This election is not about Race nor Gender, It is about US and our FUTURE!

FrenchieCat

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Tue Mar-11-08 07:03 PM
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This election is not about Race nor Gender, It is about US and our FUTURE!

Edited on Tue Mar-11-08 07:12 PM by FrenchieCat

Yet, it appears when reading this board, that is what it is all about!

Please know that Barack Obama is not the Black Candidate running, he just happens to be the candidate running while Black (1/2 at that).

Focus on Obama's race is never a good thing for Obama, because it focuses folks on that fact and not much more. Considering that Black people only make up a small percentage of the Democratic party, it only provides him with an edge within a small portion of the voting pie in certain states, yet helps keep those who are not Black transfixed on his race, instead of what Obama canl do for us as our President.

Please know that I did not vote for Obama because he was Black, I voted for him because I believe that he has the best judgment and is the most inspirational. I also believe that he is a better bet for our future internationally, and a better choice than the legacy message that Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton says about this country. Furthermore, I voted for Barack because I felt that he would offer a greater contrast to McCain (who I knew would be the GOP Nominee), and I believe that contrast is more effective than competing in the same categories (experience).
To further illustrate; I did not vote for Al Sharpton in the 2004 Primary, I voted for Gen. Wes Clark, for the same reasons that I voted for Obama this time round.

On the other hand, focus on Hillary's Gender appears not to have as many downsides for Hillary Clinton, as she is able to play with the qualities that her gender brings depending on her goal. It allows her to run a competitive theme with a majority of voting Democrats, who like her are women. That's one of the reason that Chelsea is everywhere to be found; reminds voters that Hillary is a mother, and why Hillary showed her "vulnerable" side right before New Hampshire, and her "tough" side right before Texas.

But after all is said and done, Hillary Clinton simply just happens to be a woman. Her gender is not why I didn't vote for her. I didn't vote for her because she voted for the War as well as some other of her votes. Also, I didn't like enough of what Bill Clinton accomplished during his administration nor the personal scandals he invited, to want to bring him back into the White House in any capacity. I believe that America is the land of opportunity, and that should mean that everyone gets a chance, instead of always the same people. In addition, I don't like the way that Hillary has conducted her campaign starting with not being prepared beyond Super Tuesday. The fact that the media pushed her on us for two years prior to Iowa didn't help either.

Yet, just like right before South Carolina, it appears that Obama's race has again become the greater issue of this election once again.

This has to stop, because, yes, it will destroy the Democratic Party, or at least how Black people view the Democratic party...and that won't be good for anyone, because only the Republicans will prosper from this.

I fault many for this race/gender focused election. I first look at those who started calling Obama a "preacher" before Iowa.

This lack of appreciation by many Black people for the label "Preacher" goes back many years (the 50s), when Black mothers would lament that society offered only three opportunities to their Black sons (the 3 Ps); to be Pimps, Preachers or Prisoners. In other words, there are plenty of all three to go around still today, and these labels have always been considered stereotypical slots to drop black men into. It is not to say a preacher is a bad thing, but being a preacher doesn't always require higher education; simply the gift of persuasion (which is the same attribute needed to become a pimp). Possibly, many White people don't know this, so I'm not faulting them for having done just that (Hillary supporters). And so when Obama was typified as simply a preacher preaching false hopes, this offended many Black people, to see someone as uplifting and fresh as Obama pigeonholed and now demonized by many ("he's a terrorist" cover on the Ntl Enquirer this week).

But more than all, I fault the media for further aggravating the situation by constantly segmenting the Democratic party and assigning everyone to a segment based largely on race, gender and class, and then announcing which candidate we should support based on our demographics. I've never seen it done so pronounced, and I believe that the media had a duty to attempt not to make it be the focus, but they have. And so, I have become resentful of this manipulation of telling us who we should vote for based on who we are. I disapprove and disagree with this kind of stereotyping and I believe it is bad for our democracy, and terrible for this history groundbreaking election.

It doesn't matter what the candidates happens to be Female or Black, and it doesn't need to be repeated adnauseum lest we should forget. what matters is who they are as public servants, what they have done, and what they are offering us as a nation.

But instead, we are getting further and further away from who the candidates are as we start accepting the label of color and sex instead.

This phenomenon is really bothering me, and I am starting to feel alienated from this country. to witness this contest turning solely on the issue of race and gender, is tragic. It makes me very disappointed in my party, folks here at DU, and mainly at the media for exploiting this in the way that they have.

And no, I don't believe that Barack Obama ever thought that it would be an advantage for him in winning this election if voters were concentrating on his race. He is proud of what he is, but he is so much more than a Black candidate until this whole process is demeaning the entire nation in a very unproductive way.