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 4 of 29)
46. "Obama...is...NOT Anti-American." --Tim
________________
I agree...he's not anti-American. He's just slightly anti-white American.
Paul at 9:22AM on Mar 26th 2008
47. "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
These are the exact comments the injure your credibility. How can you "rail" against white people "subtly"?????????
Gwen at 9:27AM on Mar 26th 2008
48. Gwen...I'm retired military...I've spent eight years in Asia. I know what is meant by the word "gook". I've heard blacks in the military use it just as much as any whites. In fact, while I was training them, I heard my KATUSAs use the term to identify their North Korean opponents.
I speak Korean...I know what "gook" means. In certain applications, it's completely benign.
Paul at 9:26AM on Mar 26th 2008
49. Gwen's right, Logan...
That's why she comments frequently on these blogs and subsequent comments.
Paul at 9:28AM on Mar 26th 2008
50. According to dictionary.com: First applicable definition of rail:
"To utter bitter complaint..."
That's how.
Paul at 9:29AM on Mar 26th 2008
51. So you just asked what gook is to goad people?
That sounds like a professional blogger . . . we all have our talents.
Gwen at 9:33AM on Mar 26th 2008
52. So much for YOUR credibility, Gwen.
Now go on proving how much I threaten your opinion with your continued remarks to my posts.
Paul at 9:31AM on Mar 26th 2008
53. Logan - I have to admit I am not the professional blogger that Paul is, just had a couple S-L-O-W day at the grindstone.
Gwen at 9:33AM on Mar 26th 2008
54. Meanwhile, I have to travel over to Goodwill because I have a truckload of items to drop off.
Talk amongst yourselves.
Paul at 9:32AM on Mar 26th 2008
55. As I've said, Gwen...I'm retired military who now enjoys a wonderful life where I've fulfilled my dream job of freelance writing.
I enjoy myself immensely.
I used to blog professionally, but stopped about two years ago to concentrate more on my freelance assignments. Right now I'm just enjoying a well-deserved respite from the daily rigors of freelance writing. I see no shame in professional blogging, IF you can make good money doing so. More people seem to quote from the blogosphere nowadays than they do from magazines.
Time to go....Goodwill awaits me.
Paul at 9:42AM on Mar 26th 2008
56. Paul
Rail def.
1. to utter bitter complaint or vehement denunciation (often fol. by
at or against): to rail at fate.
2. to bring, force, etc., by railing.
Synonyms 1. fulminate, inveigh, castigate, rant, revile
So you use "subtly" and "rail" to describe the same speech and Obama's "racism." Then you try to justify it by posting half of a definition. As bored as I am I do not have time to argue stupid crap like this. I am quite certain that you would do whatever is necessary to prove your point. Not above being flexible with facts.
Gwen at 9:54AM on Mar 26th 2008
57. Obama and/or his supporters are doing more to tear this country apart than any other person. Seems you can't go anywhere these days without being accused of racism. This morning, on the TODAY show, I watched as Cosmopolitan Magazine (I think) was accused of making LeBron James look like a "gorilla" on its cover.
Obama is being given a free ride from the press while Hillary Clinton is fair game for any accusation or smear. She is being held accountable for the "sins" of her husband but Obama is not responsible for what his wife or pastor say.
I was originally an Obama supporter but now feel I am being manipulated to feel guilty about being white so that I will give him my vote.
Once the honeymoon between Obama and the press is over, I think we will learn some very interesting things about Farrakan's "saviour".
Richard at 9:45AM on Mar 26th 2008
58. "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
This is an example of my problem with you. You are ignorant. You feed on the bullshit that's given to you.
Have you been to Obama's pastor's sermons? You see a one minute sound bite, and come to a conclusion?
Why do you go to your church? Seeing what you write on here on a daily basis, I can see that you are being fed something other than Christian.
He was sworn on the Bible. He is a Christian. But let's say for the sake of argument, that the ridiculous story is true that he was sworn on the Koran. What's wrong with it?
Botts at 9:49AM on Mar 26th 2008
59. Dinesh,
Point of correction: even if you were to lower the net by six inches, it wouldn't change anything.
Why?
So the net is elongated 6 more inches. Big deal.
It is the RING that has to be lowered if what you are getting at to make your point is to have any relevance.
Other than that, as a person of olive-bronze-hued -color myself, since I am of the oppressed grouped category, I'll have to pass on buying your book and borrow it from the library.
So sorry no reparations coming your way from yours truly. I also happen to live in San Diego, and I do insist on reparations from your
people for your one-time quasi-colonization of my people. (India over the Philippines: we're talking pre Hispanic, pre Islamic...the ancient script originated from India, among other
things.)
Whatever you may say about Jesse Jackson, I wrote an ode to him. It takes one rhymer to give genuine accolade to another:
Ode to the Honorable Reverend Jesse Jackson
You guys scornly call him a Poverty Pimp
But what you really mean is to call him is a simp
Think his cause unworthy, so lame, so limp
He's a man of the cloth, a reverend, no imp
What you fail to see since you're not on a blimp
Is that opportunity is something for all, none to crimp
For it is to his colleague we owe, of one he once dreamt
baluc/ka (my pen name)
february 8, 2008, 2035 h
at the computer desk
at home in san diego, ca
baluc/ka at 9:59AM on Mar 26th 2008
60. "To utter bitter complaint or..."
I guess the conjunction "or" means something completely foreign to Gwen...to me it means choice.
To UTTER...y'know...to like to utter a sigh...
How can you "utter" a sigh?
Gwen has reached a new low in her pettiness.
Paul at 10:02AM on Mar 26th 2008