The Short Life of Post-Race America

On March 18, 2008, after the first Reverend Wright flare-up, Barack Obama gave his speech on race in America.  It was brilliant.  After Reverend Wright continued to spout off, Obama quit his church.  That was troubling.

In each Wright episode, it was clear that race, not religion, was driving the controversy.  It’s been clear for a long time that Obama’s nomination would place race front and center as an issue in this election.  (For other posts about this, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

According to Obama and his supporters, this election provides the chance to enter a  period called “post-race America,” which means getting beyond race as a divisive issue and no longer judging a person by the color of his skin.  That has big time implications for the workplace and employment law, of course. 

On June 19, while addressing a group at a fundraiser, Obama said that Republicans are going to try to smear him and try to scare voters–because he’s black.  I would have expected this from those who acknowledge their prejudice or from the hate groups who spew racial epithets.

But it was the candidate of hope and change, the one ready to take us to the post-race promised land, who threw a racial sucker punch.  When my opponents say I shouldn’t be president, when they criticize my record, when they disagree with my proposals, when they say something negative, it’s because I’m black.  That’s not playing the race card.  That’s playing the whole deck of race cards.

Post-race America, indeed.  All we have is a political race.  It’s not a total loss, however.  It won’t solve the issue of race, but if we pay close attention, it’ll sure be instructive on how to deal and not deal with our employees when it comes to that issue.

After securing the nomination, Obama has abandoned his brilliant speech on race in favor of a perverse racial reproach leveled at anyone who opposes him.  Oh well.

1. 

   John Phillips says:

   June 27, 2008 at 6:53 pm

   Thanks for the mention.