Which Team Would You Hire?
A friend recently sent the following to me with the note: “A perceptive assessment of how race still matters in politics in ways that go unspoken.” Very insightful.
What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?
What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said "I do" to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?
What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?
What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5?
What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?
If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are? This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.
With America facing historic debt, two wars, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc, which team would you hire?
Not convinced?
Educational Background:
Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
vs.
McCain:
United States Naval Academy - class rank: 894 of 899
Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism
Now, which team are you going to hire?
PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter...
posted by Brandon at 8:20 AM
3 Comments:
You're right that minorities get increased scrutiny by white society. It is hypocritical. When I was in college working at a pizza place my African American, law school student manager told me that blacks can do anything in America that whites can do, it is just three or four times more difficult. However, I don't think the best solution is to start overlooking the faults of minorities; the best solution is to further scrutinize the faults of the majority.
Unfortunately, I don't think that the closeness of this presidential contest can be attributed to race. Politically, Obama is basically as liberal as John Kerry. John McCain will continue the military policies of George Bush and attempt to nominate strict constructionist supreme court justices. When people vote, they don't really vote for the man (at least not since George Washington); they vote for the values that he represents or, worse, they vote for the party.
I like this "assessment" but it would be far better if you applied such questions to other endeavors than presidential politics.
The concept you are talking about is cultural phenomenon called "whiteness." White people are less aware of themselves as racial creatures, because they don't have to be. Whites occupy a position of cultural privilege in our society wherein race-based assumptions are made or privileges are granted that are never explicitly tied to race.
Non-whites are constantly conscious of race, because they have no choice. So, it is fair to assume that if Obama had as poor an educational background as McPalin, he would suffer more for it, because it would be viewed as a byproduct of his race.
“PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter...”
Obama would not punish his daughter, Obama would punish his own grandchild by killing it.
“What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?”
Obama did cocaine.
“What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
“What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?”
Educational Background:
Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
Since when did a higher education make you smart.
George W. Bush
Yale University – B.A.
Harvard University – MBA
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