An Un-Angry Black Woman

I am new to DU. I made this post earlier in the wrong forum (GD) and it was subsequently locked. I have reposted it here in GDP, hoping to get it right this time.

I am reposting.... not to make myself important, but hoping to open a respectful dialouge about what we as democrats are faced with in this election. We should be proud of the 2 candidates that we have: 1st woman to make it this far, and 1st African American to make it this far. We've made history. We should be proud of ourselves for being members of a political party that would allow this possibility. Let's have a conversation about the good, the bad,the ugly, hopes, dreams, fears, disappointments, etc., without beating each other up about our preferred candidates: Obama versus Clinton. I read a couple of posts earlier about some of the people who visit this site. One was in reference to the fact that MSNBC pundits visit this site often, and another about Mrs. Edwards visiting regularly as well. As a new member, I would hope that we at DU would want to continue to be representative of our pride in our forum,our democratic party, and our 2 very talented and capable 2008 presidential candidates. Let's hash it out respectfully.


This post is in response to an earlier post:
"We All Should be Angry" http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5902103#5903711


It is a fact that the media is exploiting Hillary Clinton. It is a fact that the media did the same to Obama.
It is a fact that they will continue to exploit Hillary, Obama, and whomever or whatever makes them money or threatens their money.
It is a given that media pundits will use their power to promote strengths versus weaknesses of the political party and or candidates that they support.

Race is a very hot issue. This is the first black presidential candidate who has ever made it to this point. Blacks and Whites all over the USA know that race is an issue, and the media will use that subject to it's advantage, regardless of who the person is. It is true that a white female running for president is an issue as well, but in general, it is more of a positive talking point than negative.

Regardless of his reasons, self-serving or otherwise, it cannot be denied that Bill Clinton has probably done more than any other president in history in reaching out to blacks, including opening the "front" doors of the "white" house, which as a result continues to be open today. Senator Clinton played the race card and she was wrong. However, having said that, Senator Clinton has served this country well and has been a positive example for women of all races. She "CANNOT" win this nomination. She is an intelligent woman and she knows her time is up. As a matter of respect for her service, I believe she should be allowed to continue in this race while she plans her exit strategy.

The struggle for power can cause people to stoop to all kinds of lows. Until this election, fighting dirty has been, not only accepted, but expected. Hillary Clinton is the only person to date, who has ever had to figure out how to "fight dirty against a black person" running for president. Dirty has been the "politically corect" way, and race wasn't an issue because no other black person before Obama has ever been respected or recognized as actually standing a chance of winning a presidential election. If playing the "dirty card" had not been accepted, then the door would not have been open for playing the "race card". In fact if it had been a man to man contest versus man to woman, the situation may have gotten even worse than it is now. I would guess that John McCain has picked up quite a few tips about "do's"and don'ts" with regards to race in this election. Footbal players knock each other down, kick, curse, etc and the opposite teams shake hands at the end of the game. But the newcomer who runs 50 yards in the wrong direction and scores a point on the wrong end gets the ridicule, and becomes the talking point of the game.

While it is sad that she had de-valued her own legacy, Hillary Clinton has simply done the status quo in regurgitating in her statements, what some discuss in the privacy of their own homes and what the media has been pushing and exploiting since the very beginning of the election process. In her defense, I pose this question: Have you ever had a dream? The deeper question is, how far would any of us go in pursuit of our dreams? Would we be considerate and respectful towards those whom we might view as a deterrent to accomplishing our dreams? Hillary Clinton was wrong for playing the race card but I suggest we all be careful about how strongly we "cast the stone".

The idea of the USA, (the land of the free and the home of the brave) electing it's FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT is a BIG DEAL nationally and to the rest of the world as well.
Race will continue to be an ongoing topic. We as citizens have a choice to have a positive conversation or a negative conversation. The whole world is watching.

What is presented by the media is a reflection of who we are, and this is what allows them to be successful. If we are not buying, then they are not selling. I long for the day when the "buyers" become more of those who are willing to love more, hate less, accept people's differences as well as their likeness, and strive for more unity. It is only then that the media and leaders of this nation will do and be the same.

As the "official nominee", Barack Obama will either be welcomed because we share his message or despised because we fear his message. There are no in-betweens.
Regardless of the media, we will vote the either/or. ( fear refers to the anticipation of something, which, when experienced, will be disagreeable).

Senator Obama has opened the opportunity for positive dialouge and conversation and even to some extent, opportunity for healing of old wounds.
Everybody, won't be coming aboard the Obama Ship.
I for one, am in, and I can already see, that it's going to be a fantastic voyage.


:thumbsup:


"All News Is Not New, News"

Welcome to DU. :toast:

I read your original posting and am sad to hear it was locked. Your thoughts are wise. This election will show if we live in fear or if we will welcome change.

A hearty welcome to DU!

:hi:

It is, indeed, sad to see how Hillary Clinton has tarnished her professional reputation.

I, as a woman of color, don't believe she is a racist at all. She has worked hard to earn the respect of African-Americans. This is why, when this race began, Hillary polled much higher among African-Americans than Barack Obama did.

However, she (and her husband) have done much to tarnish that special relationship the Clintons have enjoyed with African-Americans. She is appealing to racists and/or prejudiced people. That is clear. And even if she doesn't hold the same viewpoints as those whose votes she is seeking, there is something unpalatable about twisting oneself into a caricature to appeal to such a segment of the population.

Howard Dean also said we needed to appeal to white southerners. But he didn't mean for us to play into the fears and insecurities of those voters. He meant for us to change their minds by showing that we have far more in common that we have different. Barack Obama also shares that same vision. He says that he wants to change our way of thinking, and he doesn't just mean the thinking of white people -- he included us black folk in that historic speech on race and said African-Americans had some work to do as well.

You make a good point about hopes, dreams, and whens and hows of giving up on them. I'd agree that there are some hopes we should never give up on, no matter how dire the situation seems (peace in the Middle East, for example). Maybe Hillary views her candidacy for President in the same light.

i LIKE it!

:)

Welcome to DU! I hope you won't be put off by the elevated level of snark from all quarters, I am told it will all disappear after we have our nominee....
:hi:

Excellent post...I especially loved this part:

"If we are not buying, then they are not selling. I long for the day when the "buyers" become more of those who are willing to love more, hate less, accept people's differences as well as their likeness, and strive for more unity."

:thumbsup:

Welcome to DU! :hi:

I agree with you regarding Hillary's dream. In watching her I am reminded of some of my own dreams that eluded my grasp long before I recognized they were gone, still I kept desperately chasing them until I finally gave up and turned toward other possibilities, formed new dreams. I so relate to Hillary's desperation to reach this dream that has become unreachable.

I am about the same age as Hillary and I work with a lot of high powered women still chasing 20 year old dreams not yet seeing the new generation trying to push open the door to see what they can do with their dreams. I hear older men and women saying just what the "old political guard" is saying about Obama. "He hasn't paid his dues, he's not strong enough yet, not seasoned, too young, too un-tested." Worse, he is running against a political icon, the great hope of all American women from all races, color, stations in life, it's a hard dream for all of us to give up, but times have changed dramatically in America and there is a candidate that represents that change, gives a face and voice to that change. I look at Obama and think "will you disappoint us? Probably! Still he is the new face, the new voice, the new ideas for the days ahead.

Like Hillary, I am faced with giving up what I carefully built and moved toward and know I have to look in a new direction for what's next in my life and I hear the knock at the door of a new generation. I remember when JFK and his brother and Martin Luther King was the knock at the door and how hard it was for the old guard to open that door. I was part of that new, untested generation and could not wait to race through the portals to power. Now it's the turn of my generation to step to the side and open that door to Barack Obama and all the Obama's waiting to race through those portals. Oddly, I am so hopeful and happy to do so. Like Hillary, I won't be able to reach all I hoped to accomplish, to reach the pinnacle of my dreams, but someone will and I want to be a part of helping that someone to get there.

Even more, I appreciate your realization about how difficult it must have been for the first viable female candidate to find the proper way to go negative - and to win, one must be able to go negative in our time - against the first viable African-descended candidate.

Did she play the race card first? I don't know. I do know that if more Obama supporters could have viewed the situation as objectively as you are (I am assuming the business about casting stones is an admission that a certain candidate does not poop apple butter), this would have been a much more interesting forum these last four months.

Slowly but surely the anger is slipping away. By the time we get to the Democratic Convention, Nothing and no one will be able to pi$$ me off anymore!

It's good to be here!

We are Hillary supporters. My wife is an "angry" black woman, we are maxed out in our donations, and the final phase of this is setting in. She has been one of the few black people showing up at major donation parties in DC. The other African-Americans in the room are people like Vernon Jordan and Rodney Slater.

Hillary has put up hell of a fight, after early major missteps, she made quite a comeback from being blown out of the water. My wife had admired her for years, and relates her life experience more as a difficulty of making it as a professional woman in the world, more than to Obama, who she sees as an untested inspirational speaker.