In the 90s I was hired as an assistant professor in an English department at a state university in the south. I am a white female, and a black female was hired the same year in the same department. We were both introduced to the department at a reception at the beginning of the year, and I remember one of the older male professors whispering to me that the other woman was hired only because she was black.
And you know what, he was right, because if he had his way, she would never have been hired at all. There was a push to recruit minorities, and she benefited from that. But here's the thing. She had graduated from Harvard, and I had graduated from a small state school. She had published two books, and I had published two articles. She was far more qualified for an assistant professor position than I was, and yet she was going to have to work harder than me to prove herself to that old fart in order to get tenure.
I also think we both benefited from being female, because the department was largely male and there was also a push at that time to hire females. But as a white woman, it was easier for me to get an assistant professor position with far fewer credentials than my black colleague.
I learned something important from this. I understood deeply that even if there is such a thing as affirmative action, the ones who benefit from it are far more qualified than the ones who don't need it. They have to work harder, be smarter, show more, to even have a chance. It's disgraceful that anyone could doubt their achievements.
In Ferraro's assumption that Obama has won his votes due to being black, or through affirmative action, she is so far off the mark it is unbelievable. Barack Obama has been chosen by the people, which is a completely different circumstance from Ferraro being chosen by Mondale to give himself a credibility boost among progressives. Barack Obama has to be pretty damn special to be in a position as a black american to take the Democratic nomination entirely due to the votes of the people. He has to be far better than most others to even have a chance, and we should not squander the opportunity to see what this man can do with the presidency.
It causes me pain to see the Clintons and their cronies attempt to derail Obama on manufactured excuses, to keep this going when any other challenger not named Clinton would have been told to step aside long ago. Despite Obama being in the lead, his electability is in doubt only because he is a black american, and Hillary is somehow allowed to disparage him and the actual votes he has won. It's just not good enough.
The old farts are still at it, I'm afraid.