Race

There's a passage in "Edge of Midnight" (Should that title be in quotes by the way or italicized? I can never remember...), Bill Mann's bio of the late director John Schlesinger, where he talks about reading and listening to Schlesinger's diaries and comes across the director's memories of a trip to South Africa, and suddenly my mind went to race. These were not thoughts about the apartheid of that country, but rather past and recent struggle right here at home.

For some reason I thought about the 1977 broadcast of the groundbreaking mini-series Roots, and the way some (many?) white Americans reacted to it and to the African-Americans around them. I dimly recall a couple of stilted, awkward conversations with white acquaintances about episodes of the show; I remember reading accounts of white regret and discomfort, with a number of people saying stuff like "I didn't know", and rolling my eyes at that--You "didn't know"?? Seriously? So where have you and your relatives been living these past few decades, Pluto?--and my reaction being shared by many blacks I knew: Who are these people kidding?

Coincidentally I glanced at Bill's blog a short while ago and I see he's hopping mad about the way things are going for the Democrats. Wanted to post a comment teasing him about his shit-fit (Along the lines of: I'll bet it's a DREAM living with you, Bill; I'll lay odds Tim's hunkering down in the bathroom or somewhere until things quiet down :-)) but decided this may not be the moment; he's really that upset.

And reading Bill's post, I thought again about race, this time of course about Barack Obama's chances at being elected President of the U.S.

It doesn't look good.

Not that this is the first time I've had this feeling. As much as I've wanted to be hopeful and celebratory, I've nevertheless been very skeptical as to how ready this America truly is to elect a black man to the highest office in the land. This America. Not some mythical reconciled America of the distant future.

The mainstream media has been talking a lot about what Sarah Palin represents for Republicans, especially the evangelicals and (ahem) other "social conservatives." What she brings to the McCain campaign, what she (theoretically) offers the still disenchanted Hillary supporters. It seems to me there is something else Palin offers to those inclined to vote for her--excuse me--for John McCain, something the GOP is fully aware of and in fact counting on, and I keep waiting for the MSM to acknowledge it but, except for here and there around the edges, they're not doing so, at least not yet.

Miss Sarah offers white voters who are not thrilled with McCain but would frankly rather die before casting a vote for a black man, a way out.

She's new! She's fresh! She's young! (Younger even than Obama!) She's a wholesome, small-town, family-values All-American gal!

She's one of us!