Editorial
The Light at the End of the Racism Tunnel
In 2008, Leo Tavares* convinced his mother to vote for Barack Obama. He actually walked with his politically naïve mother into the voting booth and told her who to pull the lever for. But poor Leo made a huge tactical error: He had, in hindsight, wanted John McCain as his president. It’s just that, for the moment, Obama’s name had been all the rage; and in a moment of confusion, he’d told his mother what to do and thus, another vote was cast for America’s first black president.
Four years ago, Leo was 6 years old. Today, the 10 year old is all the more aware of his rookie mistake and does not intend to repeat history. This November, Leo is going to ensure that his mother’s vote rightfully goes to Mitt Romney. We tried to get Leo – without badgering the child – to tell us what was so wrong with Obama and so right about Romney or McCain. In that matter of fact way of his, Leo simply said he just thought both Romney and McCain looked acceptable while Obama was not.
Now, without necessarily going into palpitations over race and the negativity around racism, this young man’s profound deduction – whether pleasant or not – is based on the fact that there are just not that many African Americans around regular white folks.
Poor Leo does not know why he should support Obama over Romney – but knows for a fact that Romney is acceptable and Obama is not. It is pure instinct and we cannot blame a young person for seeking to further people of his skin color. Besides, how is he supposed to know that Obama belongs to a much bigger system called the Democratic Party? How is this boy supposed to know that a Black Democratic president can provide just as much as a White Republican aspirant?
But of course, he cannot know this. And it all comes down to one thing: There are just not enough black people to go around positively influencing society at the grassroots.
Standing at less than 50 million strong, the black population of the United States does not stand a chance when it comes to opportunities.
Yes … Our Emmanuel Musaazi writes an eloquent opinion piece on elements of race – but makes the salient point that there is also the soft bigotry of low expectations. In essence, Leo expects nothing but good things from white men and not as much from people of another race. He is aware that Obama is black and although he does not articulate this, what prevents him from endorsing this good and decent man stems from a psychological disposition towards his own kind.
