Guest Jamala Rogers
Michael Eric Dyson and Marcia Dyson may be our best example of how to come together after the contentious and divisive Democratic primary for president. One Dyson supported Hillary Clinton, the other supported Barack Obama.
The Dysons will discuss the race for the White House and what it means for African Americans when they come to St. Louis for the national conference celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Black Radical Congress.
The Democratic Party is truly a house divided, and many black folks point to the Clintons as the reason. Some have even stated that should Obama lose in November, it will be the Clintons’ fault, based upon how they attempted to muddy their opponent during the campaign for the Democratic nomination. The GOP claims to have at least three pages of Hillary’s missiles that it will re-load against Obama until November 5.
The ugliness of the role of racism played is reflected in a recent CNN poll: 22 percent of Clinton supporters said they would stay at home in November and not vote for anyone, while 17 percent said they would vote for McCain. Some pundits predict these emotions will simmer down with time, but I know the Kentucky fella I saw on TV saying, “Ain’t no colored man gonna tell a white man what to do” is unlikely to be convinced to vote for Obama in four months.
Despite Hillary’s refusal to concede after the last contest, this country needs to savor the historical campaign in which a woman and a black man ran for office at the same time. If you would have asked me four years ago if either had a chance of winning in 2008, I probably wouldn’t have even dignified the question with an answer. I never say “never,” but I figured we had another generation of hard work before such a phenomenon would happen.
Black people and other people of color must not let the moment be overshadowed – not by Hillary’s talk about assassinations, not by our anxieties about unrealistic expectations or demands put upon Obama, and not by our inadequate notions about success shaped by racism. This man is going to need all the help he can get, and the tent for supporters has got to be huge.
Since both Dysons were campaign insiders, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of questions the two will face on Friday night. I have a few, but I’m way down the road wondering if the Republicans will steal the election yet a third time and the spineless Democrats not call them out for it, yet again.
The Democratic primary should give us a new look at racism and feminism. Racism has always been the albatross around the neck of the U.S., but the Obama campaign has given us another opportunity to discuss its presence and impact. We saw how just under the surface, racial sentiments reside in the skins of many white liberals. Before our eyes, we saw feminism asserted to mean the fight for the rights and equality of white women. Tim Wise, the white, anti-racist activist, both warned and reminded Hillary’s white women supporters who were threatening to withhold support from Obama, “Your whiteness is showing.”
There are a wide range of views within the black community about the role of electoral politics, from it’s bankrupt and we shouldn’t participate in it to unconditional support of the Democratic Party. Ultimately, we must put our political agenda together for whoever the candidate is and begin to build a mass movement that fights for real issues, not for a singular personality.
Visit www.blackradicalcongress.org for more information about the Black Radical Congress conference.