racism

Have you heard those rumors of/statements from people (often white women, like me, except I haven't said this and it makes my mind boggle) saying that they'd vote for McCain over Obama because of the sexism Hillary Clinton had to deal with during the campaign?

Well, Tim Wise, perhaps the most prominent white male antiracist writer around, certainly has. And he's calling them out bigtime in an essay called "Your Whiteness Is Showing."

How is it that you have managed to hold your nose all these years, just like a lot of us on the left, and vote for Democrats who we knew were horribly inadequate--Kerry, Gore, Clinton, Dukakis, right on down the uninspiring line--and yet, apparently can't bring yourself to vote for Barack Obama? A man who, for all of his shortcomings (and there are several, as with all candidates put up by either of the two major corporate parties) is surely more progressive than any of those just mentioned. And how are we to understand that refusal--this sudden line in the proverbial sand--other than as a racist slap at a black man? You will vote for white men year after year after year--and are threatening to vote for another one just to make a point--but can't bring yourself to vote for a black man, whose political views come much closer to your own, in all likelihood, than do the views of any of the white men you've supported before. How, other than as an act of racism, or perhaps as evidence of political insanity, is one to interpret such a thing?

His last graf is a doozy:

You are now left with two, and only two choices, so consider them carefully: the first is to stand now in solidarity with your black brothers and sisters and welcome the new day, and help to push it in a truly progressive and feminist and antiracist direction, while the second is to team up with white men to try and block the new day from dawning. Feel free to choose the latter. But if you do, please don't insult your own intelligence, or ours, by insisting that you've done so as a radical political act.

Not that Obama is perfect, as he says. And some of Wise's hostility surely won't be taken well by women who have been watching the media pundit hostility toward Hillary Clinton and who are disappointed by the results of the primaries — do white women need another white guy telling them what to think?

But here is an analysis by Salamishah Tillet (from TheRoot.com) called "Obama and the 'Woman Question'" with the subhead With Clinton finally out of the race, Obama needs to tackle issues of gender equality in the same way he has talked about the nation's racial divide in Philadelphia, if he wants to win in November.

It is a huge slap in the face of all women, regardless of race, not to have had a viable female candidate for president until now. Women make up more than 50 percent of the U.S. population and outnumber men among voters, so it makes no sense that we are so under-represented in the nation's elective offices.

So, how underrepresented are women?

Today, 16 out of the 100 U.S. senators are women and 74 out of 435 seats in the House of Representatives are held by women. Seventy four women hold statewide elective executive offices across the country, 23.5 percent of the 315 available positions. In terms of ethnic diversity, 20 of the 87 female members of Congress, or 23 percent, are women of color. The statistics are much worse in elected state executive positions; only four, less than 6 percent, of the 74 are women of color.

(I'm noticing some weird stats there that make me want to fact-check that graf. How does 74=87? Or how would 74+16=87? Halp.)

How can Obama overcome the concerns some white women may have about how much he benefitted from sexism?

Much like his speech on race, I would like Obama to talk about gender and gender inequity as fundamental tenets of his campaign. He needs to spotlight his Equal Pay Act, speak more fervently about gender hate crimes and his commitment to boosting the Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women, and he should continue to reach out to second and third wave feminists of all colors.

Good ideas. Betting there are more out there, aside from pointing out that white privilege thingy Wise so, er, furiously delineates.

Please discuss.

Went to the opening panel for the UO's Conference on Gender, Families, and Latino Immigration in Oregon.

Last November, we decided to shift some of the (not in the job description for either of us) responsibility for covering Latino communities from me to another staff member, since I'm an arts editor and all.

But I'm a-thinkin' we'll have to share because I can't stand not covering these issues. I definitely have some stories about Latinos, both recent immigrants and longstanding members of the community, that I'd like to pursue in a more focused way with a bit more time...

Anyway. Panel had four members. I came away just feeling like I could devote my life to (learning a lot more Spanish and several indigenous languages and) covering immigrant communities in Oregon, and that the many, many issues are both overwhelming and incredibly important.

More tomorrow. As one member of the panel said, these issues can just consume your life. And unfortunately or fortunately, I have other things to do.

But if you're a person who has some free time tomorrow, I beg of you to head over to the UO's Law School and listen to a panel or two. Dramatically important discussion!

Again: The program in English and Spanish.

This is a boy (in front of a bunch of women). Pic by Todd Cooper

I think we all know now that Geoff Davis, a 49-year-old white man, a member of the House of Representatives and a Republican, called the 46-year-old biracial Barack Obama, Senator and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, a "boy."

Actually, he called him "That boy."

As in: "I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button."

Want to hear the whole thing? It's online here.

This is not a boy. Pic by Todd Cooper.

OK. White people, we've got a problem here. It's not ONLY a Southern problem, that's for sure — though hearing a Southerner call Obama "that boy" does make the skin crawl (as does the applause that follows from the GOP audience).

Apparently, some white people are having a hard time understanding that the centuries of slavery and Jim Crow, in which white men (and women) called black men "boy" not only to reinforce dominance but to remove individuality, means that's there's no good way for a white person, especially a white guy from Kentucky or other parts of the South, to call a black man "boy." And that this usage, like calling elderly African American men "Uncle" or black women "Mammy" or black girls "pickaninny," is not only not acceptable, but it's racist. Er, duh.

As one commenter said, if you don't see the problem, "You need to watch Roots again." (Um, or for the first time. It's pretty damn powerful.)

However, if you'd like to read some of the more ridiculous comments, check out Marc Ambinder's blog post for The Atlantic and Yahoo's totally asking for bullshit "answers" feature post on this topic. And there are many more out in the blogosphere, including some comments on the originating (reported) post that I linked to above.

Makes me reconsider the headline of that Salon article I wrote about on Sunday ("Hey, Obama boys: Back off, already!") I'm pretty sure the headline referred to young white men, but ... yeah.

This is the head etc. of Salon's lead article right now, and the subhead/kicker/deck reminds me that I SO appreciate it when people who call HC "Hillary" also call BO "Barack" (or "Clinton" and "Obama"):

Image from Salon
Hey, Obama boys: Back off already!
Young women are growing increasingly frustrated with the fanatical support of Barack and gleeful bashing of Hillary.
By Rebecca Traister

Read it here.

Highlights quoted from Traister's article:

• "I was confused by the saucer-eyed, unquestioning devotion shown by my formerly cynical cohorts, especially when it was accompanied, as it often was, by a sharp renunciation of Hillary Clinton, whose policies are so similar to her opponent's. I was horrified by the frequent proclamations that if Obama did not win the nomination, his supporters would abstain from voting in the general election, or even vote for John McCain. I was suspicious of the cultlike commitment to an undeniably brilliant and inspiring man –- but one whom even his wife calls 'just a man.'"

• "When sexism is acknowledged in this primary campaign, it has been attributed to either Chris Matthews or the conservative, Rush Limbaugh, Iron My Shirt brigade. Little open recognition has been given to the possibility that there might be some gender discomfort behind the army of liberally minded Obama enthusiasts. But progressive politics has not always been female-friendly politics; '70s feminism was born partly in response to the inequities of the antiwar and civil rights movements."

• And, quoting the woman who founded Feministing: "I spoke to a guy friend who said, 'You're being ridiculous. I'm not not voting for her because she's a woman; I'm not voting for her because she's a bitch!' He could not see the connection between the two things at all."

I just want to keep on quoting things that make me go, "Yeah!"

Instead, I suggest that you go read the freakin' article (as stupidly ignorant about "second-wave" feminism as it is), already.

Lots of election stuff, with bonus sports:

1. I listened to On the Media yesterday. In April 4's edition, Bob Gladstone talked about how there was really not a race anymore, how Hillary Clinton could no way win (well, there's a way, but it involves three specific and mostly unlikely scenarios).

Listen to it yourself:

2. But! Sean Wilentz makes a case that H.C. has won way more votes by population and by popular count than B.O. Wait, doesn't that sound like 2000?

3. And! Let's stop pretending Obama is progressive, shall we? (Not that Clinton is. Not by any means at all.)

4. Also! Kristof says we're racist and sexist. Just in case you hadn't noticed any men flipping out about Clinton or any white folks losing their shit over Obama.

5. Finally! HOT DAMN! Stanford beats Connecticut! I so love it when Connecticut loses. And I love it when Stanford wins. Go, hippie dippie West Coast! AND: Because Tennessee beat LSU in possibly the ugliest Final Four matchup of all time, both of the women's teams in the final are coached by women.* Gonna have to find me a way to watch this game. (Gonna be rooting for the Cardinal too, darn tootin'.)

*I won't care about this as soon as just as many women are coaching Div. 1 men's teams as men coach women's teams. You tell me when that happens. I'll go out and chop down a tree or something womanly like that.