Pro-labor or anti-labor, it’s worth watching this speech by AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, who tackles the topic that a lot of people aren’t willing to discuss or acknowledge, let alone admit to: the specter of racism in this presidential campaign.
I can understand — not agree, but understand — if you choose to vote against Obama because of his policies, or his resume, or his philosophy, or the way he’s conducted his campaign, or his party, or whatever. Those are all legitimate and ethical and moral reasons to vote against him, if you so judge.
But if it’s about race, that’s just dead wrong. To decide you are voting against Barack Obama because his is black is, to my thinking, evil — not a word I bandy about lightly. But at the very least, if it is about race, be honest enough with yourself to admit it — and then, if that’s the case, examine that motivation, and decide for yourself if that’s the way you want to make this decision. You may still reach the same conclusion about how you will vote, but let it be based on something that you can look someone else in the eye and explain with a loud, clear voice, and a clear conscience as well.
(I don’t doubt there are in fact people who would be willing to make such a racist statement with a clear voice and conscience. But I think there are still more who feel that way but aren’t willing to face it in themselves. If they can examine themselves in that fashion, maybe it can make a difference in their own lives, and in the election.)
(via Kos and Doyce)
What I’ve found especially interesting is the admission amongst Democrats that 1/3-rd of the white Democrats are racist:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-20-Poll-Obama_N.htm
“Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks.”
If that’s how many will admit that to a pollster, I wonder how many are also racist but won’t admit it to others or to themselves?
It’s certainly an area I am concerned about.
But then I have seen posts that say “If Obama loses, the Liberals will say its because we’re racist”.
I don’t think the two are contradictory.
The implication of the Right is that the Left claims that anyone who doesn’t vote Obama is racist.
Which is silly. I certainly don’t believe that. Clearly people have voted a conservative ticket before (for reasons that escape me) where race was not an issue.
That said, I think if Obama loses at this point (barring any substantial changes in the electoral field), it will be because there were enough folks with racism or race-influenced concerns that they made the difference.
The other interesting question is, if Obama loses due to voters’ “racism or race-influenced concerns”, would it be primarily due to racism in Democrats or racism in Republicans?
Or to put it more concretely — suppose the Democratic nominee had been Hillary Clinton rather than Barack Obama (and the Republican nominee was still McCain).
I don’t think that difference would have changed many Republicans’ votes — they don’t like Hillary any more than they like Obama.
But if that hypothetical difference would have changed the votes of those 1/3rd of white *Democrats* mentioned in the USA Today article and if that number would have been the margin of difference between victory and defeat, then one could legitimately blame the loss on Democrats’ racism.
(It’s also possible that more Democratic African-Americans would vote for Obama than would have voted for Hillary, but I don’t know. In which case, there would be a reverse race-influence.)
I didn’t draw a party distinction there.
Presumably, if one assumes party ticket voting, Democrats voting “against Obama” (by either voting McCain, a third party, or just not voting in the presidential election) would be primarily to blame. I would assume fewer Republicans will vote for Obama, even without the race issue, than Democrats.
Of course, in this election, we have a lot more Independents / Unaffiliated than in past years. Again, their racial biases, admitted or not, play a crucial role.
FWIW, yes, I assume there is a reverse race-influence in the party (among black Democrats). That’s not ideal (if the ideal is a color-blind society), but I think it is more morally defensible to vote for X because X is like you, than to vote against Y because Y is not like you. Arguably those are the same, but I don’t think they are. Regardless, I think it’s serious political shorthand as basis for how to vote — depending on the factors one takes into account in what makes X “like you.”