Over the course of the next two months, the mainstream media is going to try to convince the voting public that we have a bona fide race for the presidency on our hands. The polls will tip one way, then the other. We'll be told again and again that this is a race to the wire.
I'm sorry, but I don't buy it!! I personally think that, unless something politically catastrophic occurs, there's only one fellow who has a real shot at this...and his skin is lily white.
While many in this country would like to THINK we've moved beyond the day when the color of a person's skin matters, it, unfortunately, STILL MATTERS to far too many people. We still live in predominantly segregated neighborhoods. People of color typically earn less in similar occupations than their white counterparts and aren't offered the same kinds of home loans.
Black men are still locked up in prison at alarming rates and no white person I know has to fear "driving while white".
I simply do not believe there are sufficient numbers of white voters who would willingly cast their vote for a black man. (And no, I'm not an Obama supporter. I plan to cast my vote for two black women: Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente, the Green Party ticket.)
I realize that some may agrue that the polls show otherwise. I will agree that several polls have indicated that a majority of white respondents have indicated they would vote for a black candidate for president. But what do you think these people are going to say?
Most white people don't want to be looked at as bigots, so they certainly aren't going to say to the pollster, "I ain't voting for no negro." No, they'll say, "I don't look at a person's skin color".
But there's a wide chasm between telling a pollster what you want them to believe and stepping inside the voting booth (or filling out a ballot at your kitchen table) in private. When you're all by your lonesome, there's no need to put on aires. And that, my friends, is where I believe far too many Americans will place an X next to the names McCain/Palin.
Maybe I'll wake up on a November morning to find that I'm wrong. I think it's far more likely that McCain is going to win in a landslide and all the pundits are going to be scratching their heads asking, "Duh, how'd that happen?'
I'm sorry, but I don't buy it!! I personally think that, unless something politically catastrophic occurs, there's only one fellow who has a real shot at this...and his skin is lily white.
While many in this country would like to THINK we've moved beyond the day when the color of a person's skin matters, it, unfortunately, STILL MATTERS to far too many people. We still live in predominantly segregated neighborhoods. People of color typically earn less in similar occupations than their white counterparts and aren't offered the same kinds of home loans.
Black men are still locked up in prison at alarming rates and no white person I know has to fear "driving while white".
I simply do not believe there are sufficient numbers of white voters who would willingly cast their vote for a black man. (And no, I'm not an Obama supporter. I plan to cast my vote for two black women: Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente, the Green Party ticket.)
I realize that some may agrue that the polls show otherwise. I will agree that several polls have indicated that a majority of white respondents have indicated they would vote for a black candidate for president. But what do you think these people are going to say?
Most white people don't want to be looked at as bigots, so they certainly aren't going to say to the pollster, "I ain't voting for no negro." No, they'll say, "I don't look at a person's skin color".
But there's a wide chasm between telling a pollster what you want them to believe and stepping inside the voting booth (or filling out a ballot at your kitchen table) in private. When you're all by your lonesome, there's no need to put on aires. And that, my friends, is where I believe far too many Americans will place an X next to the names McCain/Palin.
Maybe I'll wake up on a November morning to find that I'm wrong. I think it's far more likely that McCain is going to win in a landslide and all the pundits are going to be scratching their heads asking, "Duh, how'd that happen?'
I hope you're wrong, my friend.
ReplyDeletemaybe this time the skin pigment will be balanced by our cultures adulation of the young over the old. that and picking palin as a number 2 (that was some choice, quite an old guy that could if not die go into hospital for a time picks somebody the electorate has to consider could step in as president) may just seal a win for obama!?
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