I must admit to being a bit bewildered by claims of how electing a black president changes the racial dynamics of America. Could be because most [all] intellectuals writing about this in a public forum have little to no real experience dealing with, working with, socializing with normal [ie having modest, low or no education] people of a different race, ethnicity, whatever. If they did they would understand that all races etc fear and feel intolerance towards things that are not like them. People, all people, have a problem with other people who don't look like them because implied in that difference is the threat that the 'others' do not or will not act like them. It's all about culture, cultures that are foreign - and it's an entirely natural human response, natural because people worry about their security and security is about among other things expectations. I've worked with Indians who hate blacks who hate Asians who hate Mexicans who hate etc etc etc. It's not that highly educated people are smarter and therefore above such things it's that education is a great homogenizer - ie anxiety re expectations is mitigated - or, possibly more accurate, hidden.
I suppose a lot of intellectuals are just not comfortable with stating the obvious: Obama has the education of a privileged white kid, the mannerisms of a privileged white kid, the verbal patterns of a privileged white kid, the everything of a privileged white kid - the only thing black about the guy was his wacko preacher and he cut him loose! If you're saying Obama being president changes some racial dynamic involving black people then you either have no legitimate conception of how people think about race or you're implying act like you were raised a privileged white kid and everything will be ok... which, well, seems a bit racist, no? Not to mention you ignore the fact that by and large blacks have spent the last generation defining themselves in opposition to a white ethos - what, they're just suddenly gonna drop that whole black culture thing 'cause the half brother with the Harvard education is president? Don't think so. Fact is people - well, educated people - working scum have absolutely no problem expressing themselves on this issue - people are not comfortable talking in real terms about race because to do so honestly would be to admit to an ugly truth - and thus this rather inane offering up of the lie of Obama, that somehow things are now changed...
I will admit to some agreement with the whole white guilt thing, Obama being restitution for the sin of slavery etc etc - but I'd tend to put it more ironically and say it's payback: we're at war and we elect an uber liberal whose sentiments, whose predisposition, whose philosophical wherewithals are probably not in keeping with the demands of war - whose whole career was based on seeking out the support of anti-war types and whose opposition to the present war was fundamentally flawed, illogical and in the narrowest of ways, self serving. Yeah, looks like payback to me...
"What... are you saying racism is nothing more than completely rational human behaviour?"
"Ah... sure. Why not. But in an entirely irrational way of course."
"But..."
"Ok, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Or maybe I just think I know what I'm talking about..."
"How is that a difference?"
"Look... look... people feel fear, right? Everything they think about other people is based on that. That's all I'm saying. You can no more get rid of racism, or any other nonsense one man might do to another, than you can get rid of fear - lofty speeches to the contrary not withstanding."
"Sounds to me like you're trying to make excuses for your own shortcomings."
"Yeah? Well, why don't you go fuck yourself. How 'bout that?"
