Obama & Shameful Math
Several recent polls show Senator Barack Obama with a double-digit lead heading into the campaign's final stretch. Many pundits have been saying the race is essentially over. That's what Tom Bradley thought.
During the 1982 campaign for the governor of California, polls leading up the the election and exit
polls showed the African American Bradley as a clear winner. But once the votes were counted, California, in fact, did not have its first black governor. Political scientists discovered that polling booth-privacy has a way of bringing out the racism in some white voters.
Although this is not 1982, Barack Obama is still black -- and race still matters in America. Anything less than a double digit lead in the polls and Barack Obama may not be the nation's first black president. That's a shameful kind of math that we, as Americans, need to eradicate. But until then, Senator Barack Obama best keep knocking up doors, winning debates and kissing hella babies.
Peace & Blessings,
Michael Datcher
Editor
During the 1982 campaign for the governor of California, polls leading up the the election and exit
polls showed the African American Bradley as a clear winner. But once the votes were counted, California, in fact, did not have its first black governor. Political scientists discovered that polling booth-privacy has a way of bringing out the racism in some white voters.
Although this is not 1982, Barack Obama is still black -- and race still matters in America. Anything less than a double digit lead in the polls and Barack Obama may not be the nation's first black president. That's a shameful kind of math that we, as Americans, need to eradicate. But until then, Senator Barack Obama best keep knocking up doors, winning debates and kissing hella babies.
Peace & Blessings,
Michael Datcher
Editor
posted by Editorial Staff | 7:02 PM
1 Comments:
I completely agree with your statements Professor.
Now this may sound a little paranoid with a splash of conspiracy theory, but I have little trust in these polls. First of all, this occured not too long ago when Gore ran and later when, Kerry ran against Bush. I have a sneaky suspicion that Obama may not be as far ahead as we think and that scares me.
However, I can feel the change in the air (as you have said in the past) and the American people are craving it. Lets just hope they will do what is necessary to satiate their craving.
Cornel West dedicated an entire book to Race entitled, Race Matters. In it he proves that we can not enter into a discourse about socio-economic classes without talking about race. Since the turbulent times of the 60's with the Civil Rights Act and the Watts Riots (68' and 92'), mainstream society has done its best to respect Black America. Nevertheless, by trying to get over race, we end up trying not to talk about the difficult parts of race relations (except of course in comedy).
As a wise man once said, "One day I hope that there will not be an African-American studies or an Asian or Latino American studies, but that all studies will incorporate a balanced history of all cultures. No segragation but integration."
Obviously, this is no small feat because Black folk have struggled for hundreds of years for equality. But 60 years ago I would not have had the opportunites, as a person of color, that I do now. This simple fact gives me hope for the future. So, we all have a lot of work to do. Lets put some elbow grease into it!
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