As many people have said, this is an exciting time. We have, for the first time in our history, both a black candidate and a woman candidate who have a very real chance of ascending to one of the, if not the most, powerful leadership roles in the entire world. Given that blacks were brought into this country as slaves and in many ways still suffer the lingering aftereffects of that tragic past, and that women of all colors have been treated as subordinates to their male counterparts since the beginnings of humankind, it's almost hard to believe that our country has progressed to the point where Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton can sit atop the Democratic Party and do battle to be the favored candidate to win the White House in November of this year.
To this point, the level of campaigning, which as politics are wont to do, can turn quite nasty, has remained relatively civil between the two. It's also been observed that those in opposition to the Democratic Party have been, in general, far more critical of Senator Clinton than of Senator Obama, some citing that perhaps many are afraid of being accused of racism when attacking Obama, but are not so much concerned that they may be labeled sexist if they attack Senator Clinton.
Is this a sign that indeed, sexism is more tolerable in today's society than is racism? I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised. As I've said above, sexism has in one way, shape, or form, been a part of human culture since the beginnings of human society. But that in no way diminishes the ongoing undercurrent of racism still rampant in this country, and just because it is no longer kosher to be upfront about such feelings, particularly in a pseudo-sanitized society where political correctness hangs over every public comment made like an ever-present guillotine ready to pass sentence on anyone who dares disturb the tense quietness of things thought but not dare said. Hatred is something that, logical or not, can have levels. Yes I hate group A, but if I hate group B worse, I'll gladly align myself with group A as the "lesser of two evils". And it seems that there are those would rather have a black man in the White House than to ever allow a woman to sit upon that vaulted throne.
But the racism is still there, and Barack Obama is still a black man. Yes, his mother was white, but anyone who happens to be blessed with the extra bit of melanin in their skin and can trace their ancestral background to the continent of Africa knows that "one drop will do it." Some deny it, while others assert that having even a few non-black genes in your blood stream makes you anything but black. But if you've grown up black, and know the history of blacks in this country, you know that at the end of the day the "amount of black" in you is inconsequential. When push comes to shove, and the issue of race becomes the 50 million pound elephant in the room, he will be considered just another black man, regardless of how greatly he rises above such a simplistic definition. And that's what worries me most.
Senator Obama is receiving unprecedented support, having raised a record 55 million campaign dollars in this past February alone. The mudslinging has been minimal, though comments by people such as radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who says a Presidential ticket of Obama and Clinton "doesn't have a prayer" is a direct spitting in the face of the progress that has been made in this country, and seems to indicate his utter dismissal of the blacks and women who would likely throw their support into such a "dream ticket" as many have dubbed it. And Representative Steve King's recent comments that Senator Obama's middle name, "Hussein," will have Al-Qaeda terrorists "dancing in the streets" is one of the most racially and religiously offensive comments I've ever heard uttered during a political campaign.
I'm afraid that at some point, perhaps when the once distant dream of a "colored man" in the White House comes true, the bubble will burst and the fantasy will lose its luster. This country and this world are facing some of the greatest political, social, and economic challenges ever to threaten society, and it'll take far more than Obama's bright new ideas and the promises that accompany them to solve them all. What happens when the war in Iraq doesn't magically come to an end, or when taxes aren't eradicated, or people still suffer from a flawed healthcare system that won't transform overnight into one in which everyone is cared for to the fullest extent of medical science? Barack Obama is a great hope and promise, and a true symbol of how far this country has come in overcoming the racist foundation upon which it was built. Obama is a man, a brilliant man, a charming man, a man who wears the mantle of leadership with a welcoming and knowing smile. But still, he's just a man. He, along with Senator Hillary Clinton, are the cracks in the old, outdated armor, the weakening of the status quo and the ignition of a new era in U.S. history. When the world doesn't transform overnight, and the problems that most concern us in our everyday lives persist, what then?
Will we give Obama a fair chance to do what he can within the time that he's given? Or will the latent racism that many have managed to put in check resurface? Will the magical chariot turn back into a pumpkin and the miraculous leader Obama suddenly become just another colored man?
I hope that we have grown beyond such treachery, such false support in which the knife is ever poised behind our backs waiting to strike as soon as the sun shines a little less bright than we expected. But having seen how society has reveled in the tribulations of Hollywood celebrities, and have almost gleefully denounced athletes who have fallen from the lofty hero status that they never asked to be placed in the first place, I'm afraid that, should Barack Obama become the next President of these United States, it's then that the true war really begins.
- GBB
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