Reply #85: Are you serious?

[mbali]

Howard Dean did NOT invent the notion of talking about race to white audiences. And the idea that Bill Clinton is taking signals from Howard Dean is laughable. Clinton is so far beyond Dean on the issue of race - do you really believe that Clinton is following Dean's lead? Please.

I thought a lot of Dean early on. But this ridiculous insistence of his that he is the only white politician talking about race the way it should be done is bull. At first I thought he had just overstated the issue. But his refusal to back down - along with his supporters' blind obeisance to his claim - tell me that he is completely out of touch on the race issue.

As an African American, I find his attitude and comments insulting and patronizing. They also make me think that he knows very little about the complex issue of race in America and what has been going on in the area for the past 50 years. Frankly, I think that only white people who know little about the race issue would think that Dean is doing anything extraordinary in this regard.

Howard Dean is NOT on the cutting edge of the race discussion in America. In fact, he's not doing or saying anything particularly interesting, innovative or insightful. Yes, I think his heart's in the right place and that he means well. But there are many white politicians have been dealing with this issue in much more in depth than he has. He talks a good game, but what is he DOING besides talking about race? A couple of weeks ago, I asked for examples of anything Dean has actually DONE to fight for civil rights. I received not a single response. Dean supporters love to talk about Dean talking about talking about race. But that really means very little.

I'll give you an example: During the first CBC debate, in answer to a question about his favorite song, he said, "It's one you don't know. Wyclef Jean's Jaspera."

White folks may have been impressed by his cultural awareness. But I don't know a single black person who was impressed - in fact, I don't know a single black person who even BELIEVED him. Yes, perhaps he likes that song, but no one believed that this was his favorite song by a long shot. And Howard Dean liking a song by a black artist - even if it's his favorite song - is not going to make black folk want to vote for him any more than the fact that Chaka Khan sang at the Republican Convention is going to make us want to support the GOP.

But what made it worse, was his smug assertion that the black woman who asked him the question didn't know the song. What would make him think that? Does Dean really believe that he is just SO hip and into black culture that he is aware of songs that black people just don't know? And even if he believed that, it takes considerable nerve to boast about it to an African American commentator.

So, I suggest that Dean and his supporters stop claiming that he is the only white politician talking about race. Stop saying that he is the only one talking about race the "right" way - how would you know, anyway, unless you are following every white politician around the country and listening to everything they say? And, please, don't claim that Clinton "got" anything, especially his views or comments about race, from Dean. All you're doing is making him look arrogant and ridiculous to those of us who have been in the middle of this issue.