Over the past few weeks I have engaged in a serious of conversations with my mom that seem to overlap a lot of reoccurring themes in the news, my classrooms and conversations with other people. Many of these themes revolve around the presidential race and regard race and/or various accusations or issues with Barack Obama.
Many of these conversations have delved off from specifically talking about the topical subject in which started the discussion and into bigger themes that seem to overlap or include progressive/liberal/leftist(take you pick) ideology, ideas and attitudes.
The interesting aspect of these conversations is that they tend to be a conglomeration of taking very huge issues and interspersing them with immediate experiences involving these issues. This can be really annoying in some cases. However, this intersecting of extensive issues with personal experiences which are initiated from current events and topical subjects has been interesting and caused some self-reflection upon my generation, political standpoints and you. I would like to expound upon some things in maybe two or three different entries. Here’s number one:
A journalism conference in Los Angeles that I attended in January begin with two hours of panel discussions with various from the west coast news media. Somewhere along the lines, the topic of racism came up and many people were saying that the difficulty in dealing with racism in the news media and with the general public was the lack of discussion going on in academia, the media and general public about the subject of racism. Suddenly, Marc Cooper, contributing writer to The Nation spoke up and completely disagreed. He thought that people do talk about racism all the time. As a part-time professor, Cooper mentioned that in his classes it is constantly brought up. Cooper went on to assert that especially with the elements of race and gender in the presidential elections that people are talking about racism along with a series of other related issues quit frequently.
I have to say that I agree with Cooper’s assessment not just from my recent conversations with my mother but also my experience as a student over the last year as well. I cannot remember another time in my life where race has been so often apart of the headlines in mainstream media whether it’s the Huffington Post or Bill O’Reilly.
However, what this has also exposed is a certain ignorance, inability and general difficulty in talking about such issues as racism. I think this exposure is good though because it gives us a sort of litmus test of where we are as a country and the change that still needs to talk place. However, it also shows though the difficulty in actually talking about an issue like racism.
A recent pro-McCain propagandist video I watched took an Obama quote where he stated, “My grandma was a typical white person…” and asked the question of what would happen if McCain was to say, “typical black person.” Their assertion was that it would be the end of McCain’s presidential run. Maybe…but that’s not why I bring it up. In addition, I have written enough on this blog about such issues and I also trust that you know the intricacies and reasons why it is legitimately different if McCain to say such things. Although, generalizations normally aren’t a good idea whether your black, white or polka dot.
I bring this up though because it does reveal another difficulty of explaining these reasons especially to the generation of our parents or grandparents. It is even difficult to explain such reasons to some of our peers, even our college educated peers. I don’t say this to scoff or chastise these people but to reveal yet another real issue: How do we, as a left-leaning, progressive, young generation actively discuss these issues in a productive manner? It is a difficult task and if one thing seems for sure, it is that we aren’t doing a good job so far.
Imagine something that you passionately believe in or something that is so apart of the way you think that it almost comes natural. Now imagine engaging in a conversation with someone who is radically opposed to that? Difficult to talk to them? How do you engage in a conversation with this someone? We’ve probably all experienced this with a family member at the dinner table resulting in a loss of appetite or an uncomfortable silence.
I think it is imperative that we learn the tools and how to engage in a real conversation with these people. I also think that it is our biggest fault that we don’t or have difficulty in doing so. (When I say “our” I am meaning the American political “left”- which I know is a bit elusive but roll with me.) It seems that our reactions now usually consist of frustration, name calling or a general lack of participation on our part. Yet, we are all so willing to spout our opinions over a beer amongst our friends. What do we actually do though?
It’s difficult to set the feelings aside sometimes and have a real conversation with those who disagree. However, by not engaging in such discussions then how can change come about? Perhaps, we can not change their vote but I still find it advantageous to reach a point where they can at least understand our point of view. Conversely, I find it equally important that we learn their points of view as well. And if we reach that level field where we understand each others reasons and motivations that fuel our beliefs and vote then real development towards a possible change can occur.
Before concluding I think it is important to point out that there are numerous methods which tend to distract from the real issues and motivations. I am addressing mainly those chain emails you might get from that conservative relative. Perhaps, it’s a photo, video or declaring the lack of patriotism with subtle tones of racism and classism (i.e. Barack’s lapel pin, etc.). They are usually not very logical and tend to be aimed at getting under you skin-which they often do. However, these are probably not the reason why Grandpa is voting republican. Underneath the distracting BS, are the real reasons and it probably has to do with where they come from, their experiences, where they work or their current quality of life.
My mom mentioned these differences in talking about my grandmother (her mom). My grandma doesn’t have any children living at the house, she is retired and I assume apart of an upper-income bracket. Thus she is against Obama probably not because he doesn’t wear an American flag lapel pin but because she disagrees with socialized healthcare. There are other reasons which are not entirely illegitimate and I wouldn’t mind having a conversation with her about it. I think it’s important to know, understand and learn these opinions if any of us have any real desire to create change or swing the pendulum towards our direction in any small or big way.
I realize that the issues I brought up are things that have always occurred and will continue to. I don’t plan on anyone being able to evr permanently alter change this. However, I think, from what I have seen, there is a sincere lack of self-reflection on our part when it comes to these issues and it might do us all a bit of good in our own lives if we learn to step back, look how we are reacting to those opposed to us and maybe change our attitudes in hopes of changing theirs and making even a small difference.
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