March 28, 2008

Obama: The First Pro-Prejudice Candidate

I recently posted an article titled, "Obama's Racism: He Calls His Grandmother a "Typical White Person"". I'm having a conversation in the comments section of that article, with commenter Aditya, who posts:

Again, you definitely have a point. It is a most unfortunate reference by Obama, especially his use of the word "bred". Also, at a time when more and more people are upholding looking at the individual rather than the group, it is very sad that he uses "typical" when describing the white ethnic group.

At the same time I would like to point two things out. He says reactions "have been bred into OUR experience" (emphasis added). He doesn't say her or their experiences - implying that he is not free of the 'faults' he is talking about.

I responded:

For him to express a view that is equally prejudiced against black people, is equally unacceptable.

The notion that prejudice is okay if black people are prejudiced too is a horror that Obama has attempted to perpetrate on the nation with this speech.

It makes him, not the first post-racial candidate, but the first pro-prejudice candidate.

Obama defends the racist remarks of Pastor Wright by saying that it must be okay since Obama's own grandmother is also - according to Obama - prejudiced. And as Aditya notes, careful parsing of Obama's comments from the infamous "typical white person" radio interview, shows that Obama is defending his grandmother's supposed prejudice by saying that all people, black and white, are equally forced to behave badly according to, per Obama, 'breeding'. The reference to breeding in particular is specifically racist, as it makes reference to genetics. He's not only defending prejudice - he's championing it by presenting himself as one who practices it.

Obama is not the first post-racial candidate.

He is the first pro-prejudice candidate.