Jeremiah Wright, Racism, and Obama

I’ve been ignoring the recent uproar about Wright because it seems inconsequential — not because I don’t think he’s racist, but because it seems silly to attack Obama for what Wright said/thinks.

This is not an endorsement of Obama.. I just feel the situation has been so blown out of proportion that some comments are needed.

First, some thoughts on Racism

Let’s be honest — does anyone know someone who is completely non-racist (who’s not a child)? Or in this case, someone in a position of authority, part of the ‘older’ generation?

I’d be highly skeptical of anyone who answered positively to the above questions.

Racism was, is, and will continue to be a problem for several more generations. Yes, everyone tries to be PC now but can anyone really say they’ve never had racist thoughts or laughed at a racist joke?

By the way, even “positive” stereotypes such as “Asians are smart, work hard, and/or nerdy” is a form of racism.

On that note, can anyone really condemn someone else of being racist? Sure you may not be racist in the same way they are (and you can disapprove and point out the racism), but to condemn someone for it is to imply you are better than they are (and that you are never racist).

That’s a pretty bold statement to make.

Guilty by association?

I don’t believe in guilt by association (at least, not this kind of association).

Clearly, if you were in a group which planned to rob the bank, you’re still guilty even if you weren’t at the scene because you helped in some way (and planned to gain from it).

This scenario, however, is more akin to people blaming me for not being able to control my father or teacher when saying something extreme.

First of all, that’s not how the hierarchy works — the child does not, cannot, and should not try to control the teacher. It’s a serious sign of disrespect in that case.

Second, it is possible to disagree but respect someone at the same time. You disagree about an issue, but you respect the person. I respect my father but I also disagree with him on many things.

People seem to think disagreeing on something means you think less of that person, so it would be impossible to also respect them.

Perhaps that’s true if you’ve only ever disagreed with super emotional extremists who refuse to discuss the issue logically without taking it personally. Or if you’re the super emotional extremist.

Lastly, can either of the other candidates claim to not have white extremist friends/allies? If not, they really have no right to point fingers.

Obama backlash

That said, I can see why it angers many people. I can also see why people would associate it with Obama and assume he is like Wright — after all, when people are angry and emotional, it doesn’t really matter who said it, or what the context was.

In fact, I can see this being used as a broad generalization against black people: “Look at how hard we try to not let our racism show, when this important religious leader can get away with saying this stuff?! It’s symbolic of what the black people think!”

Of course, no one is going to say that because then they’d be the racist ones.

But they are. We all are.