Regarding the article “Obama’s post-racial promise” by Shelby Steele (a self-described Black Conservative) that appeared in the Los Angeles Times as an Op-Ed piece on Nov. 5, 2008, I have the following remarks:
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STEELE: Barack Obama seduced whites with a vision of their racial innocence precisely to coerce them into acting out of a racial motivation.
RA: This is a rather omniscient declaration. Exactly how does Steele know such a thing? Answer: He doesn’t.
In order for Steele to make this accusation he would have to: a) be able to read into Obama’s heart to check his motivations; or b) have some document wherein Obama and/or his campaign people stated something like: “And here’s where we can seduce whites with a vision of their racial innocence in order to coerce them into acting out of a racial motivation.”
I read the article and I see no reference to any such document. And I know that Steele can’t read minds/hearts. (Only God can read into a person’s mind/heart.) So, his accusation here is really worth a whole lot of nothing.
Moreover, it’s decidedly offensive for him to suggest that the white people who voted for Obama did so not because of any agreement they may have felt with his perspectives, plans, or promises—but because of some magickal spell he had placed over their guilt-ridden consciences that caused them to see nothing but his black skin. And in an effort to demonstrate a lack of racism in them, they voted for him—i.e., the Black man. That is not only an arrogant claim to make by Steele, but one of the most baseless observations of the election that I have yet heard.
STEELE: Does his victory mean that America is now officially beyond racism? Does it finally complete the work of the civil rights movement so that racism is at last dismissible as an explanation of black difficulty? Can the good Revs. Jackson and Sharpton now safely retire to the seashore? Will the Obama victory dispel the twin stigmas that have tormented black and white Americans for so long—that blacks are inherently inferior and whites inherently racist? Doesn’t a black in the Oval Office put the lie to both black inferiority and white racism? Doesn’t it imply a “post-racial” America?
RA: This is one of the most loaded and meaningless series of rhetorical questions ever asked in a legitimate newspaper article. It was a waste of time to write, and a waste of time to read.
Obviously, the answer to all of these questions is “no.” And if Steele were paying any attention at all to anything or anyone besides himself, he would see that no one is saying otherwise. In fact, during Obama’s victory speech, the President-Elect made it all very clear to those who had an ear to hear:
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there. There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
Was Steele listening? I doubt it. And this remark was made on CNN: “I went and looked back at the Constitution, and the first sentence talks of our desire to form ‘a more perfect union.’ We haven’t done that, but we’re still striving” (Gloria Borger, contributing editor and columnist for US News and World Report and a Senior Political Analyst at CNN, Nov. 4, 2008, CNN News Election Coverage). Was Steele listening? Apparently not.
