Shelby Steele has, yet again, another excellent analysis, this time of Barack Obama's appeal.
But whatever her (Geraldine Ferraro's) motives, she was right: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." Barack Obama is, of course, a very talented politician with a first-rate political organization at his back. But it does not detract from his merit to say that his race is also a large part of his prominence. And it is undeniable that something extremely powerful in the body politic, a force quite apart from the man himself, has pulled Obama forward. This force is about race and nothing else...
How to turn one's blackness to advantage?
The answer is that one "bargains." Bargaining is a mask that blacks can wear in the American mainstream, one that enables them to put whites at their ease. This mask diffuses the anxiety that goes along with being white in a multiracial society. Bargainers make the subliminal promise to whites not to shame them with America's history of racism, on the condition that they will not hold the bargainer's race against him. And whites love this bargain -- and feel affection for the bargainer -- because it gives them racial innocence in a society where whites live under constant threat of being stigmatized as racist. So the bargainer presents himself as an opportunity for whites to experience racial innocence.
This is how Mr. Obama has turned his blackness into his great political advantage, and also into a kind of personal charisma. Bargainers are conduits of white innocence, and they are as popular as the need for white innocence is strong. Mr. Obama's extraordinary dash to the forefront of American politics is less a measure of the man than of the hunger in white America for racial innocence.
Jeromy Brown would never admit the truth in Steele's statement, but there's no doubt that Obama's appeal lies in what white liberals--and it is white liberals to whom he aims his appeal--think supporting him says about them. Indeed, there can be little else that explain it because, as Steele points out, his policies are hardly distinguishable from Hillary Clinton's. The fact is, Obama makes white liberals feel good about supporting him. They think supporting him says that they have overcome their racist tendencies (because, by virtue of being born white, they must be racist).
And similiarly, this makes it more difficult to attack Obama because his supporters will play the race card at any possible challenge. Witness Jeromy Brown's response at Common Sense Political Thought to my post on Obama, Jeremiah Wright, and black liberation theology:
And do you think Barack Obama holds Wright’s views towards white people? Are you afraid Barack Obama is a secret Black Panther? Do you think he will usher in some new era of racism towards white people? Is there any scrap of evidence for any of that besides Obama’s church attendance? Do you think there’s the slightest tiniest chance that Obama understands when blacks vent their feelings the same way he understands when whites vent theirs…much like he said in his speech?
The underlying assumption of Brown's comment is that anyone pointing out the obvious racism of Obama's spiritual mentor must be fearful of black power (fear of a black man) and unwilling to accept their own racist views that they don't like Obama...because he's black.
I dislike Obama because I think his radical and liberal policies are bad for the country. And, yes, I think if you sit in the pews listening to a racist minister for 20 years, you probably accept many, if not all, of his views. Obama himself tried to equate his grandmother--a woman he didn't choose to be related to--with his minister--a man that he embraced willingly as an adult.
As Jules Crittenden said, it's hard to tell if Obama's speech was more condescending to white people or black people. And worse,
large parts of America and the press apparently don’t have a problem with someone occupying the White House who not only has a platform that ranges from warmed-over socialism to dangerously naive foreign policy views and lacks much in the way of meaningful professional preparation for the job, but on top of that, has a spiritual counselor who is a raving anti-American bigot. None of which points are actually about race. They are about qualifications and judgment.
Obama lacks judgment as demonstrated by his choice of spiritual mentors, as well as various silly foreign policy statements he has made. He lacks understanding and wisdom and experience.
Which isn't going to persuade Obamamaniacs. After all, Bitter Scribe's answer to criticism of Obama is to point out religious leaders on the right who have said horrible things! *gasp* They will continue apologizing for black racism and excuse Obama's ties to it in ways that would be completely unacceptable from white candidates. There is a double standard here, you see.
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