Is America ready for Obama? Maybe not, if the recent New Yorker cover is any indication.

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT op-ed: Is America ready for Obama?
Maybe not, if the recent New Yorker cover is any indication.
By Blair Hamilton Taylor
July 17, 2008

The cover of the New Yorker magazine this week drove home a stark reality that both columnist Tim Rutten and The Times editorial board missed: Although many Americans appear to be ready for an African American president, the question remains as to whether America itself is ready. The recent cover is the latest example of the willingness of the American media and thought leaders to openly demean African American leaders and play into the worst fears of some American people.

Now, before I am labeled "thin-skinned," let me make some acknowledgments upfront. Yes, I know that the New Yorker is a purportedly "liberal" magazine with a history of satirical illustrations. And yes, I am aware that it has a constitutional right to publish a provocative cover image. But it also has an obligation to be wary of the line between provocative and scandalous. So, regardless of the magazine's political tilt or its intentions with respect to this or any other cover, in the end, the magazine and its staff must be held fully responsible for such reckless decisions.

If the New Yorker ever published a "satirical" cover photo of a leading German American candidate in front of a Nazi gas chamber with a swastika in the background, the editor responsible would be gone tomorrow, and rightly so. Yet somehow, when the most powerful African American leader in the land -- and his wife, no less -- are portrayed as flag-burning terrorists by this publication, we are all supposed to not be offended, to get over it and to see the satirical humor in it all, when for many, it is no less offensive.

With respect to my fellow African Americans, this season is no time for silence. No minority group can maintain any identity or dignity if they willingly forgo opportunities to vigorously defend themselves when mischaracterized and blatantly maligned. With respect to Americans of every possible hue, this type of demagoguery should be repudiated by any and all who seek and aspire to a 21st century vision of America -- one that is, at long last, not afraid of itself....

(Blair Hamilton Taylor is the president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Urban League.)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-oew-taylor17-2008jul17,0,6097291.story

[grantcart]

1. We are going to find out in November.

[babylonsister]

2. Rec'd, and FTR, I am. nt

[Captain Hilts]

3. This country won't trust a woman to host a game show or late-night talk show...

so, it certainly wouldn't trust one as president. I'm not aware of a woman ever having her hand on the nuclear button. Ever. There has been a black chair of the JCS, black submarine captains, black superintendant of the US Naval Academy and Atlantic fleet subs, etc.

But there are archetypes of black male leaders and individualists in popular culture to draw on: Colin Powell STILL gets very high favorability ratings. Will Smith and Denzel Washington still can rule the box office. Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods rule sports. There aren't any female archetypes to compare to these.

Whether it can extend to the presidency, I don't know. But I do know that black men are closer to the Big Chair than women are.

[FogerRox]

4. 70% of country is ready for a black president.

(CBS) As Barack Obama claims the mantle of presumptive Democratic nominee, nearly 70 percent of Americans say the country is ready for a black president, a new CBS News poll shows.

Sixty-eight percent of Americans say the country is ready - up 6 points from March and 14 points from January. Eight years ago, only 38 percent of those polled said the country was ready for a black president.

Nearly two in three registered voters - 63 percent - say that most people they know would vote for a black president. But roughly one in four believe that most of the people they know would not.

Democrats (at 67 percent) are slightly more likely than Republicans (at 61 percent) to say most people they know would vote for a black candidate. Older Americans are less likely to respond that people they know would do so: Just 58 percent of those 65 and older say most of the people they know would vote for a black candidate. By contrast, 70 percent of respondents under 30 years old said those they know would do so.




Some of the largest differences are by region. Seventy-two percent of those who live in the West say most people they know would vote for a black person for president. Sixty-six percent in the Northeast and 64 percent in the Midwest agree. But the figure is lowest in the South, where just 54 percent say most people they know would vote for an African-American for president. 33 percent there say most people they know would not.

CBS News political consultant Joe Trippi, a Democrat, said on CBS News' The Early Show Wednesday morning that he believes America is ready for a black president.

"I think we are as a country," Trippi said. "I think what Barack Obama's done is every day he's gone out there, proven his mettle, proven where he is on issues and weathered these attacks and everything. He's proven that he is ready. And that's made a lot of Americans say, 'you know what? Maybe this could happen.' I think it's a pretty amazing thing."

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Thanks for this info, FogerRox! nt

[Joe Chi Minh]

6. What a strange equation! The New Yorker with "America itself"....

Also, "Although many Americans appear to be ready for an African American president?" Or "Although most Americans appear to be ready for an African American president?" Very strange post, DeepModem Mom. You sound pretty confused.

[Tutonic]

7. Good post. New Yorker would not do that for a wite candidate.

And the inclusion of his wife wsa way beyond satire. New Yorker needs to come clean and stop carrying water for the main stream media.