On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 2:47 PM, c b <[email protected]> wrote: > Racism is a very complex and in many ways perverted phenomenon in the > US. So, I can understand why as novices to the topic you don't get > the O admin's response to the Sherrod matter. Briefly, it is the > acceptance of the principles of Reaganite racism by such a large > portion of the white population that forces Obama, who is Black, to > bend over backwards not to express any of the characteristics of an > "angry Black man". He won with so many whites because he is _not_ > Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton or a civil rights advocate. He ends up > having to be less an opponent of racism against himself or other Black > people than progressive Whites can be.
I have some sympathy for this argument. So I can understand why Obama does not and cannot speak like a Sharpton or a Jackson. I can also understand why he would be hyper-sensitive to accusations of "reverse-racism" - simply because such accusations may take on a life of their own if enough people believe it. But at some point, he has got to - forgive the sexist expression - "man up". The situation calls for subtlety and nuance, not capitulation. It is not too late. The Sherrod case has produced a near-unanimous reaction against the racist right. It is one thing to be a corporate tool. But, if Obama fails to take this opportunity, make amends for the shameful way this lady was treated and fight back in some meaningful way against the enemy, he is also an utterly contemptible coward. -raghu. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
