I was reading about Obamamania today and came across this tangential comment by "a thirty-something, African-American female":
And finally, after Iowa something changed. I am what you might now call an Obamamaniac and am 'emotionally involved' as you say. But it's not because I think he is some Messiah. I haven't fallen in love with him. His campaign has made me fall in love with this country. His campaign has made me rethink assumptions I had made about huge swaths of this country. My only thought of North Dakota was a place not to go because of the color of my skin. Now, after Iowa, I realize my own small-mindedness and my own cynicism. Sure, some people out there will not want me around but I'll wait until they make that clear to me.
And that is just really, really cool.
Posted by Sarah at February 16, 2008 09:00 AM | TrackBack
Sarah,
Sorry, but I couldn’t disagree with you more.
“His campaign has made me fall in love with this country.”
So, she wasn’t in love with this country before? That’s so sad I don’t even feel the need to go on about how pathetic that is.
“His campaign has made me rethink assumptions I had made about huge swaths of this country. My only thought of North Dakota was a place not to go because of the color of my skin. Now, after Iowa, I realize my own small-mindedness and my own cynicism.”
What assumptions would that be? That a bunch of white people in Middle America wouldn’t vote for a black man (or ˝ black). Hmm, there’s a word for that type of thinking, what is again…
“It feels really, really good for a change to believe that most people are essentially decent...”
To recap; she’s had a revelation that “most people are essentially decent”, she no longer is prejudiced and she’s NOW in love with this country because …drum roll please…Obama is getting more votes than Hillary.
There’s some real “Hope” and “Change” we should all get excited about. No, not so much.
Well, what I meant was that it's cool that someone who was ridiculously prejudiced towards white Middle America has seen the light.
I had a black roommate who had a similar "revelation" when my white friends accepted her at a party. And by "accepted", they just treated her as a normal person.
Posted by: Sarah at February 19, 2008 03:48 PMOK, but I don’t believe she has seen light, I don’t think she even realizes her prejudice. I also think she is being quite disingenuous, especially considering these comments are so similar to what Michelle Obama recently said. These are just empty campaign talking points intended to stir the crowd.
Posted by: tim at February 19, 2008 04:39 PM