Globally Rational

Ralph Nader just publicly accused Barack Obama of trying to “talk white” and not making a big deal out of issues such as “payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, [and] lead”. He went on to say that Obama “wants to show that he is not … another politically threatening African-American”. My favorite is the following statement:

“He wants to appeal to white guilt. You appeal to white guilt not by coming on as black is beautiful, black is powerful. Basically he’s coming on as someone who is not going to threaten the white power structure, whether it’s corporate or whether it’s simply oligarchic. And they love it. Whites just eat it up.”

I can have a field day with this, but I promise not to be too harsh:

—-Since when is it possible to talk in colors? Do I “talk brown” because my skin is brown? Obama was raised by his white mother (and her white parents) after his parents’ divorce… so if he was raised in a white household, why would he not “talk white”?

—-I agree that Obama wants to show that he’s not politically threatening. Since when does a politician want to appear to be a threat? I can’t remember the last time I saw somebody make a serious run for President without making it obvious that he/she was not a threat.

—-Nader seems to think that Obama is “appealing to white guilt” by saying that he is “not going to threaten the white power structure”. I’d go as far as to call this comment “racist”… does Nader seriously believe that Obama is a threat to the white power structure? I didn’t even realize that white people had their own power structure. Is it whites-only? Can I join? How does somebody apply to become a member? And why would Obama want to threaten it?

—-When was the last time that payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, and lead were major election issues? Nader seems to think that just because Obama is black, he should be focusing on “black” issues. He clearly said the following:
“There’s only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He’s half African-American. Whether that will make any difference, I don’t know. I haven’t heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos.”
So, apparently, Obama should be thinking about ghetto issues just because he’s black. Ignore the fact that he was born in Honolulu, grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia, and went to school at Harvard. Obama should stay true to his “roots” by focusing on the “ghetto”.

Nader seems to think that Obama should be acting blacker. Apparently, he’s only acting white so that he can get votes (because, as Nader’s track record will show, he doesn’t think that votes are important in a Presidential race). It seems that despite the fact that Obama was raised by a white person in Hawaii and Indonesia, Nader believes that he should act “black” just because of the color of his skin.

I usually try to be more balanced in my articles… but I just can’t tolerate blatant racism from a major Presidential candidate.

Popularity: 23% [?]

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!