Frank Rich: In Defense Of White Americans

IT seems like a century ago now, but it was only in 2005 that a National Journal poll of Beltway insiders predicted that George Allen, then a popular Virginia senator, would be the next G.O.P. nominee for president. George who? Allen is now remembered, if at all, as a punch line. But any post-mortem of the Great Republican Collapse of 2008 must circle back to the not-so-funny thing that happened on his way to the White House.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[DickTater]

I wanted B H O to do well, win the whole thing, for the last (almost) 2 years
Primary emotion driving me was that I am so ashamed of how white power elites have abused the avg.whitefolks(AWF) sense of fairness/justice.

AWF have always voted for equal rights once it got on a ballot. And AWF were not the one keeping it OFF the ballot. Maybe not EVERYone rightaway....but AWF have been solidly behind fairness and equality. And guess who has to make room/ move over / share the wealth? AW. They had to make the concessions, whiteguy has his numbers reduced and diluted by gains from other quarters. Without much grumbling, either.

However, the white rich elite who really move all the levers of powers....has never budged. The White Power Elite has stolen and mocked and disregarded all the sacrificing of AWF. And given us all a bad name in the process. White Power Elites are still chasing skirts around their boardrooms. Still making laws that keep THEM in charge and Rich. It is apparent....they are noteven paving the way for all other whites to step up to the big leagues....no, they keep it in the family.

White Power Elites have their foot on the necks of our whole society, except their own. B H O changes that at one stroke. A real american, from avg america, vaulted over these quivering white bluebloods who have sold us out, every day, every decade. Enough of them.

[RGray]

Thank you, Mr. Rich. What a powerful article. You have done much to give hope to and restore a little faith in the better nature of this country.

[harriettubman]

Today I heard a Spanish guy on CNN saying Hispanics shouldn't vote for Obama because he has not mentiioned the immigration issue during his campaign. Here we go people. These self interest groups who believe their beliefs come before any major crisis in this country. It's against the law. It's simple, if you're illegal, it is not an issue and you should be deported.

[sacrebleu]

"It's simple, if you're illegal, it is not an issue and you should be deported."

Somehow I don't think Harriet Tubman would have taken such a harsh stance on immigration.

[psychmaj323]

Times were different back then.

[harriettubman]

Hillary lost a lot of black support when she said "hard working white Americans..." That did it for a lot of black folks for her. I don't know if it was a slip of the tongue or she meant it. Obama includes all and that's the way it should be.

[master09]

Thank you Mr Rich.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

I recall a comment Barack made while stumping during the primary. He said he had people coming up to him, whispering in his ear...."I am a republican, but I am voting for you." Barack's response was " Its ok, I'll never tell." That brought the house down. Why, on so many levels that comment spoke volumes. It said, people are capable of looking beyond race, thier party lines to vote for the person whom they see that will best serve the American People. The sad part about that person whispering, they didn't have the guts to ignore what others thought, to have the courage to just vote with thier heart. It had to be done in silence, as if it was a bad thing. Its never a bad thing when you know its right. If your gut is telling you to do it, screw what others think about your choice, its the right thing. Its when we get locked into this need to please others, that we do the wrong thing. Millions of Americans have said I dont care what others think, I am voting the way I see is the right choice. Can't get any more right than that.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

When St. Louis hired its first black police chief, everyone thought it woudln't work, that he would be a disasster in the making. Guess what? That man went on to become Mayor of St. Louis. He was one of the most respected, honored, honest guys St. Louis has had. He was in such demand, he left St. Louis to become Police Chief in another state. My point is this, You cannot and must not judge a man or or woman based on color. To Judge Barack only on his race, which is bi racial, is to ignore the years he spent obtaining and working for his college degree, the time he worked doing pro bono work in inner cities. I cringe when I see and hear people throwing out lie after lie about how bad he will be as he is black. Wehad a lilly white president named Bush who destroyed this country single handedly. Not giving Barack the chance he so deserves is to rob a man of his civil rights. But it would rob the people of America the chance to move beyond biggotry once and for all, We have the power to do this, and cannot let fear, lies, rumor or innuendo dictate our choices. Good men have led us before and can do it again. In this case that man is Barack Obamma.

[lafrance]

the press is the most out of touch brain dead people around. I feel like throwing things at the television most of the time with their obsession on race.
the voters mostly don't care if the guy looks like bigfoot. All they care about is if the guy is competent and will make sure their are good jobs and the economy runs well.
Obama won the most white states in the Union. They simply are not looking at race.
I live in a small city that white overwhelmingly elected a black mayor over and over until he retired because he was good. They did not care about his color.
And Rockford is not the most progressive town around by a long shot.

[thegirlnextdoor]

Hay, I marked my absentee ballot with the reguired "black med point pen' that i had to ransack the house to find and I am planning to save that pen and maybe even frame it. I'm white and that's how glad I am to have a candidate to vote FOR!

[MrHumidty]

I appreciate Rich's column. I think it makes good points.

That said, as a demographic, the voting tendencies of white America is indefensible. (And I'm white.) The corrupt and devastating GOP would not win another election if not for the overwhelming support of the white vote. And if Obama is gaining ground with whites this time, it's only because the specter of complete financial collapse has scared the tiniest bit of sense into them. If not for that, the race would probably be even (only to be stolen by the GOP on the 4th).

Speaking of demographics, I wish the rest of America had the good political sense of black women. Among other things, they were (as a group) opposed to the Iraq war when it was wildly popular with the rest of the country.

[Gatormouth]

Racism is a complex thing. It can indicate a slight or great preference for or against, an uneasiness or a fear, hostility or unthinking loyalty. I just but you could find that some of the voters in the primary in mostly white Iowa were to some degree "racist" too. So what. It didn't get much in the way of their decision if they were. A lot of blacks respect FDR (white), a lot of whites revere MLK (black). Maybe as a nation we are growing in maturity. It seems the more we can communicate with each other the more difficult we are to deceive and control.

[guajiro]

"It seems the more we can communicate with each other the more difficult we are to deceive and control."

It used to be only the wealthy and powerful controlled AND OWNED the media (Hearst Media Empire) and thus controlled what the people knew. No longer. With the advent of the Internet the people now can themselves be news editors, editing false stories and presenting videos, pictures and other proof of the veracity of what they say versus the "official" media storyline. It is why Newt Gingrich tried to get Congress to pass an amendment either prohibiting or diminshing the public's ability to use the Internet. They succeeded partially in getting the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that Internet service providers are responsible for the content of it's users messages.
"Newt Gingrich called for a reexamination of free speech at the Loeb First Amendment Award Dinner in New Hampshire this week, saying a "different set of rules to prevent terrorism" are necessary."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15951435/

[jdmba]

Well said! I'm a Black woman, and I think that people stick to the old Jim Crow concept of "racism" in order to make themselves feel better about their own discomfort and hostility. That way, they can say, "I'm not racist" because they can drink from the same water fountain as a person of a different race, even if they will hold them to a different standard. We can't pretend that "racism" is gone, because to Black professionals like myself, it's an insult to do so.

THAT SAID.... So what? There IS a bigger picture in this election. When the ship is sinking, everyone pulls together to dig out the water and float to safety. We are still Americans, and as Obama has said, "We rise and fall together." Ultimately, people's fear of a destitute nation outweighs their fears of people who look different than them. As we develop more and more confidence in those that look different than us, we will no longer fear them.

[harriettubman]

It's not that complex to me. What you indoctrinate into your children goes down many generations. I'm glad Obama gave the speech about race. It's high time American confront their racial feelings and why they still cling to such idiocy.

[bayside]

I believe electing Obama ,a man of color will do much in the worlds eyes to see that most americans have grown up finally..Bet there will be a time soon when gender ,race does not matter ...Ability will be first and foremost..

[guajiro]

I think we just saw that these last 8 yrs, no? Russia ran roughshod over Georgia with impunity knowing the U.S. is stuck in Iraq. Bush is now pleading for North Korea to be exempted from his own "axis of evil" list, China is predicted to surpass the U.S. GDP in about 5 yrs, Russia is a superpower once again, the Latin countries, Russia, China, and middle east countries have formed consortiums in trade in which the U.S. is excluded, Venezuela has accepted Sukhoi fighter jets, tanks, armed personnel carriers, weapons, etc, from Russia, Iran is on the verge of nuclear capability, left with a surplus the conservative party has spent this country into trillion dollar debts, our economy is in a severe recession bordering a depression, etc. Obviously ability has not been the conservative party's forte these last 8 yrs and the last 30 yrs when one considers the conservative philosophy that got us here. The time when ability is needed is NOW, not soon, now, and it is why Barack is leading in the polls. People's 401k's, their loss of jobs, longer working hours, more repressive corporate behavior towards workers, has all added up to support for Barack, NOW.

[topkatnc]

I don't think I want to know if anyone is a republican anymore. To me is a character flaw.

[Bongborg]

The most special moment for me in this campaign was the day after Bill Clinton's speech for Obama when I spoke to my stepfather, a 77 year old Alabama WWII vet, who once told me a black man would never be President, and he told me Bill Clinton had convinced him to vote for Obama the night before. Just the other day I told him Andy Griffith had endorsed Obama and it brought a huge smile to his face.

[Rusel deMaria - Huffpost Blogger]

Folks, if you want to see a real end to the divisiveness and blind partisanship, the ignorance and the destructive labeling of our culture wars, join the New National Dialog Project on Facebook. We're just starting the work of bringing unity back to the United States.