Freedom Rider: Obama's Hollow Victory
by Margaret Kimberley
"Obama
has denied that racism is still a factor in public policy issues."
Barack Obama's Iowa victory and close second in New Hampshire may indeed
be harbingers of things to come. The compressed primary schedule gives the
winner of early primaries and caucuses a tremendous advantage in fund raising
and press coverage. Some believed his stunning win in Iowa meant it might be all over
except for the shouting. Obama could become president.
Most black Americans will be happy, some overjoyed, to see a
black man in the Oval Office. That joy will exist despite the fact that Obama
has denied that racism is still a factor in public policy issues. In his speech
at the Democratic convention in 2004 he stated, "There is no black America." No
one should have been surprised when Obama had to be prodded before he said
anything about the Jena 6, or claimed that, "The ineptitude was colorblind," in
the response to Hurricane
Katrina.
The media have already begun making fantastic claims
attributing the backhanded treatment to his multi-racial heritage. Those
ridiculous assertions must be dismissed out of hand. There is a lot less to
Obama than meets the eye. He is little more than a very slick and very savvy
politician. He knows how to impress and please powerful people, and speaking up
for black Americans accomplishes neither one of those things.
"Obama is just as willing
to go war as Clinton is."
Obama has masterfully out maneuvered the amateurish Hillary
Clinton. She isn't smart enough to know that she
should at least attempt to give Democratic voters a little bit of lip service. While
she voted in favor of a senate resolution against the Iranian government, Obama
stayed on the campaign trail and conveniently missed the vote. In fact he is
just as willing to go war as she is. He says his first act as president will be
to bring the troops home from Iraq, but anyone who bothers to look
at the fine print
knows that the promise is hollow:
"I
will give them a new assignment and that is to bring our
troops home in a careful, responsible way [emphasis mine], but to end this occupation in Iraq. I will call
in my Secretary of State and initiate the diplomacy that's needed to
make sure that exit is accompanied by negotiations between the Shiites, Sunnis
and Kurds."
"Careful" and "responsible" are code words for
maintaining the status quo and negotiations can go on forever. President Obama
will not be bringing troops home, but he knows that mouthing anti-war
sentiments will bring in votes from Democrats tired of being dismissed by party
leaders.
The prospect of an Obama presidency already has
already taken on a sickening familiarity. When Clarence Thomas was confirmed as
a Supreme Court justice the mantra of denial went something like this, "Just
wait until he gets in there. He has a job for life and he'll do what he wants."
Thomas certainly has done what he wants and he wants nothing more than to vote
exactly the way Antonin Scalia does.
Colin Powell is Exhibit B in the wishful
thinking department. His status as a military man gave him an image of
independence when he was in fact just another loyal employee. It was said that
he would resign his position as Secretary of State if he disagreed with Bush
administration policy. Powell did eventually leave the administration, but well
after he disgraced himself by lying to the world about the case for war against
Iraq and lying to members of the Congressional Black Caucus about Haiti.
"Obama's success is already used as evidence purporting
to prove that racism is in the past."
A black president who sides against the interests of black
people will be exponentially worse than a cabinet official or Supreme Court
Justice doing the same thing. The sad fact of the matter is that black America
will be worse off if Obama becomes president. The hand writing is already on
the wall. His success is already used as evidence purporting to prove that
racism is in the past, that black people are therefore to blame for their
problems, and consequently have no right to make demands on the political
system.
Right wing pundit Bill Bennett summed up Obamamania with an
absurd but telling comment.
". . . he never brings race into it. He
never plays the race card. Talk about
the black community -- he has taught the black community you don't have to act
like Jesse Jackson, you don't have to act like Al Sharpton. You can talk about
the issues. Great dignity. And this is
a breakthrough."
"Ignoring race in America
inevitably means lying."
Bennett's idea of a breakthrough is more like a nightmare.
We shouldn't want a president who never discusses race. Ignoring race in
America inevitably means lying, and lies are the cause of all the country's
ills.
The chickens will come home to roost sooner rather than
later. The end game of "derivatives" derived from thin air and blowback from
wars of aggression will cause great suffering. It will be a tremendous tragedy
if the group most likely to speak out against injustice instead joins in
perpetrating denial and silence. Having
a president who "never brings race into it" will not be cause for celebration.
Margaret Kimberley's
Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York
City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com.
Ms. Kimberley' maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More
of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive
page.
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