Why John Edwards will be the Democratic nominee
Or at least, given the lengthy time till Primaries, it WON'T be Hillary or Obama.
Ahh, the Democrats (and I used to be one) will all say "Oh I have no problem voting for a woman or a black man for president," but I believe that as little as I believe our president when he says he reads intelligence reports or that he is actually the decider..
White Democrats will externalize their own biases by saying "Well I would vote for him or her, but those OTHER people wouldn't because of their prejudices ... so I'm going for John Edwards." And he'll get the nomination, and he'll win (something the Republican smear-factory obviously knows and fears, which is why they're already going after him) and he'll be a damn good president -- the first populist since, well since I don't know when.
And for all you may be saying, right now, that YOU'RE not like that, I respectfully disagree.
Every white person in the United States was raised -- intentionally or not -- with some degree of distrust and fear of black men. Most don't realize it. It's too much a part of the environment of upbringing.
I live in a thoroughly integrated neighborhood -- black, white, Latino -- on a rural-like block with no sidewalks, where we hang out in the street and talk about this and that. And I have found two things about myself -- and presumably many others -- from that situation:
1 -- That it is only when in continued social interaction with people of other races we can really see that we do have those scars from how we were raised -- and I was raised in a very liberal family by parents who had much more interaction with Black or Asian people than most at that time. But it was there, as I see looking back.
2. That it is only with continuing social interaction that we white boys can work that scummy residue out of our systems.
I was standing outside my house a few years ago with a friend, a very dark-skinned Jamaican man, waiting for another fellow to pick us up, and I mentioned that to him, what I'd seen in myself -- that all white people etc... and he turned to me in something like amazement and said "You're the first white person I've ever known who admits that." And I said, "Well, it's not exactly something to be proud of.
SO ...
And the fact is, if Hillary or Obama are nominated, the reality of sex* and race bias in the United States WILL make it possible for one of the Republicans to win the election.
Going way out further on this limb, my guess is that Bill Richardson will be his Vice Presidential choice. Their uniting factor? They're the only two willing to 'fess up when they made a mistake and admit they're not perfect.
Why I like both of them? They're not religious fanatics.
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*Isn't it interesting that Americans are so terrified of SEX -- even just saying the word -- that they took a word that traditionally only applies to other words in grammar -- GENDER -- and decided to use it to describe bias against a person because of her sex. (We even have Trans-gendered persons rather than Trans-sexual ones.)I find it telling.
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Ahh, the Democrats (and I used to be one) will all say "Oh I have no problem voting for a woman or a black man for president," but I believe that as little as I believe our president when he says he reads intelligence reports or that he is actually the decider..
White Democrats will externalize their own biases by saying "Well I would vote for him or her, but those OTHER people wouldn't because of their prejudices ... so I'm going for John Edwards." And he'll get the nomination, and he'll win (something the Republican smear-factory obviously knows and fears, which is why they're already going after him) and he'll be a damn good president -- the first populist since, well since I don't know when.
And for all you may be saying, right now, that YOU'RE not like that, I respectfully disagree.
Every white person in the United States was raised -- intentionally or not -- with some degree of distrust and fear of black men. Most don't realize it. It's too much a part of the environment of upbringing.
I live in a thoroughly integrated neighborhood -- black, white, Latino -- on a rural-like block with no sidewalks, where we hang out in the street and talk about this and that. And I have found two things about myself -- and presumably many others -- from that situation:
1 -- That it is only when in continued social interaction with people of other races we can really see that we do have those scars from how we were raised -- and I was raised in a very liberal family by parents who had much more interaction with Black or Asian people than most at that time. But it was there, as I see looking back.
2. That it is only with continuing social interaction that we white boys can work that scummy residue out of our systems.
I was standing outside my house a few years ago with a friend, a very dark-skinned Jamaican man, waiting for another fellow to pick us up, and I mentioned that to him, what I'd seen in myself -- that all white people etc... and he turned to me in something like amazement and said "You're the first white person I've ever known who admits that." And I said, "Well, it's not exactly something to be proud of.
SO ...
And the fact is, if Hillary or Obama are nominated, the reality of sex* and race bias in the United States WILL make it possible for one of the Republicans to win the election.
Going way out further on this limb, my guess is that Bill Richardson will be his Vice Presidential choice. Their uniting factor? They're the only two willing to 'fess up when they made a mistake and admit they're not perfect.
Why I like both of them? They're not religious fanatics.
------------------
*Isn't it interesting that Americans are so terrified of SEX -- even just saying the word -- that they took a word that traditionally only applies to other words in grammar -- GENDER -- and decided to use it to describe bias against a person because of her sex. (We even have Trans-gendered persons rather than Trans-sexual ones.)I find it telling.
***************************
posted by Saintperle at
12:06 PM
