Newsweek asks how black people will take an Obama loss. Â When I’m joking, I say that day after the election will be like a few million people went to see Mississippi Burning and Rosewood as a double feature, saw it all together in the world’s largest hypothetical multiplex, then filed out and went to work. Â It might be best not to ask what’s wrong. Â You’ll know, and you’d prefer to not have to be told. Â Trust me on that one.
I’m joking, of course. Â Yep.
Anyway, here’s a quick synopsis of what my concern would be from an Obama loss — if this black person can’t win, what black person can?
This is the most impressive politician of my lifetime (short, but that’s still the last seven elections). Â Regardless of how you feel about Obama’s politics — his and mine are not the same — you have to acknowledge that he’s a bad, bad man. Â And typically, the baddest man in an election wins. Â It’s a popularity contest, and Obama just blows John McCain off any stage they share. Â There’s no question who’s the biggest star.
Now, add to that the mistakes of the current administration, and the fact that the party of an administration as bad as this one tends to pay the price.
Tell me now — if this black man doesn’t win, which one has a prayer?
For me, what happens in this election isn’t gonna have me too disappointed about the short term. Â There’s but so much change Obama wants to make, and far less that he’ll be able to accomplish. Â That’s just this game, and I understand that.
But if a man with a pair of Ivy League degrees, a towering persona and a staggering resume can’t beat a 72 year-old man whose paired with the least qualified national election candidate in the history of this country, then I will confidently say that there will not be a black President before I die.
I’ll get over ’08, if it comes down to that. Â I’m not sure about the elections that will follow.
17 thoughts on “If Obama Loses”
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Bo,
You can throw in a couple of showings of Roots and that scene from Crash where the cop feels up Terrance Howard’s wife. Black folk will be up in arms and probably will be so disappointed in the system that they may really feel like their vote doesn’t count. And another thing…black folk may also second guess all the white supporters of Obama and possibly think that they might’ve changed their minds in the voting booth when they realized who they were voting for. Just a thought from the skeptic in me.
Bo: This is our response to the Newsweek piece posted yesterday —
Colleagues: The question du jour, if not of the century, is why this article was necessary to begin with? In the aftermath of an extraordinary and world acknowledged win on the podium by Senator Obama against Senator McCain, I see these type articles as pandering to racist inclinations on both sides of the cultural divide. As a former Newsweek correspondent having a thorough understanding of its internal mechanisms relative to content development, I must admit I knew it was coming. Moreover, it has nothing to do with being “A search for the version of the story closest to the truth” in a Woodward-esque sense, and everything to do with maintaining the societal status quo. Assuming this post passes the “appropriateness” litmus test applied to varying degrees within this medium, I’d like to inject elements of “visioning” processes as developed by the RAND Corporation within the historical time-frame and context that saw the passage of the National Security Act of 1947. Designed to help the Department of Defense “think the unthinkable” (i.e., the “Nuclear Winter” aftermath of an atomic weaponry exchange as postulated by Dr. Carl Sagan, et al.) and to test assumptions that could lead to an entirely different outcome other than those one might expect, visioning is more than useful in potentially bringing about a change, even radical change, within the human psyche. The assumptions that we wish to challenge here range from relatively benign to significant: 1. The assumption that the AP Style Book is correct to recommend the use of a lower case “b” and “w” when using black and white to identify race. Logic dictates that used thusly, the words become pro-nouns and should therefore be capitalized. (I welcome discussion here) 2. The assumption that it is appropriate to continue the use of language designed to trivialize, marginalize and render this side of insignificant the experience and existence of American Blacks as expressed by the terms “minority”, “Black leaders” and “Black community” 3. The assumption that Blacks are monolithic in their thinking –as this article overwhelmingly implies — and will only consider “color of skin” as opposed to “content of character” when making decisions at this level of import and impact 4. The assumption that Blacks represent a mere 12.3% of the populace as concluded by the 2000 census, despite protests from within the United States Census Bureau itself relative to questionable population count methodologies deployed or not deployed, including the elimination of statistical sampling. This number (12.3%) is in abject denial of readily available census data going back to the first Jefferson directed count of 1790, which indicated a Black population representation of 19.3%, and flies in the face of accepted demographic data gathering practice, not the least of which is the maxim stating that every 90 years, barring pestilence, war or natural disaster, a given segment of the population will quadruple. It is of profound interest that the 1870 census indicated zero population growth for Blacks just 5 years after the end of the Civil War, and the presumed end of breeding slaves to enhance profit (students of history will find the exchange between President Lincoln and the Director of the Census in the midst of the war intriguing, if not shocking, as the President sought to end the conflict by paying off the slave owners; among other strategies). http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/03322287%20no121-130ch08.pdf (page 126 re: 1870 census) By the 1920 census, the number was 9.9%, rose to 10.5% by 1960, and 11.1 by 1970. And there, in utter defiance of accepted census counting techniques and the most basic presumptions, even absolutes, as applied to humanity’s overwhelming desire to perpetuate itself, it sat… Moreover, in what can be considered the ultimate insult to a segment of the population on whose backs this nation was inarguably built, a self fulfilling prophecy (based on appalling deviations from established, again, demographic data gathering process along with historically indisputable indications of willful undercount and count of non-Blacks here illegally) designed to neuter observable sociological advances in education, professional position avails, overall entry into the economic mainstream, and above all, respect and dignity, was “confirmed” by the 2000 Cenus: Hispanics were deemed as the new “largest minority”. The foregoing thus begs the question: “What is the actual population representation of Black Americans?” Answer: According to industry colleagues within the marketing and advertising sector, along with observations by one of the country’s 70 woman labor historians, that number is closer to 33% (the significant new European migration begun in earnest as a result of the Irish Potato Famine –1845-1850 — and falling off with the outbreak of World War I in 1914 notwithstanding) which would more accurately assign status to Blacks as the second largest majority. We need not dwell on the profound implications of this assertion –if found to be true — in a variety of areas; inclusive of the election process. 5. The assumption that purity of race exists within this country or anywhere else on the planet as would be necessary to lend credence to the notion of racial/ethnic superiority and justification for the great cultural divide between Black and White Americans. I leave it up to fellow Newsweek readers to test these assumptions using available historical demographic, psychographic and social analytics data. Media and The Presidential Race 2008 In attempting to dissect U.S media reporting methodologies, which have been surreptitiously subjected to the overly simplistic assessment of leaning either “left” and “right” journalistically, I submit that there are significant indications of race and gender bias as a matter of course, and most profoundly discernible when potentially seismic change to the racial status quo emerges. The Obama Presidential bid, and reportage associated therewith, clearly falls into this category. In line with the above assertions, I recommend to Newsweek readership an excellent dissertation by Dr. Sonja Stokes-Gildon, produced to complete Wayne State University Doctoral program requirements: What I’ve attempted to do here is change or modify commonly held assumptions and beliefs to be more reflective of the current and historical realities, without which there can be no real progress in resolving age-old racial/ethnic/cultural conflict among humans who are indeed, of one race…
Bo,
First let me say that I’m just a young white guy, so I can’t really speak on this, which is why I’m asking you here, in this forum. I’ve heard a lot of talk around the following, and would love to hear your opinion. What do you make of the whole argument from some black people that Obama “isn’t black enough”?
Patrick, I’ve heard white peopel talk about that idea more than black people. Now, I’ve heard people question Obama’s willingness to directly associate himself with blackness, but that’s a different discussion.
Come with me down Fayetteville St. in Durham to see all the cats selling Obama t-shirts in the hood. Check out his beautiful, big booty wife with the middle name “LaVaughn.” Trust, he’s black enough.
I can, for the most part, accept views that are different from my own. I can accept that some people will make decisions I would not, and will do so based on logic that I consider flawed.
I cannot, however, accept the notion that Michelle Obama and the word “beautiful” can be used in the same breath, with not so much as a chuckle or a smirk. Not a chance.
Thanks for your thoughts, Bo. I’d heard the notion thrown around in various arenas and thought it was ridiculous. Something else that stood out to me was the portion of the Newsweek article that questioned white people who were just saying they supported Obama because it was the cool, popular thing to do, and that they’d actually change their vote once in the booth on 11/4/08. To those people I say, if you are that stupid, just please don’t vote at all. Stay home.
Obama ’08
“This is the most impressive politician of my lifetime ”
I’d like to know what makes you believe this…other than the popularity you mentioned. I haven’t made up my mind yet on who I think is the best choice, right now I think you will be voting for the lesser of 2 possible disasters…
hmm… newsweek says Blacks fear Obama’s defeat… but I think lots of people fear his defeat, including my co-workers…
i’m just saying, my left foot will be itching to make contact with all sorts of people… and i’m going to work that day 😉
ps. i gotta say, Kirk, MO has consistently been upgraded as a direct function of BO’s popularity… did you see the airbrush job on the cover of PEOPLE?
I will be sad if Obama loses. I’m an average white guy from NC. McCain is a liar. All politicians stretch the truth, but most do not tell blatant lies about their opponents.
I believe that McCain is taking advantage of the fact that some people are too lazy? stupid? ignorant? to actually research his claims, so he says whatever he wants about Obama.
Palin is scary. McCain didn’t really want to pick her, but he couldn’t win by choosing who he preferred as his running mate (Lieberman or Ridge).
I hope voters say “Thanks but no thanks” to McCain and Palin.
After McCain and Palin’s shambling trainwreck of a campaign in the last week, here’s what I have to say:
(1) Blacks aren’t the only people who should fear Obama’s defeat, and
(2) I fully agree with you that if this particular black man can’t win this particular election, then no black man can ever win the presidency in the foreseable future.
— an Asian-American Obama supporter
kirk:
perhaps you have a different standard of beauty (maybe the eurocentric one that has been force fed to folks for as long as i can remember), but in my community Michelle Obama can and will be mentioned in the same breath as “beautiful”. all day long.
Asha,
Not at all. To be blunt, my standard of beauty can be summed up with “not ugly”. To me, that definition is not exclusive of any race, ethnicity, body style, age or anything else.
I really just honestly think she’s unattractive.
que sera, sera…
Herman Cain? Walter E. Williams? Thomas Sowell? J. C. Watts? Michael Steele? OK, they are all Republicans and conservative. How about a Democrat 2 or three term governor of a good sized state? Or the mayor of a large city not in the North East? Lets say BO had changed his position two years ago on one or two policies that would more closely align with his opponents, or even go to the right (less government, more people) than McCain on just one big campaign plank. McCain could be running with Beyonce and we would still see a Dem in the white house. How ’bout Cosby?
At this point, I’m afraid about the best case scenario too (Obama winning). Waukesha, WI, is only an hour away from where I live.
White, 48 yr old educated man here. I can’t imagine Obama losing. I refuse to believe America is that stupid. DanofNC says it plainly, McCain is indeed a liar backed by a consortium of white millionaires. Palin is an advertisement puppet, a sparkly nominee to distract those inflicted with ADD. The opportunities this election offers is staggering. The first African American, some one NOT from the Skull & Bones world of the ‘good old boys’ and a chance at taking the country back and putting it in the hands of the people.
My biggest fear is a repeat of 2000. If the republicans attempt to cheat again, how will we know? I put nothing past people who were handed millions of dollars on their 18th birthday. John McCain’s family are zillionaires from way back when, just like Bushs. These people are so evil, they justify the actions of the last 8 years.
But with money comes the power to cheat and steal and rig elections.
“Hell hath no fury as a nation scorned”
All of you will ask yourself, probably within a year an a half, maybe sooner………the question youll be asking yourself is “What have I done?”