Fall from grace

In the previous post, I mentioned Hillary Clinton's repeated efforts to point out Barack Obama's difficulty winning over working-class white voters, most famously in a USA Today interview from last week. She's since semi-retracted her words, admitting that they weren't terribly wise. 

But since I didn't let Barack Obama off the hook very easily for his remarks about working-class voters "clinging to guns and religion," there's no way Clinton's remarks can be allowed to pass. Thing is, there's nothing I can say that wasn't said better in this article from The Root, which spells out how this kind of race-baiting from Clinton is, more than anything, incredibly disappointing and sad. The Clintons have historically been known as champions of equality, and have enjoyed great support from black voters. That she would tarnish this well-deserved reputation in order to keep the faint heartbeat of her campaign beating reflects poorly on her.

Sadly, she may have a point when it comes to electability. It is possible that there are enough American voters who simply won't vote for a black candidate that Obama will fall short in November. But this is no reason to deny the nomination he's earned. Moreover, it's a  dismissal of all that civil rights leaders have achieved to suggest that, on the precipice of making history, a black candidate should be pushed aside because "people aren't ready" for him. 

If not now, when? To back away from this moment due to real or perceived racism is to give in to it.