Support him, or else…
The New York Times article this morning (‘Black Ohioans Backing Clinton Feel the Pressure to Switch’) is certainly worth the read. My comments are going to be short and to the point due to me having to beat traffic this morning.
Check out what Ohio state legislator Eugene R. Miller has endured because of his support of Clinton.
With less than a week before Ohioans go to the polls in the Democratic primary, Mr. Miller and a small group of other black elected officials who are stumping for Mrs. Clinton are nothing if not courageous. Spending eight-hour days talking up his candidate, Mr. Miller finds himself besieged by disbelief, disapproval and at times ridicule from blacks who maintain that he is betraying his race.
“Some people call me an Uncle Tom,” said Mr. Miller, who, up for re-election, faces an opponent next week whose literature includes a picture of Mr. Obama. “There’s a lot of pressure to switch sides. There’s a lot of emotion. All I can say is thank God it’s winter and no one is outside, because there would be more than angry words on the street.”
…
“To me, it’s not about race,” said Ms. Johnson, her jacket festooned with “Hillary” buttons. “It’s about having a president who knows what she’s doing. Besides, I think it’s time for a woman to be president.”
Sooooo, its not about race, but gender. Nice!
…
For some Clinton supporters, the heat has been too much to bear. In recent weeks, two black city councilmen, Robert J. White III and Kevin Conwell, have jumped ship to the Obama campaign, saying they could not take the heckling and the scolding stares. At his weekly community meeting at a local library, Mr. Conwell said, a few people wept when he tried to persuade those present to back Mrs. Clinton.
“They said I was on the wrong side of history,” he recalled. “They said I was getting in the way of an African-American becoming president.”
He was harangued at the barbershop and at the dry cleaner, and calls from the discontented poured into his office.
“I felt like the stepchild of the community,” he said.
Two weeks ago Mr. Conwell gave way.
“Now everyone is patting me on the back,” he said. “It feels good to be loved again.”
Okay, I get the whole thing that elected officials should represent the opinions of their constituencies. But I do have problems with pressuring elected officials to support Obama only because he is Black. Regardless, a democracy is “…government by the people“. This is clearly an example of ‘the people’ using that power.
#The other thing I found interesting was Black Democrats calling other Black Democrats “Uncle Toms”. No THAT’S funny!
I’ll be back later this morning (or early afternoon if you are on the east coast).
That’s awful. No one should have to endure any pressure.
I’m also tired of the gender vs. race thing. It’s amazing how Gloria Steinem says that sexism’s a bigger problem than racism but I have yet to see the public backlash of voting with your gender on the part of women. Women are proudly supporting Hillary because she’s a woman. If you don’t, you’ll be branded a traitor. Just ask Oprah. Oprah endorses Obama and she had Roseanne and a bunch of other White women harping on her for backing “the Black guy.”
Hillary got away with saying that the White House needs a woman but I know for certain that Barack wouldn’t have gotten away with saying that it’s the Black man’s turn to be president.
Comment by Anonymiss | February 28, 2008
I was listening to Georgia State Rep John Lewis tell why he switched his support to Obama and it all sounded like a bunch of gobbly goop(technical term). I hope people understand that good looks and a great personality doesn’t necessarily translate to a good president.
Comment by Saudia | February 28, 2008
I feel no sympathy whatsoever for these so called leaders… I understand what you are saying Duane but the thing is people are not voting for him “just because” he is black. If that was the case Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would have gotten 90% of the black vote. People are not that stupid. People are voting for him because he is highly qualified AND he happens to be black.
That is not something that is out of the ordinary either. You will see the same thing among ALL social groups. All other things being equal (same party, similar on issues, both highly educated), most social groups will pick a person from their group. I don’t see why this would be any different for blacks. She is just not that much better than him to overcome that… She’s a lot worse than him IMO…
What has opened my eyes is that if I can see this why can’t these so called leaders? Do they read? If you have actually read his works and his history and followed the things he has been doing in our community and others then I just don’t see how any of these people could have gotten behind Clinton other than for political favortism… To me it was like, “No Wonder!”… These are the people who have been leading us?? No Wonder our communities are so screwed up… I think this has waken up the 30 and 40 somethings in our community. I know it makes me want to run for some kind of office because the results that the previous generation have given us are slim at best. And when one of our own who has done everything that they told him to do (get the ivy league education, learn the rules of the game, give back to community, know the history, etc,.. ) tries to break ranks and actually do something, the first thing they do is run up behind the white lady to get their scraps… I hope people understand that being married to a man that HAD good looks and a great personality doesn’t translate to a good president either. I’ll be consistent with it too. If Michelle runs in 12-16 yrs I probably won’t vote for her either.
Comment by Wizz | February 28, 2008
I understand what you are saying Duane but the thing is people are not voting for him “just because” he is black.
Herein lies the problem. Statements like “They said I was on the wrong side of history,” he recalled. “They said I was getting in the way of an African-American becoming president.”or “Some people call me an Uncle Tom,” and accussations of “… betraying his race” by Miller don’t strike me as comments coming from indivuals who are making a decision based on substance.
Then again, for some substance EQUALS race.
Now, does this demographic in Ohio serve as a full representation of all Blacks supporting Obama? I would think not.
People are not that stupid. People are voting for him because he is highly qualified AND he happens to be black.
Again, you are projecting on Obama what you want to believe. Your comment does not apply to folks who A. Consider him the lessor of the 2 evils and B. Because he is Black. And trust me, both camps are well represented.
Another thing—
What has opened my eyes is that if I can see this why can’t these so called leaders? Do they read? If you have actually read his works and his history and followed the things he has been doing in our community and others then I just don’t see how any of these people could have gotten behind Clinton other than for political favortism… To me it was like, “No Wonder!”… These are the people who have been leading us?? No Wonder our communities are so screwed up… I think this has waken up the 30 and 40 somethings in our community. I know it makes me want to run for some kind of office because the results that the previous generation have given us are slim at best.
What I find funny is that until Obama came on the scene, Clinton was largely viewed in the Black community as ‘God’s gift to our race’. Yes he had his Black critics, but on many of his policy issues, those critics were very few and far between–especially when the perception was that conservatives were ganging up on him. Clinton saw the writing on the wall that his ‘Black pass’ was about to expire which is why he revealed his true self under panic in South Carolina.
As far as what Obama has done in the community, I challenge you to hold his record in community work/activism to that of …let’s say Jesse Jackson (who also ran for president). Now I may not be a fan of Jackson, but any fair-minded person knows that beyond his ’stuff’, he has done way more that Obama in that department. Obama is getting praised for his contributions only because he is palatable to the America public where Jackson is not. In that regard, I can understand Jackson’s jealousy (if he ever was). So I do not know if you want to rely on his community service as a selling point that supposedly separates him from all those ‘other leaders’.
Comment by Duane | February 28, 2008
Statements like … don’t strike me as comments coming from indivuals who are making a decision based on substance.
That why I said it is substance AND race… Again, no one ever got called Uncle Tom for not supporting Al Sharpton.
Again, you are projecting on Obama what you want to believe.
Ok… I’m not some expert politcal pundit. I’m telling what I believe is going on based on what I believe is common sense based on my life experience. I’m claiming no more than that. And I think the person who is likely to vote for him just because he is black is not the type of person who is even usually paying attention to this type of stuff during primaries and what not… Again, that’s just my opinion.
Yes he had his Black critics, but on many of his policy issues, those critics were very few and far between
Ok…. So you run with what you have until something better comes along… Something better has come along. That’s life.
As far as Jackson having more community service experience…. That’s fine. I’m not only holding up Obama’s community service. That’s only one part of what I like about him. He has other skills and understandings that tower over Jackson. And I’m not saying he is Jesus. Or that he is the only one. But he is the only one out of the people who have been running during this election season.
Comment by Wizz | February 28, 2008
Nations have no permanent friends and no permanent enemies. Only permanent interests. The Clintons were friends of the Black Nation. However, a permanent interest of the Black Nation is advancing Black people. With that said, this well-paid MBA is voting for Obama because he’s Black.
Comment by Carl | February 28, 2008
Duane, I think I have to agree with other posters. I think for MOST black people supporting Obama who ask Clinton supporters how can you not vote for the brother, the reality is that what they are really saying is “how can you not vote for this as qualified if not more so than the others brother?”. The point about Jesse and even more so Sharpton is well made. We talk in a shorthand and people lift that surface conversation and run with it like thats all there was. But I think that for 90% of the blacks supporting Obama, they are going with him because he is qualified, credible and bonus, he’s black.
These black leaders are getting pressured, because black people have come to the conclusion that Obama is as good as or better than the other candidates, and since we have loyalty to each other, the calculus is that all things being equal, then we should support the brother. When black leadership refuses to do so, black rank and file folk are understandably mystified by how the same logic that has brought them to support Barack is being so clearly missed by our elected officials and they call them on it.
Further as a little aside, CBC members for example like John Lewis, Stephanie Tubbs in Ohio and Sheila Jackson Lee have all made the statement that they supported the Clintons out of loyalty and long time friendship. Lewis said so in his interview about his switch, I heard Tubbs say it today on XM POTUS 08 and Jackson Lee said it at the SOBU. So on that score as well they ought to get checked, since their friendship with the Clintons is not a reason sufficient to trump supporting the brother at a historical moment such as this.
Now if only we start practicing this kind of accountability with all our elected officials, starting with a healthy dose of accountability in Detroit.
Comment by Aaron | February 28, 2008
WHAT MAKES HIM QUALIFIED. HE HAS NO EXPERIENCE WITH FORGIEN POLICY. YES HE IS CHARISMATIC. BUT SO WAS BUSH!!!!!! I understand desire to vote for him. But at the end of the day how will he press the issue of the American Public issue. What alliances does he have abroad? How is he going to restore Americas name with the rest of the world?
Comment by Saudia | February 29, 2008
@Saudia
What makes him qualified? My answer to that is his eight years as an elected official state and federal, his harvard education and his work experience prior to public life.
On foreign policy, neither McCain nor Clinton is more qualified in my opinion. None of the candidates, including Obama, have demonstrated any strong strategic understanding of the Iraq conflict. One is not better than the other on this point.
Bottom line for me. He is smart and on balance I believe his brains and judgment make up for any lack of experience relative to Clinton. He has run a brilliant campaign, further demonstration of his capabilities against an opponent most regarded as unstoppable.
His election itself will do much to restore global confidence. This election is being watched around the globe and most global observers believe Obama would be evidence of a complete shift in American policy. Now, on foreign policy, the fact is, what Obama wants is immaterial. He will find he is constrained by a variety of factors which are outside of his control. He will learn that. But I think he has the judgment. I’m not worried about him favoring Kenya or anything silly like that, he is an American.
But bottom line, nobody else in the race is hands down better or more qualified, and despite my strong philosophic differences with his positions, in that scenario, I’m going to support the qualified brother.
Comment by Aaron | February 29, 2008