“Then everybody else on the ballot is doomed,” Ford said. “Every Democratic candidate running on that ticket would lose because he’s black and he’s at the top of the ticket — we’d lose the House, the Senate and the governors and everything.”
It makes me sad to hear this, but I also can't presume to know the challenges of running for office in the South as a black man or woman. If what Ford says is true, then it is a huge challenge for Obama to overcome. It feels partly like fear mongering, but everyone will always wonder whether a black politician can pull the support they need in the South. My hope is a candidate would be able to pull the support, otherwise it would just make Southern voters look out of touch with reality.
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Ford just showed his complete ignorance. How did he get elected if Blacks can't be elected in the South? Is he "special" somehow, in a way that Obama isn't? I seem to recall that he is biracial Black/White, although I can't find any information to support or deny this recollection.
This statement makes me sad more than anything.
This is internalized racism at it's worst..."a Black can't be elected in the South, so vote White"..."vote based upon color, or we all lose"..."my skin color is not as good as if I were White"...and so on and so forth.
This is exactly the dynamics of oppression over the course of time. I don't see how he can think he is "special" or "better than" other Blacks. But he has to feel that way in order to make a statement like he did about Obama and all Black people.
Sadly, I think he has sold out to the people in his district. I think he is trying to get the support of White voters so that he can cover his ass when it's time for his re-election. What better way to get the support of White racists (what else does his statement mean except that Whites won't vote Black?) than to play the side of the dominant group identity? Sad.
But yet Ford he got elected. So he is denying a piece of himself, and denying opportunity to those that are already oppressed.
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