The following is a response to a diary on the "recommended" list exhorting us to go out and do more for Obama.
While I pick no bones with the peripheral theme of the diary (I am all for getting out there and working my rear-end off for a worthy cause), I'd like to cross swords with the diarist's sentiments regarding the "racist" bent of some Americans and his/her decision to make this the central theme of his/her write-up.
Please stop harping on the "20-or-whatever-magic-number-%" of people who will NOT vote for our candidate. Please. Just. Stop.
In the not-too-distant future, regardless of the outcome of this elections, smart people will begin to congregate to dissect the historical phenomenon known as the Obama Candidacy, and I predict that, when all the dressings and the big grammars are peeled away from the product of such exercise, the TRUE causes of Obama's achievement will be just these two:
- Common Decency of The "White People"
- Hillary Clinton's Handler's Misjudgment of the Mood of the Nation.
Let me expatiate, by dispensing quickly with the second point: IF Hillary had apologized for her AUMF vote, she would have won the Primaries because she would have removed a huge chunk of Obama's appeal to the Democrats and key segment of the population.
Now, the first "Cause" is more relevant within the context of this rejoinder, and I state it from the perspective of a Black Man who started out praying that Hillary would be humble enough to say "Sorry" for her AUMF vote so that I would not have to "waste" my vote on Obama.
I confess that I was not really "into Obama" at the beginning. I was loathe to appear to be supporting a black candidate just because he/she was black, and until well into the Primaries campaign, I had not seen much to sway me over to the Pro-Obama camp.
The longer Hillary held out on her apology, the less I liked her, but that still wasn't enough for me to commit to Obama.
The more I heard Obama speak, the more enthralled I am with him and the closer I looked at the possibility that there could be something to him. But that still wasn't enough to sway me.
I bought Obama's first book. Read it all in two days. I liked him more, but not enough to donate a penny to his campaign.
I started going to the local house parties that were popping up in my county and listen to people (yes, 99% White People) talk about him and his intellect and ideas and .... I still waited for Hillary to come around.
Hillary started talking about 35 years of experience and I started questioning my wait for Hillary.
Then Iowa happened. My black brenthren - Iowa happened and the "White People" of this United States of beautiful America answered a call that a vast majority of us "Black People" did not even hear at the time. White Americans made an unprecedented choice and chose a more qualified candidate - ignoring all the noise and side attractions - yes, including the candidate's color.
It was "White People" who exhibited the common decency When It Mattered, and gave us a candidacy that we all could all rally around and support.
When Iowa happened, I (like most of my other black friends) felt ashamed. Ashamed because I had let reverse prejudice suppress my logical perceptiveness and had dismissed a Black candidate out of hand simply because I didn't want to appear .... I don't know .... somehow un-emancipated, or something along that line. I dismissed Barack because I thought being seen supporting him would be harder to explain (or less fashionable) than being seen supporting a non-black candidate.
The "Very White People" redeemed me, and to them I am grateful. Without them, there will be no Barack. So, when I hear people talk about the "racist" or "backward people" out there who won't support our candidate because they are ... whatever....I want to scream and say "Just Stop It, people".
There were many of us in the Black Community who will not support a candidate for one reason or the other - and, yes, one of those reasons IS racism. I hope we all realize that racism is not the exclusive purview of only one race - it could be found within any race or group of people.
There are still many blacks today who will NOT vote for Barack - because of some deep-seated belief (or disbelief) in one thing or the other. There are blacks who will not vote for McCain or any Republican even if their lives depend on it.
There will be people who will express their support one way or another based on an infinite number of reasons. It is quite unhelpful to continue to dwell on the "20%" so-called "Racists" in our society who will not vote for our candidate.
It is unproductive, and it adds unnecessary noise to the message.
After Iowa, I went full-blown in my embrace of (and support for) Barack Obama, and I have been here steadfastly since. I have had so many walks, banking, fund-raising, etc in so many places that I have lost count. What I have not lost count of is the vivid realization that, in every place/event that I have been, the proportion of "White People" to other type of "People" has always been around 80-to-20.
Even when I go canvass in predominantly Black/Latino/Indian/other Minority neighborhoods, my partners have always been disproportionately "White People".
When next you feel the urge to do some hand-wriggling over the "sad state" of some imaginary "20%" of "White People" who will not kiss up to our candidate, please just stop it. Race and the discussion of race is the least helpful thing we can focus on in this elections. There are too many things at stake, too many real issues to amplify, and too little time to do so.
Let the "20%" have their days in the sun - but let's not forget the decency of the other non-20% "White People" who have looked beyond the color of the skin and are enthusiastically doing all they could to help our cause and change the precipitous direction in which this country is headed.
The poll, by the way, was against us at the beginning of this extraordinary journey. We are where we are today because we paid no attention to the "experts" and their polling numbers. Let's not forget that.