A lot of people here at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention in Las Vegas are talking about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama with regard to race, sex and the fine line these two candidates must walk.
Mrs. Clinton may be up in the nationals polls and at the top of the Democratic Party, but "experience and arrogance are starting to merge," said a National Public Radio journalist.
A number of reporters here are being asked to report on the potentially racist or "white elitist" subtext of Mrs. Clinton calling Mr. Obama "naive" for saying he would meet with the leaders of rogue nations, if he is elected president.
-- Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (3)
In the African American community the term "naive" has a racist element, espically in the South, referring to being dumb and shiftless as opposed to being green or unaware. This is just one of the way Whites try to degrade blacks without seeming to be racist. It's no different than saying "you are so articulate" or "you don't sound black". These terms are used in corporate america daily and at this national stage of politics, it's no different. Hillary has an elitist complex and it shows every time she debates. Her followers either don't see her disposition or they just refuse to. That's how Bush got selected. Many may call that confidence but this behavior will not benefit this country, it only benefits her ego and her path to legacy building: being the first female along with being the first married couple as President.
Posted by ethelk2044 | August 11, 2007 12:25 AM
"In the African American community the term "naive" has a racist element"
I am beginning to believe that, amongst a certain percentage of the African American community, EVERY term has a racist element if it is spoken by a white person. Since "everyone knows" that white people are prejudiced against black people, everything white people say MUST be have some type of racists element involved, isn't that right?
No, that's wrong. In reality, this is more of a case reverse discrimination than anything else. Anything spoken by a person can be construed as insulting or demeaning to another person if that other person already believes that the first person is prejudiced against them. Assuming that a race of people all share the same tendencies to discriminate another race of people ("This is just one of the way Whites try to degrade blacks without seeming to be racist.") is just another form of prejudice, another form of racism.
Posted by Ray | August 11, 2007 10:33 AM
Candidates these days such as Mr.Obama focus their campaining strategies too much on which group of voters they believe will affect their campaign outcome. I believe that Mr.Obama should focus on telling the voters in general not just one group or the other what he truely believes. When his advisors say that he should focus on the black voters of South Carolina they are trying to use Mr.Obama's ethnicity as a base for their campaign technique.
Posted by gwgordonh | August 30, 2007 10:50 PM