Race Baiting from Left and Right

[IndianaGreen]

Race Baiting from Left and Right

By Joel Wendland

Get ready for it. The signs are already there – and not just from the Republicans. Leftists, like Alexander Cockburn of CounterPunch.org has gotten into the act.

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But it hasn't only been Republicans who have gotten into the act. Self-proclaimed "leftwinger," Alexander Cockburn, who edits CounterPunch.org, in a recent diatribe against Obama, insisted on this: "Those who claim that if he were white he would be cantering effortlessly into the White House do not understand that without his most salient physical characteristic Obama would be seen as a second-tier senator with unimpressive credentials." Cockburn admitted to seeing nothing of value in Obama's candidacy or in his program.

Like Anuzis, Cockburn gives pretense at incisive social critique but only reveals a deep harbor of race-based animosity. Otherwise, why not attribute Obama's rise to his successful challenge to entrenched interests in the Democratic Party, his brilliant campaign built on the small donations of millions of Americans that has generated new political involvement in ways that current third party candidates only fantasize about, or his political identification with the interests of working families in ways unseen in decades? Why, for Cockburn, does the last 21 months of Obama's life come down to his skin color alone? At least Republicans attribute Obama's success to the eloquence of his oratory. Cockburn can't even give him that.

A truly positive, if mostly untold, part of this story about race and the elections has been the role of the labor movement in fighting the influence of racism on the working class. In West Virginia, white miners fought off racist influences and stood with Obama. In Pennsylvania, it is possible to argue, and correctly I think, that labor has been the determining force in convincing white working families that Obama is identified with their interests and that race should not be a factor in their choice. The same can be said for Michigan and Ohio and even in Southern states where Obama may be swept to victory.

If this were all that happened as a result of this election, this successful battle against the influence of racism, the struggle would be worth it. I am, frankly, puzzled about why Cockburn, who often expresses good political opinions, can't see that.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/7655/

See a video with the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka discussing the need to fight the influence of racism on the link provided above