This morning I read a lot about Jesse Jackson's remarks, sotto voce, on an open mic this weekend, and everyone's first comment seemed to echo Marc Ambinder's: The Obama campaign ought to send Jackson flowers, for this reverse Sister Souljah moment, which provided Obama with the perfect moment for him to distance himself from the hotheaded side of the black commentariat community.
Funny, all those comments I read as I trawled through the blogs this morning were all made by white people. What, I wondered, were actual black Americans thinking about the comments? So I checked out the excellent Jack and Jill Politics blog, and found this:
I can only speak for myself, but I’m getting really sick and tired of the celebratory response of some white Obama supporters whenever Obama further distances himself (or is forced to distance himself) from prominent black figures, and by extension the black community. It’s not that any one incident in and of itself doesn’t make sense, but the larger understanding of what his candidacy means in racial terms seems to be that his proximity to us as a people is a problem. And that in itself says more about how this country sees black folks than any speech Obama could ever give.
Yes. Exactly what I was thinking. Let's all give a big white-people cheer now that Obama's been forced to distance himself from Jesse Jackson. And when black folks decide maybe Jackson was right, and Obama does need to talk more about the institutions of the white world that keep more black men in prison than college, perhaps they'll not be so eager to put him in the appropriately-named White House and assuage our white guilt.
Damn it. I was really counting on getting rid of my white guilt this election. (/snark, for those of you who don't know me. Sort of.)
