Obama - Race, Class and the Future of Politics
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 4/4/08 @ 6:52 pm - Filed Under 2008 National Elections, Featured
Many young Americans cannot imagine back to a time when our country was completely segregated along racial lines. This forced and government-mandated segregation is an abstract concept to me and something I will never be able to fully comprehend. When Senator Obama speaks of Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s fight for racial justice I have no frame of reference - it is a picture of America that I would rather close a blind eye to in hopes that I simply forget.
But as Obama pointed out today, we cannot forget, because to do so would only discourage the acknowledgment of how the politics of the past have led to the problems of present.
We were told by Senator Obama that racial justice is inseparable from economic justice; that they are both “part of a larger struggle for freedom, dignity and humanity.” This is the America I can see and it was never clearer than in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Members of the media labeled the victims as refugees, but they were American citizens - the ones left behind in the march towards prosperity. The privileged among us scoffed at these people - why didn’t they just leave? Of course it’s mighty hard to leave when you have nowhere to go and no means to get there.
That tragic event cemented the ideal of class struggle in my mind. There will always be an aristocratic few that have more money and wield more power, but we all deserve our freedom, dignity and humanity.
I remember my own parents telling me stories of their childhood and growing up poor. My father described how my grandfather ran out and left my grandmother with 7 kids and no means to support them. My grandmother and her children did not choose that path but there they were and they needed help. Our government stepped up and helped them; she received welfare and it helped my family get through a tough time - building a foundation for future generations. Now my grandmother is a proud woman, and she probably would never admit she needed the help but she did, and I’m glad our government was there to do so.
Today we hear the stories of purported “welfare queens” and deadbeats gaming the system but we don’t hear the tales of my grandmother and the countless others just like her. Why is that? Have we become so jaded that we no longer think government is capable of helping its citizens? I know that has become rallying cry of some in our country but I reject that notion. Of course there is a level of personal responsibility we all must adhere to, but there might come a time when we just need a little help.
The entire debate has become so polarized that it’s boiled down to the nanny-state vs the anarchists but there is a middle ground. I think we all are willing to help those that are willing to help themselves. More than anything I think Senator Obama can help bridge that divide in our country. Hope and change are not words of empty rhetoric - it’s a mantra for a new revolution. A revolution of people that are willing to say that the status quo will no longer suffice, that Washington is broken, and we need to adhere to a set of new politics in order to identify new solutions to age-old problems.
On May 6th I will be joining this revolution - I’m voting for Barack Obama…
(Incredible photo courtesy of Scott Spaulding of What’s Going Down(town)
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16 Responses to “Obama - Race, Class and the Future of Politics”
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Does Barack usually sign autographs after rallies? just curious.
I’m assuming he does since most politicians do but I’m not certain. I know he did today…
Being Middle Right one would hardly believe I would be leaning toward voting for Obama. Well as time goes on I find myself put more trust into what he says he belies in. Plus what he wants to do. Plus the fact he is honest up front that everything he does everyone may not be happy with.
I am sorry Hillary is just too far out to the left and lacks many real ideas. What we have heard is a rehash of old beliefs that could not be sold before and are not being bought by the masses.
While I like and trust John his plans seem like ones we have tried and they have failed. While our protection from outsiders is of high concern the issue is the US is falling behind is a major issue. If we don’t start fixing out problems within taking care problems outside the boarders will mean little in five to ten years.
“Have we become so jaded that we no longer think government is capable of helping its citizens? I know that has become rallying cry of some in our country but I reject that notion.”
“The entire debate has become so polarized that it’s boiled down to the nanny-state vs the anarchists but there is a middle ground. I think we all are willing to help those that are willing to help themselves.”
Very well said, Jeff. If you ever decide to give up the physics gig, you should find yourself a job as a speechwriter somewhere. Seriously.
Jeff, why wait for May 6? Indiana does have early voting.
Karen,
Thanks for the compliment - I appreciate it. Although I doubt I’ll be leaving the day job anytime soon.
Robert,
I might vote early but I haven’t made up my mind on the gubernatorial race yet…
“Many young Americans cannot imagine back to a time when our country was completely segregated along racial lines.” What is young… 60? I’m 46 and don’t remember when our country was completely (or, even here in Indiana) so. I do, however, recall the Democratic Party using race as a reason for us black folks not to vote Republican. That being said, in my opinion Sen. Obama is not the person to “… help bridge that divide in our country.” If a moderate like Sen. McCain can’t unite the conservatives, how could a liberal like Obama possibly do any better with the USA as a whole?
Oh….go ahead and close a blind eye to Rev. King’s fight for racial justice. I do have a frame of reference regarding that picture, and I see success. It seems to me that Sen.Obama and his wife fail to acknowledge that the results Dr. King’s articulated in his vision, have allowed them (and me) to enjoy the benefits of today.
Jeff
I gave my book to one of Baracks’s representatives and they took it backstage to be signed. While waiting, I heard some lady waiting for her book that he doesn’t sign them but his reps. do. Do you think that is accurate or not?
I’m 44 and I remember when an African-American friend of my mother’s first visited us in Omaha in about 1969, and she came TO THE BACK DOOR because that, apparently, had been the custom. (It wasn’t the custom at our house, of course.)
And in 1969 it had only been recently that a privately-owned amusement park/beach in Omaha had allowed African-Americans on the beach.
And in 1967 or so, in Rochester, Minn., as children of the first Jew admitted to the residency program of the Mayo Clinic, my sister and I played with the sons of the first African-American admitted to residency there.
Certainly lots of progress has been made since then, but my point is that one doesn’t have to be old (I am certainly not going to admit to being old!) to remember when segregation was more the norm than not.
Paul,
Before you decide on complete success for Dr. King’s fight for racial justice I would like to share with you 2 quotes i overheard while bartending this weekend.
“We can’t elect Obama president because he will be assasinated within the first 6 months in office.” (By the way a quote from a black man)
“If Obama is elected we will all be picking cotton in Mississippi next summer.”
Although it is probabaly easy to dismiss things overheard in a bar, I think it is just as likely that people lose their inhibitions and really speak their minds.
Bill,
I seriously doubt that’s the case - why wouldn’t he sign his own books? I saw him sign one book while working the crowd.
Paul,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. While others have responded to portions of what you wrote I want to respond to one particular comment that I find indefensible:
Fail to acknowledge the results of MLK? You can’t be serious. He did say that economic justice was an unfinished part of King’s legacy but that was it. The rest of that speech was dedicated to the legacy of King and his success.
And let us not forget that come November voters will likely have a stark choice between the two nominees. One will have spent a lifetime fighting for Dr King’s legacy, and the other will have spent a major portion of his life trying to stop his state from recognizing the King legacy while admittedly remaining willfully ignorant on the concept of race altogether…
Jeff
You are absolutely right. If he had his reps. sign for him it would be illegal. Thnaks for making me feel better about that!
The welfare system is there for people that are like your grandmother and had to lean on it in a time of need. It should be a help, not a way of life.
I like what Jeff said about having no “frame of reference” for past racial injustices since I also have no “Frame of reference.”
That being said I am 100% against quota systems that reward minorities and I think they should be abolished at once. They are reverse discrimination and they are wrong!
I do take exception to one portion of Jeff’s post:
“Today we hear the stories of purported “welfare queens” and deadbeats gaming the system but we don’t hear the tales of my grandmother and the countless others just like her.”
First of all they are not stories of purported “welfare queens,” they are stories about people who are robbing the rest of us and they have become commonplace and these stories rightly anger most Americans. Let me tell you some stories that I can personally verify here in Fort Wayne:
1. I know a family that is getting government assistance that is paying for EIGHT Verizon TV boxes for their house so each of their eight televisions can be tuned to a different channel. This same family has eight different televisions and 2 are plasma TV’s, 3 are big screen TV’s, and 3 are normal sized TV’s. (Note I have ONE Verizon TV box and it offends me that this family is getting ANY Government assistance).
2. I personally know four people who are getting disability payments from the Government who are no more disabled then I am. (One runs every day, one is very healthy and plays basketball, etc…)
I do agree that we should help those who cannot help themselves and give temporary assistance to others who are trying to help themselves; unfortuantely, our system does not accomplish those goals.
We need to stop pouring money into social programs that have not shown that they are successful.
Mike Sylvester
[...] speak about racial and economic justice. I left there inspired enough to write what I feel was one of my best pieces here at FWP. Unfortunately, the economic policies of President Obama have not lived up to the rhetoric I heard [...]