Obama's decades-long support for the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, combined with his refusal to completely disavow this man, suggest that beneath his calm exterior, Obama may be seething with racial resentment. So far he has managed to conceal it, while his wife Michelle Obama lets out the occasional petulant outburst. But inner rage is the only explanation for why the Obama family is so close to Wright. He articulates their deepest feelings about race in America, feelings that they know are imprudent to air politically.
Yet what do the Obamas have to feel resentful about? They are one of the truly privileged families in America. They both got an Ivy League education. They had the benefit of top graduate schools. They have held enviable jobs such as Michelle Obama's hospital post that pays more than $300,000 a year. They live in an upscale neighborhood very far removed from the drug and crime-infested ghettos of Chicago. So what do these two have to whine about? Would they trade places even for a week with a working-class white family?
Well, the standard answer goes, it's still painful despite one's advantages to live in a racist country. But how can America be a racist country if Obama has a serious shot at the presidency? How would it even be possible for Obama to win predominantly white states as he has been doing in the primaries? Would a racist country be likely to have allowed affirmative action and preferential programs to blacks in university admissions, job hiring and government contracts for nearly 40 years?
The Obamas seem to be experiencing what Ellis Cose years ago termed "the rage of the privileged class." Cose accurately identified the rage, although he could not diagnose its source. For many black leaders, there is one obvious source: white racism. Several years ago I debated Jesse Jackson at Stanford University and challenged him to show me a racism today that prevents his family or mine from achieving the American dream. Jackson admitted he couldn't, but then he said this merely showed that racism had gone underground, it was covert rather than overt, racism had now become institutionalized. To italicize his point Jackson went into some impressive rhyme schemes: "I may be well dressed, but I'm still oppressed," and so on.
The racism may have largely disappeared from view, but the rage of the privileged class is real. I think I know where this African American rage comes from. Imagine if you were Michael Jordan and someone said to you, "Every time you reach to dunk the ball into the basket, let's lower the net by six inches." This is basically what affirmative action does: it gives historically disadvantaged groups a break to compensate for the effects of past and present racism. Whatever the justification, however, the effect of such policies is to completely discredit the achievement even of competent beneficiaries. Michael Jordan's claim to be the greatest basketball player ever would be utterly destroyed if he played by a different set of rules as everyone else. And I wouldn't be surprised if Geraldine Ferraro were on hand to say, "Jordan only got where he got because of the color of his skin."
Consequently those who stand to benefit from racial preferences, as the Obamas may have done in gaining admission to university and graduate school, typically accept the subsidy while at the same time resenting the implication that they have gotten an unfair leg up. Their seething anger, however, is not directed toward affirmative action or toward the liberal paternalists who have implemented it. Rather, they ascribe generic blame to societal racism. In this weird framework, more affirmative action is then demanded to fight this unseen bigotry. Needless to say, the rage shows no signs of abating and only intensifies.
Want to learn more about all this? Read my book The End of Racism, a national bestseller which offers a vision for how we can truly transcend this destructive racialization of our society. Don't buy it to pay me reparations for the colonial subjugation of my ancestors over many centuries. Buy it because it's really good stuff.
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 29)
31. I repeat...what's a gook?
It's a ugly word for anyone of Asian dissent
jparaudajr at 10:18AM on Mar 26th 2008
32. Dinesh, your Michael Jordan example is brilliant!
Hillary is right about Barack Hussein Obama CHOOSING to remain with a pastor that spews anti-American bile! We cannot choose our grandmothers but we can all refuse to attend a "church" where racism and anti-Americanism is treated as a virtue!
"God Damn America!" does that sound like a Christian or a radical Muslim? That is the CHOSEN pastor of Barack Hussein Obama.
Barack Hussein Obama is NOT electable. I hope the Democrats make him their front runner, because he will be easy to beat.
Rev 3:16 at 8:37AM on Mar 26th 2008
33. and now on the today show we have the big question of whether lebron james being on the cover of VOGUE magazine with the "white girl" is racist. how far will the liberal left try and take things? ophra never has anyone but herself on her cover and who complains? no a soul let alone a black soul. why no one questions the obvious racism in that--nobody
brian at 8:41AM on Mar 26th 2008
34. Okay...seeing as nobody cares to answer my question, I did my own research and discovered that "gook" is primarily a US military slang word used to designate an enemy of Asian or Middle Eastern lineage.
I'm not sure if John McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter qualifies as a "gook" since he probably doesn't perceive her as the enemy that's been trying to kill him...or torture him. I'm sure he doesn't tell his "gook" daughter that she's a worthless piece of yellow dung.
Ryan...you didn't mention your grandfather's race. You didn't say, "My Latino grandfather hates gooks. My grandfather is a typical Latino."
You didn't attribute your grandfather's hatred of gooks to an entire ethnic group...say, Latinos, the way Obama fingered his WHITE grandmother, whom he regarded as a "typical" white person... y'know, full of racial bigotry.
Paul at 8:42AM on Mar 26th 2008
35. yes i too hope obama is the chosen candidate because mccain will have him for lunch and if there is any left- dinner too!! when obama took office he was sworn in on the koran? i heard this yesterday? any truth for the snoopers out there
brian at 8:57AM on Mar 26th 2008
36. "Consequently those who stand to benefit from racial preferences, as the Obamas may have done in gaining admission to university and graduate school"
Did DD really just attack BO for accepting financial aid for college? That's expensive shit, man!
"ophra never has anyone but herself on her cover and who complains?"
How is that racism and not narcissism?
Mokele-Mobembe at 8:53AM on Mar 26th 2008
37. mo,
why not racism mo? it just as well could be? the point is no one questions it
brian at 8:57AM on Mar 26th 2008
38. And speaking of Oprah Winfrey...
Fans of SNL knew this already, but for those of you who don't, black racism isn't just limited to hating white people. African-Americans apparently make distinctions within their own ethnic group.
For example, as a child, Oprah Winfrey moved to Milwaukee with her mother, who was less supportive and encouraging than her grandmother. In her very own mom's home, Winfrey suffered abuse for her comparatively darker skin, such as being forced to sleep on the porch in the cold, and verbal abuse based on her features. Oprah also claims that she was raped at age 9, and repeatedly molested by her mother's cousin's boyfriend.
Beautiful...
Wasn't there some concern about Obama not being "black" enough to enjoy widespread support within the black community at the outset of his campaign?
No wonder he had to rail against white people in his "MPU" speech. He needed to address his own "blackness" by subtly suggesting his own bias against white people.
Paul at 8:58AM on Mar 26th 2008
39.
Another shill for a BS book.
As long as hack writers keep bringig up false assumptions (like you even EVER met Barrack Obama and know his mind - give me a break), there will be racism in America. Hack wankers like D'idiot (who must not pay strict attention to his comments to read the venomous racist vomit spewed by some of his fans) will proliferate this hatred as long as there is a buck to be made or a spotlight to be stood in.
But that doesn't make you any less of a hack homophobic God Nazi token minortiy shill for the Republican propaganda machine.
Tim at 9:01AM on Mar 26th 2008
40. "I repeat...what's a gook?
It's a ugly word for anyone of Asian dissent." --jpa
__________________
Yes...I saw that the first time you posted it. Good thing I didn't take you at your word because the history and definition of the word "gook" reveals far more than you care to admit.
Paul at 9:00AM on Mar 26th 2008
41. brian,
If there's one thing we're gonna agree on it's the Hillary story. She actually blamed the misspeak on lack of sleep. This is worse than the Ashlee Simpson scandal. If the event did happen but in another country and she only misremembered which country it happened in and blamed it on lack of sleep I could let her get away with that. It was MANIPULATIVE LYING of the most outright. It'll take a bucket of crocodile tears on her part to turn this around.
Mokele-Mobembe at 9:02AM on Mar 26th 2008
42. "why not racism mo? it just as well could be? the point is no one questions it"
To put herself on the cover?! How is that racism? "it just as well could be" is NOT an answer. No one questions it because that has nothing to do with race.
Mokele-Mobembe at 9:07AM on Mar 26th 2008
43. brian, you get this morning's hot steaming cup of stupid award.
Your moronarama amazes me on a daily basis. Learn to look
thinks up. Obama was NOT sworn in on a koran. He is also NOT muslim,
NOT related to Saddam, and NOT Anti-American.
Grow up, you ignorant fool.
Tim at 9:11AM on Mar 26th 2008
44. Paul - With your vast wealth of knowledge on all blogging subjests I am suprised you do not know what a gook is. Perhaps you should read up on America's previous wars.
Gwen at 9:20AM on Mar 26th 2008
45. Logan,
I found your comment insightful. If your comment was not good they would not all jump on it to criticize. They do not comment on posts that do not threaten their opinion.
Gwen at 9:25AM on Mar 26th 2008