The NY Times had an article a few months back entitled "Clinton-Obama Quandary for Many Black Women." Will black woman support Clinton because she's a woman or Obama because he's black. For once I'd like someone point out how strange that kind of questions is. Do white males ask themselves whether they should I vote for Obama because he's male or Clinton because she's white?
The article centers around a primarily black hair salon in a South Carolina. The employees and patrons of the salon were asked to give their feelings toward the candidates. The quotes from the women reveal much about how they view American society.
One hairdresser, Miss Clara, said of Obama, “I fear that they just would kill him, that he wouldn’t even have a chance,” She goes on to say that she considers not voting for him in order to protect him.
Another woman says, “President Kennedy was a good person, and somebody took him down,” to which many of the woman agree.
“I don’t think they’d let a woman run the country,”
“[Edwards] can be elected because this is still America, and white men still rule,”
These sentiments may or may not accurately reflect your reality but they do make clear how these woman feel society and politics is governed. It is a system run by the privileged and enforced by violence. The privileged are white men who rule.
However they got it, that kind of perspective is toxic to a participatory democracy.
2 comments:
My vote is for a better education system in order to bring these views back to reality.
One thing I find frustrating is the decision not to vote. As my first year law professor said on the day of the 2004 election: "If you don't vote, you don't count." I don't see how anyone can expect otherwise.
these views reflect reality, just not everyone's reality. i'm guessing that many of these women understand disenfranchisement and how violence works as a form of control first hand.
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