-By Warner Todd Huston
The Daily Herald, a Chicago area paper, waxed triumphant over the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the assumed position as the Democratic Party nominee for the presidency today. The article was filled with soaring pronouncements of the historical nature of this moment and what it means for America but, by the end of the piece, “Historic candidacy brings hope, obligation,” one gets the feeling that the Daily Herald is saying that if you don’t vote for Obama it’s because you’re a racist.
Of course, the Herald’s piece is centered on America’s past as a pretext to say that Obama might somehow deserve to become president because of our past history of oppression. Just as sure, the Herald completely ignores all the great strides in race relations since passage of the 1964 civil rights legislation that finally sent the country on the right course for race relations. Sadly, the Herald piece seems to assume the country hasn’t changed at all since Lincoln took the oath of office.
Noting that Obama said that his moment was a moment for America, the Herald took that further.
He did not say “Black America” or “White America.” Just “America.” And that is how it should be, this moment so long in coming for a nation founded on the principle that “All men are created equal” even as it enslaved some, disenfranchised others, and restricted for too long many men and women from actively participating in the political process that ensures our nation’s strength.
Of course, Obama didn’t say “black America or white America,” because he is smarter than that. But, this paragraph completely ignores the great strides this country has made in the last 45 years. Why is that, one wonders?
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