7 thoughts on “The Advantages of Being a Black Man in America”

  1. Geraldine seriously needs to stop digging, because she just keeps getting in deeper. She’s gone past a gaffe into public embarrassment. What the flying fuck did she think she would get from this? She’s just managed to blow Hillary’s gaming-the-ref routine right out of the water.
    It’s like Jackie Moon complaining that Michael Jordan only gets the NBA megabucks contract because he’s black.
    Honey, darlin’, lambchop, maybe he’s just better at this than you are.

  3. While I thoroughly understand that there are a lot of people who would vote for Obama because of race or Clinton because of gender, Ferraro seems rather inane because there are a whole lot more people who would vote against Obama and Clinton because of race and gender. Bottom line is that both are still probably disadvantages.

  4. I think her larger point is that he is where he is because he has not undergone either the scrutiny a white male (e.g. Edwards) or the ridicule that any female candidate, regardless of race, would have experienced. Both have benefited, unjustifiably in my opinion, from thehistorical election meme (maybe Edwards should have gone with We Can Make History or We Can Make Progress as a slogan). It is unquestionably true, however, that criticism of Obama is squelched because of fear of perceived racism (just as you’re not a patriot if you oppose Iraq, immunity – hey, it’s not just Republicans that play those games).
    Let’s look at another case study … Colin Powell. Good little soldier that he was (My Lai in his early career and later telling the Administration’s lies to the UN in the run up to the war) yet he was considered a forerunner for 2000 without even running – black, charismatic, good-looking (as long as you don’t look too closely) – he could get the votes of Republicans and Democrats alike – God’s gift to the electorate. In fact he stated frankly that he would not have gotten to where he had were he not black – admitted being promoted over more qualified candidates.
    The point is, he (Barack) is not being judged by thecontent of his character either – Ferraro’s not saying being black is an advantage (not even as an advantage over being female though, personally, I believe sexism has a broader base than racism), she’s sayingthis man, thisindividual candidate would not be where he is, in the given race, were he not black. I think that is true and applaud her for not backing away from her statements. That said, I just perused info on both her original statement and follow-up so perhaps she could have stated the facts more eloquently but that doesn’t change their bases.
    And, no, I am not a Hillary supporter – as a progressive I can’t see how anyone can support either of these candidates and until a line is drawn that says you can’t take our vote for granted in the general, we’ll continue to get these candidates. It reminds me of a routine Bill Cosby did years ago about how he and Old Weird Harold would go to the monster movies they loved but they’d get so scared they’d get stuck in their positions cowering on the theater floor until Cos’s mom would come for them. She’d always come for them even though she’d swear each time would be the last. Then she didn’t. It wasn’t until then that they had to take responsibility for themselves. I’m not coming for them anymore.
    I’m going to work to get more progressives in Congress – a veto-proof majority would render a bad president if not powerless certainly less harmful.
    I do think Hillary has a better shot in November. I don’t like what the statistics of Obama’s wins may portend. He’s winning states he doesn’t have a chance in hell of taking in November, anecdotally in Ohio, certainly in my red state as well – Republicans are crossing over to vote for him. In Texas, where Obama voters didn’t vote in down-ballot contests it could be due to new candidate-based, otherwise disinterested voters or represent another sign of Republicans just coming out to vote for him. Now you can choose to believe that they are doing so because they are uninspired by their party choices and will show up for him in November as well but I don’t believe that’s the case – guess we’ll see.

  5. Ferraro’s being crucified for telling the truth. This particular truth is both inconvenient and politically incorrect, but
    it’s still the truth. What’s my proof?
    Obama 2008 is Edwards 2004: young, change-oriented, first-term Senator with a background in law, running for President before finishing that first Senatorial term.
    Edwards wasn’t the front-runner in a long protracted race; he did end up on the Kerry ticket after the convention. But crowds
    didn’t form and girls didn’t faint and his fan-base didn’t develop a rabid temperament, as Obama’s has done. Edwards was, of
    course, white.
    That’s the only difference, really.

  7. “That’s the only difference, really.”
    That or the fact that Edwards didn’t know shit about policy. Read Obama’s policy briefs (they run around 60 pages), and then tell me there’s no difference. Name me ONE policy Edwards proposed in 2004.
    This notion that Obama can’t do policy is a Clinton fantasy.

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