I can’t embed CNN’s videos- so you all are gonna have to be old fashioned about and click this link.
The question of the day is- Should Hillary reject the votes of racists?
I dunno- Should Obama reject the votes of sexists? Should Kos and the Obamabots have their votes disenfranchised because of the raging sexism? Has Obama been called on to denounce the sexism of himself (other than an apology for his “sweetie” moment”)his campaign, and his blogger boyz?
Nope.
I don’t think I’ve heard a single Hillary supporter say that Obama should ignore say all the white male votes in Oregon (Oh I am way too familiar with the particular Northwest form of misogyny- it’s the “But I can’t be a sexist cause I’m a democrat- BITCH!” form).
Because a vote is a vote is a vote. Racists get to vote, sexists get to vote, southerners get to vote, northerners get to vote.
So Obama can’t win working class white votes. He can’t win southern white votes. Why might that be?
Partly it might be racism- but let’s go back to that practical privilege idea I keep talking about. Poor, working class whites are much more likely to be in regular contact with poor, working class AAs. In that situation, AAs become their direct competition for jobs and being on the thin edge of the poverty line makes it difficult enough. They don’t have room for competition. Losing a job means homelessness and hunger. One of the ways the elites keeps their power is by keeping the poor fighting each other in groups. Hello Obama! Riling up the poor whites been working for you as an election strategy so far? Huhmm?
So Obama could have gone a long way towards making ALL working class people; black, white, yellow, brown, feel more secure. He could have offered up an economic plan for creating more middle class jobs. He could offer up a real health care plan. But instead of giving people the impression that he wants to increase opportunities for everyone, he gives fuzzy visions of hope and unity. But neither of those things put bread on the table. And to scared, working class and poor whites, unity sounds a whole lot like they are about to be screwed. To them, Obama’s vision of unity means another round of pushing one group of poor people ahead at the expense of another group of poor people. They’ve seen that before, it’s part of the reason why they loathe affirmative action. (Note that I am pro affirmative action- I am explaining a mindset folks)
Hillary actually has the background in creating opportunities for every race at the bottom of the ladder. We know it. Before Obama, the Clintons were dearly beloved by both poor AAs and poor whites. Both Bill and Hillary understand that the only way to overcome racism in this country is by increasing opportunities for everyone.
I don’t fault AAs for voting for Obama (duh! First truly viable black candidate. They should vote for him if that’s what they want) but it is up to Obama to make himself viable to the entire country, even to voters he personally detests. That means working class whites. That means Latinos. That means middle aged (and younger- hello!) women who think sweetie is condescending and would rather have more bodily autonomy than “some”.
And he has failed.
Miserably.
So when they say Hillary should reject the votes of racists, they mean that they want to cut off poor white southerners from the voting process. That is a mistake not just for the party- who will create a permanent Republican majority by ignoring such a huge voting block, but for the advancement of our country as a whole. We will never get past racism as long as it’s a black or white question. We will only get past racism when it’s a black AND white solution.
