Race in the Race

The presidential race might be nearing its end, but the issue of race continues to lie beneath the surface of U.S. society and politics. Many Americans claim that racism ended decades ago and that minority groups are fabricating prejudice to justify their personal struggles. Along these lines, Obama has tried to run as a post-racial candidate, only addressing race issues when forced to do so, as evidenced by his race speech in the midst of the Rev. Wright controversy. However, the time has come for the general public to face reality: our society is not yet post-racial, and racism is still a driving force in the United States. Obama might pretend that racism is gone so that he can avoid ruffling the feathers of privileged white voters, but ignoring such a horrific problem does not mean that it does not exist. The recent arrest and indictment of two white supremacists who had allegedly plotted to kill Obama and black schoolchildren is evidence that, in the U.S., racism is even more real than democracy (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/us/politics/28plot.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin).

Despite the potentially catastrophic results of the two young men's plot, the mainstream media has failed to adequately analyze this story. The New York Times article was surprisingly short and made the plot sound like an isolated incident that is not in any way representative of a larger problem. The fact that the men were planning on killing 14 black schoolchildren as well as Obama implies that they objected to his race more so than his policies; this was clearly not a case of political differences, but rather of racial differences. This extreme example of racism in the U.S. might not reflect the opinions of a majority of voters, but it still shows that race is a significant factor in the election. As enraged citizens scream racial epithets at McCain rallies, it seems simultaneously ridiculous and tragic that we, as a nation, would continue to deny the existence of racism in our society. The mainstream media does not address the race issue because to do so would admit that the country has a tremendous problem and has not made nearly as much progress as its citizens would like to pretend. For this reason, socially aware audiences must turn to outside and alternative news sources, such as Al-Jazeera English (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqcfqiXCX0), to address the role of race in the presidential election. Obama's candidacy could have fueled public discussion about race and forced the nation to confront its very true racial problems; instead, the first major black candidate for the presidency as well as the mainstream media have silenced the issue of race. Racism still pervades our society and our politics. If we continue to deny the existence of this venemous snake, we as a country will soon be bitten and die.