Like millions of Americans, I watched President Obama deliver his speech before Congress and the US Supreme Court. As I sat in my accountant’s office, doing my taxes, I wondered what his vision of America really meant for me, and the millions who really needed his help.
I appreciated the sense of hope and the vision of prosperity that he offered. But I have a great deal of concern about who will benefit from his reforms. For instance, of the 3.5 million jobs created by his stimulus package, how many will be created in communities of color? Will the Black men in New York City, who have experienced double-digit unemployment throughout the Bush administration, receive any of these jobs? I don’t hear a plan for them.
Then there was his repeated use of the phrase working families, a phrase that the mainstream media and politicians use as racial coding for white middle-class voters. There are a lot of us who don’t fit that definition, but still deserve the respect and attention of our President. He need not fall into the race-baiting of previous administrations, like the Reagan-era Welfare Queen. I’d like to think that President Obama is better and smarter than that. Such shorthand will only play into the hands of his opposition and potentially divide the constituency that elected him.
And then he said something really pricked my ears. “In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle class in history.” I hope that the President also remembers the racial reality of that era as well. He should remember how the Federal Housing Association downgraded the creditworthiness of mixed race neighborhoods and required mortgage underwriters to include racially restrictive covenants. So as President Obama restructures our economy, he’d do well to remember this history, and not repeat it.
Ironically, what came to mind as I finished my tax forms last night was Jesse Jackson’s old line, “Keep hope alive!” If President Obama makes good on a vision that embraces racial justice for us all, I’m willing to hang on just a bit longer.
Tammy,
I don't agree with your interpretation of Obama using "racial coding" or "race baiting" when he uses the phrase 'working people'. Working people including everyone from the working poor to working professionals to corporate and political leaders. It includes all people who contribute to this society as volunteers and wage earners. Working people includes individuals from every age group, ability/disability, ethnicity, gender, immigration status, nationality, language, sexuality and any other identity group one can think of. It is not a discriptor that is limited to persons of European descent.
As a descendent of people that were forcefully transported from their native country over 300 years ago I know that the moment my ancestors hit America's shores they started working. They were not free to chose the work that they would do because they were slaves. But from day one they were contributors to this nation's development. When my ancestors were freed over 150 years ago they continued to work. They helped shape this nation's geography, religion, politics, industry, technology, medicine, art, music and more just like the majority of persons with similar and very different ancestry. My people benefited from the GI Bill. They also benefited from integration, civil rights legislation, education and housing reforms and many other progressive movements over the last 60 years.
As a progressive I am weary of victim politics. It is time to move on. It is time to claim what is right and good about ourselves as a people, our evolving society and government while expecting responsible attitudes and behavior from all those around us.
No more excuses. And I am not saying this because I am privledged. My people have all worked for a living. My family has always reached out to help others make they way, even when we had little to spare.
Obama did not make a reference to working people in the same light the Reagan referred to welfare mothers. Reagan's intent was to demean women, mothers and persons of color. We knew it when he said it and we know it when we hear it from others today. Obama recognized the people that the very engin of this nation. We are the ones that make it function and proper. Working people are you and me, high and low.
We are the ones that wake up each morning, energized or tired, knowing that we are personally responsible for sustaining ourselves and our families. We do it by sweeping floors, washing dishes, picking up garbage, caring for children, teaching, healing the sick, creating art and new technology, providing for public safety, sarting businesses and contributing to the development of policies that recognize and support the humanity in all of us.
We need to let go of old rhetoric that divide us rather than bringing us together. We need to create and use new language and tools that help us to solve problems that apply to all of us. I will not accept anyone that does not recognize my humanity or worth. Nor will I allow anyone to limit my will based on a false understanding of my identity. I will only accept characterizations of who I am and what I do when it is based on the content of my character and my ability and willingness to contribute. I work not just because it is expected. I work because it is the function of being a co-creator in this life.
Delorme