Psst, Kentucky: Jesus Was a Black Hippie
May 21st, 2008
I notice that pundits frequently point to Obama’s “white working class voter problem” as a bad omen for October, but simultaneously contend that liberal elites write off such voters as uneducated inferior beings. I have friends who are racist, friends who are sexist. I don’t agree with their views, but I don’t think disagreements should keep us from being friends or keep me from having respect for them.
However, 40 years after the Civil Rights Movement, I think a certain amount of anger and frustration at this persistent prejudice is warranted. Kentucky whites are fine people, but they are terrible voters. Mitch McConnel is an awful Senator. The political world would be a better place if he weren’t a participant. Massachusetts folk aren’t inherently better people, but they are better voters. They would never elect someone who so poorly represents his constituents. We should definitely view people through the totality of their words and actions, but the notion that criticizing people for being racist is condescending is just ridiculous. Furthermore, why do we talk about personal responsibility when we don’t want blacks to blame institutionalized racism for their lot in life, but not when whites blame niggers and immigrants for our country’s problems?
Maybe criticism isn’t the best way to bring about change, but neither is refusing to vote for candidates who aren’t old white men. I’m all for reaching out to all voters and encouraging them to vote for quality candidates like Obama, but I have no interest in deferring to the most narrow-minded voting sets when deciding who to nominate for office.
Also, working class whites do tend to vote for Obama in more Northerly states (like, say, Oregon not too long ago). I think a couple things are happening here. One, working class voters don’t trust a lot of politicians. Clinton presided over some economically robust years and earned quite a bit of good will with these voters. Some of these votes are more pro-Billary than anti-Obama. And the media is applying the “working-class white” name tag to a phenomenon that seems to be predominantly an Appalachian and Southern white thing, not so much a class issue.
Entry Filed under: Politics
3 Comments Add your own
1. Barry Bussewitz | May 23rd, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I like your point about not wanting blacks to blame insitutional racism versus taking personal responsbilitybut then blaming blacks/immigrants for, well, everything. Many hardworking immigrants get limited, if any, social services; limited, if any, police protection; limited, if any, worker’s rights; etc. Talk about personal responsbilibity — they even move out of the way on the sidewalk before you know they’re there.
2. John | June 2nd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Did you see those exit poll interviews from West Virginia that they showed on the Daily Show? It’s kind of scary to see people who are just blatantly racist, and to think about how many more people probably are but don’t admit it.
On a side note, I was talking with someone this weekend about votes not reflecting the voters’ own best interests. It seems like for a democratic system to work, voters need to know what they’re voting on and why. Hmm
3. Devin | June 2nd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Yeah, I linked to the Daily Show clip in this post. I’d have to agree that an uninformed citizenry really puts a damper on good democracy. I’m looking at you, West Virginia.
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