13 November 2008

A LITTLE BIT CLOSER TO COLORBLIND



" (...) Not to put a sour note on the celebrations, but I can’t help wonder at what will happen to race relations in the US now. I suspect a lot of folks will feel that if a black man can be elected president, from a single parent household and with not a whole lot of connections and help, then why should other black folks deserve help and assistance? There may be a feeling that if Obama can do it, why can’t the rest of you out there pull yourselves up by your own bootstraps? There might be a feeling that, 'Hey, how can anyone claim that there is discrimination now? So why are we spending all this money to help folks?'



Well, the US is still largely a racist country that discriminates — that isn’t going to change in one night. But the election definitely does give one hope that most of the country can put that aside and inch a little bit closer to being colorblind. A friend who was going door to door for Obama in Pennsylvania, hitting the houses where the voters were undecided, got into discussions during which many of the white folks claimed to agree with Obama’s positions, but some, mysteriously, just couldn’t take the next step of saying they were going to vote for him. She, the volunteer, suspected it was race that might be holding them back, and carefully pressed them on that point. Some of them admitted that that’s what it was, whereupon she sometimes said, 'It’s OK to be racist [or something to that effect] but don’t you want to vote for what’s right for your country? You can still be racist and vote for a better life for yourselves'. Wow, don’t know if I could have pulled that line of reasoning out of a hat! No doubt about it, it’s a huge step that’s been taken. Gives one a little faith in human beings for a change". (post integral: David Byrne Journal)

(2008)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Eu ainda não entendi essa afirmação continua da midia, aí incluindo: artistas, jornalistas, famosos etc, de que a vitória de Obama foi uma vitória do politicamente correto. Acho que quem nasceu pós 60, não tem essa visão de raça, que na realidade não existe. Ele ganhou porque fez a melhor campanha, tinha mais dinheiro e de certa forma representa para os mais jovens a esperança do pai-estado. A utopia europeia na América. Só isso. O "We can", é mais "I can". Ele fez uma campanha muito livro de auto ajuda, muito ídolo pop. Mas acho a idéia toda muito 68/70. A falta de um "Salvador Pai", em pleno sec. XXI pode dizer muito sobre este começo de século.

João Lisboa said...

"Acho que quem nasceu pós 60, não tem essa visão de raça, que na realidade não existe"

De que planeta acabou de chegar?

"essa afirmação continua da midia"

Ora bem, poderia fazer o favor de, entre os falantes do Português do Brasil, esclarecer os outros que dizer e escrever "a mídia" é um triplo erro:

- "mídia" é o aportuguesamento de uma palavra latina ("media") incorrectamente pronunciada pelos anglo-americanos... o que nós, latinos, não deveríamos imitar;

- "media" é o plural de "medium", nunca no singular ("A mídia"), portanto;

- diz-se, pois, "um medium" ou os "media", nunca "a media" ou "as media", no feminino.

Muito agradecido.