It’s the 21st Century

19 March 2008



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Obama, Race, America and Class

For the last few days, the Obama campaign has been under fire for something the pastor at his church said regarding the raw deal black Americans have had, and continue to have. Yesterday, the Illinois senator gave a speech about race in America that should have been given years ago. Eight years into the 21st century, America still talks about race in 19th century terms.

First off, racism persists in America; it was that nation’s original sin, inherited from racist, “Christian” Europe, and its collaborators in slave-taking, both Arab and African. The damage persists. As the comedian Chris Rock smiled, “No white person in this audience would trade lives with me . . . and I’m rich.” It is funny because it is true.

Secondly, race relations in America have improved over the last 50 years. It has been a long and overdue journey and the nation isn’t there yet, but 2008 isn’t 1958, let alone 1808. Those who grew up in a segregated America see things differently than those who came of age in the 1970s and later. That is the generational appeal of Mr. Obama to young whites; “we’re past it, even if our parents aren’t.”

Third, race has been the veil covering up the class divisions in the US for decades. Bill Cosby, Colin Powell and Oprah Winfrey are in the same social class as Bob Newhart, General John Petreaus and David Letterman. None of them is the same social class as an autoworker, a nurse or a sharecropper -- moreover, none is in the same class into which they were born. In the US, changing social class is almost always a function of education and/or money leavened with a bit of luck from time to time. Changing race is just not possible due to human genetics. And so the same elite in various communities continue to benefit from affirmative action, while the rest of the community gets nowhere.

Did Senator Obama’s speech end the debate about his preacher pal? It’s doesn’t much matter. Those who dislike him will not be persuaded, and those who support him never thought it was a big deal. However, for the first time a politician has stood up and said what a great many under-50 Americans already know -- Racism is just too damn much work.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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