An Afternoon of Articles

Some interesting tidbits from articles I've been perusing this morning:

"Barack Obama has made a clear political choice during the presidential campaign. Guided by his palpable yen for consensus as well as his own polyglot sense of identity, Obama has chosen to speak a transracial, indeed a nonracial, language — and endured a good deal of criticism from old-line black leaders for doing so. Nor has he made any attempt to woo Hispanics as part of a “black-brown” coalition. He has, by and large, addressed minority voters not as minorities but as Americans. And it may be no coincidence that Obama has not been hindered in the past by ethnic rivalry: in his 2004 Senate primary, Obama took 70 percent of the Hispanic vote — even though one of his opponents was Hispanic. And his standing among such voters this time around has steadily improved, perhaps as they have come to know more about him.

Paradoxically, it has been the Clinton camp that with an increasing feel of desperation has tried to make Obama into a black candidate, whether by comparing his political success with Jackson’s, as President Clinton has done, or by insinuating that Hispanics will balk at his candidacy. (“I want to say this very carefully,” Bendixen cautioned.) It’s the white candidate, that is, who has stirred the pot of identity politics. And perhaps it will take a black candidate to lay some of the shibboleths of identity politics to rest."

-"The Emerging Minority" by James Traub, NYTimes Magazine

I think its fantastic that someone is trying to treat voters less as groups to attract, but as one group to speak to: Americans. Focus on who we all are instead of the differences...unity. People complain about racism and try to make things more equal, but I can't help but think part of the problem comes from each group wanting to be seen as a group. Whites are willing to be identified as whites, blacks as blacks, hispanics as hispanics. As long as this segmentation continues, there will continue to be inequalities and problems. It is not bringing each group to an equal footing that needs to occur, instead it is a blending of the groups that I believe is needed.

Next quote:

“If she does not win on Tuesday — and I’m confident she will — I am not voting for president in November.”

-quote in the article "In ’08 Politics, Rhode Island Defies Its Size"

Oh please, if your candidate doesn't get the nomination, you are just going to sit back and say to hell with it? This is the next four years of your life that we are talking about. If my candidate doesn't make it, I'll sure as heck be looking at who is left, making a decision, and going to the polls!

And another one:

"Fewer than half of American teenagers who were asked basic history and literature questions in a phone survey knew when the Civil War was fought, and one in four said Columbus sailed to the New World some time after 1750, not in 1492."

-"Survey Finds Teenagers Ignorant on Basic History and Literature Questions"

Um...wow...this article makes me want to be a teacher and get something through to the youth of the country. I'm not overly well versed in history, but at least I know when the civil war was...what are they studying in school these days?