Last week, the famous Reverend Jesse Jackson, a civil rights activist and the first African American to have had a shot at the Democratic nomination for president made a huge gaffe: he did not know that his mic was on when he made an assertion ( "Barack Obama talks down to Blacks") and an aggressive comment on how we would like to punish Obama for being demeaning towards the African-Americans !
You can imagine how much hype this caused. One of the most famous and revered African American making such a rude comment when he thought he was off the record.
Another factor that hyped this up was the fact that Jesse Jackson Jr, the reverend's own son made a resounding criticism of these remarks and disowned his father in a way no one ever had. Jesse Jackson Jr. has been involved in running the Obama campaign since the beginning and is one of his staunchest supporters. Watch the video of the CNN anchor reading out the statement of Jesse Jackson Jr repudiating his father's remarks (in the background a video of Jesse Jackson Sr.)
Why is it possible for Reverend Jesse Jackson to say such a thing? What in Obama's campaign pushed him to take such a radical stance?
Basically the main reproach Jesse Jackson and other African-Americans have been making to the Obama campaign is that he is too intent on pleasing the white electorate and thus takes the Black vote for granted. For instance, some of Obama's speaches on how Black men should take reponsibility for the actions and truly fulfill the parental duties. To them, such rhetoric seems designed to reassure the white voters on Obama's values and his desire to "reform" the broken Black family and encourage young Black men to be responsible fathers and citizens, and thus probably less threatening than the perenial cliché of the "angry Black man".
The left-wing of the Democratic Party, along with many Black politicians and activists see this as a white crowd pleasing gimmick, steering the debate away from the real issues : the deep-rooted causes of Black poverty.
I think that Obama is developing a very traditional discourse on personal responsibility, well tailored to his own success story ( son of a Kenyan immigrant) and deeply rooted in American values of self-help, courage and work. This is characteristic of the shift to the center operated by Obama for the general election campaign (see previous post).
What does it mean about Barack Obama's campaign and his relationship to the African-American community?
I think that what we are seeing is remarkable and historic : the arrival of a new generation of politicians who have not been part of the civic rights movement of the 1950s-60s. Barack Obama's message is not specifically designed to please the African-American community nor will his policies be specifically oriented towards them. Previously most Black politicians had more or less represented Black constituencies and had been thus most focussed on the needs of their community.
As he is trying to create a new brand brand of "post-racial" politics, Obama has been wary of appearing as the Blacks' candidate and thus may well have erred on the side of non-racial partisanship.
No one seriously believes that the Black community will come out for McCain in November, but one may wonder how the global strategy of the campaign will affect the old-guard of the civic rights movement who still wields quite a bit of political weight within the African-American community ( a bit more that 10% of the American population). Will the Blacks vote in November? Can Obama win without them? and how would it playout during his presidency?
Should he take the Black vote for granted?
Are we really seeing the end of racial politics with Obama or is he a Black politician trying to be White?
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