georgeob1 wrote:I'm not familiar with Mr. Seth Graham Smith, the author of the piece Snood used to introduce this topic. However I do believe he indulged in some rather extreme acts of projection, implying that he was uniquely able in this piece to accurately describe the inner motivations of many others, as the relate to the present moment and the Obama candidacy.
While his writing of it was descriptive and skillful, I found - even after a good deal of introspection - that very little of it applies to me, and that he is himself indulging in some of the same stereotyping that he criticizes. This may merely confirm some of the prejudgements of others, but I ask them too to think twice about the matter.
As usual, you beat me to it george.
I found Grahame-Smith's piece to be smarmy, self-indulgent, and insulting.
He has taken the implied but unstated position that if he, an enlightened liberal, can realize, after much soul searching, that he is afraid of a black president, then this fear must be rampant among the lesser classes.
I disagree with your assessment of his skills however. Undoubtedly his writing will have the desired effect on people who wish to believe everyone who is opposed to Obama is secretly, even in only a tiny sliver of their being, a racist. If he were truly skilled he might be able to convince the people that weren't already solidly inclined to believe this tripe.
I can only speak for myself, but I don't, for a second, believe I am unique in this regard.
I feel neither grateful, nor guilty for being white. I have had my own set of hardships in my life which while not involving race have been formidable. I am absolutely certain there are any number of black people who have not had to overcome the hardships I have, just as I am absolutely certain that there are any number of people (black or otherwise) who have overcome hardships I've never faced.
The point is that there is no overriding luck associated with being white nor any overriding curse with being black. There is life, and we each get to make the most of our advantages and to do our best in overcoming our hardships.
I don't doubt that Grahame-Smith takes comfort in being part of a perceived elite class, because like many other Liberals, I suspect he has no fondness for competition.
I truly wish, as impossible as it is, for all racial barricades to be eliminated in a heartbeat. It is right, it would put to rest all sorts of inane and unproductive bickering, and I doubt it wouldn't impact my life in the least.
I'm confident in my abilities and don't at all ascribe my achievements to being white. If I could wave a wand and instantly render the world color-blind, I like my chances for being precisely where I am today.
I'm not who I am because I am white or male or Irish. These things are part of who I am but they are not the totality.
If Michael Steele were running against Barrack Obama I would happily vote for Steele and rejoice when he won. Despite Grahame-Smith's projection, I am not at all afraid of a black president. I am, however, afraid of a Liberal president.
Now, do I want to be part of an oppressed minority? Of course not. Who does?
I don't believe, however, that the advancement of blacks or hispanics in our society requires me to fall into a second class citizenship.
Certainly there are people who are afraid of losing the edge of their whiteness but these are people who are already near the bottom of our society and want an artificial barrier to prevent them from being at the lowest point. There aren't enough of them to prevent Obama from becoming president.
Then there are the others, perhaps like Grahame-Smith, who are uneasy about additional competition. They don't want to work all that hard and are happy to have a leg up on any sizeable segment of the populace. There may be enough of them to keep Obama out of the White House, but they won't all be conservatives.
Our society is fixated on race and whether this a good thing or not; is understandable or not, I'll leave to other threads, but like any other major subject it is not so easily explained as "I like being white."
Obama is now considered black (although he is half black and half white) and yet it wasn't that long ago that blacks in America were wondering if he were black enough. This suggests there is a bit more complication to the issue than Grahame-Smith would concede.
If Obama loses in November will it be proof of America's enduring racism?
If he were a duplicate of McCain, the argument might have some strength but he is not. Am I or anyone else required to vote for a liberal Democrat to prove I am not a racist, that I am not "afraid" of a black president?
Seth Grahame-Smith has set up a ridiculous Hobson's Choice.