The Literary Divide/Dr. Paul Barrows
A word of caution
Given the sordid history of race and gender relations and the more recent use of the inflammatory and fanatical rhetoric of extremists in this country,
all of the candidates for the 2008 Presidential Campaign need to be reminded that they should proceed with caution as the Campaign makes its way to
the November election. Of all of the candidates, the one who needs to be especially cautious and careful is Senator Barack Obama. He needs to make
sure that he does everything to keep his wife Michelle and two little girls safe and secure. This is so because it is now very much apparent that Sen.
Barack Obama is poised to become the first viable African American candidate for the most exalted position of President of the United States of
America.
Many of the pundits have accused Sen. Obama of being elitist and aloof from the every day, working class voters of America. On the Sunday talk
shows, many of them were calling for Sen. Obama to “drop his guard” and do more to interact with “the people” so that they could get to know his story
and get a better feel for the man.
First of all, I don’t agree with the premise that Obama needs to go out of his way to campaign for the support of what some might characterize as the
“red-neck wing of blue-collarville.” Hillary Clinton’s recent wins notwithstanding, the fact of the matter is that the Democrats have not had much recent
electoral success in states like West Virginia and Kentucky and a select number of other states throughout the South where many of these types of voters
reside. Sen. Obama, to his credit, has brushed off much of this rhetoric suggesting that he can’t win over working class White voters and proceeded to
win major electoral victories in Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Oregon and several other states.
Obama would be well advised to steer his campaign clear of those redneck districts where, unfortunately, the chances of some type of tragic mishap
would be more likely to occur. Why? Leonard Pitts, the noted African American columnist for the Miami Herald addressed this in his most recent piece
entitled: “Poor Whites still falling for the same old con game,” where he noted: “Race has often been used as a means of distracting and diverting poor
whites. They had little in life, nor any realistic expectation of having more. But the one thing they did have — or so the con went — was whiteness
itself. Which meant that they had someone to be better than.” Given the historic competition between the races for social and economic wellbeing,
there unfortunately is fertile ground for a growing hostility and resentment between poor Whites and Blacks.
As Campaign 2008 nears its end and the stakes get higher and higher, the politics are getting uglier and nastier more so by surrogates than the
candidates themselves. Rev. Jeremiah Wright, after the exposé about his inflammatory rhetoric, has himself received many death threats from extremists.
Former Presidential candidate and Governor Mike Huckabee, the so-called lovable and likable minister, recently fell into this trap when he was on the
stump for Sen. John McCain. Huckabee, while addressing the right wing and ultra conservative National Rifle Association at their annual convention,
when distracted by some noise in the background, made a really stupid remark when he suggested that someone was shooting at Sen. Barack Obama.
Even more outrageous than his remark was the fact that he got a positive response from many in the audience. Huckabee, to his credit, immediately
apologized for his remarks. Still, the damage was done. Talk radio and right wing stations like Fox News are also doing their part to promote hate and
intolerance. Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly continue to push the Rev. Wright controversy to whip up anti-Obama sentiment suggesting or implying that
Obama was a Muslim. Rush Limbaugh has called Sen. Obama by the name of “Osama Obama” as if it was some kind of Freudian slip which was
designed for those who were ignorant and gullible to be inflamed and hostile to the man, his ideas and his campaign.
Many of Sen. Obama’s campaign supporters in West Virginia and Kentucky have reported that they have been insulted with racist epithets, hung up
on, spat upon and told to go away with remarks by some who said, “I will never vote for that Nigger.” Last week, a publication called The Roswell Beacon
published a cover page that showed an image of what Obama would look as viewed from the scope of a high-powered rifle. The sub-headline focused
on the fact that some police departments are bracing to deal with potential threats to Obama as the campaign proceeds. Some may dismiss such
thinking as hyperbole and “crying wolf.” Unfortunately, the prospects for the unthinkable to happen are very real. Make no mistake about it; there are
some who are vulnerable to becoming so full of hate, angered and whipped-up by such false and inflammatory rhetoric that they might easily be swayed
into doing something irrational and crazy.
Given the crazy times that we live in, Sen. Obama would be well advised to keep his eyes open, be careful who he talks to while campaigning, and
make darn well sure that the Secret Service and the FBI have left no stone unturned to make certain that he and his family are safe and secure.
all of the candidates for the 2008 Presidential Campaign need to be reminded that they should proceed with caution as the Campaign makes its way to
the November election. Of all of the candidates, the one who needs to be especially cautious and careful is Senator Barack Obama. He needs to make
sure that he does everything to keep his wife Michelle and two little girls safe and secure. This is so because it is now very much apparent that Sen.
Barack Obama is poised to become the first viable African American candidate for the most exalted position of President of the United States of
America.
Many of the pundits have accused Sen. Obama of being elitist and aloof from the every day, working class voters of America. On the Sunday talk
shows, many of them were calling for Sen. Obama to “drop his guard” and do more to interact with “the people” so that they could get to know his story
and get a better feel for the man.
First of all, I don’t agree with the premise that Obama needs to go out of his way to campaign for the support of what some might characterize as the
“red-neck wing of blue-collarville.” Hillary Clinton’s recent wins notwithstanding, the fact of the matter is that the Democrats have not had much recent
electoral success in states like West Virginia and Kentucky and a select number of other states throughout the South where many of these types of voters
reside. Sen. Obama, to his credit, has brushed off much of this rhetoric suggesting that he can’t win over working class White voters and proceeded to
win major electoral victories in Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Oregon and several other states.
Obama would be well advised to steer his campaign clear of those redneck districts where, unfortunately, the chances of some type of tragic mishap
would be more likely to occur. Why? Leonard Pitts, the noted African American columnist for the Miami Herald addressed this in his most recent piece
entitled: “Poor Whites still falling for the same old con game,” where he noted: “Race has often been used as a means of distracting and diverting poor
whites. They had little in life, nor any realistic expectation of having more. But the one thing they did have — or so the con went — was whiteness
itself. Which meant that they had someone to be better than.” Given the historic competition between the races for social and economic wellbeing,
there unfortunately is fertile ground for a growing hostility and resentment between poor Whites and Blacks.
As Campaign 2008 nears its end and the stakes get higher and higher, the politics are getting uglier and nastier more so by surrogates than the
candidates themselves. Rev. Jeremiah Wright, after the exposé about his inflammatory rhetoric, has himself received many death threats from extremists.
Former Presidential candidate and Governor Mike Huckabee, the so-called lovable and likable minister, recently fell into this trap when he was on the
stump for Sen. John McCain. Huckabee, while addressing the right wing and ultra conservative National Rifle Association at their annual convention,
when distracted by some noise in the background, made a really stupid remark when he suggested that someone was shooting at Sen. Barack Obama.
Even more outrageous than his remark was the fact that he got a positive response from many in the audience. Huckabee, to his credit, immediately
apologized for his remarks. Still, the damage was done. Talk radio and right wing stations like Fox News are also doing their part to promote hate and
intolerance. Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly continue to push the Rev. Wright controversy to whip up anti-Obama sentiment suggesting or implying that
Obama was a Muslim. Rush Limbaugh has called Sen. Obama by the name of “Osama Obama” as if it was some kind of Freudian slip which was
designed for those who were ignorant and gullible to be inflamed and hostile to the man, his ideas and his campaign.
Many of Sen. Obama’s campaign supporters in West Virginia and Kentucky have reported that they have been insulted with racist epithets, hung up
on, spat upon and told to go away with remarks by some who said, “I will never vote for that Nigger.” Last week, a publication called The Roswell Beacon
published a cover page that showed an image of what Obama would look as viewed from the scope of a high-powered rifle. The sub-headline focused
on the fact that some police departments are bracing to deal with potential threats to Obama as the campaign proceeds. Some may dismiss such
thinking as hyperbole and “crying wolf.” Unfortunately, the prospects for the unthinkable to happen are very real. Make no mistake about it; there are
some who are vulnerable to becoming so full of hate, angered and whipped-up by such false and inflammatory rhetoric that they might easily be swayed
into doing something irrational and crazy.
Given the crazy times that we live in, Sen. Obama would be well advised to keep his eyes open, be careful who he talks to while campaigning, and
make darn well sure that the Secret Service and the FBI have left no stone unturned to make certain that he and his family are safe and secure.