Thursday, May 08, 2008

Acting White: The Clinton Question

Hillary Clinton does not think that America is ready for Barack Obama, a black man. Because of this, she says ‘pick me, forget the rules, just pick me – I’m white!’ She says that blacks vote for Obama because he is black, so we should plan for whites to prefer her over him, regardless.

If we believe her appeal, the only sad conclusion on race (in America) is that we are broken-down on the side of the road, in need of AAA. Add in the race-hucksters on both sides, from Sharpton to Limbaugh, and her logic gets more believable. Is the Democratic nomination really a battle between working-class whites and everybody else?

Hopefully there’s more to it. True, blacks are voting for Obama, but perhaps not only because he is black, but because he credibly summons them, like no other, to throw their lot in with whites who also feel left out of the American Dream. And perhaps the cynical working-class white Democrats that Hillary thinks will vote Republican rather than for a black Democrat are not so spitefully stuck in the past. Yes, they want Hillary, but will they stick a knife into their partisan guts to prove her point?

There’s only one way to find out – and we really need to know. Regardless, we will continue to move forward. The question is not direction, but rather how far we have come and have yet to go.

James C. Collier

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15 comments:

Brown Girl said...

Hillary Clinton seems to have no bottom to how low she'll sink to get that nomination. It's astonishing to watch.

People all over the world (not caught up in America's race drama) are routing for Barack Obama. Why is that? Not because he is black, but because we believe him. We believe in the change he is talking about. We, as human beings, all want that change and we realise that if America changes (because of it's influence in the world) then the repercussions will be felt elsewhere.

If white working class can finally see their lot as the same as black working class then America would have reached a new level of maturity and this is a great litmus test.

Anonymous said...

Here's a question: What will black voters do if Obama loses? Will they cry that racism reared it's ugly head or will they take the loss like adults? Every election has one winner and one loser....what if they lose?

Anonymous said...

i wouldn't vote for hillary. that said, obama is a little better? regardless, i wouldnt vote for him either.

i'd have called this a rather good, and interesting blog but to be honest it felt more like an attack on white people assuming 'they're all racist' anyway. besides i wouldnt assume your feminist because you are voting for a man.. i dunno, you tell me, maybe you're just voting for him because he's black, and shutting her down since she's white... that was the vibe i got from what it appears to be to me (which would then pin you as the racist). to be honest, i don't really believe you feel this way. i hope that my words don't offend you and by me writing this you can work out all of the loop holes so that "white people" who read your site won't be able to talk trash. That is unless this site is for black people only.

Anyway, i do have a compliment for you. I felt that your page was very well constructed and your use of pictures was pretty good too. you're writing is excellent, just requires a little more detail, other than that you have great headlines and subheadings and it was fun to visit your page. :) i hope that you have a great day and enjoy your weekend!

Sincerely Love,

Lady Elizabeth

James C. Collier said...

If Barack loses and blacks are convinced that Democratic whites voted their race, the result will be less constructive. The task of curing our racial dysfunction will be the same.

Lady Elizabeth, not sure why you see me challenging whites, rather than Hillary's divisiveness. It is her open appeal to 'whiteness' that places white response into question. I hope she is sellilng them short, but if she is not - it is what it is. We will go from there.

James C. Collier said...

Lady: Thanks for the site compliments. Good day to you too.

Anonymous said...

James,

I think that you are correct in saying that blacks are not only voting for Obama because he black, but perhaps he is also the better candidate. I have heard people say that America is not ready for a black president....quite often. I'm not really sure what that means. What that implies, for the people who say this, is that "modern racism" is more prevalent then we would like to believe. It would be truly un-American of anyone who would base their vote on the color of one's skin. So yes, James our country does need AAA....desperately.

The Roving Reporter said...

Lady Elizabeth:

Isn't it racist of you to assume that James is voting for Obama because of his skin color? Isn't that a form of stereotyping?

Ann Brock said...

Why can't I vote for a black man who just happen to be the better candidate right now?

How come Hillary supporters are voting for her base sole on her gender and McCain because he is white and no question ask?

So if I have a choice to vote base solely on those 3 things it would be race.

Jackie said...

People seem to forget that when the unknown Obama first came on the scene, black folks were not for him. It was not anywhere near automatic support. Blacks have always had to scrutinize all candidates closely. Hillary Clinton had the black vote mostly because of Bill and it was hers to lose. She did a great job of it. So, it wasn't only that Barack won over his black base but that Hillary LOST it.

Anonymous said...

she says ‘pick me, forget the rules, just pick me – I’m white!’ She says that blacks vote for Obama because he is black, so we should plan for whites to prefer her over him, regardless.

Clinton never said this. You are putting words in her mouth. Where is a link, a video, proving she said this? You are reading something into it that she did not say so you can twist it to support your take on things. Nice race baiting.

James C. Collier said...

Anon 10:33, From Newsday, "One of Hillary Rodham Clinton's most important supporters, Charles Rangel, repudiated her claims she has broader support among "white Americans," calling the comments "the dumbest thing she could ever have said."

Since Hillary's statement is factually untrue, she must have meant that she SHOULD have broader support among whites. In the face of white people voting for Obama because of his platform, she is playing the race card to gain votes.

James C. Collier said...

The New York Post: “Clinton played the race card yesterday as she dismissed Barack Obama as a candidate who will have a hard time winning support from ‘white Americans.’ It was the most starkly racial comment Clinton has made in the campaign, and drew quick condemnation from some Democrats.

“ ‘I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on,’ she told USA Today in an interview published yesterday. She referred to an Associated Press story on Indiana and North Carolina exit polls ‘that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hardworking Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.’ She added, ‘There's a pattern emerging here.’”

Mo said...

you said it!

Jonzee said...

I wrote a post on my blog about this whole notion that "blacks are supporting him only because he is black." I have been aggravated about ever since I decided that Clinton was not for me.

While she might not be racist, she surely is an opportunist benefiting from Racism.

Duchess Of Austin said...

Uhm, 'scuse me, but when 90% of blacks vote for Obama, it isn't because they think he's the better candidate, it's because he is black. Let's face it, most Americans know more about the contestants on American Idol than they do about the candidates for president and they care more about David Cook than John McCain.

Obama is NOT the better candidate. He has specious ties to convicted Chicago political fixers, unrepentant former domestic terrorists and radical racist (yes! Black people can be racist, too!!) alleged men of god who were characterized by Mr. Obama himself as "sounding boards" and "mentors." What part of this don't you get?

I don't give a rat's patoot about Obama being black. I care about him selling out the American people in the name of "reparations" or worse, conspiring with other America haters to bring us to our knees and put a sword to our necks. Obama is a former student of Saul Alinsky...look that name up for a nice little shock, and then try to tell me that when Obama is crushed by McCain (who, in the interest of full disclosure, wasn't my first choice for president, but I will hold my nose and vote for him because the alternative is unacceptable) that it's because America isn't ready for a black president. That's pure tripe. I've already been called a racist for questioning the annointing of Obama, and I can pretty much guarantee you that if the left keeps up that little meme, there will be a backlash landslide of historic proportions that will make "Dewey Beats Truman" look like a kindergarten tea party. So ya'll just keep on keepin' on with that bullcrap and watch the votes mount up on election day as middle America rejects Obama in droves.

America is more than ready for a black president, a female president or a gay president as long as that president represents the what most Americans consider to be the best of our characteristics, and isn't a dyed in the wool Marxist who whines about being so against the war that he would have voted against it (he wasn't a senator then, so that point is moot), yet votes FOR the military spending package when there were enough yea votes for him to take a principled stand with his own and vote NO.

Obama is John Kerry with a tan and without the military experience and the medals to throw over the White House fence, or worse, the second coming of Jimmy Carter.

Sow the wind and ye shall reap the whirlwind. The Dems are about to see a whirlwind in the form of a Republican landslide that will keep them in the political wilderness for the rest of my natural life because they were dumb enough to pit their two biggest voter demographics against each other for the spoils of public office, then throw women and middle class whites under the bus, and now they are dealing with the consequences of nominating a candidate that most of middle America will not vote for.

The democrats themselves admit that their voters are not famous for voting in lock-step with the party, and I think the Obama supporters are underestimating how angry the Hillary people are and how many of them will cross party lines to vote for McCain in a heartbeat just for spite, because they feel disrespected by the Byzantine democrat primary electoral process.

Yeah, Obama won some big states, but they were CAUCUS states, meaning a bunch of rabid democrats in a room together deciding who wins, not actual votes. In Texas, Obama won the caucus and Hillary won the popular vote. Real votes. Not a roomfull of partisans.