Here's a transcribed portion of an audio interview between Hillary and a Washington Post reporter:
Q. Do you think this has been a particularly racist campaign?I think this is the point Geraldine "fucking whore" Ferraro tried to make in her should-not-have-been-infamous comments. Being a black male in this race is an advantage -- compared to being a woman of any heritage.
A. I do not. I think this has been a positive, civil campaign. I think that both gender and race have been obviously a part of it because of who we are and every poll I've seen show more people would be reluctant to vote for a woman to vote for an African American, which rarely gets reported on either. The manifestation of some of the sexism that has gone on in this campaign is somehow more respectable or at least more accepted. And I think there should be equal rejection of the sexism and the racism when and if it ever raises its ugly head. But it does seem as though the press at least is not as bothered by the incredible vitriol that has been engendered by comments and reactions of people who are nothing but misogynists.
Q. Isn't that how it's always been though.
A. Oppression of women and discrimination against women is universal. You can go to places in the world where there are no racial distinctions except everyone is joined together in their oppression of women. The treatment of women is the single biggest problem we have politically and socially in the world. If you look at the extremism and the fundamentalism, it is all about controlling women, at it's base. The idea that we would have a presidential campaign in which so much of what has occurred that has been very sexist would be just shrugged off I think is a very unfortunate commentary about the lack of seriousness that should be applied to any kind of discrimination or prejudice.
On a few occasions, I've pointed out that Colin Powell could have won the presidency in 2000 just by pointing at the White House and saying "I'll take it." Not one reader has disagreed with that assessment, even though people love to disagree with everything else I say. Can you name a single woman in the history of this country who could have strolled into the oval office that easily?
7 comments:
Dude, I just read this article in the London Times. Check out the comments section. It is the best illustration of what the problem is with Obama's campaign. Some of them actually described it as "Obama-style racism". 86 comments and 95% from the US!
Just for the record, I thought Spikes comments were valid, although historically inept. And the more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that the US is a racist country. But thats very much by the by. Its pretty obvious that Americans are still not in the mood to confront these issues. Americans resent being reminded, of the sins of some of their fathers.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/cannes/article3972316.ece
Harry
Actually, I think most of those comments were inane. As were the remarks by Spike Lee which prompted them.
I also happen to think that Lee and Eastwood are both terrific directors.
Thanks for this post, Joseph. May have to quote you.
I'm reading a book called "Bare Branches: The Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male population" which is about the most radical form of sexism of all: killing girls at birth, or aborting them before. Scary stuff.
BTW, Larry Johnson now says "There are recordings of Barack Obama when he was overseas. These recordings–I don’t know if they are video or audio–also will create problems for Barack. "
I find this entirely believable. If Obie is caught criticizing the US on foreign soil, it's curtains. I think it already is curtains, but this would really sink him.
Joseph,
Don't get me wrong. The comments were definitely inane. And just because I agree with Spike Lees wider point - i assumed it was that black Americans are under represented in American war movies - doesn't mean his comments aren't inappropriate and silly as well.
But I am just amazed at the amount of heat and irritation. I would never guess that people would be so pissed off by these comments. Can you explain why these commentators are so angry? I just don't get it.
Harry
I think the anger stems from the fact that Obama let us down. The entire progressive movement has let us down. I once believed in that man -- cautiously, reservedly, not fanatically, but I DID vote for him. Alas, a Democrat running against a fellow Democrat has waged the kind of campaign previously associated only with Republicans.
And many of us were forced to re-think everything.
I'm really angry at the Obama campaign's use of race-baiting and falsely accusing people of racists for one reason: it has trivialized what is still a very real problem in our country. But when you make one false accusation after another, people begin to stop taking you seriously. In fact they get angry, and then they stop seeing or caring about the very real occurences of racism.
Another problem. His campaign only seems to focus on racism, but not on other groups who are equally discriminated against: women are a big example. But seniors as well. Some of the comments of his supporters have been way over the top. And Obama has been all too happy to say nothing, or to even enable it. That also makes the real problems of racism worse, because you really can't fight bigotry by being selective. If you aren't against it PERIOD, you really aren't against it.
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