Until yesterday I had planned to vote for the Democratic candidate for President, based on the premise that either Clinton or Obama would be better for our country than McCain. I wasn't excited by the prospect, and never believed that either candidate would do more than strengthen the status quo in ways that are marginally less harmful than the disastrous policies of the Bush administration. But after reading Obama's speech I've changed my mind: I am voting for Obama. Full stop. If I have to write his name on my ballot, then that's what I will do.
For the first time in my life a viable candidate for high office has spoken honestly about race in America. For the first time a candidate had the courage to say what we should all know by now: racism is a tool used by the wealthy and powerful to divide working people and the poor. Finally there is a candidate who says that white resentment against affirmative action would be better aimed at the corporations that are shipping our decent jobs overseas for 'nothing more than profit.' Finally a candidate who acknowledges that the gains we have made toward greater equality, better working conditions, and greater liberty have been made only after great struggle by large numbers of ordinary people.
Obama made only passing reference to the casual racism of the ruling class - the casual racism of Geraldine Ferraro, the comments by Bill Clinton in South Carolina. Obama rightly sees this as mere noise and a distraction. For 25 years, since the early days of the Reagan administration, we've been treated to a non-stop litany of complaints by right-wing commentators about affirmative action, about the 'special treatment' given to minority races and to women in America. These complaints have had the intended effect of convincing white Americans that they are somehow at a disadvantage, and that blacks and latinos are to blame. And they've had the effect of diverting attention away from the deep problems that we face: health care for profit that fails to deliver adequate health care at an acceptable price; the massive loss of good jobs; the end of defined-benefit pension plans; the loss not only of factories but of the engineering base that would have allowed America to continue to lead the world in technology; and the ever increasing accumulation of wealth by the wealthy, by way of massive federal corporate welfare. I believe Obama is the candidate who would be willing to recognize these problems and lead the way towards solutions.
The media has made much of pastor Wright's 'God Damn America' speech. Ignoring the bombast for a moment, Wright made two claims that I believe should be uncontroversial: he stated that America was built on a foundation of racism, and he stated that 9/11 happened in response to US foreign policy. I honestly do not understand how either of those statements can be refuted. Howard Zinn devoted a significant portion of 'A People's History' to demonstrating the truth of the first statement. From the beginning of the colonial era to well into the 20th century racism was used as a tool to divide workers and to divert their attention from their own exploitation. Racism served to create a large bloc of poor and working class whites who would defend the status quo, with their lives if need be. Working against their own interest, working class whites often stood against the struggle to achieve a more just and prosperous society. It is painful to acknowledge past racism; and for many whites today it is difficult to recognize the fact of racism in contemporary America. Obama had the courage and the insight to describe the legacy of racism, but also to point out that we have made great progress, and that we can do more in the future.
As for the claim that we brought 9/11 on ourselves because of our foreign policy - what is there to object to? Chomsky has been very persuasively arguing the same thing since September 2001. What is the alternative theory? That they 'hate us for our freedom'? That slogan, and that way of thinking, is simply idiotic. We were attacked in 1994 and again in 2001 for exactly the reasons that the terrorists said they attacked us: the US forces in Saudi Arabia, our unwavering support for the racist and zionist regime in Israel, and our military support for repressive regimes throughout the Muslim world.
Obama chose not to address the causes of 9/11 - I really don't see how he could have done so. The sound bites would have destroyed him, no matter how carefully he phrased his analysis. But everything else in his speech makes me believe that Obama will not be willing to pander to the neo-con idiocy that has driven our policies these past 7 years.
This is the most important presidential election since 1968. The difference this time is that we have a shot, just a shot, at a candidate who has the vision and the courage to be honest with the American people and who is willing to tackle the really big problems. He may be beaten down by a combination of right-wing media and the right-wing pandering of the Clinton campaign. But for now there is hope.
Dale Brayden - 20 Mar 2008
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