Obama’s Race Against Race
Roger Clegg worries that despite all his talk of rejecting identity politics, a President Obama would "embrace racial preferences and set-asides, and reject efforts to promote assimilation."
What should someone who is passionate about E pluribus unum–who believes it is essential for America’s future that race have no place, that what Americans have in common must be embraced more than our diversity–think of Senator Obama’s candidacy?
First and foremost, the fact that an African-American candidate should be so popular, and should run a campaign that is racially undivisive and positive, is wonderful. Obama has rejected identity politics; true, he had to if he was to succeed; still, he did. The whites and other nonblacks voting for him have as well; his black supporters may not have, but it’s unrealistic to expect them to ignore Obama’s race, and he has not run as “their” candidate.
This does not mean, incidentally, that Geraldine Ferraro was incorrect in her observation that, were he not black, he would not be the Democratic front-runner.
It is almost inconceivable that a white male who, a little more than three years ago, was a state legislator with no national or international credentials, would–by dint of speechmaking ability alone–be poised to win his party’s nomination. But the point is that Obama did not ask for this adulation because of his race, even if race in part explains it.
Indeed, the fact that Obama has been so successful undercuts, perhaps decisively, the premise of the whole grievance industry: that America is racist, that black people cannot succeed, and that the ideal of E pluribus unum is an unrealistic one for the foreseeable future. Instead, the Obama candidacy shows that, for all with eyes to see, the future is now.
I’m nervous, though, about the fact that the candidate is a Democrat, and beholden to a party and special interests whose stock in trade is the identity politics and grievance mongering that are anathema to E pluribus unum. And it is not all clear that, once president, Obama himself will really want to be other than the conventional liberal that, when all is said and done, he is–meaning that he will embrace racial preferences and set-asides, and reject efforts to promote assimilation.
But the dynamics of the campaign will, precisely because Obama (an African American and the son of an immigrant) is a candidate, force discussion of what E pluribus unum means in 2008. The issue will be even harder to ignore given the fact that referenda banning racial preferences will probably be on the ballot in five states (Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma), so that the candidates will be asked about the issue there, if nowhere else; and given the fact that immigration is much on voters’ minds as well this year.
If these issues are discussed, the anti-preference/pro-assimilation side wins. The overwhelming majority of Americans, of all races, dislike racial preferences and believe in E pluribus unum. Obama will know that, if he equivocates while John McCain is insisting on equal treatment and assimilation, then he will lose. It may not be fair if voters are especially nervous about how an African-American named Barack Hussein Obama comes down on these issues, but life’s not fair.
Senator Obama, an intelligent man, understands this. He has already indicated in his campaign that he is not comfortable endorsing racial preferences–that he would much prefer to endorse wealth-based, rather than race-based, affirmative action. He has conceded that his own daughters don’t deserve preferential treatment because of their skin color, and of course he is right.
If he’s really intelligent, he will do preemptively what many commentators, across the political spectrum –Mickey Kaus, Richard Kahlenberg, Terry Eastland– have urged him to do: announce his opposition to racial preferences, and urge that instead the poor and disadvantaged, but of all colors, be the focus of remedial programs. And he will acknowledge that it is the principle of E pluribus unum, and not identity politics, that best lights the way to success for all immigrants and their children, as indeed it has for him.
P.S. As more comes out about Senator Obama’s ties to his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright-that is, that those ties are closer and the pastor’s views more divisive than most folks had known up to now-the more sense it makes for Obama to reassure voters that he does indeed reject identity politics and policies that divide rather than unite Americans. In fact, it becomes not only desirable, but essential.
Roger Clegg is president of the Center for Equal Opportunity in Falls Church, Virginia.
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28 Comments
1. Amos:Obama’s racial preferences are not essential, but political. And these preferences leave no doubt. We have in Obama a sympathizer of Islamofascist and communist regimes, who hates, like his guru Rev. Jeremiah Wright, democracy in general and American Democracy in particular. All the rest is secondary.
Mar 18, 2008 - 5:41 am 2. RE:The number of of people that buy into false hope and blatant fraud is cause for dismay – and alarm.
But then again, its nothing new – Plato was on to it a couple millennium ago. His pessimism of pure democracy is not without merit.
There is nothing new in the world.
Obama is just the most recent fraud.
Mar 18, 2008 - 6:08 am 3. William:So let’s see…..he’s in the party that likes this fire going. He’s been getting mentored from James Wright that loves to keep the fire HOT… his wife certainly likes it hot.
Mar 18, 2008 - 6:35 am 4. Dark Helmet:Does it really matter what B.H.Obama says? We need to put the medias feet to this fire. Even they know how fraudulent he is.
First things first.
obama is no more black than he is white. Regardless of what anyone says, that is a fact.
A continent is certainly not a race. An African/American is a person born in Africa who has come to America. If you want unity, stop promoting being separate. We are “of the many, one”. Place nothing else in front of being an American and nothing else will come between us.
If you so called journalists can’t deal with basics, how in the world do you ever expect to handle anything that is complicated?
Mar 18, 2008 - 8:34 am 5. sharinlite:The description in the very first paragraph is precisely why most Americans will not be able to support Obama. All of us just need to look back 20 years and see what it is we have been supporters of to see why Wright is Obama “main” man. Hate sells in many of these churches and certain most definitely in the Uber lefties’ heart.
Mar 18, 2008 - 8:59 am 6. Sheikh:Finally, finally, finally!
I am finally happy and relieved to hear an unbiased, and incisive voice on CNN — Heidi Collins.
Way to go Heidi!!
Thanks for keeping them straight and cutting to the chase on what the real issue Obama has on the race situation. Yes, he can’t choose who his family members are, but he CAN choose who is to be his pastor of 20 years — and he chose to have an UN-American pastor for the last 20 years feeding him this poison.
I only happened to catch Heidi Collins’s unbiased voice and questions because I am home during the day today.
Usually, I have to endure the Obama grovelers on the CNN evening political shows.
Let’s invite and see more of Heidi Collins on the political shows so we can balance things up a bit.
Mar 18, 2008 - 9:47 am 7. dan:Obama’s popularity proves the image of a racially divided, divisive country is a false and manipulative one. Period. Perhaps that’s why Obama was basically arguing today that we ought to look past racial politics to the “real villains:” the corporations who, like, ruin lives man, just for a Profit.
The basic secret of the Obama campaign is that any PR consultant would know the following: of course you, a black man, don’t have to mention race – the media will do it for you!
Plus a nice baritone sermonizing in populist civil rights terms. C’mon – civil rights is pretty much the only thing we Americans learn about our history anymore anyway. Civil rights, race/slavery, and some vague gestures about the Founding Fathers and the Revolution. Obama has all that going for him before he even opens his mouth. All he has to do is not talk like Jesse Jackson – a thick-tongued rhyming idiot – and Voila! I give you the 2008 presidential nominee for the Democratic Party, free.
Mar 18, 2008 - 10:46 am 8. regmax:WOW !!!
Here we are playing this loop more than the one with the planes hitting the towers . And it has been just as effective .
White pastors have been preaching hate since those boats landed on the rock .
Romney has belonged to the racist mormons since he was born prob . Rev cunningham said his piece while endorsing Mcain . And the Republican party have funded Bob Jones U from day 1 ….
where’s the loops for them ????
Someone on here raised the question of empty hope . After the last 7 + years of this admins , everything that makes sense looks good .
Oh yeah , and the surge IS REALLY working … LOL Right
Mar 18, 2008 - 10:50 am 9. tanstaafl:…it is the principle of E pluribus unum, and not identity politics, that best lights the way to success for all immigrants and their children, as indeed it has for him.
Roger that.
I’ve never seen “identity politics” more pervasive and prevalent in the dialogue and in American politics than in these times.
Even in the era of the race riots and nascent feminism, we didn’t seem as stupid as we are today, endlessly harping on a seemingly unlimited stream of isms.
My best guess is that identity politics is being nurtured and promulgated in educational institutions, especially universities.
Completely tedious, and a very large step backwards in the evolution of an enlightened human mind.
Mar 18, 2008 - 10:51 am 10. Greg Turner:I’m glad Mr. Obama was honest about his feelings for his pastor. He said that Mr. Wright is like family, like his grandmother who said things that made him cringe. I haven’t seen any tapes of his white grandmother preaching white liberation theology. His honest support for Rev. Wright is good for his character but only proves the fact that he has very poor judgment regarding Black Liberation Theology. Mr. Obama wants us make him President of the United States but at the same time support his heartfelt desire to attend a self-described black separatist church. This completely contradicts his all inclusive message on the campaign trail. Mr. Obama can’t have it both ways, all inclusive or black separatist on Sundays. He has clearly chosen to support his controversial church with it’s divisive theology and social commentary.
Mar 18, 2008 - 11:11 am 11. Herschel Smith:Look, Obama isn’t “beholden to a party” as if he would like to do one thing while his party would force him to do another. He is the most liberal Senator in the Senate. He is a Marxist.
Obama has been shown to be nothing more than an advocate of warmed over socialism who spews class warfare rhetoric. Let’s be thankful that all of this came to light so that America can make an informed decision. Some will decide to go with Obama because they too believe in class warfare. To them, it’s all about “show me the money.”
http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/03/17/obama-and-the-sergeant-major-of-the-marine-corps/
Mar 18, 2008 - 11:18 am 12. Smilely:I am amazed at some of these comments. I am a white man who served his country in the military
I have white friends who consistly talked about and say racist and hateful remarks about the black soldiers who fought and died for this country These people are now in positions of authority and yet are still my friends, but I hold a different veiws as they do. So This man can not maintain his friendship with the Rev, but hold differents views. Like all yours friends share that 1950 attitudes you hold.
Mar 18, 2008 - 5:11 pm 13. Ennis:“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.
I was brought up to do what MLK said-to judge people by their character. I find Barak Obama’s character to be highly deficient.
He can certainly give eloquent speeches that are full of catchy phrases but the more I see and learn about the man and of his positions on the issues the more I think that he would be a disaster as a president. He is a racist, a Marxist, an active supporter of Islamofascism and a person who loathes the United States. His policies read more like Soviet five year plans then anything else. His ideas on how things “should be” are Orwellian-complete with the “two minute hate”. His “foreign policy” scares even the leftists in Europe and has diplomats admitting in private that if Obama becomes president they know they will soon be wishing for the “good old days” when George W. Bush was president.
Another thing I find highly disturbing is “the company he keeps”. It reads like a who’s who of anti American transnationalists, anarchists, old ‘60 radicals from the Weathermen, SDS and race warriors like Jeremiah Wright and the Black Panthers.
No, I will not vote for Barak Obama anymore then I would vote for David Duke. You see, it isn’t the color of their skin but the content of their characters that is the deciding factor here. Sorry if some of you do not like the fact that will not turn a blind eye to the content of Barak Obama’s character and vote for him based on his skin color.
Mar 19, 2008 - 7:24 am 14. Joe4657:Smilely – Your comparison fails simply because U are not a US senator running for President of the United states. And if you were we would have every right to call in question ur moral judgement.
Mar 19, 2008 - 7:41 am 15. william:It is not for me as a white man to draw the line as to what are the permissible levels of hostility that blacks should feel for whites, but shouldn’t the pastor draw that line and not expand it? And shouldn’t a US Senator feel that there is line beyond which it is forbidden to go? The Senator will never speak out against quotas any more than the pastor would speak out against the sins of, say, Robert Mugabe. Afrocentric values consider apartheid a greater sin than genocide.
Mar 19, 2008 - 7:47 am 16. legion:Obama can not renounce racial preferences, black liberation hate theology, nor promote class-based rather than race-based remediation.
His viability as a candidate rests on that 80-90% black vote and 40% white lefty/liberal vote (plus the votes of leftist minded hispanics and asians).
Instead of asking Obama to stop the double-talk and start making sense, it would be better for his more rational supporters to wake up and smell the Obamaroma.
As one of my favorite bloggers keeps saying: Mr. Obama-Jangles, Dance!
Mar 19, 2008 - 7:57 am 17. Dan:You know, I hear this all the time:
“It is almost inconceivable that a white male who, a little more than three years ago, was a state legislator with no national or international credentials, would-by dint of speechmaking ability alone-be poised to win his party’s nomination.”
It leads me to ask, isn’t it MORE inconceivable that a BLACK male, who, a little more than three years ago, was a state legislator with no national or international credentials, would-by dint of speechmaking ability alone-be poised to win his party’s nomination?
Mar 19, 2008 - 8:26 am 18. James Malcolm:The above comments are thoughtful and appreciated.
My question is this.
What did Obama do to bring healing to his church. In twenty years as a bright member of the congregation and as one close to the pastor, did he speak up, did he promote understanding, what did he do to unite people? He certainly had no affect on his Pastor.
If he did accomplish nothing there, why should we expect him to accomplish anything as President?
My guess is that he is a selective opportunist. He needed that constituency while in Chicago. He needs a different constituency now.
Mar 19, 2008 - 8:51 am 19. Paul A'Barge:If he’s really intelligent, he will do preemptively what many commentators, across the political spectrum -Mickey Kaus, Richard Kahlenberg, Terry Eastland- have urged him to do
Big IF. This man for years has taken his two little girls to church and exposed them to the most vile hate mongery one can imagine.
Do you consider that a man that would do this would be fit to be President of the USA?
Do you consider a man who would do this to be intelligent?
Mar 19, 2008 - 10:22 am 20. James:“It may not be fair if voters are especially nervous about how an African-American named Barack Hussein Obama comes down on these issues, but life’s not fair.”
Thanks for recognizing this. I bristle each time I get painted into the race questions by either blacks or whites, but the game is the game.
Mar 19, 2008 - 10:48 am 21. Max:It’s funny, yesterday I thought that his speech would quell this controversy, but it’s actually stirred-up a lot of criticism in outlets that you would expect to be sympathetic to his argument.
I have the suspicion that the equivalency he’d drawn between Wright and his grandmother, and repeated jabs at Geraldine Ferraro have stuck with people.
It’s apparent that what Obama is proposing is really just the same old race politics, promoted in more moderate tones, and labeled as Unity. This controversy has forced him to the ground, and I think that it’s going to be difficult for him to recapture the moral status that he’d been given to this point.
Mar 19, 2008 - 11:30 am 22. Dark Helmet:obama is no more black than he is white, it doesn’t matter, he is dishonest about who and what he is. It is ironic that everyone is so worried about a man with islam influence when his pastor is the real America hater. Anyone ever think that reverse discrimination is something we should all do?
Mar 19, 2008 - 7:57 pm 23. bandit:Leg – exactly right – this is the issue with identity politics as practiced by the Dems. They need to create a coalition of special interest/single issue voters to win. It fences them into positions that they maybe don’t even believe in but have to support – it’s not particularly appealing but it is what it is.
Mar 20, 2008 - 6:32 am 24. Sue,Texas:The hate sounds in this blog is troubling. Why is this school taking so long to address these students behavior? BH Obama will be our next president, deal with it and get educated.
Mar 28, 2008 - 4:49 pm 25. Whyputaname:Sue,From Texas; The tone that you just used is not exactly good either. Maybe that is one reason I think most people are turned-off.
I had read a post on another forum that said that Obama is going to be president and there is nothing that anyone can do about it.
My answer was….yes there is something I can do about it…not vote for him!
I call it arrogance, not a good thing!
I have been through 6 presidents that I can remember, and to me I have heard it all before….nothing but a bunch of BS!
Obama is not any different than most that have ran for office. He just spins it a different way. But using different quotes out of history.
One quote; driving a bus into a ditch….Jon Stewart in a interview 2004.
The Hope & Change….Bill Clinton 1992 campaign. But Bill probably got it from someone else in history.
Bamboozle….Malcolm X. some place in the 60’s
Then there is the Martin L King quotes.
Roosevelt quotes
This column is a good read, and I don’t see anything wrong with it.
If the excuse for Rev. Wright is because he came from 50′ & 60’s than why doesn’t that work for Ms. Ferraro considering she came from that time as well. I think she was one of the first women politicians back then.
Mar 28, 2008 - 9:22 pm 26. breanna:Thank you all so much for the additional insight into Sen. Obama. It still occurs to me, however, that the people who have yet to cast thier vote, are still in the dark. I know that many have heard about the Wright contraversy but the polls say that it wasnt the big punch that the media was hoping it was. If this does not sway people, then Sen. Obama may indeed become the President. If this happens, I will be afraid…very afraid.
Mar 29, 2008 - 8:46 am 27. Joe VA:Trust me media is wrong this time many people are concerned and troubled by Wright’s contraversy stay tuned Obama is going down.
Mar 29, 2008 - 11:09 am 28. rich:the white media can’t get anything on obam. so the next best soulution is his pastor. the are not the same person as the media would like you to belive. but it seems as if the want obama to disassociate himself with anything that seems too (black) the rev the minister or whoever. it a game. but i the black community knows the difference between playing a game and real life. real life is gas prices morgages, food prices. but who want’s to talk about that. ask yourself white media. are you so predjudice that you ruin this country’s chance to get someone in the oval office to really fix these problems
May 1, 2008 - 7:54 am