Prometheus 6

A lil' sumthin fuh y'alls.

You thought I'd miss that?

The plot of the psychodrama advances

Three observations and one thought:

(1) Northern whites like Will, Tapper and Stephanopoulos don't even want to listen to native southerners like David Gergen, who is not a liberal, tell them that some of the language and terms being bandied around about Obama are racially coded.

(2) Despite this clear statement from Gergen, Will launches into a spiel about Obama being too upper-crust to be president because he had gone to Columbia and Harvard. Didn't George Bush attend Phillips Academy, Yale and Harvard?

(3) Watch how Will and Tapper continually interrupt Donna Brazile while she is responding to their statements after being asked by Stephanopoulos to do so. Gergen, who is, again I want to point out, a native southerner as is Brazile, does not interrupt her.

(4) One of the ways that Obama differs from African Americans who are descendants of slaves, whether one of our biological parents was white or not, is that he does not know how to defend himself from racially-based attacks. He never got properly schooled in this area or learned from listening to the elders about what they did to deflect the madness and restore a balance in their relationships with whites. He is like a fish out of water.

Perhaps I'm being small-minded, but I'm more irked about the fact that the entire panel is being paid large to sit there and spout that nonsense, week in and week out.

I love this blog! This white woman is learning a bunch of new things. Thanks.

One of the ways that Obama differs from African Americans who are descendants of slaves, whether one of our biological parents was white or not, is that he does not know how to defend himself from racially-based attacks. He never got properly schooled in this area or learned from listening to the elders about what they did to deflect the madness and restore a balance in their relationships with whites. He is like a fish out of water.

I would not say he doesn't know how to defend himself from racially-based attacks. I would say he doesn't know how it's been traditionally done in the US precisely because he's the child of an African immigrant and a white woman. He's been the target of attacks (and even heard them from his grandmother). He had to figure it out all by himself.

Over a decade ago, Minneapolis had an influx of Somali immigrants. I was waiting for a bus with several other folks, including African Americans and Somali people in a clump. I always waited to see where the bus would stop and then get in line. Well, the bus stopped quite near to me and I thought I would go first but a Somali man stepped in front of me. After then I noticed that I had to actively invite African Americans to get on the bus before me--otherwise, they always deferred to me, a white woman.

So now I can't help but wonder what else Obama didn't learn because he wasn't properly schooled by parents who themselves had been properly schooled who themselves had been...

Obama also had the privilege of going to elite schools as a child and then as a college student. So does social class come into play here?

Well, the bus stopped quite near to me and I thought I would go first but a Somali man stepped in front of me. After then I noticed that I had to actively invite African Americans to get on the bus before me--otherwise, they always deferred to me, a white woman.

That could be strictly cultural...we have a 'ladies first' tradition in America that doesn't exist in cultures deeply impacted by war.

So now I can't help but wonder what else Obama didn't learn because he wasn't properly schooled by parents who themselves had been properly schooled who themselves had been...

Interesting question.

I think Obama has learned how to deal with racism on a personal basis as he grew up, and only learned the collective aspects as an adult. But as for dealing with attacks, I find most Black people don't deal with it as well as they possibly could.

"I find most Black people don't deal with it as well as they possibly could."

Please elaborate.

Most Black folks

1. Don't distinguish between empty, impact-free racism that is best ignored, and race threats that have impact
2. Take trolls seriously
3. Try to beat racists at their own...I hesitate to call it this but...intellectual game

I'm not talking physical attacks, of course.

P6, several times I have read where you've dissected racist arguments and proposed effective counters. Would you consider compiling and expanding these observations into a book? Hate it or love it, Barack Obama is living this out on a national stage. It would be invaluable if we had a manual similar to Seven Covey's. I'm thinking something along the lines of Minister Faust but with real life examples.

Most Black folks

"Don't distinguish between empty, impact-free racism that is best ignored, and race threats that have impact."

I wouldn't call these incidents "impact-free" but I assume you are referring to encounters that don't prevent you from obtaining your goal or desired end.

"Try to beat racists at their own...I hesitate to call it this but...intellectual game"

I understand refusing to participate in discussions regarding, for example, the alleged inferiority of black people but I am not quite sure what you mean here. I realize that if you enter into their game you are then forced to argue about things on their terms and, worse, their turf.

I'm thinking something along the lines of Minister Faust but with real life examples.

You talking about The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad? I REALLY liked that book.

Serious answer: I am giving it thought. One of my goals is to give arguments that people would feel comfortable using at work. Truth, though, at this point I have to dig internally to get at the structural stuff, to figure out how to structure it. If I catch things in process, as it were, it's a lot easier.

You ARE talking the same Miister Faust, and I forgot to watch for that second book.

I wouldn't call these incidents "impact-free" but I assume you are referring to encounters that don't prevent you from obtaining your goal or desired end.

No, I'm saying there's a casual, conversational sort of racism where your reaction is the offender's reward and that's the end of the transaction. You treat those cases like every other flavor of vampirism.

I realize that if you enter into their game you are then forced to argue about things on their terms and, worse, their turf.

That's exactly what I mean. They look to win the argument when they should undermine it.

"No, I'm saying there's a casual, conversational sort of racism where your reaction is the offender's reward and that's the end of the transaction. You treat those cases like every other flavor of vampirism."

I know what you mean but I never encounter those kinds of folks. Or, maybe I do but I don't give them the space to make those kinds of remarks to me. When I think they might start I act as if I never heard them and walk away as if I have just seen an old friend.

Like I said, you treat them like any other vampire. You don't make a special case of them.

Exactly.

I didn't know how to respond to it.

(4) One of the ways that Obama differs from African Americans who are descendants of slaves, whether one of our biological parents was white or not, is that he does not know how to defend himself from racially-based attacks. He never got properly schooled in this area or learned from listening to the elders about what they did to deflect the madness and restore a balance in their relationships with whites. He is like a fish out of water.

You don't think that being a Black man, living to be 47, he would have learned that by now?

You really made me sit back and go....I have to think about that.

"You don't think that being a Black man, living to be 47, he would have learned that by now?"

I think Obama may be aware of this survival skill in a way that is largely intellectual but I don't think he has inhaled these lessons in a way that permeates his DNA. His maternal grandparents, for example, certainly loved him but they could not have passed these lessons on to him no matter how well intentioned they were.

What Obama learned and learned extremely well was how to negotiate and charm his way over these hurdles. I don't mean that he Tommed his way through this minefield but he learned to smile, avoided appearing defensive, deflected, ignored and stay focused on what he wanted. He learned not to be reactive, which is a good thing. (I have to consciously tell myself not to respond, which is different.)

There is a certain style of verbal ju-jitsu that black folks have acquired over the centuries to keep white folks in check at times. I think this ability may have begun to decline with my generation and Obama's generation because we felt far less constrained than earlier generations of black Americans in expressing our disagreement and displeasure with the comments or behavior of some whites toward black people. Given Obama's background, he is probably even less well versed at this game.

I want to give an example from my collection of family stories to illustrate my point. One of my paternal grandmother's brothers worked briefly as a sharecropper on a cotton plantation in Louisiana in the late 1920s. My great-uncle, whose name was George, badly wanted to get off that plantation. Uncle George liked to wander and sharecropping cramped his lifestyle. The problem was that each time he brought his cotton in to be baled and weighed the store manager told that him that he never had enough to erase his debt. "If you had just had one more bale, George," the manager would say, "You'd be free and clear."

This went on for a few years until one year George came up with a solution to his problem. After the cotton he had grown was harvested and baled, he put the bales into his wagon and headed for the company store. His bales were weighed and, once again, the store manager, told him that he was one bale short from canceling his debt.

My grandmother said that George told the manager that that he would be right back and he rode off in his wagon. When he returned a short while later there was a single bale of cotton in the back of his wagon. He had left it at his cabin before initially coming to the store. According to my grandmother, when George rode up to the store the manager took one look at the cotton bale and said, "Boy, I reckon it's about time you leave here."

Uncle George returned to his cabin to pack up his belongings and left that plantation before night fell. He died many years later in California.

You put this very well PT. Obama is a charmer who has put good effort into making this aspect of his personality work for him. He can also negotiate considering how he handled the hecklers in St. Petersburg Florida recently.

From my family story - I am the stepfather of a bi-racial daughter, who was raised by her white grandmother. While in high school my daughter attended an all white Christian school in the South. As a result, I sometimes think that it is very difficult for her to internalize the concept of racism. She understands it intellectually, and has had to address it while attending, of all places, the Christian school. She too, has learned extremely well, how to negotiate and charm her way through blatant racist attacks while remaining focused, but she often fails to recognize subtle snide remarks or the poorly placed putdowns. She knows how to handle her self in these situations, but I find that her response is usually more measured and matter of fact than mine would be in similar circumstances.

I sometimes think that it is very difficult for her to internalize the concept of racism. She understands it intellectually, and has had to address it while attending, of all places, the Christian school. She too, has learned extremely well, how to negotiate and charm her way through blatant racist attacks while remaining focused, but she often fails to recognize subtle snide remarks or the poorly placed putdowns. She knows how to handle her self in these situations, but I find that her response is usually more measured and matter of fact than mine would be in similar circumstances.

Does her lack of response mean that she hasn't learned well enough how to respond, or does it mean that the subtle snide remarks or poorly placed putdowns don't imact her as much as they did you?

That could be strictly cultural...we have a 'ladies first' tradition in America that doesn't exist in cultures deeply impacted by war.

In Minnesota's winter, when I am covered up in a parka, I'm often called "sir." And even in summer African American women often are less likely to accept my invitation to let them get onto the bus before me.

This experience with the bus has made me much much more deferential to people of color, especially African Americans.

What an interesting conversation!

I was speculating on the Somalis.

Deferential, huh? Let me suggest that you should have your pride and assume the other person has it too.

I realize the discussion has diverged from the original topic but I just wanted to add to pt's excellent observation that

"Didn't George Bush attend Phillips Academy, Yale and Harvard?"

Not only that but George HW Bush grew up in blue blood Massachusetts, went to Yale and joined Phi Beta Kappa. And Clinton also went to Yale and Oxford and was famously a Rhodes scholar. You'd have to go back as far as Reagan to find a president without a fancy edumacation.

Of course, just about any black politician with the nerve to seize power who fails to temper his ambition with a self-effacing deep southern drawl or a laughably semi-literate ghetto mumble is automatically uppity and elitist. Just ask one-term Mayor of New York City, David N. Dinkins, who was painted with exactly the same brush because he had the nerve to dress and speak with dignity and to enjoy tennis. (To be fair, the Bushes have felt the need to pretend to be Texas good ol' boys as well.) I wonder how they would've character-assassinated Powell if he hadn't committed seppuku of his own accord.

RE: Phillips Academy, Yale and Harvard

As I see it these kinds of references are another example of Obama's inability to deflect racist attacks. What he should have talked about on Fathers Day, for example, is how hard his father-in-law worked in order to make sure that Michelle and her siblings received a quality education. He should have also talked about creating a public school system where many more children from rural areas and the inner-cities of America could be educationally prepared to attend America's best colleges.

Jeanne, I agree with P6. Its the ladies first thing. And parka or no parka, most men can spot a woman at a hundred paces.

The criticisms of Mr. Obama's equivocations are on the mark. But I think this trait has to do with his inexperience as an executive rather than moral laxity on his part.

By Constitutional design, the Senate is a conservative body. It's privileged role in international commerce and six year term make it less responsive to certain domestic partisan concerns. Incumbent senators rarely need to campaign as doggedly as lower house members. They serve permanent interests. The task is for progressives is is to build the institutions that can rival AIPAC and the Christian Coalition in influence. The NAACP and other traditional advocacy groups have proved wholly incapable of performing this function.

I think Senator Obama gets a pass from many black folks because of his marriage to a conspicuously self-assured sista. With his background and Ivy League credentials it would have been all too easy to bond with a white or Asian woman and work in the well-heeled suites of corporate America. Unlike white pundits, black people are quite adept a discerning elitism especially among black professionals.

I will confess that I lack the skill to gracefully outmaneuver covert racial attacks without appearing unduly angry. There is no handbook for doing this, which is why I asked P6 if he would ever consider writing one. For young G's, not just Barack, its a rarity to access such tutelage. You jarringly learn it on your own or you follow role models.

"The criticisms of Mr. Obama's equivocations are on the mark. But I think this trait has to do with his inexperience as an executive rather than moral laxity on his part."

I don't think his equivocations have anything to do with inexperience or moral laxity.

I think Senator Obama gets a pass from many black folks because of his marriage to a conspicuously self-assured sista. With his background and Ivy League credentials it would have been all too easy to bond with a white or Asian woman and work in the well-heeled suites of corporate America. Unlike white pundits, black people are quite adept a discerning elitism especially among black professionals.

He NEVER would have made it to the Senate without Michelle.

Period.

He NEVER would have made it to the Senate without Michelle.

This is probably true. But he could easily have been Solicitor General or some other appointed position. Or he could have been a really paid brother with a yacht in the Hamptons.

Totally OT, but thanks for recommending The Wages of Destruction . I'm thinking of writing a long review and shooting it by P6 to see if he'll put it up as a guest post.

It is truly an amazing book and I have to admit my head is still spinning. I read and reread the last chapter, where he summarizes the findings, and I spent a lot of time today inspecting the footnotes (I finished the book around 5AM "yesterday" night).

I won't even check the spelling (unless you insist...)

James, you're quite welcome and I look forward to reading your review. Indeed, that last chapter required some considerable time for me to digest and I'm still a little uncertain about what it all means in the contemporary domestic and international crises. I would ask that you try to keep your exegesis as elementary as possible for folks like me. (I find economists tend to be like physicists and use a lot of technical jargon which impedes the general reader.) By the way, I'm surprised that Tooze didn't make it to CSPAN's BookTV. And also conspicuously omitted from the In Depth series is Amiri Baraka. Here is a link compiling several reviews that I bookmarked a while ago.

Submariner and James -

I read a review of Tooz's book this morning. It seems extremely interesting. I'll pick up a copy when I get through the pile at my bedside and on my desk. Thanks.

A have a friend who, when Obama seems to sell-out, gives him the benefit of doubt because of Michelle.