black churches that talk about issues tend to talk about racial issues. Racial issues, for some reason, are quite important to most blacks. Being on the receiving end of discrimination isn't fun, and when one is, one tends to get emotional about it.
The point is succeeding in a country which is racist against you, banding together is sometimes the only way to thrive. Banding together by race is seen as racist in mainstream America. Obama wouldn't have had to deal issues like Wright. Trinity United is the Church in Chicago for the black elite. They are businessmen, politicians, the black power players in Chicago. Show me a Church of white power players, or mixed power players that encorporates race in America. None do.
Further look at the emphasis on his middle name. Look at the lies being spread that he is Muslim. He wasn't helped in this campaign because he was black, it very nearly destroyed him.
Well, there is an element of truth to what she says, but she generalizes and simplifies the issue to such an extent that the argument ceases to be true as a whole. It is certainly true that being black helps Obama electorally among certain populations, namely blacks and some young whites. However, being black hurts him among other populations and tends to drown out his message as the discussion becomes about racial politics (thanks Geralidine).
Clinton gets many of the same benefits and difficulties for being a woman. It certainly helps her among certain groups and hurts her among others. Ferraro doesn't seem to get this fact and tends to qualify Obama's earned successes and appeal merely as the result of being black, which is ludicrous.
I hardly think you can blame Ferraro for any racial politics in the race, after all, Obama's own website talks about his accomplishments as tied to his skin color. And Ferraro made the same comments about gender toward herself when she was a VP candidate. I don't recall her saying his appeal was merely the result of being black.
Healing the wounds of Democrats' sexism - The Boston GlobeAs for Reagan Democrats, how Clinton was treated is not their issue. They are more concerned with how they have been treated. Since March, when I was accused of being racist for a statement I made about the influence of blacks on Obama's historic campaign, people have been stopping me to express a common sentiment: If you're white you can't open your mouth without being accused of being racist. They see Obama's playing the race card throughout the campaign and no one calling him for it as frightening. They're not upset with Obama because he's black; they're upset because they don't expect to be treated fairly because they're white. It's not racism that is driving them, it's racial resentment. And that is enforced because they don't believe he understands them and their problems. That when he said in South Carolina after his victory "Our Time Has Come" they believe he is telling them that their time has passed.
I hardly think you can blame Ferraro for any racial politics in the race, after all, Obama's own website talks about his accomplishments as tied to his skin color. And Ferraro made the same comments about gender toward herself when she was a VP candidate. I don't recall her saying his appeal was merely the result of being black.
Healing the wounds of Democrats' sexism - The Boston GlobeWhom he chooses for his vice president makes no difference to them. That he is pro-choice means little. Learning more about his bio doesn't do it. They don't identify with someone who has gone to Columbia and Harvard Law School and is married to a Princeton-Harvard Law graduate. His experience with an educated single mother and being raised by middle class grandparents is not something they can empathize with. They may lack a formal higher education, but they're not stupid. What they're waiting for is assurance that an Obama administration won't leave them behind.
Reilly, I'm not going to defend everything she's said since. I don't like her myself, I was just pointing out that her initial comment was true. If you honestly don't think that the ability for Dems to vote for a credible candidate that is black helped Obama then I guess we'll never agree on much at all.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraldine_Ferraro#2008_presidential_campaign_involvementIf Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.
If Obama were a black or white woman with a similar amount of experience, chances are slim and none that she'd have made it past the first primary. If he were a white man, with a similar amount of experience, he probably wouldn't have made it further than Edwards did. I think that is what she meant. And yes, Clinton enjoyed the same benefit for being a woman. In the Democratic party, being a credible minority counts for something.
There's a reason for that. Religion has nothing to do with race, nor should it.
In the Democratic primaries, it certainly did not nearly destroy him. I do see your point though, it really does appear that he joined the church to get ahead. Which is fine, but at the same time, he used them. And that was his choice, no one else's.
If Obama were a black or white woman with a similar amount of experience, chances are slim and none that she'd have made it past the first primary. If he were a white man, with a similar amount of experience, he probably wouldn't have made it further than Edwards did. I think that is what she meant. And yes, Clinton enjoyed the same benefit for being a woman. In the Democratic party, being a credible minority counts for something.
Yeah, it counts for getting votes based on nothing BUT minority status. Heaven forbid you choose the best qualified candidate.
You have no idea why he joined the church.
Yeah, it counts for getting votes based on nothing BUT minority status. Heaven forbid you choose the best qualified candidate.
What is she saying when she says "if Obama was a white man?"