Rhinocrisy

Barack Obama gave what we are told was an important speech on race last night, wherein he addressed the claptrap surrounding his former preacher, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. The speech is a mixed affair, reflecting Obama’s fine and dark qualities. He defends his preacher as a friend and as a good man, despite their disagreements, a brave stand to make, I think. But he also is clear in divorcing himself from the man’s statements and placing himself firmly in the consensus of the American political class:

But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

I gather it’s unnecessary for me to outline the many ways in which I disagree with this paragraph, the core of Obama’s speech, and the most important statement he made yesterday with respect to his candidacy. I’ve always felt that Obama, since his first appearance on the national stage, has given short shrift to the oppression of black people, of the impact that institutional and otherwise racism has on the lives of many - most - black Americans today. And in the end, after outlining all the ways that racism divides America, Obama’s speech, in demanding unity, in demanding transcendence of race, denies the specific problems plaguing the black community. After stripping away his eloquence and his acknowledgment of their difficulties, Obama’s recommendations are kin to those of any white conservative - mend your own house, and stop thinking about race.

He’s right - many of our problems do transcend race. But many do not, and Obama has made these largely invisible. For example, I’ve been dismayed that no one in this presidential election has raised the subject of prisons, and that Obama ignored the opportunity to discuss it. Right now, 3% of all black people in this country are behind bars, and many more will end up there over the course of their lifetimes. More black men will end up in prison than will go to college. This is not an accidental difference - it is the product of specific policies which, whether or not they were made to victimize black people, nevertheless end up disproportionately affecting them. A similar comparison might be made of urban public schools - again, disproportionately black, and overwhelmingly in worse shape due to our negligence. And let’s not forget the most egregious example of public aid failure in the past few years, the sad treatment of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. America consistently fails to guard the futures of black Americans.

It’s sad to see America’s first black president ignore these failures, or gloss over them to advance some mythical notion of unity. It throws black anger back into their faces. We all know who will be remembered and who will be forgotten in a ‘unified’ America.

America’s predominant response to racism, of course, has long been denial. In Jena, the town fathers effected a vivid evasion. Their problem, they concluded, was not themselves but their tree: they cut down the offending oak and hauled it away.

Cha.

Events in Louisiana seem to be boiling over. The presence of carpet-baggers like Sharpton and Jackson, opportunistic bloodsuckers both, might lead many people to believe this is a non-issue being whipped up into a creamy froth. Certainly a lot of the reporting on the subject is appalling and contributes to that notion. A Newsweek article has more of the story, however, which should disabuse anyone of the notion that this is simply a matter of criminals being charged for their obvious transgression.