Friday, January 4, 2008

Iowa, America and the need for a new dynamic.

The old race-sex-class paradigm of looking at the world, and especially America, is no longer valid, if it ever was. Since the "age of Aquarius" we have been told that America is a racist nation, we have been lectured and harangued by academics about the "institutionalised racism of America" and our elite academies indoctrinate our children with the idea that "anyone white is a racist, whether they know it or not".

Those who disagree are labelled racists themselves, told to "check their privilege" and that they are blind to this oppressive and omnipresent sin. When we point out the major success of Blacks over the last thirty years, the stunning popularity of rap and hip-hop, the overwhelming number of white suburban kids who's biggest idol is Biggie, or any other competing argument we are told that "a few isolated success do not represent the whole", and that we are simply to "insensitive" to understand whats its like to be a minority.

And then Iowa. A rural, mostly white farming state. The kind which, in the liberal narrative at least, black men are lynched from apple trees and left to rot in the corn fields; goes and overwhelmingly nominates a Black man over a white woman and several white men. Not just overwhelmingly, but by a margin so large as to be damn near incredible.

Will this, in decades hence, be seen as the end of the politics of victimisation? Will it be seen as the end of the "institutionalised racism" narrative in America? Perhaps not, those who are already too invested into this false narrative to ever be able to understand another. The Sharpton's, and the Jackson's of the world have far too much to lose to recognise the truth. Their followers are too rabid, to unwilling to see to change. But the rest of America, those of us who live, work, and play with men and women of every shade and hue, may finally be able to admit what I have known for years now; Racism in America, is a fading shadow on the wall of history.

I do not know whether Obama will win the Presidency, nor even whether or not he will win the nomination. What I do know, is that this election, which only a few months ago was being called "inevitable" has surprised many already. More importantly, it has illuminated what is, in many ways, America's greatest strength, America's ability to move on from a dark past. "Slavery", "Segregation", "Jim crow", these are words which, rightly, call up dark images of darker days. Yet, in just two short generations, America has moved from a country being torn apart by race relations to become a country in which Obama wins by a landslide in "redneck country"

And People wonder why I am proud to be an American?

The time of the politics of identity is over. Obama understands that, Hillary doesn't. Obama has focused his message on trying to paint a vision of a brighter future. Hillary has tried to stir up the "sisterhood" by appealing to the old "race/sex/class" paradigm, and as a result she even came in behind a rich man trying to play poor mans populism. Obama, the only one not following the old tired paradigm of the flower geriatrics won by a landslide. That gives me hope. When a black man can win a democratic caucus without falling back on racial politics, then maybe, just maybe, the world isn't quite beyond saving.

When even the liberals no longer buy the old RSC paradigm, then maybe there is hope for America after all. Could there be a day in the future, when even the dems no longer trot out the tired RSC cards? Those dog eared, out of date, 45 year old tactics are getting pretty long in the tooth after all. Could this be the beginning of the re-acceptance by the American people that treating people equally means treating people equally? Does this presage a day when Black men and women no longer show their political ignorance and naivete by being dependably voting vassals for the dems? I wish I knew, I wish I had the courage, or foolishness, to hope so.

Is it possible that at least some of those black men and women who live, work and play among us blue eyed devils, will look at this victory, and their pigmentally challenged colleagues, and finally internalise the fact that the only people who care that they are black, is themselves? Is it possible that now, finally, after all these years, they will put aside the assumptions and myths of the civil rights era, and realise that they need to move on, because we already have? I don't know.

What I know is this. Obama won by a larger margin than anyone predicted.Men and Women of all colors are falling all over themselves to support the guy, and even though I would never vote for a tax hiking, entitlement spending, anti-war, soft foreign policy, relatively inexperienced liberal, at least hes a liberal whose candidacy has already done more for America that the last two democratic Presidents combined. Mr. Obama I won't vote for you, I won't donate to your campaign, and I hope you lose to a republican, but I can sure as hell get behind what you represent sir.


Part 2

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

but I can sure as hell get behind what you represent sir.

You REALLY don't realize what it means when you wrote that?

AT ALL?

REALLY?

(not trying to be 'offensive jokey sarcasm tone' here, I'm actually trying to say LOOK! LOOK!)

Rational Mad Man said...

Please enlighten me.
Not kidding either.

Luke P. said...

Actually, the only way I see the race/sex paradigm influencing these campaigns is in guilt-ridden liberal voting for Obama, in part, [i]because[/i] he is black, or Chillary [i]because[/i] she is female.
I'm not saying that that's how they got where they are, but I'm certain there are more people in the above category than those who'll not vote for the respective candidates for race/sex reasons.