Link: http://blip.tv/file/1338283
With the McCain campaign’s renewed racialism ripping old scars on the American psyche, it might be nice to view this video by clicking the link above. My uncle sent it to me, and, in the first few moments of the video, the images of Americans abroad centered me.
Hate speech is always psychologically disabling, and I had been mourning the loss of opportunity for reconciliation across not only racial, but also class and gender lines, over the next generation. This week, as I was sharing my profound sense of loss as the cries for violence kept coming from McCain supporters, a colleague of mine simply said he thought, ultimately, this startling and easily accessible pain is a good thing to have on display, as it reminds us that an Obama presidency does not preclude the rest of us from the very real work we all have to do to make Change and Hope happen. It is a reminder that more than 8 years will be needed for all of us to get to that mountaintop. It is a reminder that we need to keep our sleeves rolled up.
My husband has pointed out the alarming similarities in the final days of the Clinton campaign and, now, McCain’s. The surge in Obama’s popularity was handled similarly by both teams: First the barely perceptible racial language, then the emotional appeal (Hil’s tears / McCain’s fervency), followed by more overt Othering (comparisons to Jesse / links to Ayers), the use of the companion pit-bull (Bill / Sarah), and, most disturbingly, code for an assassination (weird references to Bobby Kennedy / weird references to a terrorist past in this post-9/11, war-torn era).
Sounds like the old tactic of divide and conquer prevails. Both campaigns have stirred the resentments and anxieties of lower-income whites to compel them to vote against their own best interests.
In this video, the still photos capture images of Americans and their international friends standing on or near bridges. Nice. I suppose we are on that bridge, all of us together, and we need to make our way across to the other side, despite the poisoned throngs positioned to block us. Those who have been compelled to resist the future must surely join us to create this new nation, where there is, as Obama reminded us all back in 2004, “just The United States of America.”
Comment(s)
Good points!