If you had asked me, before today, what the single most important issue would be in the upcoming presidential election, I would have said the economy, hands down. For purposes of the election, it’s more important to voters than Iraq, than health care, than the environment (though clearly those issues are intertwined with the economy). But that was before “the speech” – you know the one that I’m talking about. I’m referring to the speech that Obama made at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the one where he talked about an issue that people didn’t really think he was going to talk about: race.
And now, I think the race for the presidency has changed.
The reason that I think that Obama’s speech was so very important – whether you like him or not, whether you agree with him or not – is that he chose to talk about a topic that we like very much not to talk about: racism.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean to imply that the presidential election is completely now about race. I actually still think it’s about the economy. But it’s not about the economy just slowing down. It’s about the disparity in class in America and about our collective frustration with our seeming lack of opportunity. And this battling for position in an increasingly desperate situation makes a dialogue about racism – on all sides of the fence – more relevant than ever.
Obama said: This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
And I understand what he means. I’ve heard it from folks who are so scared to lose their jobs that they take out their frustrations on those that they perceive as a threat. I’ve seen it as folks like my father saw their jobs shipped to Mexico and countries in South America – just like so many others. As Americans, it’s not fair. And we want to blame someone.
My point? That racism isn’t about some abstract concept. It’s really about money.
This became more clear to me recently on the blog. One of the most controversial posts that I’ve written wasn’t mean to be about race – it was about Mitt Romney’s proposal for a tax credit for mothers who homeschool. I balked at the idea. I don’t think the credit is fair, to me, it’s just bad tax policy. But what came out of that post, in the comments, was a dialogue on race and class in America. (editor’s note: unfortunately, this is one of the posts that lost comments in the server switch!)
The comment that appears most controversial is: I don’t think I can recall ever a black or hispanic women dissing working women. I think it’s because they can relate to the struggles of working women. I think white middle class women forget that their gamemanship hurts the poorest of the poor.
What do I read into this? Not racism in the sense of inequality between people but between classes. And in the US, class is closely related to race.
I think that’s the point that Obama was trying to bring forward – that maybe things aren’t so black and white. What do you think?
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