Calling all journalists in cyberspace: can you please start asking John McCain to talk about race? I know that there has been scrutiny placed on both Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama over the topic of "race" during this presidential election season. But has anyone asked John McCain about his views on race in America? Don't we think that he HAS opinions about race in America?
The other day a friend and I were talking about the remarkable speech on race delivered by Barack Obama last Tuesday. And she said that he was the only person qualified to talk about race in the way he did--honestly, openly, directly--among the presidential contenders. I agreed, but then I pointed out that there was one other person. I pointed out that John McCain was in a unique position to also talk about his experiences with race in America--most specifically, his relationship with the Vietnamese American community, in particular, and Asian Americans, in general, regarding his use of the slur "gook" back in the run-up to the 2000 presidential elections, when McCain's "Straight Talk Express" took him to use the racial slur, unabashedly--telling reporters that:
"I hate the gooks. And I will hate them as long as I live. You can quote me on this."
I have to say this for McCain--he is a "Straight Talker," if by straight talk you are unabashed in your use of hate-speech.
He immediately issued an apology as the Straight Talk Express headed into the multiracial (and heavily Vietnamese American populated) state of California. And eight years later, very few people (except for some random blog sites and chat boards) seem to have remembered this flap, which also received very little press eight years ago. For more on the original incident back in 2000, you can read about it in The Nation (which also details the free "pass" that McCain seems to have gotten from the news media back in 2000, and which seems to echo the treatment he's getting now), an Orange County article about a small protest by Asian American students, and a San Jose Mercury News piece that also has an excellent op-ed by William Wong at the bottom.
[Aside: if you click on the link for the chat board--the discussion (which began a month ago) is VERY DISTURBING and points to the ways in which anti-Asian sentiment doesn't seem to disturb very many people. In addition to using the phrase "gook" continually, other people have added the full list of racial slurs against Asians, and others recount stories of harassing and beating up Asian American kids they grew up with. Apparently, this is a source of humor, and yet I can't find anything funny about violence and racial profiling]
So why am I bringing it up now?
Because lets imagine that his apology was sincere--that he only meant to refer to the "gooks" he hated as his North Vietnamese torturers (the Asian American studies professor in me has to switch off the critical thinking/skeptical part of my brain here). Lets imagine that he really hasn't used that racial epithet again (or at least in public) and that he has truly worked with the Vietnamese American community in their anti-communist agenda. [aside: these are all things included in his apology--that when he used the phrase "gook" it was meant to refer to his captors rather than to all Vietnamese people or to Asians in general, and McCain is often popular among Vietnamese (specifically South Vietnamese Americans) living in the U.S. for his anti-communist positions--with some leaders going so far as to say that if you are anti-McCain you are pro-communist.]
This places McCain in a unique position to talk openly and honestly about race. To talk about the challenges of being able to distinguish between an enemy abroad during a time of war and a community of people living in the U.S. It would also give him the opportunity to descry anti-Asian violence, since much of anti-Asian violence starts with mistaken ethnic identity (like that enacted against Vincent Chin and others--like Ming Hai "Jim" Loo--a Chinese American man attacked in Raleigh, NC by two brothers who stated that they "hate all Vietnamese").
So why aren't we asking McCain how to have a clear dialogue on race in this country? Shouldn't the man riding (and running) the Straight Talk Express bus be the ideal person to talk, openly, honestly, and directly, about race in America?
Showing posts with label racial divide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racial divide. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Excuse me, America, can we talk about race now?
Dear America,
By now, like everyone else, I'm sure you have heard the speech Barack Obama delivered in Philadelphia (here's a link in case you missed it). It's been about 24+ hours since he ended his much heralded "speech on race," and I've read some of the punditry and reactions from the blogosphere and listened to NPR (because, you know I'm a liberal-progressive, don't you?), and I realized that I really wanted to hear from YOU.
America, what do YOU think about Obama's speech? Or, more particularly, what do you think about the issue of race? There has been all sorts of speculation about who that speech was intended for. To assure/placate African Americans. To sympathize with/pander to working class white Americans. To inspire/mollify intellectual-progressive types. People on the right have accused him of simply using pretty words and empty rhetoric to hide the fact that he sat in a church pew for 20 years listening to anti-American racist hate speech. People on the left feel uplifted by his words, but are also unsure of how this speech will help advance his presidential bid.
But beyond these kind of partisan, presidential nomination politics, what did you think about the content of his speech America? About the sense of a divided America--about the anger by black Americans and white Americans? Although he focused on working class whites, I actually think that there is a fair amount of anger and frustration that white Americans feel. And there is a certain amount of anger and frustration that the rest of the racial pentagram (American Indian, Latinos, and Asian Americans) also feel.
WHY?
Why are we all so angry and frustrated over the same topic, and yet we are angry and frustrated over different aspects of the same topic? I must confess, as non-white American, I don't really understand white anger and frustration. I don't understand why a commenter who wrote in a while back (and I didn't allow the comment to go through) called me a racist for writing about race. And why others have talked about the "racialists" who want to turn everything into a matter of race when they believe race doesn't matter. Or the white pundits who claim that we are living in a post-racial society. Or questions by colleagues of mine who have asked me whether I think Barack Obama transcends race.
Why, America, do people (and it seems like the people who raise this issue are often white Americans, although perhaps non-white Americans also believe this too) believe that talking about race is the same thing as being racist? Do they just not have a basic understanding of racism--the institutional force that existed prior to race? Why don't they see race and racism the way that I do? The way that others do? Why do they act like talking about race is a bad thing--is rude--is unnecessary--that even drawing attention to race is the same as being racist?
I've already written about how we can be oversensitive about race. I know I have been extra- and over- and in- sensitive about race throughout my lifetime. But I also believe that ignoring a problem isn't going to make it go away. And we DO have a problem, America. It is a problem that half of you thinks that race isn't a problem and the other half believes that it is. And I'm not dividing your halves by "race" or along political lines--I think that these two halves, while maybe comprising more of one category than another, are also mixed.
I guess I'm asking, America--how do we really start to talk about race? And by really talking about it--I do mean to talk about it in a respectful manner. To talk about it in a way where people will, inevitably, feel uncomfortable, feel offended, feel angry and hurt and sad, and yet where a real conversation can happen--where we can really challenge each other and make something PRODUCTIVE come out of the conversation? How can we talk about race, respectfully, without name calling--agreeing to disagree, while still hearing each other?
I'm a teacher--I want to be able to hear someone who believes talking about race is the same as racism and have that person explain, to me, how s/he believes that this is true--and then I want him/her to listen to me when I explain my definition of racism and why I think talking about race is a good thing for everyone.
So America, if you have some time--please let me know. I think most people who read this blog are people who are, more or less, on the same "side" as me--but I hope that there will be some people--beyond the choir that I talk about preaching to--who will want to chime in and talk about their own frustration with race from their more conservative perspective.
[11:29am Correction: I just re-read the above sentence and it sounds so condescending--which I didn't mean it to sound like when I originally wrote it--because I am trying to get beyond this binary of a "racial divide" and the sense of there being "sides"--but I did want to try to acknowledge that for people who may have been reading my blog for a few weeks or months, you are probably people who agree with a few basic tenets I have: that racism is bad, that talking about race is good. Anyway, my apologies for the above tone--also, because I'm still a neophyte blogger, I can't quite figure out a way to do that nifty strike-out thing that shows how one is self-consciously editing--hence this odd interruption/correction.]
So to that end, I'm allowing anonymous comments for the next 24 hours in the hopes that I can reach a wider audience of people who can say what they want to say in a respectful manner, but without worrying about revealing their real (or even pseudonymous) identity. I will still reserve the right to moderate, but aside from ad-hominem attacks and really egregious comments, I'll probably let people speak for themselves.
Thanks America--I'm eager to hear what you have to say.
Sincerely,
The Blogger of Mixed Race America
PS. Getting back to the Obama speech--I do think that one of the most positive things to emerge from his speech is that people are talking about race--and that various groups (beyond the pundits and talking-blogging heads) are demonstrating a real desire to have honest and productive conversations about race--here's a New York Times article that shows the various groups who are initiating dialogues about race inspired by the content of Obama's speech.
By now, like everyone else, I'm sure you have heard the speech Barack Obama delivered in Philadelphia (here's a link in case you missed it). It's been about 24+ hours since he ended his much heralded "speech on race," and I've read some of the punditry and reactions from the blogosphere and listened to NPR (because, you know I'm a liberal-progressive, don't you?), and I realized that I really wanted to hear from YOU.
America, what do YOU think about Obama's speech? Or, more particularly, what do you think about the issue of race? There has been all sorts of speculation about who that speech was intended for. To assure/placate African Americans. To sympathize with/pander to working class white Americans. To inspire/mollify intellectual-progressive types. People on the right have accused him of simply using pretty words and empty rhetoric to hide the fact that he sat in a church pew for 20 years listening to anti-American racist hate speech. People on the left feel uplifted by his words, but are also unsure of how this speech will help advance his presidential bid.
But beyond these kind of partisan, presidential nomination politics, what did you think about the content of his speech America? About the sense of a divided America--about the anger by black Americans and white Americans? Although he focused on working class whites, I actually think that there is a fair amount of anger and frustration that white Americans feel. And there is a certain amount of anger and frustration that the rest of the racial pentagram (American Indian, Latinos, and Asian Americans) also feel.
WHY?
Why are we all so angry and frustrated over the same topic, and yet we are angry and frustrated over different aspects of the same topic? I must confess, as non-white American, I don't really understand white anger and frustration. I don't understand why a commenter who wrote in a while back (and I didn't allow the comment to go through) called me a racist for writing about race. And why others have talked about the "racialists" who want to turn everything into a matter of race when they believe race doesn't matter. Or the white pundits who claim that we are living in a post-racial society. Or questions by colleagues of mine who have asked me whether I think Barack Obama transcends race.
Why, America, do people (and it seems like the people who raise this issue are often white Americans, although perhaps non-white Americans also believe this too) believe that talking about race is the same thing as being racist? Do they just not have a basic understanding of racism--the institutional force that existed prior to race? Why don't they see race and racism the way that I do? The way that others do? Why do they act like talking about race is a bad thing--is rude--is unnecessary--that even drawing attention to race is the same as being racist?
I've already written about how we can be oversensitive about race. I know I have been extra- and over- and in- sensitive about race throughout my lifetime. But I also believe that ignoring a problem isn't going to make it go away. And we DO have a problem, America. It is a problem that half of you thinks that race isn't a problem and the other half believes that it is. And I'm not dividing your halves by "race" or along political lines--I think that these two halves, while maybe comprising more of one category than another, are also mixed.
I guess I'm asking, America--how do we really start to talk about race? And by really talking about it--I do mean to talk about it in a respectful manner. To talk about it in a way where people will, inevitably, feel uncomfortable, feel offended, feel angry and hurt and sad, and yet where a real conversation can happen--where we can really challenge each other and make something PRODUCTIVE come out of the conversation? How can we talk about race, respectfully, without name calling--agreeing to disagree, while still hearing each other?
I'm a teacher--I want to be able to hear someone who believes talking about race is the same as racism and have that person explain, to me, how s/he believes that this is true--and then I want him/her to listen to me when I explain my definition of racism and why I think talking about race is a good thing for everyone.
So America, if you have some time--please let me know. I think most people who read this blog are people who are, more or less, on the same "side" as me--but I hope that there will be some people--beyond the choir that I talk about preaching to--who will want to chime in and talk about their own frustration with race from their more conservative perspective.
[11:29am Correction: I just re-read the above sentence and it sounds so condescending--which I didn't mean it to sound like when I originally wrote it--because I am trying to get beyond this binary of a "racial divide" and the sense of there being "sides"--but I did want to try to acknowledge that for people who may have been reading my blog for a few weeks or months, you are probably people who agree with a few basic tenets I have: that racism is bad, that talking about race is good. Anyway, my apologies for the above tone--also, because I'm still a neophyte blogger, I can't quite figure out a way to do that nifty strike-out thing that shows how one is self-consciously editing--hence this odd interruption/correction.]
So to that end, I'm allowing anonymous comments for the next 24 hours in the hopes that I can reach a wider audience of people who can say what they want to say in a respectful manner, but without worrying about revealing their real (or even pseudonymous) identity. I will still reserve the right to moderate, but aside from ad-hominem attacks and really egregious comments, I'll probably let people speak for themselves.
Thanks America--I'm eager to hear what you have to say.
Sincerely,
The Blogger of Mixed Race America
PS. Getting back to the Obama speech--I do think that one of the most positive things to emerge from his speech is that people are talking about race--and that various groups (beyond the pundits and talking-blogging heads) are demonstrating a real desire to have honest and productive conversations about race--here's a New York Times article that shows the various groups who are initiating dialogues about race inspired by the content of Obama's speech.
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