If Obama Loses, Don't Assume Racism

The New Republic: We Must Confront The Fact That Race Is Not The Only Reason Obama Could Lose

(The New Republic)  This column was written by John McWhorter.

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In the increasingly unlikely event that Barack Obama does not become president, Martin Luther King's dream would reveal itself as tragically unrealized 40 years after his death. Not, however, because whites were standing in that dream's way, but because of the black people standing alongside them.

Yes, black people. I find myself unable to trust that more than a sliver of black America would be able, if Obama lost, to assess that outcome according to--of all things--the content of his character.

For 40 years, black America has been misled by a claim that we can only be our best with the total eclipse of racist bias. Few put it in so many words, but the obsession with things like tabulating ever-finer shades of racism and calling for a "national conversation" on race in which whites would listen to blacks talk about racism are based on an assumption: that the descendants of African slaves in the United States are the only group of humans in history whose problems will vanish with a "level playing field," something no other group has ever supposed could be a reality.

The general conversation is drifting slowly away from this Utopianist canard, but nothing could help hustle it into obsolescence more than an Obama presidency, especially for the generation who grew up watching a black man and his family in the White House and had little memory of a time when it would have been considered an impossibility. At the same time, nothing could breathe new life into this gestural pessimism like an Obama loss. It would be the perfect enabler for a good ten years of aggrieved mulling over "the persistence of racism," which, for all of its cathartic seduction, would make no one less poor, more gainfully employed, or better educated.

The prevailing sentiment would be expressed in tart declarations, considered the height of black authenticity, that bigotry did in the Obama campaign. Even now, the idea that white swing voters might pass on him because of his positions or campaign performance is considered a peculiar notion, likely from someone unhip to the gospel that America remains all about racism despite Colin Powell and Oprah. The money question is considered to be why our Great Black Hope isn't polling tens of points ahead of John McCain and his discredited party. But Obama has been a sure shot only with Blue America college-town sorts, animated not only by Obama's intellect, but also by his "diverseness" and its symbolic import for showing that our nasty past is truly past.

Obama, in fact, has limitations as a communicator beyond black people and the "Stuff White People Like" set. In his first debate with John McCain, when McCain assailed him as a big spender, Obama was almost strangely uninterested in pointing up the things he wants to spend money on--i.e., exactly the things needed by the struggling working class people he has trouble making inroads with. Luckily, he's gotten past this some recently (see his calling health care a "right" during the second debate and his brass-tacks speech in Toledo on Monday). However, overall, professorial Obama still seems oblivious to the power of slogans. Reagan had "Morning in America"; Bill Clinton had "The End of Welfare As We Know It." Obama has had the likes of the gauzy "Yes, We Can," stirring as an opening gambit and good on T-shirts, but offering little to the folks facing layoffs while trying to pay their mortgage. To struggling black folks, ethnic identification pushes Obama over the edge regardless. But all folks aren't black.

The Wisconsin chairman of the Republican Party notes, then, that for lunch pail whites, "I don't think race is an issue at all. A bigger problem is that Barack Obama has a sort of show pony style. The speeches and the classic double speak and being a great orator, that kind of thing doesn't play well in Wisconsin." That is, there are plenty of non-racist whites who need a candidate to show them something more than I.Q. and a poignant multicultural provenance. In not finding Obama's dreams of his father worthy of a vote, they are evaluating him as Dr. King would have counseled.

These are transitional times. In a recent Bloggingheads dialogue, Ta-Nehisi Coates admitted to me that Iowa had forced him to "reassess" his pessimism as to how far America has come on race. If Obama loses, people like Coates will desist in their reassessments, and settle back into their cognitive comfort zone. Whites will cheer on the sidelines: Nothing would establish a Good White Person's bona fides on the race thing more than assenting that the racism "out there" is "still around" and has vanquished the audacity of hope.

The grievous result of this fetishization of racism would be that it would put a kibosh on the upsurge in black voters' political engagement amidst the Obamenon. Newspaper articles would quote blacks disillusioned from getting excited about any future black candidate--e.g. "I thought maybe America was finally getting past racism but it turned out not to be true." 2009 would be a year of countless panel discussions, quickie books, and celebrated rap couplets wallowing in the notion that the white man wouldn't let Obama into the Oval Office where he belonged, urgently reminding us that to be black is still to be a victim.

Promising black politicians like Cory Booker, Deval Patrick, Adrian Fenty, and Harold Ford would find it harder than Obama did to attract support for presidential runs: No matter how stirring their speeches, the good word would be, "Look what happened to Obama!" And for years to come, professors would teach the 2008 election as a lesson about racism rather than about a heartening near-victory that no one could have imagined as recently as 15 years ago.

In August the hot news was The New York Times/CBS poll noting that one in 20 whites said they would not vote for a black man. Even those most self-appointedly vigilant about the depth of America's racist roots had a hard time pretending that one in 20 was exactly threatening--but then the poll also showed that one in five whites thought most of their friends would not vote for a black presidential candidate. But imagine a poll asking people about their friends that revealed, say, that they thought most of them weren't racists--something not hard to imagine. Social scientists would likely laugh it out of the room--"anecdotal," and so on--because it would be telling them something they didn't want to hear.

In September it was the AP/Yahoo poll making the inbox rounds, showing that a third of white Democrats agreed with the pairing of at least one negative adjective with blacks. But how hard is it to imagine that someone who says black people are more likely to, for example, be angry than whites might nevertheless be an Obama fan? After all, it wasn't so long ago that the wise cocktail party comment on Obama was that he is "the kind of black person white people are okay with." In line with that, the same poll shows that three out of five whites who pair a negative adjective with blacks intend to vote for Obama anyway.

And so it goes: All evidence is that the role of racism in Obama's reception has been and will be blissfully marginal. Yet it is hardly unlikely that the race will be close. And as such, because there surely are backwards people out there who will not vote for Obama because he is black, it will not be impossible to fashion an argument that racism decided a McCain victory.

Of course, the best case will only be that racism tipped the election by a few points. But besides the fact that there will be equally coherent arguments that it did not, the proper analogy would be that pneumonia is often what kills AIDS patients. No one would claim that this means that pneumonia, as opposed to lung cancer, heart disease, or AIDS itself, is a grievously urgent medical crisis in America. Yet black America's shorthand consensus will be founded upon just such a logical fallacy: that "Obama lost because America remains a deeply racist country."

Why would such an athletically pessimistic conclusion be so attractive to black people? Partly because of insecurity, as Shelby Steele artfully framed it in his signature book titled, as it happens, The Content of Our Character. Unsure of our worth after 350 years of abuse and just 40 years blinking in the light of an America past Jim Crow, we too easily seek the crutch of noble victimhood as a substitute for a true inner pride it can still be hard to feel deep down.

Another reason is that for blacks who are not poor--i.e. most black people, as quiet as it's kept--this Cassandra tendency is a gesture of solidarity with our less fortunate fellow blacks. Black America is poised awkwardly between a private commitment to keeping our heads up despite the obstacles and a sense that our public face should be one of tribalist plangency. Tyler Perry's plays and movies are runaway hits with black audiences featuring Perry's drag grandmother character Madea counseling Bill Cosby-esque "deal with it" wisdom. Yet, as Peggy Noonan nailed it on blacks' reception of Reverend Jeremiah Wright's victimologist rantings, we are also committed to Walt Whitman's "barbaric yawp," asserting "I'm still loyal to our bitterness."

This bone-deep antipathic sentiment is processed as a key element in informed black identity. To let it go is to risk, for one, seeming unfeeling about the innocent black 17-year-old slammed against a police car by cops trawling a neighborhood on a drug bust. Then also, to let it go would mean imagining that Barack Obama missed the prize simply because he wasn't up to it. Many black people aren't ready to face something like that squarely just yet: Black America, understandably given its history, is nursing an inner-wound.

That Obama's loss in the general election may have more to do with his performance than his melanin will be treated as something to acknowledge parenthetically at best. And that will be a dismissal of the very lesson Dr. King tried to teach us. Two decades ago, when Jesse Jackson ran for president and Time magazine did a cover with his picture and the headline "The Jackson Factor", it was just to sell copies: We all knew America wasn't ready for a black President. Perhaps the reaction was partly due to certain things about Jackson himself, but who knew that not so long later, a black man would be within a hair's breadth of the White House in part because of his race? Yet, if we truly understand that King's lesson was that black people are whites' equals and not eternal poster children, then we must confront the fact that race is not the only reason Obama could lose.

King's next birthday celebration will be, as it happens, the day before Inauguration Day, and I dread the prospect of black America treating King Day as an opportunity to rue how McCain's swearing in will show "far we have to go" 40 years after King's death, rather than celebrating that how close Obama came to the prize showed how magnificently far we have come.

[corrupteddem]

So Obama fooled the Great Powell too.

Wow, Liberals sacrifice everything for him, now good people in America sacrifice their life for him too. Powell is under the Liberal Curse: No Responsibility, No Conscience, No Shame. Pray God to cure the Liberals from this Obama curse.

Wow, Obama must have a special kind of %u201Cinspiration" to fool good Americans. Wow!
Democrats have been using mind shaping method for decades. Now Obama takes it to the next level.

Could Obama use Mind Shaping Method to fool people?
There is a method by Mark Orth on Congruent Communications: Just change your voice and people will listen to you;
Also there is a Holosync method of Centerpointe. This method change people subconscious by creating visions for them (Fake seal, Greek temple, declare winning etc.)

Most Conservatives Republicans are not fooled by Obama and Democrats. Half of the country has been fooled by the corrupted Democrats for years.

Pray God to cure US all!

[shyann12]

McCain has said many times, "Senator Obama is a good man and if elected, there is nothing to be afraid of. I differ from him in policy."
Many Americans respect McCain''s record as a statesman.
Obama has been groomed for this position by partisan politicians and has lost my vote. McCain for president!

[alaskavoter]

ALASKA GOVERNOR RECALL!
I am an Alaskan life voting Republican. This 2008 Election, I will [with pleasure] vote Democrat!

This Alaska Governor Palin has Destroyed and continues to attempt to Destroy "MANY GOOD ALASKAN PEOPLE(s)%u201D Professionally and Politically during her "VERY SHORT" term position as Mayor in a small community Wasilla, Ak (Approx 5,000 + residents during her reign) and currently the Alaska State Governor.

McCain%u2019s V.P. selection Sarah Palin unequivocally has NO business being the Alaska Governor, let alone, a USA Candidate for Vice President%u2026..

Maverick??.....%u201DAMERICA SHOULD BE FEARFULLY CONCERNED%u201D

I voted for Sarah Palin in Alaskans 2006 Governor Election. MISTAKE!.... Never Again%u2026 I repeat-NEVER AGAIN!!....Alaska Governor Palin is an absolute Embarrassment to the Alaska People(s) and "IS PROVEN%u201D Over and Over to be an insatiable LIAR!!..
.
How can she possibly ASSUME to possess the ability to clean up America, when she cannot clean the progressive ''''MESS" She has created, then left Alaska to run for the United States V.P. Yes, she .departed leaving %u201CHERSELF and HER husband todd palins%u201D Mess FOR Alaskans to Clean-Up!!

MCCAIN, you should be ASHAMED of yourself!!!! This victim (palin) has no business in this Presidential Arena.

Posted by: Alaskan Voter
History of Palin News & Investigation Report adn.com/Newsweek
Thank You,

[alaskavoter]

****AMERICA SHOULD BE FEARFULLY CONCERNED****

In the last month, After Governor Sarah Palin and HER Administration was refused by The Alaska Superior Court, then refused by The Alaska Supreme Court to SQUASH the %u201CTroopergate Investigation%u201D against Sarah Palin, the Alaska State Legislative Investigation (LAW) moved on the investigation of the Firing of the Alaska State Public Safety Commissioner.

Gov.Sarah Palin %u201CIS%u201D found %u201CGUILTY%u201D by The Alaska State Legislature [60 Lawmakers, Mostly Republicans] .in the Investigation of Firing" The Chief of The Alaska State Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan.

TROOPERGATE: In plain English, Sarah Palin has been legally PROVEN that she broke the Alaska State Ethics Law in ABUSING HER power in pushing for the firing of a State Trooper once married to her sister and by ALLOWING her husband Todd Palin to use the Alaska Governor''s Office in a crusade against the Officer. She is charged with 18 Ethic Violation Facts.

Currently the State of Alaska Personnel Board has hired a private Investigator to continue the %u201CTroopergate Investigation%u201D on possible OTHER Ethic Violations which Palin allowed HER appointed Administration and HER appointed State of Alaska Attorney General to continue to fulfill, during her short term position of approximately 20 months as Alaska State Governor.

ALASKA GOVERNOR RECALL!
Thank You

[171340622]

There are those who believe what Nobamma says rather than consider his back round and voting record and will vote for him no matter what. That is a shame.
If you want to see a picture of the future with Nobamma and a Dumbocratic Congress take a look at the state of Michigan and what they did there.

[lloydgarver]

Well,"creeper00," maybe I should be flattered that you''re quoting me, but I''d like it a lot better if you quoted me in the proper context. I certainly didn''t say that everyone who feels Obama is inexperienced is a racist. Maybe you should read the column again. No extra charge.

Lloyd Garver

www.lloydgarver.com

[jamierobert1]

Don''t kid yourself. If Barack Obama, the infinitely smarter, calmer, more talented candidate loses, it will be, without a doubt, because of racism. It is naive to assume otherwise after such a nightmarish Republican reign. Primarily, it will be a result of Democrat racism, since Republicans, racist or not, would be primarily uncomfortable with the DNC platform. Any racist is a fool - this bears out by studies that indicate the more educated you are, the less racist. But only the greatest of fools would vote against the sole candidate who can save the middle class from falling into ruin. If you have to vote a color, vote green - as in money - and vote for Barack Obama.

[texbestest]

Prelgovisk,

Your premise is only partically right. Obama may get a boost should some who would not have otherwise voted for a person of color vote for him to proove they are not racists. However, I accept General Colin Powell''s assessment that Senator Obama has met the standard to be president.

[texbestest]

shyam8,

As a recovering racist, I believe you are completely wrong about there not being racism in America. I am acquainted with many members of my family, extended family, childhood friends, and members of various organizations in which I have held memberships over the past 50 years who are racists. My experience tells me you do not know of what you speak.

[texbestest]

Creeper00,

Your opinion does not carry the weight of that of General Colin Powell. He says Senator Obamas has passed the standard needed to be President.

[texbestest]

JACKP32,

We do not care who you vote for; Colin Powell has said he is voting for the Obama-Biden ticket. Also, the Obama-Biden have more money to spend than the McCain-Palin Ticket can dream of.

[texbestest]

Jungljimy12,

YPM''s fraudulent flipping of the registrations of Democrats to Republicans is a bigger and more valid scanal than the claims against ACORN. If you want to find real fraud and deception look to the Republicans.

[tawpdawg111]

This is such a no-brainer that if Obama loses, you can rest assured that this election was just as rigged as each of the last two.

We are the laughingstock of the world. Will we go to work on that image or continue to perpetuate it?

From The London Daily Mirror on November 4, 2004........"How Can 59,054,087 People Be So DUMB?"

[jackp32]

I am not voting for Obama and don''t give a *** what you liberals think about it.

[creeper00]

Here''s your real racist author, thirza1:

"He''s inexperienced" really means, "He''s black."
Lloyd Garver

http://www.lloydgarver.com/

I object to Barack Obama because he is an unaccomplished, inexperienced political opportunist. Evidently that makes me a racist.

At least I know now why so many people support him despite being unable to name one single thing he has accomplished. Every voter who is even considering voting for Barack Obama should read this:

http://www.pennypresslv.com/Obama%27s_Use_of_Hidden_Hypnosis_techniques_in_His_Speeches.pdf

You''ve been hypnotized and you don''t even know it.

[thirza1]

Very racist article by a racist author, I see.

Sorry, but you have internalized racism going on when you write a topic about people thinking America is racist because Obama ''won''t'' be elected. As if it''s fact that he would never have a chance to.

Opinions are opinions and not to be taken as fact, like your screwy poll results.

Granted, you completely made that ***t up to put doubt in dumb American minds, I think it might just work.

Nice try, but some of us are smarter than that.
You really need to stop getting paid to make up ***p.

[G H M]

Here we go -- this is a artical to stir up the race card!!

Vote for Obama -Biden and stright democrats

Mr.John McWhorter a black man - Me think your a McBusher
We also understand that his audience is conservative white America.

[truthbetold64]

John McCain has piggybacked off Barak Obama''s campaign message since the beginning of the campaign. John always repeats what he hears from Obama and then either distorts the facts or create an outright lie to sell to idiotic americans who don''t know their heads from their ... you get the picture!!! Forget "If Obama loses, don''t blame it on racism" ... the better line would be "If Obama loses, it was institutional BS AND YOU KNOW IT!!!" At this point in the game, Barak will be the next President of the United States, but even if he is not ... whoever is ... these next four to eight years had better be *** good! Up until this presidential election, I had been a registered republic for the last twenty years ... there is no way in ... that I would vote John McCain to be President of these United States ... Although, I had my reservations about Barak Obama ... he is still the better choice.

[truthbetold64]

John McCain has piggybacked off Barak Obama''s campaign message since the beginning of the campaign. John always repeats what he hears from Obama and then either distorts the facts or create an outright lie to sell to idiotic americans who don''t know their heads from their ... you get the picture!!! Forget "If Obama loses, don''t blame it on r4acism" ... the better line would be "If Obama loses, it was institutional BS AND YOU KNOW IT!!!" At this point in the game, Barak will be the next President of the United States, but even if he is not ... whoever is ... these next four to eight years had better be *** good!

[babooph]

The same voters who voted for George will vote for John - no change-no matter the winner -a very divided nation will emerge in November.