Ferraro's Race Argument Isn't Insulting to Obama; It's Insulting to Democrats

When Obama started doing well in the Presidential primaries, I was actually embarassed.

That feeling came because I remembered two middle-aged white guy friends of mine who had told me months ago they supported Obama, drawn by the promise of a young, smart leader with good ideas who seemed poised to implement them without resorting to the same old nonsense of our political past.

I liked his approach and ideas, but I had a much more cynical view of race politics. I never thought he'd have a chance because I assumed America would never really let him compete.

So to hear so-called progressive politicians such as Geraldine Ferraro complain that Obama is only ahead in the Democratic primary race because of his race, sounds to these ears like hearing news that cats have been found on the moon.

You mean, somebody thinks being a black man with the name Barack Hussein Obama is a bigger advantage than being the wife of the most successful Democratic president since John F. Kennedy?

Then Politico.com blogger Ben Smith on Tuesday highlighted a compelling nugget: Ferraro said the same thing back in 1988 about Jesse Jackson. And back then, her views were echoed by that great paragon of racial equality, Ronald Reagan.

Smith quotes Washington Post writer Howard Kurtz's 1988 story: "former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his "radical" views, "if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race."

Asked about this at a campaign stop in Buffalo, Jackson at first seemed ready to pounce fiercely on his critics. But then he stopped, took a breath, and said quietly, "Millions of Americans have a point of view different from" Ferraro's.

Discussing the same point in Washington, Jackson said, "We campaigned across the South . . . without a single catcall or boo. It was not until we got North to New York that we began to hear this from Koch, President Reagan and then Mrs. Ferraro . . . . Some people are making hysteria while I'm making history."- Howard Kurtz (WaPo, April 15, 1988)"

Ferraro still seems amazed by the concept that there is a problem with attributing Obama's 13-million votes in this year's primary elections solely to his race. She says, instead, that people who criticize her are being racist and that she was complimenting the way black people have supported Obama.

This is the way Democrats will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in this election; allowing dunderheads like Ferraro -- whose biggest political claim to fame is being part of the team which got annihilated by the Republicans in 1984 -- to drive wedges between a coalition which was poised to unseat the Republicans in November.

Ferraro's words also raise another complaint I've heard recently; that Obama is winning because America is more sexist than racist. Leave aside the notion that comparing disadvantages in this way is absurd -- women and black folks suffer from different kinds of oppresion in different ways -- the thesis also ignores some powerful facts.

There are more females than black males serving as governors, Congresspeople, and cabinet members. I wonder how any of them would feel about people who said they got their jobs because they were female? (And does Ferraro agree that she got her spot on Mondale's ticket because she's female?)

If Clinton wins this way -- basically encouraging working class white people and women to turn on Obama through race-based attacks -- the young people and black folks who were so excited about this election will stay home in November and John McCain will be president. Because nobody plays wedge issues and the fear game like the Republicans.

This is why I wound up voting for Obama when the primary rolled around in Florida. I'm tired of fear mongering, wedge politics and Democratic ineptitude. And, though I'm sure Obama cannot pull off everything he thinks he can as president, I'm desperate enough for a change that I'm willing to give him a shot.

Frankly, Ferraro's assumption that people like me voted for Obama because he self-identifies as a black man is less insulting to Obama and more insulting to me.

She better hope we get over our anger before November, or the Democratic party is going to pay the price.

Follow Eric Deggans on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Deggans

Comments

[CorinneA]

It is sad about Ferraro. It could be due to the multiple myeloma: confusion and severe pain due to rapid bone degradation are symptoms. On average, her suvival from the time that she was diagnosed is less than 3 years to just more than 5 years.

[rubicon101]

Obama is a fraud! Don't beleive it? Check out Baracks Pastor (spiritual mentor ) for the past 20 years..His name is Pastor Jeramiah Wright.. This man is an outright racist who claims we deserved 9/11 among other things. This Pastor despises people other than his own race...I already heard 4 or 5 speeches this person has made..disp­icable...a­nd we want Barack Obama to lead this country..yea right..

[Tankan]

Finger on the pulse analysys!

The big corporations want Obama stopped at any cost, McCain or Clinton are the chosen ones!

[Dailyfare]

"And, though I'm sure Obama cannot pull off everything he thinks he can as president, I'm desperate enough for a change that I'm willing to give him a shot."

Exactly.

"First, do no harm."

[lynninny]

I see nothing but extremely personal jealousy, and whining, on the part of Ferraro, that her preferred candidate, who was expected to have an easy ride to the nomination, is being challenged by Obama. She sounds so shrill and angry in her comment, and of course, racist. What an IDIOT. "They better not antagonize people like me?" What the HELL?

To find that she said the same thing about Jesse Jackson is appalling. HRC should indeed "denounce AND condemn" these remarks, and Ferraro herself.

I can only hope that this unites more people behind Obama. I think that he has kept his integrity through a lot of pure crap from the Clinton camp. I am going to DANCE in the STREETS the day that he wins the nomination.

[D2D2]

On point! As naive as it makes me, I am utterly shocked by Ferraro's comments, not to mention the dangerous tactics employed by the Clinton campaign to appeal to fear and racism to win the nomination. I've said it before and I'll say it again...it may win you the nomination but it will most assuredly lose you the general election.

[flyguy14222]

And Sen. Obama had better hope that the republicons get over pastor Rev. Wright. Should he be the nominee (Obama), McCain will be showing this nightly.

[eridees]

And what about Hagee? Last time I checked McCain has yet to distance himself from this lunatic! Your argument does not hold water.

[DietrichMoody]

It shows that some Democrats are still dealing with race and gender issues. Have they learned anything since 9/11? Nope. No self reflection, just stick to the same old stump and way of thinking.

Sad for the Democrats, if they do not see it. Because this has nothing to do with race, its about jaded careless talk. That's what gets people roiled. Cynical jaded boastful careless talk. And more of generational disconnect than anything.

What is more Reagan Era than Gerry Ferraro. What is more behind in the times, than Gerry making the same statements in 2008 as she did in 1988. It's a cynical generational disconnect ans she does not get it.

Gerry like Bill Clinton and Hillary along with their ilk think that Obama - is Jesse Jackson-lite. But is many other things, than just his race, plus Obama does not have the chip on his shoulder that Jesse or Gerry have. It's generational and it is what makes Obama appealing. She doesn't get it. The woman needs to look in the mirror.

[MissDarla]

Hey Eric,
I'm a democratic and have worked in social services all of my life. Given the fact the Ms. Fararo's comment was taken completely out of context (I urge you to read it in it's entire and observe the forum in which it was given), I did not find it the least bit offensive. What I do find offensive is that the Obama camp chose to pick this portion of her comment and change it to "Barack Obama is lucky he is black" (which was not what she said --the bit was actually Barack Obama is lucky to be who he is) four days after the comment was made and the day before the primary in Mississippi as a way to play the race card. That is divisive and paints these people who have done more for race in the country than he in a very hurtful and misrepresented way. That is not all helpful to the democratic party. Does that make me racist too?

[Ozarks]

Ferraro did this at Hillary's bidding. She is just a Hillary Shill. This Ferraro string of statements is consistent with her statements about Jesse Jackson 20 years ago. This 20 year track record show she is a racist. Hillary picked this moment to have Ferraro resumeher 20 year line about another black, Jesse Jackson. Why?one reason, the PA primary. Another prominent Hillary shill, stated PA is "White Alabama" between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Guess who Ferraro , at Hillary's insidious bidding, is hoping heeds her stupid comments? Yep, White Alabama voters in PA.

[ntmessage]

The comments lashing out against Ferraro are way over the top. Of course she made some stupid remarks. I remember her coming out to a small fundraiser for Save the Children around 15 years ago, the only politician that showed up.

Save the Children works, among other places Angola, Ethiopia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Mali, Malawi Mozambique, Sudan and South Sudan. Save the Children was small then, but it was people like Geraldine that helped this great charity grow.

Taking out and shooting some of the most pro African and pro Black supporters in history only for political gain is so disappointing. I mean her law firm is still doing work for the Obama campaign. Shame on the media for magnifying every small remark and shame on some in the Black community for not knowing who your friends really are.

[VSamuels]

And, shame on you for not recognizing that people can do great and admirable things; yet be unconscious of the window of their soul which blinds them to their inate bias. No one here is advancing that what Ms. Ferraro has done over the course of her life doesn't count for something, rather it is no buffer or natural explanation from where she can stand, and declare that she isn't somehow blinded by her own personal experiences. Is then the reasons she does such things, out of a personal sense of guilt and belief that 3rd world people are equal with whites and thus deserve the same rights and priviledges, or is the reason she does such things because she believes that fundamentally that 3rd world people are inferior and must be helped to save themselves from ruin? An affirmative answer either way, would basically yield the same result; however, the former one would show that the person was balanced and recognized the humanity in all of us, whereas the latter would show that the person was unbalanced and only recognized and believed that such people lacked humanity.

And although, I have no definitive means to put Ms. Ferraro in either column, it is not outside of bounds to believe that her comments both in 1984 and in 2008 are borne of a past era in which many whites who did help non-whites were doing so because they doubted their ability to survive, like themselves.

[ntmessage]

To say that Ferraro maintains an innate bias is something you do not know, nor can prove especially when compared to a lifetime of support for gender and race issues.

The media and the country must to be able to freely discuss issues like the voter behavior of different groups or qualities of a candidate on the facts, including ethnicity and gender, without constant fear of being attacked. I am not arguing her point, it was a stupid comment. However to broaden the public discourse beyond a select group we must be able to speak on these issues and secure credibility, especially if when gender or race is different.

We can only Move On when politics in Black America are not completely grounded in what Shelby Steele calls challenging. To look at white America and say we are going to presume that you are a racist until you prove otherwise. It is this type of thinking which impairs the country from genuine and credible growth and understanding. Ferraro does not need to prove to anyone that she is not racist, especially to people who use race or gender as a crutch, as a powerplay or as a politically motivated means to an end.

[ntmessage]

To say that Ferraro maintains an innate bias is something you do not know, nor can prove especially when compared to a lifetime of support for gender and race issues.

The media and the country must to be able to freely discuss issues like the voter behavior of different groups or qualities of a candidate on the facts, including ethnicity and gender, without constant fear of being attacked. I am not arguing her point, it was a stupid comment. However to broaden the public discourse beyond a select group we must be able to speak on these issues and secure credibility, especially if and when gender or race is different.

We can only Move On when politics in Black America are not completely grounded in what Shelby Steele calls challenging. To look at white America and say we are going to presume that you are a racist until you prove otherwise. It is this type of thinking which impairs the country from genuine and credible growth and understanding. Ferraro does not need to prove to anyone that she is not racist, especially to people who use race or gender as a crutch, as a power play or as a politically motivated means to an end.

[wolfi101]

It's not just insulting to Democrats. It's insulting to some of us Independents, too.

[jaycubed]

Geraldine Ferraro, the democratic Clarence Thomas.

[melann830]

While I understand some of the discontentment at Ferraro's commentary, we all know, at least I do, that she isn't racist and did not mean to disparage Obama as a person or a politician. She was paid to speak before an audience and asked a question to which she responded. Ferraro isn't even sure the reporter included all of the background information she gave on Obama in the article. If you listen to her interview with Ann Curry on MSNBC she clearly gives a compelling argument at how part of her commentary was taken out of context by the reporter/newspaper and printed and David Axelrod, who she has collaborated with on other campaigns, capitalized on it to discredit and disgrace Hillary Clinton's campaign. That said, she stepped down and will not fund raise for her. It would be really hilarious if David Axelrod ever contacted Gerry Ferraro in the future for fundraising efforts. To me, that would put the nail in Obama's campaign coffin. I have often felt that Obama had the wrong people working for him and now I am compelled to believe it even more.

[swheat]

the real sad thing about ferraro is that she keeps repeating the same remark and she doesn't even GET THAT IT'S RACIST. Whether or not she is racist or not is irrelevant. Her comments are so racist, it is unbelievable that she doesn't GET IT.

[AnninCA]

That's because it isn't racist.

[SaltySaltillo]

AnninCA, I don't think you know what the word "Racist" means.

[BTJ]

I think the only good thing that can come out of this debacle is maybe some more understanding of the ongoing burden of racism in this society. For some remedial reading, I'd urge you to go back and read the Kerner Commission report from 1968.
I don't think that Geraldine Ferraro or anyone else in the Clinton campaign is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood or the KKK, but I do know that racism infects our society and our thinking much more deeply and broadly than those reactionary sorts. I'm only a little younger than Ferraro and know that both of us grew up in a deeply segregated society and still suffer from the fear and guilt that such injustice engenders. No one is immune to that.
So Ferraro and her supporters may not be individually racist ideologues but, if not conscious of their own internalized prejudice and insensitivity, can certainly, if unconsciously, promote racist ideas and reactions.
What's even more troubling is that given the more deeply rooted racism and resentment in society, the 'race card' remains available for politicians to play regardless of their own opinions and beliefs if a campaign adopts a 'whatever it takes' approach to winning. In this case, as in the comments of Rendel, Bill Clinton, and others in the Clinton campaign, racism appears more and more to be a conscious tactic. James Carville's comment that Pennsylvania is 'Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Alabama in between' does not refer to the real state of Alabama, where Obama won the primary, but to the old south home of Lester Maddox, the KKK and segregated buses. It seems clear that the Clinton strategy is to appeal to this reactionary element in the electorate. And that is deeply disturbing and deserves denunciation.

[LeoMarvin]

What don't you get about that being racist code for "he's not as qualified as a white guy would be"? Not saying that's what she intended, but it is how lots of racists would say it. Hammering away at it like she did makes her at best willfully obtuse.