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by A couple of days ago, CNN posted an article entitled "Gender or race: Black women voters face tough choices in S.C." Intended as a thought piece, CNN posited that with a third of South Carolina's Democratic voters being black women, there exists a "unique, and most unexpected dilemma" where the vote would boil down to "should they vote their race, or should they vote their gender?" Almost immediately, the news agency received scathing attacks on their article for belittling the black woman voter as incapable of voting for a candidate based on anything other than race or gender. One e-mailed response voiced the complaint in a succinct mockery - "Duh, I'm a black woman and here I am at the voting booth. Duh, since I'm illiterate I'll pull down the lever for someone. Hm... Well, he black so I may vote for him... oh wait she a woman I may vote for her... What Ise gon' do? Oh lordy!"
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From the CNN article:
"""For these women, a unique, and most unexpected dilemma, presents itself: Should they vote their race, or should they vote their gender?
No other voting bloc in the country faces this choice."""
I think the fact that the author of this article qualifies the question central to this article (i.e., "Race of Gender?") by reminding readers that no other demographic has this distinct level of minority overlap is...good.
I think the piece does a good job of raising a valid point, but the execution is bad bad bad. The writing is poor and the piece really does come off as something a blond MTV VJ (is that term still used?) would say "live from MTV's winter lodge-athon in Tahoe!"
Wait a minute, the article actually says most unexpected dilemma? Crap! I see Encino-Man-era Pauly Shore didn't get the by-line...again!
Also:
Greene says that Oprah Winfrey "opened up the door for black women to take a closer look at him.
I can see how some might say that the piece asserts that female black voters are ill-informed. I think the above sentence does imply that female African Americans might not have considered Obama (let alone known who he is) had Oprah not thrown her support behind him.
And then we end with:
Either way, whether it's a woman or a black man, everyone in this salon says they agree it'd be a great day for America.
Come on.
I think the piece does a good job of raising a valid point
Wait. What I meant to say was:
"I appreciate it when large news handlers take a minute to acknowledge minority perspectives. But the topic is dealt with heavy-handedly."
There. Sorry, everyone. It's just that I got this tattoo a while back: My right forearm says, "Proofreading is for suckerz" and it's tough going against that, ya know? But I am supposed to be getting healthcare soon. First up is seeing how much the copay is on laser removal.
I keep hearing comments similar to the CNN voting preference suppositions, that is: I am a woman, therefor it is assumed I will vote for Hillary Clinton. I would like to see a woman in the White House, but not just ANY woman--I give my cvote to the candidate who best promises to fulfill my expectations, whose stance on as many subjects as possible matches mine as much as possible. I would like to see a woman in the White House--but I vote with my brain, not with my genitals, and I will be voting for a man in the upcoming presidential election.
RSS
Not an outlandish assumption for people in general - including black women by Brandon :: NR9 :: on 22 January 2008
I don't think the idea that people vote for those like them is offensive or uncommon. I also think it is very accurate that many Hilary or Obama supporters attribute at least part of their zeal to the desire to help elect the first woman or black President. Take Oprah, for example. Does anyone think she's highly involved in Obama's campaign because she identifies with his policy? Is there some fundamental issue or capability he has that has drawn her to such advocacy where she has previously not been so engaged? I doubt it. The difference maker is the color of his skin - plain and simple.
Looking at the list of other Presidential contributors, I think it's easy to see Obama gets a lot of [[ support from black celebrities]]. According to CNN, the following black celebrities gave only to Obama: Tyra Banks, Tyra Banks, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Jamie Foxx, Louis Gossett, Jasmine Guy, Hill Harper, Dennis Haysbert, Branford Marsalis, Eddie Murphy, Sidney Poitier, Chris Rock, Will Smith, Isaiah Washington, Forest Whitaker and (of course) Oprah Winfrey.
Getting back to my main point, I don't think this is a big deal. Of course, I realize the idiocy involved in claiming a particular race or gender would automatically make someone a better President, but it's easy to see how voting based on those factors isn't necessarily idiotic. There are many who could care less which Democratic candidate gets elected - for whatever reason. They just aren't that into politics - the issues, the debates, the analysis. They are, however, proud of their race or gender and they very much want to see it have a higher profile or more "power." Thus, race/gender becomes the determining factor - without insulting the voter beyond the fact that they are only informed enough to choose a party and not a particular candidate.
RE: Not an outlandish assumption for people in general - including black women by Brandon :: NR9 :: on 22 January 2008
[[ support from black celebrities]]
Disregard the brackets; the intended link is in the following sentence.
RE: Not an outlandish assumption for people in general - including black women by VnutZ :: NR8 :: on 22 January 2008
You know how they always say that newspapers are written at a dramatically dumbed down level to ensure the masses can read them? Look at the part regarding 9-17 year old's being unable to read a newspaper. The CNN article in question scores an elementary school reading requirement using the Blog Readability Test. Stereotypically speaking, the assessment may be right on the money. However, the delegates will be a much higher caliber of voter (I hope!) in which case the anger is well directed. Still, even if the assessment is "accurate" for the general group - is it something that should be said? I'm not a very PC person myself, but when you're a national voice you might have a responsibility to do so.