Hey, everybody! I wanted in on the blogging world, so here it is my 1st post on my 1st blog! I wanted this to be good, so I'm posting some words that Sac thinks could be my best ever.
Personally I think his long-term memory is failing. Back in the Fall of '06 I was one of the most entertaining facebookers anyone knew. Fall of '07 wasn't bad for me either, since then I've gotten extremely bored of facebook and see it as an evil temptation I can't quite resist yet for fear of losing communication. The quality of my comments on that networking site have grown few and far between.
I'm hoping that soon none of my relationships will hinge on facebook and I will be able to avoid it as well as I've stayed away from MySpace my entire life.
Little known fact about yours truly, I'm color blind. It's true, I can't see race. Which is why I'm so confused on this whole "1st black president" issue.
1- I know some of you youngsters don't remember the 90's as well as those of us who are in our mid 20's, but back when Nirvana and Pearl Jam ruled the airwaves, it was common knowledge that William Jefferson Clinton was the 1st black president.
Why did Bill Clinton lose this title? I'm guessing it's because he married a white woman. Again, I can't see race, but I know that Hillary is white because people have talked about how this election could be historic because we could have a woman president OR a black president. No one said we could have a woman president AND a black president. This leads me to the following conclusions:
A) Barack Obama is not a woman
B) Hillary Clinton is not black
2- Why did they replace President Clinton as the first black president with someone who is not even all the way black? I know that Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, and the great Will Smith are all black because of the roles they've played in movies. I know Barack Obama is only half black because he's spoken publicly about his white mother.
3- Nearly 2 years ago two African American men became the 1st black NFL head coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl. One of these coaches was asked "How far have we come to have not one, but two African American head coaches in the Super Bowl?" His response was "Maybe the fact that this is even a story is evidence that we haven't come far enough." He then said that story shouldn't be about race, but coaching style. That both teams had successful seasons led by Christian coaches who weren't dictators in the locker room. The same principle applies to our current situation in politics. Race is still enough of an issue that the first black man to do any thing significant is always going to be seen as a big deal.
1- I know some of you youngsters don't remember the 90's as well as those of us who are in our mid 20's, but back when Nirvana and Pearl Jam ruled the airwaves, it was common knowledge that William Jefferson Clinton was the 1st black president.
Why did Bill Clinton lose this title? I'm guessing it's because he married a white woman. Again, I can't see race, but I know that Hillary is white because people have talked about how this election could be historic because we could have a woman president OR a black president. No one said we could have a woman president AND a black president. This leads me to the following conclusions:
A) Barack Obama is not a woman
B) Hillary Clinton is not black
2- Why did they replace President Clinton as the first black president with someone who is not even all the way black? I know that Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, and the great Will Smith are all black because of the roles they've played in movies. I know Barack Obama is only half black because he's spoken publicly about his white mother.
3- Nearly 2 years ago two African American men became the 1st black NFL head coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl. One of these coaches was asked "How far have we come to have not one, but two African American head coaches in the Super Bowl?" His response was "Maybe the fact that this is even a story is evidence that we haven't come far enough." He then said that story shouldn't be about race, but coaching style. That both teams had successful seasons led by Christian coaches who weren't dictators in the locker room. The same principle applies to our current situation in politics. Race is still enough of an issue that the first black man to do any thing significant is always going to be seen as a big deal.
That's why the media has been showing giant congregations of black people celebrating. That's why they've been interviewing African American pastors. That's why they kept showing shots of Jesse Jackson in the crowd crying while Barack was giving his acceptance speech. (Despite the reverend's comment months earlier that he would like to cut Obama's nuts off for calling out black fathers who abandon their children)Yes race is still an issue, more so than age. If John McCain was elected do you think they would show congregations of old people celebrating in nursing homes and assisted living centers? Do you think they would show shots of Tom Widdison and Wayne Bass (omg, they're like sooo old) in the crowd crying as President-elect McCain gave his acceptance speech?
*Note: This post is in response to an opinion of a respected contemporary that was posted on November 6, you can find it here: http://justchecktheblog.blogspot.com/
1 comment:
You bring up a really good point Quinn. On election night they were showing voting demographics in the state of South Carolina (I think), a state that McCain won. One of the demographics they showed was that of African American voters in that state. Apparently some 97% of African Americans in SC voted for Obama. I don't know ... it's hard to say what their motivation for voting for him was, but I can't wonder if many of them voted for Obama just because he's black. If they did, these people are totally missing the point. Race really shouldn't be an issue, and if it is, then only in the context that Zach put it in.
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