No pun intended, of course.Well said, Voronwë. In total agreement. I am very interested to see how the differences between Obama's background and the majority of the black American demographic will shape things in this race.
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No pun intended, of course.Well said, Voronwë. In total agreement. I am very interested to see how the differences between Obama's background and the majority of the black American demographic will shape things in this race.
Racial criticisms
Rice's rise within the George W. Bush administration initially drew a largely positive response from many in the African American community. In a 2002 survey, then National Security Advisor Rice was viewed favorably by 41% of African American respondents, but another 40% did not know Rice well enough to rate her and her profile remained comparatively obscure.[150] As her role increased, some African American commentators began to express doubts concerning Rice's stances and statements on various issues. In 2005, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson asked, "How did [Rice] come to a worldview so radically different from that of most black Americans?"[151]
Other writers have also noted what they perceive to be a distance between Rice and the black community. The Black Commentator magazine described sentiments given in a speech by Rice at a black gathering as "more than strange – they were evidence of profound personal disorientation. A black woman who doesn’t know how to talk to black people is of limited political use to an administration that has few African American allies."[152] When Rice invoked the civil rights movement to clarify her position on the invasion of Iraq, Margaret Kimberley, another writer for The Black Commentator, felt that her use of the rhetoric was "offensive". Stan Correy, an interviewer from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, characterized many African Americans involved with civil rights and politics as viewing this rhetoric as "cynical".[153] Rice was also described by Bill Fletcher, Jr., the former leader of the TransAfrica Forum, a foreign policy lobbying organization in Washington, D.C., as "very cold and distant and only black by accident."[150] In August 2005, American musician, actor, and social activist Harry Belafonte, who serves on the Board of TransAfrica, referred to African Americans in the Bush administration as "black tyrants".[154] Belafonte's comments received mixed reactions.[150]
Rice has defended herself from such criticisms on several occasions. During a September 14, 2005 interview, she said: "Why would I worry about something like that? ... The fact of the matter is I've been black all my life. Nobody needs to tell me how to be black."[155]
A few notable African Americans have defended Rice from across the aisle, including Mike Espy,[156] Andrew Young, C. Delores Tucker (chair of the National Congress of Black Women),[157] Clarence Page,[158] Colbert King,[159] Dorothy Height (chair and president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women)[160] and Kweisi Mfume (former Congressman and former CEO of the NAACP).
Nothing is ever "that simple". But things have to start somewhere. From an outsider's point of view, and I am most certainly an outsider, I can't see why Ms. Rice isn't "black enough" and that dreadful Jesse Jackson is. He revels in every stereotype he supposedly rages against, and comes across as so determined to maintain his influence that he will cut down those he claims to "support". "Be black my way, or you ain't black at all", seems to be the rallying cry of some folks.Voronwë_the_Faithful wrote:It's just not that simple, vison. At least in my humble opinion.
I don't think that is it at all. For instance, you don't see the same kind of backlash against Colin Powell that you do against Condoleeza Rice. Looking again at Wikipedia, you don't find the kind of vitriol that I quoted above about Rice. Instead, you find this:"Be black my way, or you ain't black at all", seems to be the rallying cry of some folks.
In Season 2 of Chapelle's Show, Colin Powell is drafted by white people in the Racial Draft sketch. However, the move is challenged by the black delegation, who only give up Powell when the white delegation agree to also take Condoleezza Rice and to renounce all claim to O.J. Simpson. This portion of the sketch highlights Powells wide acceptance by all Americans, regardless of race.
It isn’t so wrong, however, to assume that whites would reject a candidate, any candidate, who came across as a single issue candidate, which is what all of the black candidates we’ve had so far have been. I think it is possible that Obama would not be perceived that way because he doesn’t seem to percieve himself that way. I would guess the same would hold true for Rice.axordil wrote: While I can understand how someone would choose to think that way, I find it unhelpful and wrong-headed to assume that white liberals would reject one black candidate because they were REALLY black while embracing one that was FAUX black.
I often think the same thing, about various First Nations politicians in Canada. Power, regardless of how it is achieved, is a very addictive drug. A leader might seem to belong to the "powerless" group to the mainstream, but within that group he controls things, and has no incentive for change. As well, he knows that if real change comes, and the "outsiders" become part of the mainstream, then he has no power base.axordil wrote:What I find really troubling, though, is that some minority groups seem to go through this sort of circular firing squad maneuver all the time, and others don't. That leads me to the suspicion that there are people involved who profit from victimhood/outsider status, and don't ever want that to change.