The American Election: The quick sands of race?

Aug 31, 2008 Features / Columnists, Ronald Sanders

By Sir Ronald Sanders

When Hillary Clinton proposed Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States, and the vote was carried by acclamation at the Democratic Party’s convention, African-Americans and people of colour were imbued with a sense of equality that few, if any, would have experienced before.

Like Michelle Obama, many of them would have reason to be proud of their country for the first time.

And, they would not have been unpatriotic or less American for feeling that way whatever spin the right wing journalists and political strategists put on that emotion.

The majority of white American society have ill-treated, victimised and hurt non-whites – particularly black people – for centuries.

Few openly condemned the behaviour of active racists and many remained silent while black people were pushed further into the margins of American society.

People of colour in America had a right not to feel proud of their country. The vast majority of them were, and still are, at the bottom of the economic ladder, and despite the prominent black faces that now dot the landscape of American establishment, they are under-represented in the corridors of power, while they are over-represented in jails, in the junior ranks of the armed forces and in the myriad low-paying jobs across the United States.

Forty-five years ago to the day on which I am writing this commentary Martin Luther King led a march on Washington, 100 years after the emancipation of slavery and, in his famous speech, said: “One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land”.

What the Democrats did on the night of 26 August 2008 was to make it clear that they were lifting the barrier that exiled black people in their own land.

Making Barack Obama the leader of their party and their candidate for the Presidency of the United States demonstrated an acceptance that a non-white American was every bit as capable as white Americans to run the affairs of their nation.

It was as historic an occasion as Martin Luther King’s speech itself. And, it finally paid part of the Note promised by the American constitution and which King described as a bad check- “America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’.”

At that time, King reminded America “of the fierce urgency of now”, and said: “Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood”.

It did not happen then; the fierce urgency of now was not felt by all. Change came dramatically but in fits and starts.

The nomination by the Democratic Party of a non-white man to be President of the United States has helped to change America more; to help lift it from the quick sands of racial injustice. But, it is not yet on the solid rock of brotherhood.

The nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic Presidential nominee has not achieved that goal, and it will not be achieved even if he is elected President of the United States, but at least the Democrats have set American society much further on the way.

And for this, much is owed to both Hillary and Bill Clinton. Obama could have wanted no more a ringing endorsement than he got from both of them in their speeches to the Democratic convention. They spoke with passion, commitment and without reservation.

They could have done it differently. Had they done so, they would have strangled Obama’s bid for the White House, and caused America once again to send non-white people a bad check.

Dr King’s famous admonition would have again held sway: “There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges”.

In the trenches of political battle with Obama, the Clintons who are seasoned and determined politicians pushed close to the edge, even once coming close to playing the race card.

But, in the end, they responded to a wider and more powerful call to right ancient wrongs and to help set America on the road of justice and equality.

Their unequivocal support of Obama on all counts has made it difficult for the Republicans and their Presidential Candidate, John McCain, to use race against him. The Clintons deserve credit for this.
They also deserve credit for maintaining the unity of the Democratic Party.

They knew quite well that a divided party would not defeat the Republicans, not even with its poor record of the last eight years, and they subjugated their own bitterness at losing to Obama in the interest of the Party’s victory.

In any event, Obama has jumped yet another hurdle in the race to make history. But the race is far from over and it enters now for him and for the electorate of the United States the acid test phase. The contenders are down to two. One white, one non-white.

Eight years of war-mongering and poor economic performance are indelible stripes against the Republicans and John McCain.

McCain has declared himself on staying in Iraq, a deeply unpopular position with the American people, and he has openly admitted that he has no firm grasp of the problems that beset the US economy.

McCain is old, Obama is young. It should be game, set and match for Obama. Yet, the polls don’t show an overwhelming lead; yet the pundits express doubts.

Is it that many Americans have been pulled from the quick sands of racial bigotry, but not enough of them have reached the rock of brotherhood? That, indeed, there, is still not a fierce urgency of now on this issue. The next few months will tell.

Sir Ronald Sanders is a business executive and former Caribbean diplomat who publishes widely on small states in the global community. Reponses to: [email protected]