time to defend Ralph Nader (?!)
This morning, in "Forum Flashes", the C-J editorialists take Ralph Nader to task for this quote:
To put it very simply, [Barack Obama] is our first African American president, or he will be. And we wish him well. But his choice, basically, is whether he is going to be Uncle Sam for the people of this country or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations.
That's a clever turn of a phrase, huh? Nader is certainly good with rhetoric.The CJ'ers don't explain the problem with the quote-- whether it's Nader's take on Obama's positions or the use of a pejorative. Given that C-J editorialists have said as much about others (e.g., Clarence Thomas) and they don't seem to mind using such rhetoric themselves, the latter would not seem to be an issue. And Nader is certainly correct in his assessment of Obama's basic choice (in addition to any implied likelihood that he will make some/many wrong choices).
So, what's the problem?
Anyway, here's what Wikipedia says about the term:
Uncle Tom is a pejorative for a black person who is perceived by others as behaving in a subservient manner to White American authority figures, or as seeking ingratiation with them by way of unnecessary accommodation....It is commonly used to describe black people whose political views or allegiances are considered by their critics as detrimental to blacks as a group.
Again, it's a rough term and it may speak inappropriately to his motives, but the concept will likely fit his positions. To name three obvious examples, unless Obama does a 180 on Social Security, education, and abortion, he will advocate policies that do disproportionate harm to African-Americans. There are other examples as well: what will Obama do with the minimum wage, payroll taxes, and trade protectionism?
Of course, this is funny for other reasons as well: the C-J sees itself as "progressive" (LOL!) but then rips Nader who is certainly a member of the traditional forms of the term.
posted by Eric Schansberg @ 12:01 PM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
No, Eric, I'm afraid the C-J Forum Flash was exactly correct about Ralph Nader and his use of the slur "Uncle Tom." That was a mistake on his part, even if he—or you—believe Obama's policies would harm African-Americans.
But why? That's the question...
Is the pejorative just too nasty to use? If so, should its use always be eliminated? What other phrases and comments should then be off-limits? (For example, how does this apply to the frequent treatment of Clarence Thomas, Walter Williams, Ward Connerly, Larry Elder, etc.?)
"Uncle Tom" is a slur with race as an essential component. Nader's use of it was cringe-worthy because it was condescending and because it drew attention to Obama's race in a context where that was clearly inappropriate.
Concerning the use of this slur against Clarence Thomas: There is one critical difference between Thomas and Obama. Obama was not elected president because he is black, but it is clear that Thomas was selected because he was black as well as conservative. So if Thomas opposes affirmative action, this would be viewed by many progressives as a betrayal of African-Americans. It's not surprising that he would be labeled an Uncle Tom in such a circumstance. But of course, there are cogent arguments against affirmative action based on race (as outlined by Shelby Steele in his book The Content of Our Character), so such a use of the term "Uncle Tom" is ugly at best.
[Note, concerning the election of Obama: He carried a higher percentage of the white vote than did Kerry in 2004. Obama also had the same margin of victory among voters who said race affected their vote as who said race did not affect their vote; 17% of McCain voters said race affected their vote.]
But if Obama supports policies that benefit interest groups at the expense of African-Americans, then the criticism (if not the slur) is justified.
My critique of the C-J is that they've lost the (moral) right to slam Nader when they do similar things themselves.
Obama's support was wide-ranging. Even his support among African-Americans cannot be considered "racist/racial" since A-A's overwhelmingly support Dem candidates. (Maybe Thomas Frank will write a book someday on this semi-paradox?)
I don't subscribe to the C-J, so I am not aware of their use of "Uncle Tom" or similar slurs. If they have used that slur themselves, that would be unfortunate.
I recall African-Americans initially supported Hillary Clinton over Obama, in January of 2007, apparently because they wanted to support a Democrat they thought would win. Whether their support of Obama is misplaced, only time will tell. But I am convinced that many people are underestimating Obama.
To be clear, I'm not sure that the C-J has used the term (although if I was betting money, I'd pick "yes"). In any case, they have UT-like complaints.
I agree (and certainly hope) that people underestimate Obama. He's obviously a very smart man and is off to a good start in putting together an effective team. From there, political realities should temper whatever wild things he might want to do-- and he has some excellent ops for true change.
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