In Prospect’s lead opinion piece this month, Trevor Phillips—chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and one of Britain’s foremost black political figures—explains why he believes Barack Obama’s emergence as a credible US presidential candidate has actually put back the arrival of a post-racial America.
Obama is, Phillips explains, both a charismatic and a ruthless figure, and one “whose African ancestors never endured transatlantic slavery.” Unlike “challengers,” such as Malcolm X, Obama is a “bargainer” who has tacitly agreed not use America’s history of white racism as a political weapon, and who in return expects his own race not to be used against him. Obama, Phillips argues, is a politician, not a saviour or even a liberator: his job is to win elections (which he may well do), but he is no harbinger of a revolutionary inter-racial harmony.
EDIT 1: As some of you may have noticed, the Independent are running a piece by Andrew Grice today reporting Phillips’s Prospect article, while the Times have coverage from Hannah Strange. To all and any who’ve arrived at this page via the papers, welcome—and do join in the discussion.
EDIT 2: As our publisher has noted in the comments below, those seeking a counterpoint to Phillips’s arguments should turn to Robert Reich’s piece in our current issue, which can now be read for free online—and can be discussed on the blog here.
EDIT 3: Trevor Phillips has responded to some of the criticism his article has received in a letter in today’s Independent.
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For Phillips, an American whose ancestors emigrated from Poland in 1890, Italy in 1920, Germany in 1944 or Russia in 1980 — or whose ancestors died in the Union cause in 1863 — is just another “US white” who “carries the stain of transatlantic slavery.”
He writes, in apparent earnesty, that the mere watching of different television programs “makes the guilt associated with slavery an everyday reality.”
No black candidate who could attract the votes of US whites would ever be acceptable to Phillips. Continuing to “bring centuries of white guilt to bear” is a recipe for continuing marginality in the vein of Jackson or Sharpton.
Now that formal racial equality has been achieved in the US, insofar as voters – blacks included – look for emancipation from politicians instead of attending to their own educational and entrepreneurial advancement, they have nothing to look forward to but disappointment.
Unfortunately, Prospect’s main site appears to be down at the moment, so I apologize if these comments are redundant or wrong-headed. But I
entirely agree with the comments posed above, and must further question whether a figure whose African ancestors did indeed endure transatlantic slavery should be automatically considered a more appealing candidate for the job of US President as a consequence.
I also wonder whether drawing so sharp a line down the middle of the American race divide (”Blacks” on the one hand, “Whites” on the other) – as Philips seems to be doing here – is not finally a dubious move. Many Americans are mix-raced – as Obama is himself – and more to the point, many “white” Americans are really much closer in their political interests to “black” ones than either is to other members of their same “race”. The central point here being (and I’m sorry for sounding like a seventies Marxist here) that the real political issue – which it is true to say that Obama has not really addressed – is not race, but class.
Finally, I propose that the true arrival of post-racial America will occur when race is indeed no longer political issue. From the brief surmise provided above of Philips’ piece, his analysis of Obama’s strategy (”Obama is a “bargainer†who has tacitly agreed not use America’s history of white racism as a political weapon, and who in return expects his own race not to be used against him”) appears to be precisely this – and yet oddly, it seems that he is against it.
Just to let you know – the site is up and running again. Thanks for your contributions thus far, and apologies for any interruption in service!
Anyone who thinks that race still doesnt matter in America is deluded.
The fact of the matter is that we whiteys really do believe that we were born to rule the entire world and that everybody with a “coloured” skin is culturally inferior and indeed sub-human.
And isnt the white-mans (really boys own) adventure in America part of “god’s plan” for bringing “jesus”, “god”, and “civilization” to the entire world.
When I was a child I never saw a film (on TV or at the movies), read a book or a comic in which the white man was NOT the master. Or put in another way the people of “coloured” skin were also the ones who carried the luggage ete etc and who always served the whiteys,and were always consequently brutalized.
Yes bwana, sahib, baas, master,etc etc.
White men were never ever shown serving people of “coloured” skin, with the possible exception of christian “missionaries”. But even they were there to convert the “heathen savages” to “jesus”,and to “civilize” them.
And of course Tarzan was also there doing his bit as part of the “civilizing” mythology. The “darkies” were obviously savages who were incapable of governing themselves without the intervention of a “civilized” whitey.
I wonder why Tarzan didnt have a hairy chest and armpits, and was always clean shaven (living out there in the wilds without razors, mirrors and soap or shaving lather—were Gillette blades even available then?)
And of course the darkies and the injuns were always mowed down like flies, they were “obviously” sub-human savages anyhow, and an “obvious” threat to “civilized” whiteys.
Never mind that we were stealing their land and wealth, and destroying their culture.
Kevin Costner’s film Dances With Wolves was one of the first attempts to portray the “injuns” as feeling human beings. Needless to say those on the rabid “right” were, and still are, horrified by such historical “revisionism”.
Here in Australia it was widely assumed that “aboriginal” mothers were incapable of loving, and having deep feeling for, their children and hence it was basically okay to steal their children.
I found this article by way of The Independent Newspaper. When reading Andrew Grice’s article, I was taken aback by how completely Trevor Phillips seems to have missed the point.
Having read ‘Healing Postponed,’ it’s difficult to make many conclusions about Phillips’ views as he is piggy-backing Shelby Steele’s article throughout.
I do not see much value in writing such a mindless racist article, apart from espousing a view that is likely to get published based on who the author is.
There are more than two kinds of influential blacks in America
Just because you serve a black person’s interest does not mean you are necessarily not serving whites- or ‘vice versa.’
Obama lost in NY and California because the states lean further left than any others, and Obama’s appeal is more centrist. Also, Hilary focused on these states, and NY is her home state.
Obama probably did not benefit from affirmative action, he was elected Editor of the Harvard Law Review, a position that does not have race quotas.
Obama does not ‘promise of an America free of the racial divide.’
Bill Cosby’s life fell apart when his son was killed.
Where is the ‘anecdotal evidence that where blacks have prospered to the extent that they are grimly competing for jobs and property with whites, they don’t buy “Obamania.”‘?
Trevor Phillips is the cynic, but it really does not matter very much. He clearly don’t have a clue what’s going on, as indicated by his “I’d be surprised” if Hillary did not win the nomination comment. Be surprised Trevor, you’re so far off you’re irrelevant.
It’s funny but I never really of Trevor as a Black Panther, more a panda. I agree with Daniel: it’s about class, but you don’t have to be a Marxist to concur. Hillary is playing the race card. Shame on her. Obama is deliberately not playing the race card because that trivialises a huge problem which the US needs to tackle, debate and work out head-on, in the best traditions of reasonableness and self-improvement.
The article concentrates on negativity,slavery,black underclass,guilt etc.trevor phillips misses the point.this is about politics not race.obama is an excellent politician,popular and inspiring amongst people(black,white,hispanic,asian)most importantly an inspiration to young educated americans,who are sick of the same old despicable rulers promising but delivering little.
Politics is the art and science of govt and authority,not race ,slavery, guilt.
Trevor phillips and the like represent what is wrong with britain today.race chief always focusing on creating racism,hence black britain never seems to progress beyond race,race,race.
Obama is an inspiration to young white american middle class,for a person of mixed background,he must be doing something right.
Trevor and the other influential black politicians are inspirations to themselves only.
They should watch obama to clearly understand how politics works and concentrate on leading the black population of britain,as well as the rest of the community instead of wasting time reading trashy biographies .
America is moving forward away from race.
Hah! Philips has the same opinion of Obama as White Supremacists. See New Republic: Post-racial – how the American far-right is coping http://tinyurl.com/33jh6n which quotes David Duke and others. Truly pathetic stuff from Trevor.
My wife and I were shocked and more than a little confused reading Phillips’ comments in The Independent today. I agree with Gregory above, and would like to add that Phillips seems to want little achievers to chip away, and big achievers, like Obama, are simply wasting everyones’ time. Lighten up, Trev.
I am finding it hard to reconcile why Trevor Phillips is insistent on the continuation of aggressive racial struggle in the US but advocates assimilation in the UK.
It is also strange that he views US politics purely through the prism of race. I had the opportunity to speak to dozens of ‘whites’ and other non-blacks who are supporting Obama on a trip to Virginia recently. Race did not come up as an issue with non-blacks once (it should be said that some African Americans made reference to it in the form of ‘we’ve got to back this guy.’) The main interest in Obama was a ‘new way of doing politics’, anti-Bush motivations, and excitement at his personality and leadership. Perhaps Mr Phillips is doing our cousins a disservice by ascribing mainly racial motivations to their interest in this remarkable candidate?
And just one final point. I’ll bet a quarter-pounder with cheese that he is going to win. Are we on Mr Phillips?
I can’t believe Philips, he hasn’t done anything to for the ethnic community , but , take an highly paid role, all he does, is just spouts drivel. If only Philips could galvanized people in the UK in such a manner. Race relations would have mover a lot further than 1974, the inspiration that people can see from Obama presence in this election. Will have an major impact, internally and externally, that a black man can lead the most powerful country in the world, and he isn’t an entertainer.
Perception about black people will change, it may be small, but, change non- less, black people can use him too inspire their children. Africa, Caribbean leaders will have role models, so, hopefully they can stop using excuses.,
back to Philips, worry about your own back yard, you have taken race of the agenda
I live in New York and I’m watching this election closely. Shelby Steele pops up here and there to flog this idea of challengers and bargainers. It is a simplistic and utterly inadequate theory. I’m not surprised that Philipps picks it up, he’s a woefully inadequate thinker and a pompous windbag to boot.
An Obama presidency will not do anything overnight, it won’t bring world peace and racial harmony in an instant. When Philipps says stuff like an Obama victory will let whites feel they have left the past behind, he’s talking nonsense. An Obama victory will create an intense and sustained energy in the discourse of the country about race that is the precursor to real change. It will bring intense energy to the international discourse about the role of the US in the world that is will be a similar precursor to genuine, powerful shifts in the status quo.
Philipps’s simply doesn’t have the intellectual chops to make his argument. He relies on Shelby Steele to do it for him. If ever there was a thinker and writer stuck in the tired, worn out thinking of the last century it is Shelby Steele.
Another thing, why on earth does Prospect turn to this, dreary, miserable man to make any kind comment about anything? Philipps is neither a challenger nor a bargainer, he’s just a self-righteous whiner!
Last post I promise!
Click on this link and watch this pro-Obama Latino video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fd-MVU4vtU
This is why Philipps is so clueless. He knows nothing about race in America. It’s infinitely richer and more complex thn he can handle.
Its people like Trevor who perpetuate racism because it is an industry that keeps them well fed and well oiled.When it suits their pockets they screm RACISM but without lifting a finger to help get rid of racism.Is he saying A BLACK MAN SHOULD NOT ASPIRE TO BE PRESIDENT OR PRIME MINISTER beacuse of his colour.He has outlived his usefulness as he really doesnt get to terms with what racism is doing to us and our children.Anyway its well known that his folks WILL NEVER SUPPORT A BLACK MAN.Is Trevor black or just ethnic minority of some other origins.We blacks suffer enough to listen or even buy his represantation.
When I look and listen to Obama I do not see race. I do not see black or white. I see a human being who is eloquent, measured, principled and mesmerizing.
Philipps is all wet. I sense resentment, jealousy and a desperate attempt to make a irrational argument. So Obama never endured transatlantic slavery? He’s fortunate then. Cynicism hasn’t taken hold of him and he doesn’t see the world as a victim. The world needs a leader who can see beyond a myopic perspective.
“resentment, jealousy and a desperate attempt to make a irrational argument.” ~ exactly.
It’s often said that we get the leaders we deserve. But can someone please tell me what have British blacks done to deserve Phillips?
very confusing article – hard to see what Phillips’ point is – apart form the obviously underlying jealousy!
is it that anyone who attempts to compromise and barging his way through life in general – not just politics – is a sell-out…?
that someone of a mixed race background is BOUND to let one half of him/her down whatever he does…?
did it ever occur to Phillips that perhaps the fact that Obama was spared the grinding baggage of a slave past, the transgenerational trauma of slavery and all the negative internalising of that experience may have liberated him and allowed him to become the success he is ( regardless of whether he wins the election or not?)
Mr Phiilips is not dumb – why he has missed that fact for young African American to see themselves reflected in, and identify with the President of their country can only be a good thing….
Shame on you Mr Phillips – very disappointing.
Obama is neither a challenger nor a bargainer. He is a leader poised to introduce America and the world to the 21st century.
I’m mystified. Who are all these people who solemnly proclaim that Barack Obama has no chance of getting elected in the U.S., that Barack Obama will perpetuate racism, that Barack Obama will be killed because the U.S. cannot tolerate a black president ? What is so vital for them in their views that they blind themselves to the complicated nature of race relations in the U.S. these days ? One thing is for sure : we cannot survive much longer under the ideological assumption that if one side “wins” then the other side must automatically “lose”. It’s destroying the foundations of our constitutions, and our rule of law itself.
Mr Phillips is a talented and engaging man who has given many years service as a politician and campaigner but for some reason, on this issue, he seems to have regressed to the level of student union hack.
His comments, argument would be to generous as description, seem to suggest that Senator Obama is neither black enough nor oppressed enough to be inspirational – somehow by having been elected to the US Senate and become a viable candidate for President he is just pandering to The Man – the white man. This is risible superficial cant.
The Senator is a politician, he is a lawyer, a father, a man who has succeeded in a society where, most regretably, race is a polarising and devisive issue. Mr Phillips sounds like some who feels cheated that the candiate it is not all about the struggle.
I suggest that Mr Phillips needs to grow up and look to the reality that a post racial society is one where the issues that have divided are no longer the substance of the debate but are atributes that influence the dicussion of core issues klike opportunity, taxation, secuity and hope.
“It’s often said that we get the leaders we deserve. But can someone please tell me what have British blacks done to deserve Phillips?” How true.
Phillips once bitterly criticised David Goodhart, the editor of Prospect. Goodhart apparently responded by saying he couldn’t take Phillips seriously. By publishing this, perhaps Goodhart proved his point.
A veritable guardian of the gates perched at the end of Downing Street, Trevor Phillips has turned his soap box inside the U.K.’s Equality and Human Rights Commission toward the U.S., resting his tired, cynical gaze on an accomplished, truly inspiring African American making a run at the U.S. Presidency. There are a number of issues Mr. Phillips raises that point to the self-immolating intellectualism that he brings to his work at the commission and his assessment of Senator Obama’s candidacy. Mr. Phillips’ vacuous assertion that Britian’s black community is too small to produce someone of Senator Obama’s stature is one such example. In his commentary, Mr. Phillips reveals himself as Britain’s most effective safeguard against black “over achievement.” I can easily cast aside Mr. Phillips’ argument that the British electorate is not guilt-ridden enough to set a black high-achiever along a path of historic achievement, for Mr. Phillips, as guardian of the gate, will use his soap box to ensure that the “unthinkable” will indeed remain so.
Last comment from me on this – promise – but Bob is right. Well done David G for publishing this interesting piece and, Nick, Prospect is right to publish from all sides as I’m sure you’ll agree. Read the Robert Reich piece in the same issue – a Clintonite endorsement of Obama. in fact, we’ll make it free to view to even up the balance. John
“…by insisting that in the end, salvation for blacks won’t depend on the actions of whites.”
The author’s (apparent) assertion that black people are fundamentally incapable of looking after their own interests, that their “salvation” can only be found via white people, is something that I find troubling.
“Let me confess to a pinprick of irritation” is really the skin prick of not being as smart as the Obama, that’s understandable or is it more the case of you being lazy.
We blacks in the states say…..
Come on Trevie get off your knees and do something for your self if not your country. Proud and happy with our boy.
Jim Richardson
This Trevor Phillips bloke annoys me ever time he opens his mouth. What have we done to deserve him indeed – always licking the arse of somebody more powerful than himself. Get off your knees Trevor.
Mr Obama and his lovely wife, Michelle, have in a few short months inspired black Britons more than you will ever do in your lifetime. Get back to your wife in the suburbs, or wherever it is you live these days, idiot!
Proud and happy with Obama and his wife, which is much more than I can say about you.
Of course, Barack Obama is a politician. And Trevor Phillips can oppose or support him as he chooses. But what an odd attack. I doubt many people could think of a less cynical political campaign in our political lifetimes, or one which has done more to appeal to the missing voters under thirty. That has been crucial to this extraordinary achievement of taking on what seemed an inevitable Hillary Clinton candidacy and perhaps creating this enormous political upset. I wasn’t necessarily for Obama over Clinton at the start, but he has won the campaign.
And this is so much at odds with Trevor’s critique of multiculturalism that – like everyone else here – I really don’t get it. If Phillips does feel irritated that this has been achieved by a black candidate who isn’t descended from slaves then he might have thought again about saying so publicly, given that he heads our Equality and Human Rights Commission. Or perhaps he could have reflected on that feeling, and said something about how of course that shouldn’t be a barrier to the idea of a mixed race candidate making a credible bid to be President because of his appeal to black and white voters.
I’ve written a longer piece over at the Comment is Free website
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sunder_katwala/2008/02/going_backwards.html
A very confused commentary a Mr T. Phillips. (He is not well known outside of the UK).
Race, with all of its genetic complexity, is primitively dealt with by Mr Phillips. He writes of Blacks vis-a-vis whites, blacks in relation to non-blacks… Zzzz … (no other colours, Mr Phillips?)
Two thirds of his essay concerns Shelby Steele’s thesis. This does not help his own titled conclusion about one consequence of an Obama victory.
Mr Phillip’s language betrays him and he quickly disappoints us, e.g.
“the problem of wearily having to answer my white friends’ plaintive question”, “British whites don’t carry the stain of transatlantic slavery in the personal way that US whites do”, “Yet a man whose African ancestors never endured transatlantic slavery has become the standard-bearer for the black presence in the US” and “For white America… a vote for Obama is a pain-free negation of their own racism”.
In the UK, Mr Phillips is – I perhaps unhelpfully suspect – a wee bit jealous of Mr Obama’s achievements in the US.
To borrow from Shelby’s subtitle, Mr Phillips just does not get “Why We Are Excited About Obama”. He should.
James
While there have been hundreds of columns written about Illinois’s Junior senator Barack obama, I was fortunate enough to spend two hours on the Milt Rosenberg radio show hearing a different historial view of Obama from fellow panelist and colleague, Shelby Steele. He has published a 134 page book titled,” A Bound Man – Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win” Taken literally, the title is misleading, because Steele gives Obama an out, which is to take off his mask.
Lee H Walker comments: “Steele gives Obama an out, which is to take off his mask”,
What mask would that be, Lee?
The ‘white’ mask?
Zzzz … yawn …
Is it just all about colour – and just two of them?
James
Lee H Walker, ‘Shelby Steele. He has published a 134 page book titled,†A Bound Man’ Johann Spurzheim wrote several books, many of more than 134 pages, on phrenology [you've probably got them in your library]… please infer at will. The title’s not misleading, it just assumed Obama couldn’t win. Are you agreeing with Steele’s position? If so, take off your hood.
Mr. Phillips invokes the term “mixed race” early on in his bigoted blather; no doubt the only way to establish his own authenticity. A wise (black) man once remarked to me, in my conflicted early years as a person of “mixed race”, that to invoke the issue of race is in essence a racist stance. This might be one of the very good reasons that Mr. Obama does not ever play the race card, and takes the high road when others do. As a US citizen, I find your point of view peculiar, but no doubt driven by an all too familiar need; to be the most authentic black man in the room. The only attainible goal I suppose, when you have shown yourself to be the intellectual peer of Stokely Carmichael.
Iam one person that follows Trevor Philips comment on most of the issues that affects black people in the UK mostly and suprise he gone atlantic to America, i am confused whether he is a racist or not or he answers to Bass or he is Uncle Toms boy from our Tsvangirayi in Zimbabwe or is he old aged with dementia that he never remembers what he says,just a recap of his past sayings are vast. Tell us your position Trevor Philips b4 you confuse us more, Obama is the best for America, get that in your mind Trevor Philips.
24 hours after reading this article for the first time it is still deeply concerning to me that this ill-informed drivel has been published. It is also deeply concerning that someone with such a prominent public role could write such a distorted analysis.
Can you imagine the reaction in the States if Bill Clinton had said something in a similar vein to Mr Phillips? Absolute mayhem.
In Howard Kurtz’s book the ‘Spin Cycle’ he describes a process called the ‘Laundromat.’ It is where a story that is unpublishable in the US is published in the British media and then the report in the States becomes the fact that the story has been published in Britain thereby by-passing the normal checks on quality and accuracy. I sincerely hope that Mr Phillips is not washing someone’s dirty laundry here in the UK. I am sure that he is not but I am still trying to understand how this article ever came to be written, let alone published.
http://www.e8voice.blogspot.com
P.S. Robert Reich’s article in the same issue is excellent and well worth a read. Deserved rather more prominence….
http://www.e8voice.blogspot.com
[...] the debate stirred by Trevor Phillips’s article on Barack Obama in our current issue (on this blog and elsewhere) may be interested to read his response to some of the criticisms that have been [...]
Thanks for all your comments. You may be interested to read Trevor Phillips’s letter in today’s Independent: http://blog.prospectblogs.com/2008/02/29/trevor-phillips-responds/ .
You can now also read for free Robert Reich’s piece for Prospect on Obama, for a very different perspective on the significance of Obama’s candidacy: https://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?&id=10044 .
Go Down Moses
Firstly, we should thank Prospect’s David Goodhart ( Dr House in the multicultural malaise ? ) for welcoming Trevor Philips to explain why here in relatively slave-guilt-free Britain, the race relations industry is almost entirely spurious
( Indeed, it might be argued that it , along with the post welfare state left wing, have caused much harm and discontent all round )
Another inappropriate US import, political correctness, had all but strangled public open debate until the intrepid Goodhart’s seminal essay – Prospect Feb ‘04 – Diversity v Solidarity ( which was also attacked by Philips – without wishing to be unkind, perhaps these attacks are his way of getting noticed ? ) addressing what Martin Amis recently termed :” this radioactive subject ”
As the often stage-managed PC outcry drowns out the subtler but more dangerous tones of ” No Comment “, censorship simply drives those feeling disenfranchised underground ; as demonstrated by the swell of BNP numbers every time our bone-idle government ( why can’t these grossly over-paid charlatans be hired on a student loan basis – pay our tax bucks back upon leaving office to take up directorships ? ) misplace another group of immigrants without thinking it through properly ; or the shabby producers of C4’s big brother make another racist-based ratings bid
Wrapped in the PC flag, the race relations industry might even be said to prefer racial discrimination : Indeed, Philips’ statement :
” ..Black britons don’t produce the same range of talents ”
is at best clumsy ; at worst guaranteed to keep the brothers on the weed, and Philips and his cronies in ‘jobs for life’. Moreover, his suggestion that :
” Obama least of all” wants to know ” that the salvation of blacks won’t depend on the action of whites “, seems absurdly patronising
Obama would not enjoy his current status , nor the obvious respect and affection of his myriad intelligent supporters ( especially St Oprah – chums who have appeared on her show say she IS a saint and that all her staff at Harpo, without fail, worship her ) had he not already embraced and advertised this fundamental if obvious truth
( As old blues singers used to say : ” It sounds better if you’ve lived it ” )
Perhaps it’s high time the race relations industry ( and the so-called human rights lawyers who milk it ) adjusted its spiky bark. Even in the US. Of course slavery was beyond disgusting, however, banging on about it the whole time just keeps the drummers in a job, and the slave descendents shackled facing backwards ( eclipsing hope ? ) instead of forward with courage, and good mental health
Mr. Phillips states that Obama profited from affirmative action programs in the US. Sorry – he is the product of a very prestigious prep school. He did not need an affirmative action program to propel him into college or law school.
As an American, I don’t understand why the British press and Mr. Phillips, in particular, comment on phenomena that they simply do not have the background to completely understand.
As a white US male, I reject Trevor’s comments. As someone born in the late 1970’s, I thought of myself as being color blind, and I had my own perceptions about African Americans in our society. When I heard Obama speak for the first time – his victory speech the evening of the Iowa Caucus – he challenged my thinking. Not just a pause for thought, but he actually touched something inside of me that suggested perhaps I really did not understand African Amercians that well. Where I thought I might have overcome the predjudices and the stereotypes of my parents and grandparents, I found that while I can separate myself from pre-civil rights era, I’ve been vastly uneducated about African American society through school and the national media. It doesn’t serve any purpose for me to run through what I’ve learned, as my opinions are now subjective about racial equality and justice, but the greater point is that while Obama himself may not put his thumbprint on ending racial inequalities and bring forth reconciliation, I think he will most certainly have started the broader discussion within his first term. For Trevor to suggest that Obama would “postpone the post-racial US” is profoundly absurd. The fact of the matter is, Racial equality has been postponed since the passing of the civil rights act. Someone has to start the discussion again on a national level, and who better to capture the attention of the Nation than the first Black President of the United States? I think part of ensuring the discussion is started is re-educating the media to a degree, so that they understand that the Presidency does not signify the end of Racial injustice, but it does signal the beginning of a new way of communicating. Black history, and understanding black community does not revolve around “I have a dream”, but if you get your education from traditional sources, you would know nothing different. So, that is where it starts. Obama should, if nothing else, be the catalyst for renewed dialouge.
All that said, if a Republican white male can be affected by Mr. Obama in this way and recognize what we as a Nation can and should do, what in the world is wrong with Trevor Phillips???
I am a progressive white liberal in Alabama, who has been troubled by the Obama-mania. Not the Obama-candidacy, but the manic fervor associated with it. AND the tendency for his supporters to blindly believe he is a different type of politician and that all will be made right when he becomes President. Your article resonated with me in its connection to history and the natural (and believable!) evolution of our cultural attitudes toward race. I appreciate you articulating some of what I’ve felt, but not been able to put into words. Thanks for this uniquely across-the-pond perspective!
I’ll frame my comments with I am a 26 year old white middle class businessman, graduated from a top 100 university, raised by a single mother and her parents with one younger brother in Denver.
I assert that the idea of “racial guilt” is not applicable to the generations 35 years old and under. The article was lacking because it did not address “colorblindness”. This is a concept worth mentioning because it is the atmosphere in which the youngest generations have, for the most part, been raised. We do not remember what it was like in the 60s and more than likely we went to school and had friends who were black, asian, and hispanic, without ever seriously considering their color. They were just friends with no racial prefix. We grew up watching the Cosby show when we came home from elementary school. To a majority of younger Americans, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and JFK and John Lennon all go in the same bucket. Wonderful men who were tragically killed. No racial separation what so ever.
The idea that Barak Obama is potentially the undoing of some ability that black people in the US have to guilt white people in the US is simply absurd. There are many arguments I could make but one is that in the next 8 years the oldest people in my generation will be nearing their mid 40s. This means that nearly half the voting population will be “colorblind”. This is also the generation that most strongly supports Obama. One realizes that it isn’t Obama that will erase the racial guilt. It will be erased by the irrelevance in the minds of our young who have no real concept of racism in action on a wide scale.
The truth is that America’s younger generations already have their racial innocence back and we never lost it to begin with.
Judy, I guess Hillary’s doom and gloom “realist” philosophy is more pallatable tha Obama’s “hope”ful vision?
There is something to be said for looking through either candidate’s prism, but I must say, America is at a crossroads in determining the kind of expectations we are going to have for our government, and what kinda a future we want to trailblaze.
Frankly, when I witness the stump speeches Hillary Clinton gives and tells us all: “you know, things just don’t happen that way in Washington”, its exactly that reason why I’m choosing Obama as the change in direction. If she is going to define her leadership as working within the boundaries of the Government in its current state, you can be assured the product of what we get in the next 8 years will be gridlock. As much as the Republicans would love to make Obama irrelevant if he were to become President (I should know, I read the GOP circulations as a card-carrier) Obama will carry a sizable mandate via the popular and electoral votes in November. Hillary, on the other hand, would possibly win, but it is going to be a bloodbath election with her, and the Nation will once again lose a chance to reconcile between the two parties.
And I’ll be quite honest, while staunch Democrats may be a slight bit more fervent for Hillary in its core base, Obama has enough support from the true left of the party, independents and some republicans such as myself who want to see a quasi-coalition in government, with a Mandate to make things happen in Washington.
And as I posted earlier, I expect Obama to do nothing less than engage the public and the media in new dialouge on race relations, black history in particular, and from there it is OUR responsibility, not his, to carry it from there. To demand he be responsible for fixing the problem would be to suggest that we have no will after all these years to do things ourselves. His whole message this campaign revolves around inspiring us all to make changes in ourselves.
I have started that change personally; from one cynic to another, there’s nothing wrong with being compelled to believe that the citizens can regain the power of their will over the government, as it was intended. Obama is not a messiah, and he is by no means perfect, but I’m willing to believe that everyone who supports him now will have their voices heard and their will carried forth to Washington in this election.
Trevor Phillips leaves out many nuances of ethnic realities in American Life. First, as Harold Cruse has argued in his book “The Crisis of the NEgro Intellectual” American politics ihas always been about groups. HEnce you see polling data that looks at Catholics, Whites, Latino’s, Blacks, etc.. Obama’s rise is not isoloated from other tendencies in the world at this moment. The same way the intersection of Vietnam, the U.S. Civil Rights movement, and the decolonization movements of the Third world caused political transformation and cultural change; the Iraq war, and negative aspects of globalization are influencing a political realignment in the U.S. and the Obama campaign is serving as a vehicle for that protest expression and unlike Black Britons, Black AMericans have a native multiculturual political tradition that emerges every generation or so all the way back to the abolitionists to the civil rights movement.
A new America is emerging……one that Judy of Alabama may not see. However, I see it every day….I am a teacher at a school as ethnically diverse as they come in these sometimes disunited states. We have a sprinkling of whites, blacks, Samoans, Filipinos, Latinos, Asians, Africans, and of course, mixed race. I don’t think Mr. Phillips understands what’s happening in America mainly because no other nation has gone through what it has in terms of racial relations. Look around you…….nations are torn asunder almost on a daily basis by racial, tribal and religious differences: Israel and Palestinians, Serbia and Kosovo, Chechnya, N. Ireland, Darfur in Sudan, the Congo, tribal factions in Nigeria, etc. The list is endless. How the US has managed to stay together all of these years while continuously adding to its ethnic diversity is a mystery. Certainly a quick read of American history over the past 150 years suggests it hasn’t been easy.
In any case, the rise of Obama signals the fruition of the “melting pot” myth because you see it never was completely a myth. There was some melting in places….big cities, isolated rural towns, some southern locations…..but it was more myth than reality. Now it is becoming reality. Fighting along racial or religious lines has become too tasking in a world that demands more and more productivity especially when your white cousin is marrying a Latina and you have several Christian members who are married to Jews and/or Muslims, and your kids attend a school where the kids look like the proverbial rainbow. It was inevitable…constantly living together…..has forced us to accept each other to varying degree.
Are we now a post racial untopia? Of course not. We have a lot more work to do and there will be more back sliding, more unpleasantries, more fear. After all, the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan supremacists still exist. However, I suggest the world [and Britain] watch closely. Something rather rare is developing on a very large scale. It appears the US may be building a racial template for the rest of the world to follow. If so, it may be the first tentative step in global cohesion.
And yes, Mr. Phillips, maybe owning slaves has made us more self conscious about race compared to Britons, and forced us to accept our differences even as our biases said otherwise. In any case, we have worked hard….sacrificed a lot……and I won’t permit an author, black or white, writing from afar attempt to invalidate all that hard work. Mr. Obama is real and his support is both real and widespread. More importantly, he is the great white hope of the 21st century. Yes, it is white [and black] America’s hope that a mixed race man will prove redemptive after the horrific Bush years.
Why did you take down my comment?
Fascinating discussion. I’m happy to see that someone outside the USA understands race here, because you said it is so foreign to Europeans. The statistic on television ratings is perfectly used. People of different races live different lives here. White people don’t like the way black people live, but they need to venture out and get to know it better. They need to try and appreciate what it has to offer. They could do what I did and tutor at a largely black high school for a year. That was a learning experience for everyone. But, as Bill Cosby points out, black people have much more to learn when they venture out. Anything I learned while tutoring pales in comparison to learning proper English or realizing it is wrong to abandon your children.
It is quite clear that what Mr. Phillips knows of race relations in the US has been garnered entirely from books and that he is clueless regarding the reality. I’ll take a moment to get him up to speed. First, throw out the Shelby Steele books. They are black conservative drivel. Factually speaking, the assertion that Barack Obama has not won in states in which the interest of blacks and whites compete is completely false. Apparently he is unfamiliar with Georgia, which has had several black mayors of its major city Atlanta and a number of Civil Rights leaders including MLK. He clearly has never been to Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, Missouri or Illinois. Each of which, Mr. Obama has won and some quite handily. If he knew the history of Virginia and its ties to slavery via Thomas Jefferson, he would not make such ill informed comments. The problem for people like Mr. Phillips is that they so desperatley want to hold onto the past, they ignore the present and discourage future possibilities. This African-American gladly cast my vote for Brack Obama on Feb th and look forward to doing so again in the genernal election. Will it change the history of race in America. Maybe not but oh, the possibilities!