Monday, October 13, 2008

One Reason Race May Not Derail Obama: The 'Do the Right Thing' Effect

Story is here.

"It's different," John Turturro's Pino Frangione insists. "Magic, Eddie, Prince are not niggers...They're not really black. They're black but they're not really black. They're more than black. To me, it's different."

Spike kinda blew that, actually. It's not that Magic, et al are "more than black," for some people, it is that they are ENTERTAINMENT, which gives a certain kind of white person permission to either laugh at blacks or to vicariously have blacks work for them while being free to slam them without social reprobation if they don't deliver on the court, etc.

The problem for some white people about Obama is that he has stepped outside the socially and culturally approved envelope they cubbyhole blacks into (there's a badly formed metaphor for you). Since many whites don't know black folks socially, it is scary for them to see one in a position of authority when they have never had a black boss or perhaps even coworkers.

And the GOP has been playing up the fear angle non-stop since 9/11, supplying the American public with more ready made terror than Osama Bin Laden. So anyone who doesn't see the McCain campaign as a racist carnival is in denial. No matter how much of a victory Obama wins, the GOP will see him as a glorified burglar breaking into "their" White House.

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Note: what did I write that was wrong? Or aren't white people allowed to address these questions?

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