How do you "see" Barack Obama?
Cynthia Tucker
Jan 19, 7:56 PM ET
After a recent column describing Barack Obama as "a presidential candidate who happens to be black -- not a black presidential candidate," I received countless responses from readers, a handful of them odd. That odd handful declared they take no notice of superficial traits such as skin color, and they took me to task for making any reference to Obama's race.
"I thought of (Obama) as a person. I did not see black or white or Hispanic or that he was a man -- I saw a person! If people really, truly want racial equality, then the first step has to be to STOP looking at skin color," wrote one reader.
"When I look at a person, the last thing I think about is skin color or heritage," wrote another.
Sorry, but I'm not buying it. While I am sympathetic to any desire to get past dated and useless habits of mind -- especially the contentious politics of the color line -- that's just nonsense.
Update:I see him as a man running for president. Albeit he is the only person of "color" running for president. That's just fact. There's no getting around that period. Does it matter? Nope. Not in the big scheme of things.
Comments
Don't buy it either. They're just being PC. I like him, I find him inspiring, I would support him if nominated. As a gay man, trust me, I know that people don't omit that part of my 'profile' when they think of me. I can tell when I'm standing at the urinal in the bathroom at work, and a coworker comes in, sees me, hesitates, and goes into a stall. It becomes part of their equation. It may not be the most important part, or even the conscious part, but it's there. It's like trying to point someone out by saying 'it's the person in the green sweater' when she's the only woman in the group and you say 'i didn't notice it was a woman.' He may transcend race with his candidacy, and that may be their point, but pretending it's not something you even see is disingenuous.
That does sound like nonsense. America has never had a black president before, and there has always been talk of when it would happen. Race does not define who you are, but any one unable to realize the significance of his race in this situation has been living under/inside a rock for some time.
Besides, you can see him as a person and STILL take notice that he is black. One does not exclude the other.
I see him as a presidential candidate. Skin color and race are the LAST thing on my mind when it comes to choosing the person who will be running our country for the next 4 years.
I think he's incredibly intelligent and very well spoken, and I like his platform. If we end up with a Democratic president, I'd rather it be him than Hillary.
What's truly sad is that many black people probably won't vote for him because he's "too white." How pathetic is that? Yet they'll re-elect Kwame Kilpatrick (the mayor of Detroit) numerous times because he's "more like them." He has TOTALLY ruined Detroit, lied, stole from the government, and doesn't have a clue what he's doing. Yet he's still re-elected because he's black enough. Not trying to sound racist here--if you don't believe me, go to Detroit!
I don't buy it when people contend they don't see/think of/consider his race either, much like I don't buy it that people don't consider Hillary's sex. If only for the fact that he and Hillary Clinton are considered front runners at his time, and that some of the subsequent dialog surrounding their candidacy's is that neither is a 'lock' with men or women - and even more significantly in my recent memory there's dialog about how black women will vote, you have to be in denial not to consider race and sex in regards to both.
I would hardly call skin color superficial in the United States myself. Still I like Obama, if only because he is better than Hilary Clinton, yes the bar isn't set very high.
The only one who would really know him is himself, He has to live with the facts that he is not whom he purports to be, He has to live with the facts that he never intended to operate in the clear or open, He has to live with the facts that he had no experience in leading or governing of anything worth while. This will eventually catch up to him. And will be the destroyer of his policys and programs, For he will be known as a out right liar.
I see and hear him as one of the most inspiring persons I have ever heard.
I see colour but I've never politicised (sp.) colour.
He has a funny name thats why I'll vote for him. ^_^