On Sunday morning, I heard the news that Harry Reid, my favorite political piñata, had finally said something with which I agree. A book about the 2008 presidential campaign came out on Friday in which Reid said he thought the fact that Barack Obama does not speak in a Negro dialect “unless he wants to” and that he is relatively light skinned were critical factors in his ability to become the country’s first black president. According to the news, Reid spent most of the weekend apologizing not only to the president himself, but to black political leaders across the land, many of whom are calling for his resignation.
My question is: apologize for what? Aside from the use of the term Negro – which strikes me as a bit of a relic – I think his take on the racial proclivities of the citizenry is the most honest thing he’s said since I began paying attention to him a little more than a year ago.
The reason I believe this is simple. Take a look at the comments section of almost any even vaguely political site on the Internet, look at the history books, look at the members of the Portland City Council or the Multnomah County Commission or the roster of the U.S. Congress, look at prison data, or employment statistics or death penalty tallies. Look almost anywhere you’d like, and if you manage to avoid the conclusion that if there’s one thing that makes us more uncomfortable than black people, it’s black people with power, please let me know. And when it comes to power, it’s clear as crystal to me that this country has daddy issues. We sleep better when daddy is in charge, and when we’re not sleeping we just feel better in general, knowing that daddy is watching out for us. Daddy is white, daddy is (presumably) heterosexual and daddy at one time or another – if only during weekend drills – donned a uniform in defense of our grand nation. Daddy sits before a gently roaring fire wearing expensive slippers and sipping brandy as he chuckles his way through the marketplace section of the Wall Street Journal. Barack Obama is not daddy - even though he was called “a long-legged mac daddy” by Al Sharpton during the campaign - and he never will be. Light-skinned though he may be, he’s still far too dark and his family background murky beyond our capacity. Having a black father allows us to believe ourselves revolutionary by electing him our leader; but I am convinced that the fact he had a white mother and a speaking style that's more Harvard law professor than inner-city community organizer helped propel him into the comfort zone for many, many voters. I believe two black parents and an undeniable Afro would have prevented Obama from winning elections that would have taken him any further from cozy Hyde Park than Springfield, Illinois. As a president, Obama is stuck straddling two positions, neither of which are part of the daddy portfolio: he’s either the most legitimate outsider, or the least legitimate insider. Bill Clinton had the same problem.
A big part of hoopla on the news yesterday was speculation that Harry Reid’s statement is going to diminish his chances for getting reelected this year. I have never been to Nevada, but I hear it leans conservative, and I wonder if this revelation might turn out to be just the boost his campaign needs. Just a thought.
The most interesting part of Harry’s statement, I think, is the bit about the Negro dialect. I think the way people speak is intriguing, and when Obama switches into what we’d call a Negro dialect when “ … he wants to” – wa’ssuuuup New Jersey!! – it doesn’t sway my voting intentions one way or another, but it does strike me as cheap. No cheaper, though, than Hillary Clinton trotting out her painfully faux Southern accent when speaking in places like Chattanooga, Tennessee or Charleston, West Virginia. And certainly no cheaper than people who are whiter than me – let’s say, just for example, members of the city council – who, although they may not speak a word of Spanish, can trill at a professional level when ordering burritos from their favorite food cart in downtown Portland.
My question is: apologize for what? Aside from the use of the term Negro – which strikes me as a bit of a relic – I think his take on the racial proclivities of the citizenry is the most honest thing he’s said since I began paying attention to him a little more than a year ago.
The reason I believe this is simple. Take a look at the comments section of almost any even vaguely political site on the Internet, look at the history books, look at the members of the Portland City Council or the Multnomah County Commission or the roster of the U.S. Congress, look at prison data, or employment statistics or death penalty tallies. Look almost anywhere you’d like, and if you manage to avoid the conclusion that if there’s one thing that makes us more uncomfortable than black people, it’s black people with power, please let me know. And when it comes to power, it’s clear as crystal to me that this country has daddy issues. We sleep better when daddy is in charge, and when we’re not sleeping we just feel better in general, knowing that daddy is watching out for us. Daddy is white, daddy is (presumably) heterosexual and daddy at one time or another – if only during weekend drills – donned a uniform in defense of our grand nation. Daddy sits before a gently roaring fire wearing expensive slippers and sipping brandy as he chuckles his way through the marketplace section of the Wall Street Journal. Barack Obama is not daddy - even though he was called “a long-legged mac daddy” by Al Sharpton during the campaign - and he never will be. Light-skinned though he may be, he’s still far too dark and his family background murky beyond our capacity. Having a black father allows us to believe ourselves revolutionary by electing him our leader; but I am convinced that the fact he had a white mother and a speaking style that's more Harvard law professor than inner-city community organizer helped propel him into the comfort zone for many, many voters. I believe two black parents and an undeniable Afro would have prevented Obama from winning elections that would have taken him any further from cozy Hyde Park than Springfield, Illinois. As a president, Obama is stuck straddling two positions, neither of which are part of the daddy portfolio: he’s either the most legitimate outsider, or the least legitimate insider. Bill Clinton had the same problem.
A big part of hoopla on the news yesterday was speculation that Harry Reid’s statement is going to diminish his chances for getting reelected this year. I have never been to Nevada, but I hear it leans conservative, and I wonder if this revelation might turn out to be just the boost his campaign needs. Just a thought.
The most interesting part of Harry’s statement, I think, is the bit about the Negro dialect. I think the way people speak is intriguing, and when Obama switches into what we’d call a Negro dialect when “ … he wants to” – wa’ssuuuup New Jersey!! – it doesn’t sway my voting intentions one way or another, but it does strike me as cheap. No cheaper, though, than Hillary Clinton trotting out her painfully faux Southern accent when speaking in places like Chattanooga, Tennessee or Charleston, West Virginia. And certainly no cheaper than people who are whiter than me – let’s say, just for example, members of the city council – who, although they may not speak a word of Spanish, can trill at a professional level when ordering burritos from their favorite food cart in downtown Portland.
