Racial Disharmony Already?

There are a couple of things that need to be mentioned in light of the historic election of Barack Obama. One I've briefly raised in a few questions I posed here yesterday: What will become of racial unity in the United States if Barack Obama is a terrible president? What if his cabinet is composed of white men and women? What if he governs too conservatively, or too liberally?

Last night, African-American journalist Juan Williams of NPR said the following on Fox News about the appointment of Rahm Emanuel (from Chicago and former Clinton aide) as Obama's chief-of-staff:

Let me just say that there's also two other lines of criticism I heard today. One is Chicago is now running the world because Emanuel, as you know, is another Chicago man and close to Richard Daley. And so all of a sudden it looks like that.

And the other one is the black caucus thing — 'well, gee, we thought that was the kind of job that might have gone to a prominent black politician.' [italics added for emphasis]

Trouble already? Just the sort of change people have been hoping for, I guess.

In other news about race, I am sure you've heard that measures to ban gay marriage in several states passed on Tuesday. But what a civil rights conundrum they represent! Here we have a historic election of a black man to the White House; my guess is that the majority of gay rights advocates voted for Barack Obama. Surely the voter breakdowns show that African-Americans overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama; I think I heard that over 95% of blacks voted for him.

Alas, alack, what is this? The vast majority of black voters voted against gay marriage. That's right: African-Americans overwhelmingly oppose gay marriage. Even whites were evenly split (relatively) on this; but minorities (Hispanics also opposed gay marriage) apparently believe in the traditional view, that marriage is between a man and a woman.

So, here we have on the one hand a black minority with a history of being profoundly oppressed voting for an African-American liberal who has stated he opposes gay marriage; while on the other, we have gays and lesbians, who have compared their struggles to that of black slaves, finding themselves shut out of marriage by the descendants and relatives of those very slaves; the very people who agreed with them about the transcendent and post-racial candidacy of Barack Obama.

Unity? I guess. But it's a strange unity, to say the least.

©2008. All Rights Reserved.

Transformational; A Unifier

The polls are closed in New Hampshire. The last one closed less than 15 minutes ago.

I've been thinking all day about Barack Obama as a unifier, as a "transformational figure." And he will be, if elected, at least insofar as race is concerned. But this is to state the obvious.

I want to ask a few questions; these questions are offered not as an attempt to influence anyone's vote, as the polls are closed at this writing (at least on the east coast). They are strictly designed to anticipate potential scenarios should Barack Obama win tonight.

If this election cycle has been ultimately defined by race, meaning that Americans were eager to vote for the first-ever African-American nominee for president, then I am wondering what race relations might look like in the future under the following conditions:

• What will become of racial unity in America if President Obama is a terrible president?
  
• What will become of racial unity in America if President Obama governs too conservatively? too liberally?
  
• What will become of racial unity in America if President Obama has a cabinet mostly consisting of white members?
• What will become of racial unity in America if President Obama has a cabinet that is almost entirely African-American, and he and the cabinet perform poorly?
  

You and I need not answer these questions. We need not speculate. But these are exact samples of the finite number of possibilities of an Obama presidency. My sense is that if any of these comes to pass, racial unity could quickly dissolve. I think that a poorly performing (really poorly) President Obama could create a racial firestorm. I think we could hear some of the most incendiary racial speech this nation has heard in more than 60 years; such speech would come from both sides of the racial divide. I am not hoping for this; I am not saying this WILL happen; I am hoping it does NOT happen. I am merely saying that a Barack Obama presidency does not necessarily mean what many of us have thought it might mean.

My sense, then, is that Barack Obama may be an overly-cautious president, trying too hard to avoid the many pitfalls that his particular situation presents. He may even be paralyzed by his fear of offending those who have pinned such high hopes -- particularly about race -- on his leadership. One misstep could fracture any current unity he may have forged.

I will not explore this too fully. My interest is in the possible outcomes; I accept that there are others that I have not considered here. Let me mention at least one: A great and effective Barack Obama presidency will be a fantastic boost for racial unity in this country. That seems a priori true.

©2008. All Rights Reserved.