Obama will be only the third black Senator if he wins.

[Ohio Dem]

Doesn't that . . . say something about this country?

[Reverend_Smitty]

1. Very sad indeed...

Who were the other two? I'm drawing a blank here.

[jjmalonejr]

2. Carol Moseley Braun is one

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Carol Moseley Braun from Illinois...

...and Edward Brooke from Massachusetts.

[SaveElmer]

5. Actually there were more

Only the third elected...immediately following the civil war some black men represented southern states in the U.S. Senate. This was of course prior to the failure of reconstruction. One of them was Hiram Rebles (sp, ironic name) of Mississippi who held Jefferson Davis' old seat.

I think Carol Mosely-Braun, Edward Brooke, and Obama if he wins!

[AirAmFan]

12. There have been exactly 4 African-American senators

I'll take the word of Manning Marable, a dean among African-American scholars

From http://www.manningmarable.net/works/oct02d.html :

"Since the founding of this nation, only four African Americans have served in the U.S. Senate

Hiram Revels and

Blanche K. Bruce, representing Mississippi during and immediately after Reconstruction,

Edward Brooke of Massachusetts,

and Carol Mosely Braun of Illinois. Only two blacks have served on the Supreme Court--Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

13. OMG I love this man!

Look at this snippet, this is EXACTLY what I have been thinking and reading about:

"What whites also need to understand is that white privilege is best exercised when nobody talks about it. Traditional liberals, for example, studied and measured the dynamics of black inequality and oppression; conservatives deny both exist. Yet what unites both is their focus on the “black problem,” as if we are the ones with the problem. If the real problem is structural racism, then the challenge before us is reconstructing and reconfiguring white American identity. That will require a massive reeducation campaign that would enable whites to study their own history from our point of view. The reparations discussion will generate healthy tensions but also a broader, more universal understanding of where we’ve been as a nation."

Wow.

[SaveElmer]

14. There ya go...I knew I had Revels name spelled wrong

So Obama would make 5...but I think the real distinction is that Obama would be the 3rd elected by popular vote.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

4. Yes

it says we haven't come as far as some people think we have.

Which is to all our shame.

So how many black people does everyone here hang out with? I don't mean just know but actually count as a close friend, etc.?

Just asking.

[Reverend_Smitty]

8. I'm not really into listing friends of other races

to make it seem as if I am multicultural but my roommate happens to be black and she's a really good friend of mine. Hell we even share the same birthday...We are going to tear it up this March 22 when we turn 21

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

10. Good point

I have mixed feelings about it as well.

I think I read that in a Michael Moore book, actually. Didn't I? He talks about how still, for the most part, live in a voluntarily segregated culture. It got me to thinking. I think we should be asking ourselves questions and speaking very plainly about race matters. Not offensively, but plainly. Truthfully. It made me wonder how segregated my life was and what I could do to change that. Because there's no reason for it. None at all. But it's still there. Except for my friend who's like my sister. I love her to death. And I have loads of Hispanic friends. But beyond that? Whiteville. Nothing wrong with that, but why?

Just askin'. Just thinking.

[Reverend_Smitty]

17. Well I think that it is a matter of familiarity

I think subconsciously we are drawn to people like ourselves. I notice that I have a lot of Irish Catholic friends like myself, I don't seek them out but in the area that I grew up in there is a large population of them.

I also have many friends of other races and cultures. I don't seek them out either, they just happen to be people that I have stuff in common with and I enjoy spending time with them. I don't really think of race when I think of my friends...they are just well...my friends.

What I think is an interesting question is, when do we start identifying races. I have two young cousins who are 7 and 8 years old and they have no concept of race. Of course they notice someone if their skin is darker but it never really dawned on them to ask why. My aunt and I were talking about this the other day. At what point do we become fully aware of racial differences?

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

19. Good question

and I'm not sure. One thing I do believe is it has to be taught. Growing up, my parents didn't point out skin color or cultural differences to me, so I was sort of blind to them for a long time. I mean, I could SEE someone was black or Hispanic or Asian or whatever, but I didn't SEE it, if you know what I mean.

It was only as I got older that it became apparent to me that there were problems with race. In the ninth grade an African-American guy who was in the 10th grade had a crush on me and it was mutual. We passed notes a lot, he wrote me poems. He was so brilliant and charming. He would come by my house and we'd just chat for hours. My parents didn't bat an eye but I remember the neighbors staring like my friend had three heads. And my English teacher took up a poem I was reading that was from him. She read it, recognized his name, took me out in the hallway and "warned" me about the problems of "being a white girl dating a black boy". HUH??? I wondered what the heck she was WARNING me about???

I didn't learn it from my parents, but from others. Fortunately, I was so old, it didn't take. LOL. You have a good point about familiarity, I guess I just decided to get out of my comfort zone and open myself up to new people, new experiences--of every different type.


And on edit, it seems like we aren't "supposed" to think about race, but if you don't then you find yourself just following the same old societal patterns. So I think about it. My daughter's elementary school makes me happy not only because it is academically fantastic but because it is SO damn diverse. I think every major world religion is represented (and we're talking suburban Dallas) and every ethnicity. She doesn't even think twice about it. And our neighborhood is incredibly diverse. I like that. I think it's GOOD.

[Reverend_Smitty]

22. Yeah it's a shame that it ever has to become an issue

Parents pass racism down to their children and the children pass it to their children and it continues down the line. but I'm a firm believer that it only takes one generation to break the cycle.

My mom recently moved to South Carolina, (we are originally from New Jersey), and when I was down there to visit her a few weeks ago she was telling me a story about when she was babysitting a few kids of some people she works with. There was a young black girl and a young white girl and they played together all day. So when the black girl was picked up the white girl who was maybe 6 years old told my mom. "My mommy said it was ok for me to play with _____( I forget the little black girl's name) but I shouldn't borrow any of her clothes because the black might rub off on me"

I was outraged when I heard this story. I mean WTF what are these people teaching their children. My mother was equally horrified and didn't really know what to say or do. How can people teach their children this kind of thing? I feel bad for that little girl because she will probably grow up as a racist like her parents. When I hear stories like this I know we still have a very long way to go until we achieve tolerance

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

23. I've often heard

that there are just different types of racism in the north and south. In the south, people are racist against the group, but know many individuals in that group and don't act racist towards them. In the north, people who are racist are racist towards the individual but preach tolerance for the group. Does that ring true? Keep in mind I haven't lived in the north, I've just heard this.

I, too, believe it only takes one generation to remove it. I like to explain it this way: my great-grandparents were card-carrying racists, my grandparents forgot where the card was but maintained their membership, my parents let the membership lapse, and I rejected it altogether.

I asked my husband the other day what he would think if our daughter fell in love with and wanted to marry a man who wasn't white. He said "as long as they love each other and treat each other right, what do I care what color his skin is?" I love that man. I feel the same way. Do you know how impossible that would have been for my grandparents to feel?

[Reverend_Smitty]

25. Not really sure...

about the regional differences in racism. In my experiences I've found that some people I know have "inner Archie Bunkers". They seem like they are normal and not bigoted to the outside world but once they are in their comfort zone their opinions on race change. I see it in my own family. I know that if I were to marry outside of my race, my dad wouldn't like it but he also wouldn't disown me. We actually have a relative in my family who married a black man. Now while nobody in my family who has "inner Archie Bunkers" would say anything to her, I have heard racist comments when she was not around.

So I guess that sort of fits into the theory.

[RetroLounge]

6. if he wins? if he wins? if he wins?

WHEN he wins...

RL

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

7. Good catch

WHEN. Agreed. Go Obama.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. You said it

[Ohio Dem]

15. I added the "if he wins" to the subject line after I wrote the rest

of the message. I think you're right, but I didn't want to be presumptuous.

It's like talking about a no-hitter in the eighth inning, I suppose.

[CatWoman]

11. Would you believe there were two during reconstruction?

List of African Americans in the United States Congress

United States Senate

In the Reconstruction era

* Senator Hiram Revels (Republican, Mississippi) 1870-1871
* Senator Blanche K. Bruce (Republican, Mississippi) 1875-1881

I remember my history teacher talking about this years ago.

http://www.fact-index.com/a/af/african_americans_in_the_united_states_congress.html

[Ohio Dem]

16. Two during Reconstruction. Three (presumably) since.

That's what I mean.

[CatWoman]

18. dammit!!!

I wanted to show off!!!!! :P

[Ohio Dem]

21. Hey. I didn't know what you posted.

If I had, I would have included it in my original post.

Don't worry, :yourock:

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. To me it says we need election reform in a bad way.

[Octafish]

24. Stats like that make people like George W Bush say to the Urban League.

"I'm here to ask for your vote."

Nice. He's ASKING this time.

[Ohio Dem]

26. That's a good point.

I'm glad Kerry spoke to both groups. The NAACP and The Urban League, that is.