Academic

HOPE - with a sprinkling of concern

By Aya Gruber

And so it is.  It really is.  It has really happened.  For the first time in so long, I feel something new flow through me, finally springing eternal - I feel HOPE.  For many of us democratic cynics, despair over the fate of politics and the constant worry that things never change have been part of our very existence, especially over the last eight years.  Then from virtually out of nowhere, this man came, with his thoughtfulness, unending calm, and brilliance, and inspired a nation to believe that change could come.  That this is an historic election is a gross understatement.  This is a monumental election -  one that has, at least for a brief moment, united a badly fractured nation, broken by greed, identitarianism, and ideology.  We finally have a 21st century leader, and the United States has a black president.  The United States has a black president.  Yes, the United States has a black president. 

Even the most jaded critic of race relations in this country cannot help but be moved by the image of Americans, black, white, Asian, Latina, standing side by side, hand in hand, tears free flowing as they watch a person of color, of mixed heritage, of multinational origin take the helm as ?our? President.  So even for me, a person generally adverse to the assertion that blacks/women/gays/etc. should just be happy with ?how far they?ve come,? the world is awash in rose.  Today, everyone seems like a slightly better person.  Even McCain was gracious enough to finally recognize during his concession speech what this election means to people of color.  His statement that Obama?s victory marks a radical departure from the ?cruel and frightful bigotry of the past,? although met with a pathetic smattering of applause that paled into comparison to the din of boos at the mention of Obama and Biden?s names (provoking one of the few smiles from teary-eyed Palin), was still moving and long over-due. 

Yet a part of me still worries.  This election brought out the best in people, but it also brought out the beast in people.  Obama was characterized by the McCain campaign as utterly foreign, dangerous, and even traitorous, and McCain supporters shouted ?kill him,? ?terrorist,? and ?Arab,? the latter McCain countered by clearing up that Obama couldn?t be an Arab because he was ?a decent family man.?  The Virginia republican party distributed a mailer featuring an extreme close up of Bin Laden?s eyes, manipulated to appear as possibly another set of ?ethnic? eyes, stating, ?America must look evil in the eye and never flinch.?  A California republican group sent out a flyer featuring a donkey-suited Obama on a food stamp adorned with fried chicken, ribs, watermelon, and Kool aid. 

These sentiments will not disappear because Obama has been elected, and in fact they may grow stronger.  The very day after the election conservative commentators are already using Obama?s victory to advance an anti-affirmative action agenda.  One blogger writes:

?Racism has been defeated once and for all time by the election of Mr. Obama. Let the healing begin. Henceforth there will be no need to identify a person’s color or ancestry in any news story. There will no longer be any purpose in asking about ‘race’ on applications for jobs, universities, grants, etc. . . .  No more affirmative action, minority business grants, housing subsidies, school busing, minority quotas of any kind. The debt owed by white Americans for ?400 years of slavery? is now paid in full.?

Indeed, many have interpreted Obama?s win as an indication that race no longer matters, but race does matter, and it mattered in the election.  A recent poll reports:

?Given a choice of several positive and negative adjectives that might describe blacks, 20 percent of all whites said the word ?violent? strongly applied. Among other words, 22 percent agreed with ?boastful,? 29 percent ?complaining? . . .  When asked about positive adjectives, whites were more likely to stay on the fence than give a strongly positive assessment.? 

During the campaign, there was an angry man whose proclamations that he would stand up and fight were met with rousing cheers.  Wasn?t there also a muscle-bound ?guy?s guy? who boasted about his potential to buy a business and then complained about the prospect of paying business taxes?  John and Joe were the heroes of many Americans precisely because of their complaints and willingness to ?fight.?  Now, just imagine if an amped-up Obama had arrived on the scene declaring with fervor that he would ?fight? to be President.

Yes, today I have pride and hope.  Today, I look forward to the change that is coming.  Today, I feel like ?we?ve come a long way baby.?  But I can?t lose sight of the fact that we still have many more miles to go.

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Full post as published by BlackProf on November 05, 2008 (boomark / email).