What do you all think will be the impact on racism of having our first African-American president?
Secondarily, do you feel like it will be any easier to have some of these discussions about our experiences on the trip, now that the build up to the election is over?
My thoughts:
I don't know that having a black president will necessarily translate into decreased racism, just more tolerant language, maybe more tolerance, which I take to be simply ignoring the underlying issue. I think it will require us to be just as diligent and intentional as when there was a white president, maybe even more because now people can point to a black president and say "Hey racism must be dead. I don't have to deal with the issue anymore." I do believe however that it will get more of the issues out on the table if we allow it and don't sweep it under the rug.
I feel like what I learned in Chicago can now come out with out ruffling as many political feathers because what has been done has been done.
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5 comments:
frank i just got on to ask about the same thing. i have heard 2 times already today how, "people can't say america is racist anymore because we have a black president." even though i feel like that is naive, i agree with you that it will be now harder to discuss issues with such, "concrete" evidence.
"concrete" being as sarcastic as possible
Johnny,
Yeah, I agree with you. Most of the coverage after the election caused in me a mix of tearful joy and frustration.
You see, I can't possibly imagine what it is like to be an african-american finally for the first time seeing a black man as president. I tear up regularly thinking about that.
What frustrates me are the responses from both conservative and liberal whites.
Conservative: "I don't understand why we are talking so much about race after the election. If people voted for Obama because he is black, that is rediculous. Racism doesn't exist, so why is this a big deal. We should all color blind."
Liberal: "This proves once and for all the this country is no longer tied to bigotry and racism. We have finally made it. It has be a cleansing event. We have achieved Martin Luther King's dream."
I agree that the election of Barack Obama has been so important. The impact on young African-Americans at Crown Elementary School who can say, "I want to be president." Is a huge deal.
However, I think that it will change the conversation about Race forever, it will be "evidence" that our country has finally overcome racism. Basically white people now have a way of dealing with their guilt, their neurotic tendencies, having been part of and received benefits from being the oppressive majority. Now that we whites can spend hours looking at happy crying black faces on MSNBC, we are ready to put the conversation behind us and live in a diverse, middle-class white cultured melting pot that ignores how our history effect us still today, how america became the superpower that it is, and how the majority of our country lives racially divide with systematic racism allowing one African-American to rise in leadership but that leaves millions fighting still against the system.
Nowhere was the value of dismissing race as an issue more prevalent then in McCain's very gracious concession speech.
"America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.
Let there be no reason now ... Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth."
No reason to cherish their citizenship,? Is that code for let no African-American or minority that they can't pull-themselves up by their bootstraps, or say that racism exists in our country.
Again, why are we the "greatest country in the world". Because we built our power on the backs of Slaves, and continue to do so on he backs of immigrants and the poor of this world.
I love American and our ideals, however we must realize that "the tragedy of our public life in america is that we have tried to beyond a history of racial injustice without accounting for how race made us who we are as a nation."
Sorry to be so fiery, this is the first I have been able to write about this.
*quote from "Free to Be Bound" -Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove - comment from noel
Yeah, I heard an infuriating comment the other day: "We all know Obama was elected just because he's black." Fallacious. I think it's pretty obvious this country is done with Republicans for a while.
And even if it was the sole reason Obama was elected, wouldn't the black community deserve it?
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