MotherJones Blog: If Obama Is a Woman, and I Vote For Clinton, Am I a Man?

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If Obama Is a Woman, and I Vote For Clinton, Am I a Man?

One would think Maureen Dowd had cornered the market on silly-beyond-belief gendered nonsense about Sens. Clinton and Obama. One would be wrong; Newsweek wants to vie for that crown:

It has been a rarity in modern political life: a wide-open race for the nomination of both parties. But whatever happens from here on out, this campaign will always be remembered for the emergence of the first serious woman candidate for president: Barack Obama
.
Obama is a female candidate for president in the same way that Bill Clinton was the first black president.

Yes. The same tediously stupid way.

You have to listen to comedian/civil rights activist Dick Gregory "apologize" to Bill for black people making him think he was black if you're having trouble putting the latter bit of twaddle to rest, but what of the new twaddle?

This—Obama is a 'woman' cuz he's all nice and stuff—seems like yet another example of how Obama isn't 'really' black. (He can't be. He isn't scary.) That makes him acceptable to whites since 'black' men are dangerous and uncooperative and, to put it mildly, not team players. The hardest kind of racism to combat is the kind that pats the 'good' Negroes on the head and sets them up in opposition to the black masses, signaling that 'they' (the black masses) may remain safely marginalized. Pretty obvious wink-and-nod from one white to the other. And you wonder why 'we' still feel discriminated against and despised. Kaleaph Luis, at GenderYouth.org sums up this feeling with sad succinctness in a recent post. He's right to be sick to death of the requirement that black men be hard, gangsta, and oppositional to be considered men.

"In fact, most of the young black men with whom I have deep, personal relationships that exhibit the very same "female" characteristics that Newsweek attributes to Obama: they take an inclusive approach to problem solving, are generally optimistic about life, are modest about having all the answers, and are comfortable with teamwork.

For us, Obama is not a new phenomenon. He's not a "female" one either. He's us. Alas, we are used to our real selves being erased by the gangsta masculinity that society too often seems to expect of young black men, or by the surprise it exhibits when we break the mold.

With all the familiar statistics about young black men about academic underachievement, incarceration, and underemployment, it may be hard for mainstream culture to believe that we, in Sen. Joe Biden's immortal prose, actually are "articulate and bright and clean." Let me assure you, we're already here. Calling Obama the female candidate just recycles the same tired, old stereotypes of masculinity that deny us—and him—a precious opportunity to redefine and expand definitions of manhood for young men."

Likely, Newsweek was just trying to be cute, like Dowd does in most of her columns—playing word games while our society slowly implodes. But the reality underlying this type of thinking is far from ephemeral in its effects on black lives; the masses of black men, not being wunderkinds, are dangerous. Uncivilized. Justifiably marginalized.

Comments

This editorial was excellent. I didn't even know that NEWSWEEK had written such a reprehensible comment. Is this the dumbing down of journalism 5.0? I praise MOTHERJONES for having the courage and fortitude to find writers like you. I wish your comments would be published in more accessible media outlets. I will circulate it amongst friends.

Thank you for writing and keep on writing! The pen is mightier than the sword indeed.

Posted by: Amala on 02/29/08 at 1:51 AM Respond

Miss Dickerson,

The first time I heard about you was on the Imus show. I was so impressed by that interview/exchange that I started read your writings and I was even more impressed because of your thoughtfulness, frankness, and honesty.

Posted by: John on 02/29/08 at 6:13 AM Respond

The Black community is in a Sad state of affairs. But our perceptions of the Black community are validated when the GOV't releases numbers like they did today...
1 out of EVERY 9 Black men between 18 and 34 is in PRISON..!! Almost 80% of black children are born out of wed lock..!!
What is going on with the Black People..??

Bill

Posted by: Bill Nigh on 02/29/08 at 2:09 PM Respond

All I can say is that Obama is the best thing that we have right now. We need to get away from race and choose the best Man for the job.

Posted by: MSO on 02/29/08 at 3:16 PM Respond

What am I missing? The Dowd column in question makes some very legitimate points about the overall bellicosity of the Bush/Cheney/PNAC era as well as some very telling observations about Hillary's personality and the gross miscalculations committed by her campaign management. The comments about Barack Obama were to me, quite perceptive and quite complimentary. We do need a leader who is not ashamed to show his feminine side, especially after losing (to date) 3972 U.S. soldiers in a war brought on by a one-trick pony named "W" who sees the world through the eyes of an immature, strutting, preening, "cowboy".

Posted by: Huston Wheeler on 02/29/08 at 3:24 PM Respond

This is what is going on with Black people . . .

Education

- 80% of blacks age 25 and older had at least a high school diploma in 2005. In states such as Colorado, the proportion was even higher - 90 percent. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

- 17% of blacks 25 and older had a bachelor's degree or higher in 2005. In many states, the rate was higher. 26% blacks this age in Colorado, for instance, had this level of education. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

- 1.1 million blacks age 25 and older had an advanced degree in 2005 (e.g., master's, Ph.D., M.D. or J.D.). Ten years earlier - in 1995 - only 677,000 blacks had this level of education.

- For the 2005 school year, 2.3 million black college students were enrolled. This was an increase of roughly 1 million from 15 years earlier.

Families and Children

- There are 9.1 million black families in the United States. Of these, nearly one-half (47%) are married-couple families.

- 11% of black children live in a household maintained by a grandparent.

- 46% of black householders own their own home, nationally. The rate was higher in certain states, such as Mississippi, where it reached 56%.

Military Service

- There are 2.4 million black military veterans in the United States in 2004.
(Source: American FactFinder)

Jobs

- 26% of blacks age 16 and older work in management, professional and related occupations. (Source: American FactFinder)

- There are 44,000 black physicians and surgeons; 79,400 postsecondary teachers; 45,200 lawyers; and 49,300 chief executives.

(Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007)

Data courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau

Posted by: Sue Tompkins on 02/29/08 at 10:53 PM Respond

Miss Dickerson,

Excellent piece! I have been unsurprisingly disappointed in the way most media has tried to make this election about race and gender in their attempt to forecast which candidate will get which voters.

My personal opinion is that two Democratic candidates are the most qualified and best we have seen in several years, certainly head and shoulders above anything the Republicans have offered. I have studied each candidate's issues, style and demeanor and am supporting Obama but it is not because I am against Clinton, it is more that I find him to fit with my views.

Why can't the media see that the voters have listened and made their choice, rather than selection based on race, gender, economic status, etc.?

Posted by: Michael Fisher on 03/01/08 at 1:39 PM Respond