I’m not going to name any names or anything but I’ve seen quite a few suggestions in the media and on this board that white liberals are supporting Barack Obama because it makes them feel good to vote for a black guy, because it assuages “white guilt,” etc.
Well, I resent that. It amounts to a suggestion that I am incapable of evaluating a candidate based on substance alone. That I’m just a superficial, yuppie tool who wants to brag that I voted for an "African-American."How does one defend one’s self against an accusation of “white guilt?” I feel like I’m put in a position of being called a liar and belittled as shallow and posturing.
I support Barack Obama not because of his skin color and not because I feel “guilty” about anything (I’ve never felt the slightest bit of “white guilt” in my life) but because I’m knocked out by his words. I don’t just mean the dynamics of his live performances either (as electrifying as they are), but his actual words . I read transcripts of his speeches. I’ve read his books. I am struck his depth of thought, his ethos, his sense of fairness, his intelligence, his honesty, even his confessions of faith. I would like those words no matter what color he was.
I will also say that my liberal soul thinks it would probably be more significant and more personally gratifying to see a woman become president than a black man (I think sexism is more prevalent than racism anymore and that sexism crosses across racial lines), but this is case where I think the black man is a better candidate than the woman, not because of any consideration at all of “identity politics” and certainly not because I “feel guilty,” but because one person’s words and presentation impress me more than any other politico I can remember in my lifetime and the other leaves me flat.
So please, I don’t feel guilty about shit. Be careful with that. It delegitimizes support for a man who has earned it honestly, not through superficial identity or pandering.
I don’t support Obama because he’s a socialist fool. And strangely enough, I’ve been called bigoted because of that. Anyone who would vote for him based on skin color alone is not worthy of casting a vote, IMNAHO.