Barack Obama says his comments in Missouri on Wednesday were not about race, but let’s see how far context and common sense get us.
“Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me,” Obama said. “You know, `he’s not patriotic enough, he’s got a funny name,’ you know, `he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.’”
That last bit is the contentious part. What does it mean to suggest that Obama “doesn’t look like all those other presidents…”?
Speaking for Obama and his campaign, spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters “What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn’t get here after spending decades in Washington.” Gibbs continued, “There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn’t come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race.”
Could it be that Obama was simply referring to his own political career in contrast with George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson, et al? It’s true that look does have a semantic range which can include ideas other than sight, but these possibilities seem unlikely given previous statements by Obama.
In Missouri on the previous night Obama said, “It’s a leap, electing a 46-year-old black guy named Barack Obama.” In this comment, the issue of his name surfaces, which is indicative of some ethnic emphasis, and a clear reference to race is present when Obama calls himself a “black guy.”
If look is afforded its primary denotation as a reference to sight in the later comments, a reference to both ethnicity (‘he’s got a funny name’) and race (‘he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills’) is present in both statements made with 24 hours of one another, both in Missouri.
So, if Obama wasn’t referring to race on Wednesday, he was doing so on Tuesday. None of this suggests that Obama is an unfit presidential candidate, of course. It only suggests that perhaps for the average citizen, race is an issue. At the least, it is so for Barack Obama.
It does appear that Obama is quite interested in the racial aspects of his presidency. But as you say, this doesn’t necessarily disqualify him from being president… or even being a valid discussion point. Clearly, his need to talk about it and the fact that it resonates in so many ways (good and bad) through the media and in the discussions across America and the world mean that race is indeed a relevant issue.
While we might ideally have “moved on” past race long ago (in our minds at least) it would seem that race indeed plays a large part in American life. One need look no further than Sunday mornings at church for confirmation of the lingering effects of racism (or racialization as some have put it).
I don’t tinkn it’s a problem that’s particular to America either. Whilst in Africa many of the nationals openly promoted their Obama zeal. When asked why such zeal.. they invetibaly replied…. he’s black I’m black. It was a simple equation.
Interesting.
Brilliant post. This is partly why I don’t like Barack Obama. He’s preaching a quite eloquent message of change and equality.
Just yesterday I was pondering what real equality is, and in my opinion, comments like this do not promoting what equality should be.
It’s foolishness to pull out the race card.. in whichever direction you’re pulling it. We see conservatives, the religious right specifically pulling the race card in the sense that he is a “militant Muslim” as seen in this article by Michael Reisig:
This article is obviously extremely biased. It’s not balanced or fair, and as a quasi-aspiring journalist, I am insulted this article actually made it to press…but Reisig is the publisher of the paper in which it appeared…
I also think it’s foolishness when I hear about African-American voters casting a vote for Obama solely on the premise that he’s black. I know that African-Americans are trying to be supportive in the advancement of “their people,” but in my opinion, organizations like the National Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)..combined with having “black history” month doesn’t do much for the promotion of true equality. Instead, let’s celebrate the history of people. All people. It doesn’t have to be white or black supremacy. Let’s advance our society as a whole for the purpose of positive change.
I was pulling for Hillary Clinton, I am however not a fan Barack Obama. Therefore, the only way he may get my vote is if he announces Mrs. Clinton as his running mate. I believe that Mr. Obama hides his inexperience in foreign affairs and the downright fact that he does not possess the qualifications needed to be the President of the United States with an eloquent message of change, and an ultimately false message of promoting equality.
As a result I will be voting for either presumptive Republican candidate John McCain or Libertarian Presidential Candidate Robert Barr.
It is amazing how much Robert Gibbs tried to cover up or change the intention of Obama’s statements. I can guarantee you that Obama’s message in saying “‘he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills’” was not “that he didn’t get here after spending decades in Washington.”
You are right, he was talking about racism! Nothing else, and especially not that he is new to the scene. It really perturbs me to see how he can get away with playing the race card so many times (which usually helps his numbers with those who feel the same way) and the media just kind of blows it off.