Happy Inauguration, everyone.
Jan. 20th, 2009 09:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheIt's That Day. The day we kiss the Bush years goodbye and good riddance. The day we truly turn the page and at least wake up with the hope that the rule of law will again govern. We have a scholar of the Constitution taking office; that can only bode well.
My father has confided to me twice that he has shed tears since Election Day. He was born in 1950, a child of South Carolinian emigrants, a teen during Detroit's disastrous riots.
I share with him the poignance of the moment. As an American citizen, I am not just pleased but also relieved that my compatriots have overcome this psychological barrier. However, I am tempered by the knowledge that token representation cannot and will not solve America's racial problems and tensions.
I am terribly concerned about this phrase "post-racial" that is making the rounds (buoyed by incessant media repetition). An election of any one person to any one office does not end widespread, ingrained and pervasive perceptions of one group in society, especially that of a minority. It's going to take honest talk and honest reconsiderations of ourselves and each other before we heal the wounds of the past.
We do not live in a "post-racial" society when an election worker of one political party can attempt to bring a hoax on the public by utilizing the worst, most incendiary racist constructions (a white woman being raped by a black man, a man who just so happens to be a supporter of the first black candidate for the office of President) and the leader of that same party to not condemn her actions, despite the fact that she was working for him!
We do not live in a "post-racial" society when a sizable portion of the country is comfortable calling one of its own citizens, one of its own Senators, a friend of terrorists and, by association, a terrorist himself; this rhetoric served only to help fuel the perception of Obama as Other--it was a substition for racial epithets.
We do not live in a "post-racial" society when we live with the legacy of 20th-century racism: redlining, de facto segregation (especially in education), inherited poverty, suppression of minority votes. A black man was dragged to death in Texas just ten years ago. Discrimination with regards to sentencing for drug offenders is still law. Some of these things, such as redlining, is technically a thing of the past (although prejudices against those perceived as being outside the mainstream still exists in the housing industry--witness the coded talk regarding "subprime" borrowers); however, the socioeconomic realities of those people discriminated against are still with us. These realities cannot be swept under the rug just because one man, as brilliant a symbol as he is, has taken possession of the highest office in the land. We still need affirmative action. We still need action against poverty. We need to recognize the patterns of poverty, which must take into account all aspects of socioeconomic factors. Unfortunately, that still means seeing racism where it has embedded itself in our social fabric.
Remember also that affirmative action benefits women more than any other social minority. Sexism is looms large as a systematic means of discrimination. I am heartened that three of the last four people to serve as Secretary of State will have been female. Again, however, that is tokenism. When the faces of the Fortune 500 CEOs change, when we achieve 51% female representation in both houses of Congress to reflect the demographic truth of our country, I will begin to believe that sexism has begun to be a thing of our past.
Something that honestly gives me hope is the fact that Obama has begun to include GLBT and disabled persons in his litany of those who can be united in the US. It is a sad statement that a woman in California was recently attacked and raped by men who perceived her to be nonheterosexual. It is sadder still that this hate crime warranted just a paragraph of national news when it occurred and none since. We must secure the liberties of those who are most openly persecuted if we are to have even the semblance of a civilized society.
We at least have the chance, thankfully, of this possibility under this new President. Obama is someone from a background that allows him to understand the plight of those both in affluent classes as well as those not so fortunate. I have every confidence that he will address issues of poverty as well as other areas of endemic discrimination. I am willing to give him the opportunity to better this nation. After the last eight years, we sorely need it.
text & video of Obama's speech
My father has confided to me twice that he has shed tears since Election Day. He was born in 1950, a child of South Carolinian emigrants, a teen during Detroit's disastrous riots.
I share with him the poignance of the moment. As an American citizen, I am not just pleased but also relieved that my compatriots have overcome this psychological barrier. However, I am tempered by the knowledge that token representation cannot and will not solve America's racial problems and tensions.
I am terribly concerned about this phrase "post-racial" that is making the rounds (buoyed by incessant media repetition). An election of any one person to any one office does not end widespread, ingrained and pervasive perceptions of one group in society, especially that of a minority. It's going to take honest talk and honest reconsiderations of ourselves and each other before we heal the wounds of the past.
We do not live in a "post-racial" society when an election worker of one political party can attempt to bring a hoax on the public by utilizing the worst, most incendiary racist constructions (a white woman being raped by a black man, a man who just so happens to be a supporter of the first black candidate for the office of President) and the leader of that same party to not condemn her actions, despite the fact that she was working for him!
We do not live in a "post-racial" society when a sizable portion of the country is comfortable calling one of its own citizens, one of its own Senators, a friend of terrorists and, by association, a terrorist himself; this rhetoric served only to help fuel the perception of Obama as Other--it was a substition for racial epithets.
We do not live in a "post-racial" society when we live with the legacy of 20th-century racism: redlining, de facto segregation (especially in education), inherited poverty, suppression of minority votes. A black man was dragged to death in Texas just ten years ago. Discrimination with regards to sentencing for drug offenders is still law. Some of these things, such as redlining, is technically a thing of the past (although prejudices against those perceived as being outside the mainstream still exists in the housing industry--witness the coded talk regarding "subprime" borrowers); however, the socioeconomic realities of those people discriminated against are still with us. These realities cannot be swept under the rug just because one man, as brilliant a symbol as he is, has taken possession of the highest office in the land. We still need affirmative action. We still need action against poverty. We need to recognize the patterns of poverty, which must take into account all aspects of socioeconomic factors. Unfortunately, that still means seeing racism where it has embedded itself in our social fabric.
Remember also that affirmative action benefits women more than any other social minority. Sexism is looms large as a systematic means of discrimination. I am heartened that three of the last four people to serve as Secretary of State will have been female. Again, however, that is tokenism. When the faces of the Fortune 500 CEOs change, when we achieve 51% female representation in both houses of Congress to reflect the demographic truth of our country, I will begin to believe that sexism has begun to be a thing of our past.
Something that honestly gives me hope is the fact that Obama has begun to include GLBT and disabled persons in his litany of those who can be united in the US. It is a sad statement that a woman in California was recently attacked and raped by men who perceived her to be nonheterosexual. It is sadder still that this hate crime warranted just a paragraph of national news when it occurred and none since. We must secure the liberties of those who are most openly persecuted if we are to have even the semblance of a civilized society.
We at least have the chance, thankfully, of this possibility under this new President. Obama is someone from a background that allows him to understand the plight of those both in affluent classes as well as those not so fortunate. I have every confidence that he will address issues of poverty as well as other areas of endemic discrimination. I am willing to give him the opportunity to better this nation. After the last eight years, we sorely need it.
text & video of Obama's speech