On Obama, and Fears We Dare Not Name

[chelaque liberal]

On Obama, and Fears We Dare Not
Copyright by Don Williams



At a recent going away party, a tall and sparkly friend came
up to me and said, "Are you believing Obama's win in Iowa?"
Her irises were wide and dream-enhanced. "Oh, I'm so hopeful.
I'm staying home Tuesday to watch the New Hampshire primary
results. He could be so good for this world. He could change the
way others see America."



The condescension of my reaction caught even me by surprise: "Oh honey,
why set yourself up for this fall? Do you think our country is ever going
to let Obama's family be the First Family?" Then I named my greatest fear
when it comes to Barack Hussein Obama.



I won't name it here. Why speak the horror that's counterpoint to a song
Obama inspires in the heart of America?



You know the fear I'm talking about. It's the kind that goes unnamed until
it reaches perverse consummation in black, point-blank headlines and
mournful anchors' faces.



We've known others who swept America off her feet with youthful looks,
charisma and idealism. How well you know their fate. So let's leave it at this:
When I look at Obama's family, I can't bring myself to believe America will
allow these sweet, attractive people of color to occupy the White House.
I pray that I'm wrong, and it’s something I don’t like dwelling on.



So I'll mention, in passing, my second greatest fear: A dark campaign laced
with personal attacks against Obama, exploiting his name, his race, his youthful
experimentation with drugs and other revelations from his varied background.



I’d hope even that fear is a function of my age and false wisdom grounded
in the dark history of the country that shaped me: The reality that no person
of color's ever been elected president, or even come close. The memory of
stolen elections, official lies that got us into wars. The dark shadows cast
not only by the South but by American capitalism generally, a system
founded on slave labor.



I consider the Swift-boating of John Kerry. Big Media's joyful complicity
in spreading lies about Al Gore. The push-poll campaign to make South
Carolina voters believe, in 2000, that John McCain had fathered a black
child out of wedlock.



And I consider all the bad jokes, pop songs that mention "towel-heads"
and the understandable, if reflexive, reactions to that word, "Hussein."
In this context, Obama's very name becomes bad baggage. The seven
syllables of Barack Hussein Obama add up to a dark strata Republicans
are sure to mine next summer and fall, should he win the nomination.
Yes, you've heard too much about it already, but more's coming. His
name rhymes too precisely with the unwieldy but toxic phrase, "Iraq
Hussein Osama." It contrasts darkly to an aw-shucks American-sounding
name like Huckabee, and a battle-tested moniker like McCain.



Yes, I've pointed out before that these are shallow reasons to vote against
a qualified candidate, but then, we're talking about a media and electorate
who put Dubya within spitting distance of the presidency in 2000 against
one as qualified and visionary as Al Gore. Spitting distance was close
enough for voter fraud and five Supreme Court Republicans to seal the deal.



While Obama has huge support and surged to the front in Iowa with Oprah
Winfrey's help, she could end up hurting his chances in the general election,
as her presence underscores the color issue.


Do I exaggerate? Perhaps. I was accused of as much when I asked, rhetorically,
rhetorically, "Can you vote for a black man?" in a column prior to Harold
Ford's race for the seat now held by Tennessee Senator Bob Corker. Ford,
a polished, handsome, moderate candidate lost by a substantial margin,
following TV spots with racist overtones, in a year when Democrats
nationwide took control of Congress. In the general election, the privacy
of the voting booth could prove pivotal in bringing out America's repressed
racism. Could that account for the eye-widening disparity in the polling
versus the vote tallies in New Hampshire?


On the other hand, my tall, sparkly and hopeful friend recently emailed
with anecdotal evidence that many Republicans she knows are seriously
considering casting their lot with Obama.



To me, it sounded too good to be true. Color is sure to be a pole around
which many will rally as way leads to way, and our lost nation either finds
the road out of a dark wilderness or wanders forty more years until this
generation---and maybe everything else---passes away.



Copyright © 2008 by Don Williams, All Rights Reserved.



I trust this note from the author makes it allowable to post entire commentary:

Feel free to sail these comments out over the Internet to friends and favorite websites.
Please credit Knoxvoice.com, where this post originates.

[MISSDem]

1. Like Barack said in the message he sent out

after the N.H. primary results were known, "We knew this would be hard..." I live in Mississippi so, as you can imagine, I've already started hearing some remarks. My sister and I were talking about whether or not it would be wise to put an Obama 2008 bumper sticker on our cars. The cars will probably get keyed or worse. But then maybe not. Maybe that is just stereotypical thinking. I have a good feeling about his candidacy but worry about his safety at the same time.

[silverweb]

2. So.

This "well-meaning" person thinks we ought to heed the "reality check" of lowered hopes and dreams because they'll be hard or even dangerous to achieve, hmmm?

We ought to allow fear to dominate us, to quash our hopes and ideals, and to send us scurrying back to endorse a "safe," old-establishment candidate?

Not this time.

No way.

If ideals and hopes are worth fostering, they're worth striving and risking for.


Yes, we can!


GObama!

[rAVES]

3. Dare not name? theres been about a hundred of these posts on DU...

"not me though, I'm not racist, everyone else is!!1"

[Big Blue Marble]

4. If not now, when?

When do we as a nation stand up to racism and fear. Obama and Michele know the risks.
They are among the bravest Americans who have ever shared this country with us. They
are committed to the "Fierce Urgency of Now." Win or lose, their courage will resound in
history.

[silverweb]

8. Indeed.

"What better place than here? What better time than now?" _-RATM

:patriot:

[The Traveler]

5. We must not yield to fear or blindness

I urge all to support Obama or choose otherwise based on your understanding of and agreement with his policies and the method by which he obtains them, and no other consideration.

The kind of thinking illustrated by this article leads ever to failure. If we yield to the logic of cowardice, we can never rise to provide succor to the millions of Americans whose lives burn in the fires of misery, and the millions more on the brink of joining them.

[tom_paine]

9. I agree, Traveler, although I do share the OP's concerns.

We must rally behind whoever gets the Democratic nomination.

[chelaque liberal]

6. This line was added by author after commentary was posted:

When I sent the following blogspot around earlier this p.m., I failed to copy the last line from the Knoxvoice website,

which is this:

"I pray that I’m wrong and that Obama becomes the face and name that awakens in all
of us long-dormant visions of a better America and a better world."

I've added it to the end of the blogspot. Trust me when I tell you I hope everyone votes
his/her conscience. I just hope Barack takes great care and that our government is
diligent in protecting his family's safety. Obama's chances of winning a general
election is something each of us must factor in to our decision the best we know how.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Don
...............................................................................................................................................


I wonder if Don saw this post and read the comments?

[silverweb]

7. One can hope.

:)

[yurbud]

10. a guy so young might be naive enough to think the president actually decides things

and doesn't just act as the servant of a handful of business interests.

Kennedy thought he actually got to decide things at the Bay of Pigs, and was replaced by someone who knew his place--escalating a war on orders from above.