I didn’t think it was going to happen in my lifetime until Obama came around, at which point I realized it might happen a lot sooner than I figured. In retrospect, sometimes I’m still surprised by how fast that happened. By last spring I was getting really irritated at Europeans and Americans who said America was too racist to elect a black guy because by then there was a better-than-even chance it would happen that year. Race is still an issue in society, but Obama is a specific person. Even if he wasn’t multiracial, not all of the stereotypes of black people were going to stick to him.
Incidentally, Powell’s poll numbers in 1992 or 1996 did look good, but polls at that stage don’t mean much of anything.
Do those people understand though that American TV and movies are not meant to be non-biased educational media designed to teach people in other countries what America is really like, instead they are entertainment (often made primarily for consumption in the US, only secondarily if at all for an international audience)?
Why would these people think these programs and movies are giving you an accurate depiction of what America is really like? I don’t assume I know what England is like because I’ve watched a couple of episodes of Fawlty Towers and seen the Ang Lee Sense and Sensibility.
Even the news is not going to give you a 100% accurate picture (hint: news producers often go for sensationalist stories. Shocking, but true.)
WotNot in what way do you get accurate up to date information about race relations in the US?
I’ve been on this board for a number of years, and many a time I’ve seen dopers discussing about the likelihood of a black president being elected.
I’m not going to state with certainty that nobody ever said “it will happen soon”, but the overwhelming consensus was every time : “not in our lifetime”. It certainly weren’t just “the Europeans” who thought so.
It’s interesting that people are so influenced by skin color. I voted for Obaba, not because of his race but because he seemed to be the more competent candidate.
I think we need to redefine race in America. Instead of somthing as useless as skin color or geographic origin of your ancesters I think the race definition should be competence v. incompentence. Palin is white but there is no evidence that she would be competent. Biden is white but despite some misgivings and previous evidence of incompetence he is clearly the more competent of the tow vice-presidential candidates.
In the last several months of the campaign Obama exhibited more competence than McCain. So I voted for the ticket with the competent candidates. It was merely an interesting side note that Obama happened to be of African heritage.
Similarly Obama is competent, Jesse Jackson is non-competent. This is not based upon skin color or heritage but upon evidence and observation. Jackson takes radical views that clearly benefit only one segment of society (those with dark skin and/or with African ancesters), Obama takes views that benefit a wide variety of society (although some will argue that this is limited to the “liberal elite”, “fat cats”, etc).
The beauty of this system not based upon skin color or heritage is that one can move from one category to another easily and potentially very rapidly. McCain is now competent again, he’s a good senator. Palin has potential for competence, she hasn’t obviously mis-managed Alaska since November 4. Obama will have his competence tested in less than a week, I pray that he remains competent.
Oh, before someone declares me a racist based on flimsy evidence and faulty logic.
When I said I was willing to give the man a chance, it wasnt BECAUSE he was black.
It was because some of his resume made me give pause, and he wasnt my first choice. Unlike so many rabid types on both sides of the politcal isle, once the other guy wins, I am willing to mostly forgive and forget and see how things go from there.
I have kind of a similar view. It does not surprise me at all that we elected a non-white candidate, but I would not have thought, even in 2004, that anyone as openly liberal as Obama could win.
I wonder, though: aside from his charisma and his perceived competence, if his nontraditional upbringing played a role in making him more acceptable (non-threatening?) to white voters. That is, if his parents were both native-born African Americans (i.e., “descended from slaves”) and he grew up in an ordinary black neighborhood rather than Hawaii and Indonesia, if there would still be some cultural bias against a black candidate with such a background.
The short answer is that I don’t, probably. But then again, I never claimed to.
My comment was a reaction to the apparent assumptions in Rodgers01’s post that all Europeans held the same opinions, and that those opinions are the result of some form of indoctrination.
Yes, we do generally understand that CSI:Miami isn’t a documentary, and that the evening news may not always present a full and unbiased picture of reality. In the case of the late presidential election, though, I think it’s reasonably fair to suggest that the average European had very much the same information as the average American, and was just as capable of reaching their own conclusions, and making their own predictions, each according to their own personal understanding, preferences and prejudices.
I’ve no doubt that many Europeans had opinions on the election, and Obama’s chances in it, that were ignorant, misinformed, bigoted and wrong-headed. I’ve had ample proof just on this message board over the last several months that many Americans did too.
It just seemed a little rich, based on the reported opinions of a few, to point the finger at an entire disparate continent and cry “How dare you!”
I think one of the reasons why many people (myself included) are not treating this like some kind of huge thing is because Obama himself didn’t treat it as a huge thing.
It’s interesting that the first time a national candidate didn’t spend a lot of time emphasizing his skin color is the first time it worked. While I disagree with his politics, I will always appreciate him for not pushing the racial angle, and turning the election into another “national debate” on race.
I was surprised, but not shocked. I would be shocked if we elected a non-Harvard educated black man who grew up in Oakland and sounded like Chris Tucker… but I sense a lot of white people consider Obama to be a dark-skinned white guy.
By the time the election came around I wasn’t SHOCKED but I was still aprehensive about the results. When the Democrats fielded Clinton and Obama in the primaries I was really scared that they had chosen two candidates that couldn’t win. In the end Obama won me over not just because I am a fairly staunch Democrat but because he honestly seems competent and seems to have a plan that will be good for the country.
I am sure the hole the current administartion had put the Republicans in and the fact that McCain came across as more of the same helped.
No, I’m Indian. I don’t believe all white people think that way. However, I do believe that a significant number consider Obama to be a “safe” black person. It’s no accident that Colin Powell and Obama have been the only African-Americans who have been credible Presidential candidates.
The difference between the class-based prejudice among blacks and whites is that Billy Joe Trailerpark is not the stereotypical white person, but to many people a sagging-pantsed kid from the ghetto is a stereotypical black person.
