This Week in the Mercury
Monday, October 6, 2008
Election 2008 Union Boss Speaks Out On Racism and Obama
Posted by Matt Davis on Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 11:18 AM
There was some insightful commentary in this weekend's Oregonian suggesting Portlanders are living in a bliss bubble when it comes to Obama's election: We feel it's inevitable, because we're all too wrapped up in our own little worlds, the author suggests.
But it turns out, there are still those who won't vote for Obama because he's black. And I watched a clip this morning that I thought might be good for us bubble-stuck Portlanders in terms of getting some perspective on this aspect of the, er, race.
Back in July, Richard Trumka, secretary treasurer of the AFL CIO, a voluntary federation of 56 national labor unions, representing 10.5 million working Americans, addressed the issue at a United Steelworkers conference—you can head over to Youtube to watch the clip. Trumka, who's from Buttballs, Pennsylvania, (I couldn't catch the town's real name...but it's a dying town with no jobs, being left by all its young people...) recounted a conversation he'd had there with a voter about the Democratic primary.
"I'm voting for Hillary, there's no way I'd vote for Obama, he's muslim, and he doesn't wear the American flag," said the woman, according to Trumka. He pushed her, and she ultimately admitted she just didn't trust Obama, "because he's black."
In his speech, Trumka argues that "we can't tapdance around the fact" that women like the voter he talked to exist. "We can't afford to sit silently or look the other way while it's happening," he says.
But what do we do, here in Portland? It's probably best to sit tight. There's certainly a danger that by engaging on the race issue, we're seen as urban liberal elitists by the people we want least to alienate, over there in Pennsylvania. Or, now the primary's passed, in Ohio. Or even Florida. I'm reminded of the 2004 election, when readers of the UK Guardian wrote letters to soccer moms in Ohio telling them why the Jews urban liberal elite mainstream media controllers simply couldn't tolerate another term of Bush. The result? Obvious...
Trumka does a good job of rallying the base, I think, without alienating the racists. But it's such a tricky line he's walking. And I think it accounts for why nobody here in bubble town, or anywhere else on the coasts of this fine country, is chomping at the bit to discuss backwoods racism, or frontwoods racism, or racism of any kind, when it comes to this election. It's just not worth our while.
1
Is that what constitutes a 'dialogue' about race we're 'finally' having?
And this - 'recounted a conversation he'd had there with a voter about the Democratic primary ... she ultimately admitted she just didn't trust Obama, "because he's black."'
That quote is so vague and unattributable it's laughable.
It's almost like those bumf#@$ white trash lowlifes in Pennsylvania are being judged by the color of their skin.
Most Commented on Blogtown, PDX
-
Game of Thrones Recap: Calm Before the Storm Edition by Joe Streckert
-
Portland Button Works Opens on Killingsworth by Alison Hallett
-
City's "Overnight Sleeping" Program Finds First Host—and Neighbors React in Ugly Fashion by Denis C. Theriault
-
North Williams Open House by Alex Zielinski
-
We're Number One! by Alex Zielinski
-
Awesome PDX Launch Party by Alison Hallett
-
Thursday TV Recaps for Poor People! The Final Finales. by Elinor Jones
-
Win Tickets to Hecklevision: Point Break! by Erik Henriksen
-
Good Morning, News! by Nathan Gilles
-
Weekend Eatings: Corazón and The Slide Inn by Marjorie Skinner
Our Friends
- UrbanHonking
- Culture Shock
- Portland Roundball Society
- Steph Cassano
- Cort and Fatboy
- Street Roots
- Powell's Books Blog
- Portland Transport
- Portland Afoot
- Bike Portland
- Eater: PDX
- Portland Food and Drink
- Mr. Movie
- Sunday Softball
- BlueOregon
- Sightline Institute
- Ultra: Arts Portland
- Bitch Magazine
- Blazer's Edge
- Reading Local: Portland
- Portland Food Carts
- Stumptown Vegans
Our Enemies
The Handyman Pro - Your Honey-Do Specialist
Don’t let our name fool you. The Handyman Pro, LLC is a repair and remodel service provider with over 25-years experience. We cover all aspects of construction and repairs for residential and commercial clients.
RSSGoing to Seattle?
Comments (3) RSS