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Race Card - what Race Card?
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I have been stewing over this issue for several months and I have finally put the proper words to the thoughts I have been accumulating. My central thought is that there is no race card in this campaign because Senator Obama does not fall into one of the categories of racial antagonisms in this country. Simply put, he is neither White nor Black; his father is Kenyan and his mother is American. Therefore, by definition, Barack Obama is not African-American; rather, he is an American citizen that has an African person as a father.
If you have read my columns you probably have guessed that I am more supportive of Barack Obama than John McCain. However; it is baffling to me to see and read that ninety percent of African-Americans, who voted in the later primaries after South Carolina, voted for a man that can not relate to their history as a people. The difficulty in this election is that we have been traumatized by public perception that any attack on a person of color or defense by that person is playing the race card. Most Black folks are voting for Obama because he looks like one of them; when in fact he is not. Some White folks are not voting for Obama because he looks like he is African-American; when in fact he is not.
Let’s make this crystal clear: There is no race card to be played because Barack Obama is not a member of the race card demographic, as we as Americans has come to know it. Both sides of his family have had little to no experience or connection with the social dynamic between Blacks and Whites in this country over the last 400 years. To use the race card against him is pointless and will not have any impact. To this point, why do you think there is all of this talk about “celebrity”? To use the race card to his benefit brings questions up among the African-American community such as “Is Barack Obama black enough?”
I think having someone neutral in our racial dialogue may be very helpful. A leader that can bridge the social divide between Blacks and Whites would be an asset in the repertoire of a President facing these legacy issues of our American heritage. It is time for the race card to be replaced in the deck…there are fifty one other cards that are more relevant.
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