Why can't we talk about race?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Why can't we talk about race?
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Wed, 10-15-2008 - 4:35pm

I've seen this come up here and elsewhere. In the *very strange* thread about Obama's birthplace (or something like that; I couldn't follow the propaganda, quite frankly), two posters said that they wish Michelle Obama had not referenced race. (I don't mean to point those individuals out but merely point out their posts.)

In a country where race is a huge elephant in the room, I don't understand why we shouldn't talk about it. Of course this election is about race. For the first time in our country's history, a black man is running for president on a major political party ticket.

It doesn't have to be a bad thing or a good thing. But race is a factor in this election. It's not necessarily a factor because of McCain or Palin or Obama or Biden -- but because one of the candidates is black. Likewise, gender is an issue, simply because we have a woman on the Republican ticket. Why avoid the topic? Why suggest that the candidates or their spouses not talk about it?

Laura

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anonymous user
Fri, 10-24-2008 - 4:12am
i think people should let go of past and look in to the future.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-13-2008
Fri, 10-24-2008 - 7:10am

I'll be clear, and leave no doubt. All things being equal between two candidates, I would vote for a woman.


Why? Because 216 years of history with no woman as vice president or president needs to change. Because the first woman to ever run 136 years ago was jailed for the endeavour, though they found some goofy pretext to do so. Because not even 20% of Congress members are women, and the current rate is the highest ever.


I'd vote for a moderate conservative like Christine Whitman in order to see such change, even though I am well to the left. There is a point beyond which I will not go, and a supply line could not stretch far enough for me to find it within to support Palin.



Full length fiction: worlds undone

"You have no power over my body..." ~ Anne Hutchinson

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-27-2008
Fri, 10-24-2008 - 10:32am

If you read further down the thread, there's a post from guest that says "if you have any moral fiber you'll vote for Obama" or something to that effect.


So what that's one persons view, it is not the view of all Obama supporters.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-23-2008
Fri, 10-24-2008 - 8:16pm
Considering that you'll never have two candidates that agree on everything, the likelihood of ever having to make that chance is slim to none. Unfortunately you've digressed from the original issue of voting for someone based soley on their race - and how you commented that it would be the beginning of the end of racism in America (which is a totally ridiculous statement, for the reasons I've already discussed.) But let's get to your new point of voting for a women vs a man (which, let's make no mistake, men and women are not two different races, but I'll entertain your position). Whether their stance on policies is exactly the same, I personally would not in that situation automatically vote for the woman. Why? Because I'd have to see both candidates in action and how they handle themselves and how they react to controversy, adversity and change. I vividly remember watching the debates between Obama and Hillary Clinton, and despite their stances on any issues, I remember thinking to myself, "She's an emotional basketcase when it comes to controversy or defending herself against criticism." The last thing we need is a candidate that's making decisions based on emotions, no matter what their political stance is. The fact that you are willing to blinding vote for someone because of their race or gender is sad. This is the leader of the free world, and you're prepared to put it in the hands of someone you know nothing about because you think we owe it to a group of people. That mentality perpetuates racism and sexism in America and the only way to get over it is to treat people fairly based on qualifications only (which, I hope I live to see that day.) Luckily, we're still stuck with the Electoral College so even if I wanted to vote for Obama, living in Idaho it wouldn't really matter anyway, right? So at the end of the day, we can, and have, put someone into office who shouldn't actually win the election. So it looks like my mind has already been made up for me.
Daisypath Anniversary tickers
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-13-2008
Fri, 10-24-2008 - 8:22pm

Look at Brown vs Board of Education, Kennedy being elected in 1960 in the face of much prejudice, the Supreme Court ruling interracial marriage legal, the end of segregation, intergration of our armed forces, the Massachusetts gay marriage ruling, etc.


All of these things were demarcation lines of some sort, where an old notion is challenged and pushed further back away from the mainstream.


Obama winning pushes racism a bit further away from acceptability.


And yes, I'd vote for a woman all things being equal, because if we don't, it will never change. There are men who will never vote for a woman, far more than women who would


Full length fiction: worlds undone

"You have no power over my body..." ~ Anne Hutchinson

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2001
Sat, 10-25-2008 - 3:12pm

Dear IVillagers,


I feel that to not speak about race -

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2008
Thu, 10-30-2008 - 7:21pm
Well I think that if people vote on the issues then race should certainly not play a part in this election.

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