"Obama's Tightrope" -- Interesting perspective on the politics of race in campaigning

[Sparkly]

(From "Obama's Tightrope," by Amina Luqman, in today's WaPo)

Yet the subtext of his appeal is in what he does not say. It's in his ability to declare that things must get better without saying who or what has made them bad. It's how he rarely chastises and how he divides blame and responsibility evenly; white receiving equal parts with black, poor equal parts with rich. The "we" Obama has created leaves blank the space traditional African American candidates would have filled with passion or a clear articulation of the state of black Americans. It's left some black voters unfulfilled and some white voters with a sense of acceptance and absolution from past wrongs and present-day injustices.

We are all watching Obama's tightrope walk, his attempts to appeal to the white majority while maintaining some semblance of integrity regarding the plight of black Americans. It's a heavy burden. In contrast, Hillary Clinton is on relatively sure footing. Obama must tilt away from clarity and passion about issues disproportionately affecting blacks while Clinton is free to perform the black candidate's role. In last week's debate, it was she who took on the traditional black candidate's persona, she who was both passionate and rhythmic in her cadence. Her endings built to crescendos. Be it real or pandering, Clinton can openly connect and show solidarity with black Americans in ways that Obama cannot.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/05/AR2007070501828.html

A few days ago, I posted questions about race and gender as factors in supporting one candidate or another (or not). (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3354647) This editorial goes to the same issues from a different angle. The fact is that our culture is NOT race and gender neutral. Were all things equal, race and gender wouldn't matter and wouldn't need to be weighed and considered, applauded and feared, and handled with delicate nuance, etc; but in this reality, they do.

I think Clinton has her own tightrope to walk, in an effort to avoid stereotypes about women that, unfortunately, turn people off or give them reason to be dismissive -- for example, she can't seem too weak nor too "shrill"; too emotional or too cold. I think a lot of her decisions about Iraq had to do with that tightrope, in choosing to err on the side of "hawk" rather than "dove."

Your thoughts?

[Forkboy]

1. Interesting way of putting things in this line..

..passionate and rhythmic in her cadence. Her endings built to crescendos.

Is that how black candidates have to speak?

I agree with the overall idea about Obama having to walk that line (along with yours about Hillary),but that phrase just struck me as odd.

[qazplm]

3. well

that is the stereotype but also lets be honest part of black culture. The music that we have created is passionate and rhythmic, many parts of our culture, the "dozens" for example, our slang, go to any "black" church, you will see passionate and rhythmic cadence building to crescendos.

Sure it is a stereotype, but with elements of reality in it.

Obviously there are plenty of african americans who dont speak that way, so it is in a sense unfair to expect that to be a black candidate you have to speak that way, but then again Obama doesnt speak that way and he has thus far done pretty well for a guy who has been on the national scene only about two years longer than I have. ;)

[Grandrose]

2. The. Unspoken. Truth!

Thank you for posting, this AA can relate! Kinda reminds me of the so-called "silent majority"....but in this case the "silent minority"!
Makes you wonder about polling data in AA community?:think: :kick:

[bling bling]

4. I read this article the other day and it captivated me.

I had an emotional reaction to reading it that I found difficult to discuss.

I'm caught between desperately wanting to talk about and hear discussions about these issues and wanting people to just ignore race and gender factors until after the election. Race and gender discussions seem to always evoke powerful emotions and I don't want either candidate to be negatively impacted by that.

I do know that both Clinton and Obama, and especially Obama, have had double standards applied to them their entire lives and this campaign is no exception. They have had to work harder, and most importantly, they have had to do so while carrying an extra ton of weight on their shoulders. Obstacles put up due to race and gender may be invisible but they are very, very real. The fact that these two people have nobody's footsteps to follow in (not really, anyway) to make the path a little easier is a testament to their greatness. Truly.

You really just can't underestimate how strong these two candidates are in terms of intelligence and leadership ability. Just look at their resume's. Ordinary people don't have resume's like Clinton and Obama. They have risen to the top because they are the best of the best. White men don't have to be the best to rise to the top. They just don't. Hopefully someday the standards won't be so high for women and all people of color either.

Having said all that. If we don't elect one of them to lead this party I will be more disappointed than when GW Bush was elected President.