Denver, Colorado. Now that is a city that certainly sparks up images of a major black urban area. That is the consumer market that The Rocky Mountain Press services. Does Denver conjure up images of a major Black urban area in your mind? I'm not saying that there aren't black folks living in Denver. But it certainly doesn't rank up there with the ATL, NYC, D.C. Chicago or any of the other major urban areas for black people.
That was the ideal setting for Nader to unleash his brand of racial profiling. He knew when he started talking that his remarks about Obama would gain national attention. I cannot help but to wonder if he would of had the nerve to say that if the press corps had been predominately African American? Would he have made the same racially aroused statements?
It is interesting how Nader uses the imagery of the angry black man from the Black Power Era to attack Barack. Nader is aware that particular image is threatening and counterproductive. It is also an image that he has not dared to suggest that the two African American candidates of the Green Party adapt in their public stances.
Cynthia McKinney and Jared Bell are both running to be nominated as The Green Party's candidate for the upcoming elections. Check out this video clip of a press conference featuring the entire line up of hopefuls.
Neither McKinney and Bell both appear to be representing a platform that touches the common issues of the national population at large. Has anyone heard Nader demand that either one of them take on the mask of Black Militancy and Pride? If such an event has occurred, would you please let me know where that information can be found?
Nader declares that Obama is "talking white" and that he also playing on "white guilt". The latter is not a subject that I can honestly expound upon. Being of African descent makes it difficult for me to understand what any individual or group of white people may feel about the history of injustice towards people of color period.
Both Obama and Nader have a common bind. They are both graduated from Harvard's Law School. Isn't it interesting that pro-Affirmative Action Nader would insist that Obama cast that reality aside during this phase of the national campaign? He wants Barack to be isolated into the image of a Black candidate that only represents Black interests. I believe that was already tried by Team Clinton during the primary elections. And that attempt did not win HRC any more black support than she originally had. In fact it cost her votes for playing the race card.
Nader questions if Barack is uneasy being seen in the image of Jesse Jackson? Does anyone remember how Jesse Jackson came across as a candidate during his bid for the nomination? I suspect that there are generations of voters who have never heard Jesse Jackson give a speech. Here's a clip of Jackson addressing a group in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1984.
Jackson raises issues that Obama has raised in this decade. The fact that there was national apathy running rampant. That there were portions of the national population that were not even registered to vote. Jackson also includes the entire racial make up of the nation as a potential moving force. So what is Nader's point about comparing Obama to Jackson? While there are marked differences in the two. I hear some of the same themes being forwarded. No power fists. No rhetorical chants of Black Power or Black is Beautiful are coming out of Jesse's speech.
Ralph Nader acted like a true opportunist during that press conference. If he had attacked the political stances that Obama is forwarding that would of been fine.
Nader decided that it was time to pick up the deck of race cards and toss them out into the public arena. Exposing the true nature of his "progressive politics."
0 comments:
Post a Comment