A Vote For Racism

I hear there's a new bestseller out right now. It's called, "The Dummies Guide to Being a Racist in the 21st Century".

And obviously, the book's instructions are working. According to Ohio's Democratic Primary exit polls, 18% of white voters said that race was a factor in the way they voted. And 75% of those voters cast their ballot for the candidate who's white.

I'm not suggesting that everyone who doesn't vote for Barack Obama is a racist. I don't believe that. I genuinely think folks have the right to vote for whoever they want to and if folks really don't like Obama's policies or character, fine.

If they don't like Hillary's policies or character, that's cool too.

McCain's comb over? What can I say? You're either feeling it or you're not.

But the policies, character and comb over have nothing to do with that 18%. I have a real problem with that 18%. "Race being a factor" is basically code language for saying, "Hell no! I'm not voting for that negro!"

I can't say I'm surprised by that. I think that may actually be a low ball number. Despite all the hype talk about how we've transcended race, we can look around us and see that that's not true. We're not burning crosses on each other's lawns every other day but we're not exactly homies unidos either.

It gets me thinking about how we've had just about zero conversations between our presidential candidates about the de facto segregation that takes place in our nation's schools. But here in Los Angeles, according to some reports, up to 60% of black and Latino students do not graduate from high school. They aren't bad kids, but they do get stuck with teachers who will sit at their desk and read the newspaper. They get stuck with the teachers who say, "If you don't want to be in my class, don't come anymore."

I know I can go on a candidates website and check out an education plan but why isn't this a huge issue in the national conversation? To me it's because this drop out rate disproportionately affects people of color and poor white folks. And the last thing the elites in this country really want are more people competing against their own children for a spot at a top college.

And what do uneducated people do? Well, some of them join gangs. Here in LA, we've had a ton of gang violence in the past two weeks and the violence has primarily affected innocent victims. An entire neighborhood was shut down for hours in the aftermath of the shooting of a 36 year-old man and his 2 year-old granddaughter. A seventeen year-old high school senior, Jamiel Shaw, was shot and killed Sunday night. Yesterday a six year-old child got shot in the head while riding in a van with his family.

Oh, but I'm sure that 18% in Ohio could care less, because to them, that's what black folks and "illegal immigrants" deserve. They're going to sit around and think that it won't happen to their children because white children are inherently good and never join gangs or get shot by gang members.

I wonder if that 18% sees Obama's face and thinks of that black boss of theirs that they believe only got the job because of some sort of quotas, special treatment or diversity initiatives.

And the candidate that this thinking benefits doesn't denounce this sort of thing at all.

When I lived in China, the newspapers would mock U.S. criticism of Chinese human rights violations by basically saying, "Look who's talking! Isn't racism a human rights violation?" And truly, it is.

Those 18% weren't voting for someone because of the content of their character. They weren't voting for policies that will make this country a better place for everyone.

No matter how we look at it, they were voting for racism. How shameful.

“It’s 2008. We will vote.”

While the mainstream media is all in a tizzy over what John McCain may or may not have done (Do you have pictures? Video? A stained dress?) with a lobbyist, I came across some real news over on Black America Web:

"Over 2,000 March at Prairie View, a Reminder of Young Voters’ Engagement in ‘08 Election

Date: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
By: BlackAmericaWeb.com

A huge banner carried Tuesday by Prairie View A&M University students at the head of a march to the Waller County Courthouse said it all: “It’s 2008. We will vote.”

The Prairie View students, hundreds of them, waited for hours in line to vote after walking seven miles from campus to the county seat. Students say they wanted to protest changes the county recently made in early polling locations and show officials the impact of their political participation.

The unofficial crowd estimate was 2,200, said Prairie View Student Government Association President Andre Evans. He said about 3,000 Prairie view students in total are registered to vote.

Waller County had reduced the number of early voting locations from about six around the county to only one at its courthouse because county officials said they could not afford to operate multiple early voting locations.

After getting pressure from federal government, the county added three early voting locations, still there was not one announced for the Prairie View campus, convenient to students. An early voting site will be open this weekend at a community center in Prairie View.

The activism demonstrated by the Prairie View students is yet another example of trends observers across the country are noting as more people between the ages of 18 and 30 register to vote and take roles in political campaigns."

Wow. And then, to get even better, I was visiting some new blogs, stopped by ReadingWritingLiving and came across some video of them marching.



I had tears streaming down my face watching this. Hey, New York Times, MSNBC and CNN, this is real news. Fox News, why don't you have Bill O'Reilly talk about how students at a historically black college are standing up to the voting discrimination that's persisted for years? It must be easier to have him talk about he doesn't, "want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence."

Yes, these students marched 7.3 miles to vote. This is not a passive generation that's coming up and I'm so happy to see them claiming what's rightfully theirs, by any means necessary.

Our Acceptance of the Code

Unless you live under a rock, you know that Barack Obama won three primaries last night.

I watched the election results for quite a while, listened to him give another inspiring speech, and then watched all the talking heads discuss his win, and thus, Hillary Clinton's loss.

As I watched the pundits, I found myself stepping back and listening to what they were saying. Code words were flying back and forth as they discussed Obama and Clinton's election chances. Before I knew it, I developed an unease that followed me into the wee hours of a sleepless night.

Was it only a week ago that I complained about a woman assuming that I was voting for Obama? Indeed, it was fun playing a prank on her by telling her I voted for Ron Paul. But unfortunately, the assumption that people are voting according to race continues to be made on a wide scale basis.

We get so used to hearing and reading statements like, "Obama won (Pick a State) because the black vote turned out in record numbers."

This sort of thing continues to be said by reporters and Clinton spokespeople alike. It doesn't seem to matter that Obama has won in a whole host of states where there's like two black people total in residence. More than two black folks in Maine and Idaho you say? Okay, three. I'll give you three tops.

And what about the states with more than three black people in residence? Well for them, we get to hear how, "The Obama camp is celebrating last night's decisive win, a victory boosted by (Pick a State's) sizeable black population."

It doesn't matter if 60% of non-black folks voted for Barack. If a bunch of black folks voted for him, he only won because of that. Heck, if only one black person voted for him, that vote just tipped the scales!

I don't believe in voting by looking at a person's color. In my world, woting decisions should be made in a thoughtful and humble manner because we're accountable to the greater good for our decisions. If you think about it, voting is an incredibly sacred responsibility and as such, voters should take the time to independently investigate each candidates stance on issues, their voting record and their character. You should know why you want to vote for someone, and it shouldn't be because of some blogger's opinion or a politician's endorsement. It shouldn't be because Oprah and Rush Limbaugh told you to vote (or not to vote) for a candidate. And it sure shouldn't be solely because of the color of their skin.

I recently commented on another blog that there are lots of black folks I have nothing in common with and share no values with. I'm not voting for 50 Cent or P. Diddy if they run for office. Even if L'il Kim finds God and repents for subjecting our eyes to her myriad plastic surgeries, if she decides to run for Los Angeles City Council, guess what? I'm not voting for her!

Celebrities aside, there are also plenty of black politicians you couldn't pay me to support either. Remember Marion Barry smoking crack in the hotel room? Put away the CIA setup theories for a second because regardless, I wouldn't have voted for him for mayor a second time. Heck, I might not have voted for him the first time and I'm confused as to how he's in office right now!

That being said, I, and every other black person, should have the luxury everybody else does to follow a candidate for the most ridiculous reasons ever. If I tell you I'm voting for Hillary simply because I like her blue power suit, so be it. If I like McCain's comb over, so what? Who could possibly not like that comb over! If I'm voting for Obama because I really just want to see his wife in the White House as a fly First Lady, fine, I should have that right!

And once Michelle Barack gets elected, I'm going to send emails begging her to flip the script, get rid of that straight hair and get a big afro to scare America!

Just kidding. I think.

It just seems like black people have to come up with incredibly articulate, issue-focused reasons to vote for Obama and nobody else is being required to do so.

That's especially annoying since only a few months ago, Barack was supposedly struggling to be seen as black enough. Remember Tavis Smiley's "State of the Black Union" last year? If you didn't see it, count your blessings because you missed out on the whole, "All skin is not kin!" comment.
Yeah, until a few months ago, black people were supposedly standing around saying, "Barack's not really black. He's mixed and his momma's white. Vote for Clinton because her husband really is black."

In the meantime, it's OK for other groups of people to vote for Hillary Clinton precisely because she's white.

We get used to hearing coded language like, "Clinton is counting on the sizeable Latino vote to turn out in Texas and push her ahead." This translates into, "We believe Latinos are a homogeneous group of racist folks who won't vote for a black man."

That's alright according to the Clinton campaign if that gets their candidate elected and it's just fine with all the talking heads, too. How do I know this? Because I don't hear anything coming from either the Clinton campaign or from the TV and newspaper pundits unequivocably saying this sort of thing is not the way our country should be. Instead, if our nation's racial sicknesses help a campaign, that's just the way things are.

In fact, I don't hear any campaign loudly saying, "If you are only voting for me because I'm white or black, don't vote for me. Vote for me because you believe I'm a leader and you respect my stance on the issues."

Have you heard that said? Check me if I'm wrong and somehow missed that in all of the pundit and campaign spokesperson upchuck.

I also don't hear these folks talking about how the mere fact that we regularly break down candidates' votes along racial lines proves that we are not in the post-racial existence we'd like to sometimes think we are. I mean, every news show analyzes votes according to how whites, blacks, and Latinos voted.

Actually, I'm starting to wonder why we never get to hear how Asians vote. California has the largest Asian population in the United States and we didn't hear about their super Tuesday vote. What's up with that? C'mon, pundits, don't leave Asian people out of the insanity. They might feel left out!

There's that old saying that sometimes if you stand too close to the wall you can't see the whole picture. Well, when I step back from the speeches, the analysis, the blogs and the newspaper articles, I can't help but think about how the way we discuss the candidates, voting and our electoral process is inherently corrupt. And the icing on the campaign cake is how steeped we all are in the sickness of racism.

We take it in, tune it out, regurgitate it without thinking and slowly accept it as reality. We become numb to it and feel crazy if we think about it too much. It's like we're living in the Matrix.

How do we break free?

Personal Presidential Issues

I like taking surveys.

That should come as no surprise to you. After all, I'm a blogger...someone who thrives on telling the world what I think about everything and anything under the sun.

Serendipity came for a visit a few months ago when I got one of those emails from Zogby asking if I wanted to take their surveys. When I see Zogby poll results cited in the media, I've often wondered how representative the responses are of an opinionated and diverse cross-section of the population. I've questioned how well the responses have represented me.

After all, I'm decent looking five foot six and a half (claiming 5' 7" officially) woman who lives in LA. I have black, Irish and Native American heritage. I'm not a member of any political party but I've voted in every election I could since I was eighteen. I believe in God more than I believe in myself. I'm a vegetarian who needs to get better at sustainable living. I adore Depeche Mode like there's no tomorrow, and I'm a mom who has a lot to say, just like you do too, I'm sure.

So, I figured, sure, why not? Why wait for someone else to represent me when I can represent myself?

The surveys usually come once a week but, for the sake of time, I usually do only one or two per month. There's always a question asking how I rate President Bush's job performance. Then there's the question that wants to know what I think is the most pressing issue facing America. I can only pick one pressing issue. I dislike that question. After all, it's pretty hard for me to, for example, pick health care or education but not both.

Racism is never a choice on the list. Neither is gender inequality or the extremes of wealth and poverty.

The survey makers also ask questions that I suppose are trying to help them figure out what demographic I belong to. They always want to know if I shop at Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, they don't have a box to check that says " When hell freezes over," so I have to check "never" instead.

They also always ask if I'm into Nascar. I really think they should have a response option like, "Um, is that where they race cars around a track?" But, they don't, so I suppose that's why I always answer, "No".

So, I did one of these surveys the other day and they had a gazillion questions about our potential presidential candidates. This question in particular gave me pause:

Which of the following personal issues is of the greatest concern to you in electing a president? (Choose only ONE.)
	Rudolph Guiliani's multiple divorces
	Hillary Clinton's marriage to Bill Clinton
	Mitt Romney being a Mormon
	Fred Thompson's young wife
	John McCain's age
	Barack Obama's race
	John Edwards wife's illness
	Bill Richardson's ethnicity
	Michael Bloomberg being accused of sexual harassment
	None/other
	Not sure

My first reaction was that this line of questioning just shows how typical it is that people equate being a different race (Obama) or ethnicity (Richardson) with clearly immoral and wrong things like Bloomberg's alleged sexual harassment. Seriously, I am a little annoyed that they consider race and ethnicity "personal issues".

Wow. Great choice of wording, survey makers. Someone give y'all a raise or something.

Then I started to wonder what Elizabeth Edward's being ill really has to do with anything? We should be praying for her, not politicizing her health.

John McCain's age? Haven't the survey makers heard that being 70-something is the new 50?

Rudy G's divorces? Really, I'm sure it hurts his heart more than it's hurting mine.

Hillary Clinton's marriage? Is her relationship with Bill supposed to tell me anything about what's she's going to do about those pressing issues?

Mitt Romney as a Mormon. Okaay...and I care why? Am I supposed to worry he's gonna start marrying interns instead of, ahem, doing other things with them?

Fred Thompson and his wife. He's an actor and this is Hollywood. There are a lot of old men with young, jail bait looking wives out here. Not saying it's right, but that's the way it is. And I don't see America switching off the TV or boycotting theatres because of it.

Bloomberg? Has he even announced his candidacy? And isn't he innocent until proven guilty?

On the other hand, they left Dennis Kucinich out of this question. So maybe I should deduce from this that Dennis has no personal issues, and therefore, I should vote for him. Wouldn't that be interesting. Dennis K. as President of the United States of America...because he has no personal issues.

Really, who among us doesn't have issues? You and I both know that there are some people who have definite issues...here, let me go look in the mirror to see if I'm one of them.

Ok, self assessment complete. Yes, I have some issues. And now that I know my race is an issue, I suppose I should add that to my list of "Liz's Issues To Resolve Before The Apocalypse".

I know, I know. These "personal issues" are real things that some folks are going to base their vote on, so I shouldn't really be so taken aback by this question. But, I am.

My answer choice was, of course, "None/other". I wonder how many other Americans taking the survey answered the same.