'Nuff said.
Showing posts with label race issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label race issues. Show all posts
26 January 2009
20 January 2009
Obama - issues and great expectations
Don't get me wrong - I am thrilled that Obama is the new president, for a wide variety of reasons. I watched the inauguration ceremony with hope and pride. But I have a couple of nagging concerns.
Now, trust me when I say I understand the enormity of his election. He is the first African-American to be elected president, something I thought would never, ever happen in my lifetime. It's huge! I'm a biracial person with a biracial partner and a lifetime full of friends of varied heritage... so I get race issues, I do. And I still can scarcely believe it's happened. Some part of me keeps thinking I'll wake up and it was all a dream, just wishful thinking of my subconscious mind for a more egalitarian world. That said, what bothers me the most is that his race seems to be the main aspect people are focused on. No news coverage and no commentary anywhere gets by without stressing the fact that he's black, he's black, he's black. Or at least, half so.
But that's only one aspect of this. What about the fact that he ran a positive campaign, even despite a sickening amount of negative attacks and mudslinging on the part of his opponent? The fact that he has mobilized the country's youth and gotten them engaged for the first time since... gee, I dunno, the sixties? His unprecedented efforts to reach out to everyday Americans to get their input on a continuing basis? His call for transparency and ethics in government? His emphasis on peaceful relations with other countries, discussing and negotiating through problems with military action reserved as a last resort? What about his focus on the poor and disadvantaged? Or his heavy emphasis on respect for diversity? His sensitivity to women's issues, non-Christian religions and atheism, and rights and accommodations for the disabled? His promise to get rid of "don't ask, don't tell" and further the rights of gays and lesbians? His promise to look at getting rid of Guantanamo Bay? His being tech-savvy and the tech developments he's vowed to bring to the country? His understanding of the importance of education and scientific research, and pledge of proper financial support? His bipartisan approach to try to eradicate the divisiveness that runs so deep between Democrats and Republicans, and the culture wars existing between various groups? And on and on. The election of a black president is historic and groundbreaking and long overdue, no doubt about it, but there's such a thing as focusing too much on his race, while glossing over his ideas. It's as if the main important fact is that he is black and everything else is falling by the wayside.
The second disquieting fact is that, over the last several months but especially between the campaign win and now, people's hopes for him have been spiralling higher and higher. They are increasingly idolizing him as the best thing that's ever happened to the U.S., and he hasn't even "happened" until today. I fear the expectations are so high that they are expecting Christlike miracles from this guy. Yes, he's an eloquent, fresh, intelligent, groundbreaking, inspiring, remarkable man, full of great innovative ideas. But he is still just a man. There is a lot of vague Obama worshipping, and Obama commemorative coins and pins and posters and so on, all in anticipation of what a great president he is going to be since, until today, he hadn't even started yet. And there is one hell of a massive bloody mess to clean up, which is going to take some difficult and unpopular decisions no matter how you slice it. This mess is unlikely to be cleaned up in two presidential terms, much less one. Yet people seem to be pinning their hopes on Obama for nothing short of world peace, eradication of racism, end of the culture wars, full-fledged infrastructure overhaul, a national health care program, and so on, despite the deplorable state of the economy and country to which he has now been handed the reins.
We haven't even seen the start of this, and for all we know, at the end of 4 years you may want to chuck that commemorative coin right at his commemorative head. Granted, given his modus operandi thus far, that's not likely. But living with American politics most of my life has perhaps made me a cynic. I'm hopeful, yes, but I'm also a "wait and see" kind of gal. As joyous an occasion as this is in so many regards, especially given the progressive changes we expect in contrast to Bush policy, we would be wise to remain realistic in our expectations. God knows we all need something to hope for, but this is not the Second Coming.
Now, trust me when I say I understand the enormity of his election. He is the first African-American to be elected president, something I thought would never, ever happen in my lifetime. It's huge! I'm a biracial person with a biracial partner and a lifetime full of friends of varied heritage... so I get race issues, I do. And I still can scarcely believe it's happened. Some part of me keeps thinking I'll wake up and it was all a dream, just wishful thinking of my subconscious mind for a more egalitarian world. That said, what bothers me the most is that his race seems to be the main aspect people are focused on. No news coverage and no commentary anywhere gets by without stressing the fact that he's black, he's black, he's black. Or at least, half so.
But that's only one aspect of this. What about the fact that he ran a positive campaign, even despite a sickening amount of negative attacks and mudslinging on the part of his opponent? The fact that he has mobilized the country's youth and gotten them engaged for the first time since... gee, I dunno, the sixties? His unprecedented efforts to reach out to everyday Americans to get their input on a continuing basis? His call for transparency and ethics in government? His emphasis on peaceful relations with other countries, discussing and negotiating through problems with military action reserved as a last resort? What about his focus on the poor and disadvantaged? Or his heavy emphasis on respect for diversity? His sensitivity to women's issues, non-Christian religions and atheism, and rights and accommodations for the disabled? His promise to get rid of "don't ask, don't tell" and further the rights of gays and lesbians? His promise to look at getting rid of Guantanamo Bay? His being tech-savvy and the tech developments he's vowed to bring to the country? His understanding of the importance of education and scientific research, and pledge of proper financial support? His bipartisan approach to try to eradicate the divisiveness that runs so deep between Democrats and Republicans, and the culture wars existing between various groups? And on and on. The election of a black president is historic and groundbreaking and long overdue, no doubt about it, but there's such a thing as focusing too much on his race, while glossing over his ideas. It's as if the main important fact is that he is black and everything else is falling by the wayside.
The second disquieting fact is that, over the last several months but especially between the campaign win and now, people's hopes for him have been spiralling higher and higher. They are increasingly idolizing him as the best thing that's ever happened to the U.S., and he hasn't even "happened" until today. I fear the expectations are so high that they are expecting Christlike miracles from this guy. Yes, he's an eloquent, fresh, intelligent, groundbreaking, inspiring, remarkable man, full of great innovative ideas. But he is still just a man. There is a lot of vague Obama worshipping, and Obama commemorative coins and pins and posters and so on, all in anticipation of what a great president he is going to be since, until today, he hadn't even started yet. And there is one hell of a massive bloody mess to clean up, which is going to take some difficult and unpopular decisions no matter how you slice it. This mess is unlikely to be cleaned up in two presidential terms, much less one. Yet people seem to be pinning their hopes on Obama for nothing short of world peace, eradication of racism, end of the culture wars, full-fledged infrastructure overhaul, a national health care program, and so on, despite the deplorable state of the economy and country to which he has now been handed the reins.
We haven't even seen the start of this, and for all we know, at the end of 4 years you may want to chuck that commemorative coin right at his commemorative head. Granted, given his modus operandi thus far, that's not likely. But living with American politics most of my life has perhaps made me a cynic. I'm hopeful, yes, but I'm also a "wait and see" kind of gal. As joyous an occasion as this is in so many regards, especially given the progressive changes we expect in contrast to Bush policy, we would be wise to remain realistic in our expectations. God knows we all need something to hope for, but this is not the Second Coming.
13 November 2008
Prop H8 - Separation of church and state?
The #1 contributor to California's Proposition 8 to ban gay marriage, by far, was the Knights of Columbus - part of the Catholic Church - who spent over $1.4 million to help it pass. Another was the Mormon Church, who spent big bucks on TV to campaign for it. Separation of church and state, bull-oney! (Here's the list of contributors so you can see the rest of the bigots and how much they chipped in.)
Apparently from the Catholic Church's perspective, it's not okay for us to be gay or want to get married in loving adult relationships, but it's a-okay for their priests to molest children... they'll even bend over backwards to cover for them and expose them to new victims. And it's so urgent to deny gays their rights, that $1.4 million is only the latest in $millions more used for the same purpose. Gee, wonder how many poor people they could have helped instead. Boy that pisses me right off. I was raised Roman Catholic, but I have lost so much respect for the Catholic Church over the years that I could never be Catholic again, ever.
Another issue that came up during this vote, according to various pundits, is that having a minority candidate gave new hope to the minorities, brought out the minority vote, and since minorities tend to be socially conservative it ironically helped push Prop H8 through while helping Obama win. I honestly don't know why people who ought to know something about struggling against discrimination and fighting for civil rights are often the worst hypocrites when it comes to someone else's civil rights. They say, "that's different." But I want to know how it's different to deny marriage to people of two different races because some people believe they shouldn't be allowed to, versus denying marriage to people of the same gender because some people believe they shouldn't be allowed to. Who is it hurting? And whose business is it anyway? More on this in a minute.
Now before you get up in arms thinking I'm stereotyping minorities, you should know some background. My life partner and I are what they call here in Canada "visible minorities" of mixed race. My best friend is also of mixed descent. And having lived in the greater Los Angeles area for much of my life, in all of its amazing diversity, I've always had friends of varying colours, religions and backgrounds. So when I speak of prevailing attitudes within minority groups, as I have in the previous paragraph, it is not because I've bought into stereotypes, but rather because I've known so many of them personally and rubbed elbows with them every day, including my own family members, that I know from experience what the prevailing attitudes are in many groups. And as much as I hate to admit it, in this case the pundits are right about the minority vote. In general, our cultures just aren't that tolerant of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. I only wish I was wrong.
Case in point: Until a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 1967, inter-racial marriages were still illegal in 16 states. My parents were married (in Canada) only a year after that. My mother, as a visible minority and having been foreign trained, found herself continually unable to find work commensurate with her education and experience, despite having attained Canadian citizenship and putting forth the effort for several years before finally leaving for the States (sad, isn't it?). And yet, in no small part owing to the culture she comes from, she's one of the worst anti-gay bigots I know. Sadly, she, like so many others I've known, knows what it's like to be treated like a second-class citizen for no good reason... but can't make the stretch for other people's civil rights.
Here's another sad example. A disproportionate number of the coming-out horror stories you hear - you know, where their family, upon finding out they were gay, kicked them out and they were homeless and had to sleep in their car; or maybe the father beat them up first, then kicked them out; things like that - are from minorities... African, Mexican, Asian, Native, Middle Eastern, etc. in descent. "White" families (European roots) might refuse to ever talk to you again, but for some reason we minorities seem to have a greater propensity for outright abuse in these situations. I don't know yet if this holds true in Canada too, but in the States it really doesn't take much to bear this out.
Perhaps I have been long-winded on this point, but I felt it was important to establish why I agree with the pundits on something that, at first blush, sounds like someone is trying to make a scapegoat of the non-whites and blame them for Prop 8's passing... exchanging homophobia in favour of racism... but that is most assuredly not the case.
Now in order to even entertain the idea of voting on such a proposition, one has to ignore for a moment the fact that marriage is a civil rights issue and therefore according to the federal Constitution should never have been put up for a vote in the first place. That's right, lawyers will be challenging the validity of Prop 8 based on the premises of the very document it seeks to modify. (Anyone else see the irony in this?) I understand the formidable Gloria Allred was the first to file a lawsuit. I would not want to piss her off. The one consolation I take in all this is that the ensuing fight will be interesting to say the least. But we'll see if justice is actually served.
Now there are thousands of same-sex couples legally married in CA, now left wondering what their status is and waiting to see if their marriages will be dissolved against their will. And others who didn't manage to get married before the deadline, with their weddings already half-planned and their dream suddenly crushed. I hope at least some of the homophobes will look at this situation and finally realize just how ugly and mean-spirited this thing is.
Under U.S. law, Britney Spears can go get married and then get it annulled after 55 hours "just for fun," and it's all legal and binding. But my partner and I have been together for nearly 13 years now and it was only a few years ago that she was finally granted the right to visit me in the hospital. Mind you, if we'd been living in almost any state other than California, she *still* wouldn't have that right today. What kind of person looks at that and thinks, yeah, that sounds right? A lot more Americans than you'd think. Just one more of many reasons to be thankful we live in Canada.
Apparently from the Catholic Church's perspective, it's not okay for us to be gay or want to get married in loving adult relationships, but it's a-okay for their priests to molest children... they'll even bend over backwards to cover for them and expose them to new victims. And it's so urgent to deny gays their rights, that $1.4 million is only the latest in $millions more used for the same purpose. Gee, wonder how many poor people they could have helped instead. Boy that pisses me right off. I was raised Roman Catholic, but I have lost so much respect for the Catholic Church over the years that I could never be Catholic again, ever.
Another issue that came up during this vote, according to various pundits, is that having a minority candidate gave new hope to the minorities, brought out the minority vote, and since minorities tend to be socially conservative it ironically helped push Prop H8 through while helping Obama win. I honestly don't know why people who ought to know something about struggling against discrimination and fighting for civil rights are often the worst hypocrites when it comes to someone else's civil rights. They say, "that's different." But I want to know how it's different to deny marriage to people of two different races because some people believe they shouldn't be allowed to, versus denying marriage to people of the same gender because some people believe they shouldn't be allowed to. Who is it hurting? And whose business is it anyway? More on this in a minute.
Now before you get up in arms thinking I'm stereotyping minorities, you should know some background. My life partner and I are what they call here in Canada "visible minorities" of mixed race. My best friend is also of mixed descent. And having lived in the greater Los Angeles area for much of my life, in all of its amazing diversity, I've always had friends of varying colours, religions and backgrounds. So when I speak of prevailing attitudes within minority groups, as I have in the previous paragraph, it is not because I've bought into stereotypes, but rather because I've known so many of them personally and rubbed elbows with them every day, including my own family members, that I know from experience what the prevailing attitudes are in many groups. And as much as I hate to admit it, in this case the pundits are right about the minority vote. In general, our cultures just aren't that tolerant of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. I only wish I was wrong.
Case in point: Until a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 1967, inter-racial marriages were still illegal in 16 states. My parents were married (in Canada) only a year after that. My mother, as a visible minority and having been foreign trained, found herself continually unable to find work commensurate with her education and experience, despite having attained Canadian citizenship and putting forth the effort for several years before finally leaving for the States (sad, isn't it?). And yet, in no small part owing to the culture she comes from, she's one of the worst anti-gay bigots I know. Sadly, she, like so many others I've known, knows what it's like to be treated like a second-class citizen for no good reason... but can't make the stretch for other people's civil rights.
Here's another sad example. A disproportionate number of the coming-out horror stories you hear - you know, where their family, upon finding out they were gay, kicked them out and they were homeless and had to sleep in their car; or maybe the father beat them up first, then kicked them out; things like that - are from minorities... African, Mexican, Asian, Native, Middle Eastern, etc. in descent. "White" families (European roots) might refuse to ever talk to you again, but for some reason we minorities seem to have a greater propensity for outright abuse in these situations. I don't know yet if this holds true in Canada too, but in the States it really doesn't take much to bear this out.
Perhaps I have been long-winded on this point, but I felt it was important to establish why I agree with the pundits on something that, at first blush, sounds like someone is trying to make a scapegoat of the non-whites and blame them for Prop 8's passing... exchanging homophobia in favour of racism... but that is most assuredly not the case.
Now in order to even entertain the idea of voting on such a proposition, one has to ignore for a moment the fact that marriage is a civil rights issue and therefore according to the federal Constitution should never have been put up for a vote in the first place. That's right, lawyers will be challenging the validity of Prop 8 based on the premises of the very document it seeks to modify. (Anyone else see the irony in this?) I understand the formidable Gloria Allred was the first to file a lawsuit. I would not want to piss her off. The one consolation I take in all this is that the ensuing fight will be interesting to say the least. But we'll see if justice is actually served.
Now there are thousands of same-sex couples legally married in CA, now left wondering what their status is and waiting to see if their marriages will be dissolved against their will. And others who didn't manage to get married before the deadline, with their weddings already half-planned and their dream suddenly crushed. I hope at least some of the homophobes will look at this situation and finally realize just how ugly and mean-spirited this thing is.
Under U.S. law, Britney Spears can go get married and then get it annulled after 55 hours "just for fun," and it's all legal and binding. But my partner and I have been together for nearly 13 years now and it was only a few years ago that she was finally granted the right to visit me in the hospital. Mind you, if we'd been living in almost any state other than California, she *still* wouldn't have that right today. What kind of person looks at that and thinks, yeah, that sounds right? A lot more Americans than you'd think. Just one more of many reasons to be thankful we live in Canada.
05 November 2008
Congratulations, Obama!
Woohoo!!! Obama has won! Congratulations and good luck, Mr. President-Elect.
Despite projections that he would, I harboured a certain fear that it wouldn't happen in the end. I've read from numerous experts, especially those of African-American heritage, that there is a faction of voters who say they will vote for a black candidate but when it comes time to actually mark their ballot they can't quite bring themselves to do it. This could fudge the polls, they said, by several percentage points. They cited several examples where, according to the polls, a black candidate at city or state level was expected to win easily, yet when the ballots were counted they actually lost by up to 2-3%. I wish I could remember where I saw this, to share with you here, but alas I didn't take note. Suffice it to say that there were multiple sources with multiple experts, who sounded well-qualified and knowledgeable on the subject, and the consensus was pretty clear. Sad but true. So I decided rather than get all excited about an "expected" Obama win, I'd wait until the ballots were in. And anyway, to be perfectly frank, I shuddered to think what turmoil would follow if such a "mystery loss" was to happen in this election. So I put it out of my mind and hoped and prayed for the best.
It brought tears to my eyes to watch all those people, welcoming the first black president-elect with open arms, tears of joy, and scarcely able to believe it's really happening. Oprah was crying. Jesse Jackson was crying. It was incredible. And everybody was obviously so relieved that the end of the ironfisted neo-con rule is now in sight. Thank God!! It's a tough road ahead, but for a lot of people this restores hope that things can be put back on track.
Despite projections that he would, I harboured a certain fear that it wouldn't happen in the end. I've read from numerous experts, especially those of African-American heritage, that there is a faction of voters who say they will vote for a black candidate but when it comes time to actually mark their ballot they can't quite bring themselves to do it. This could fudge the polls, they said, by several percentage points. They cited several examples where, according to the polls, a black candidate at city or state level was expected to win easily, yet when the ballots were counted they actually lost by up to 2-3%. I wish I could remember where I saw this, to share with you here, but alas I didn't take note. Suffice it to say that there were multiple sources with multiple experts, who sounded well-qualified and knowledgeable on the subject, and the consensus was pretty clear. Sad but true. So I decided rather than get all excited about an "expected" Obama win, I'd wait until the ballots were in. And anyway, to be perfectly frank, I shuddered to think what turmoil would follow if such a "mystery loss" was to happen in this election. So I put it out of my mind and hoped and prayed for the best.
It brought tears to my eyes to watch all those people, welcoming the first black president-elect with open arms, tears of joy, and scarcely able to believe it's really happening. Oprah was crying. Jesse Jackson was crying. It was incredible. And everybody was obviously so relieved that the end of the ironfisted neo-con rule is now in sight. Thank God!! It's a tough road ahead, but for a lot of people this restores hope that things can be put back on track.
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