As Ready As We'll Ever Be...

"While a majority of U.S. voters say they would vote for a black presidential candidate, many people say the United States is still not likely to put an African-American in the Oval Office quite yet."

NPR.org, 12.18.06
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"Although Barack Obama is different from previous African-American presidential candidates, it is still unclear if most Americans are ready to elect a black president, say two Duke University political scientists."

AScribe Newswire, 1.16.07
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"Is America ready for a black president?"

That's the question irrevocably tied to the Obama campaign. Are we, as a nation, ready to position an African-American at the helm? By now, I've heard countless reasoned yes's and no's, the overwhelming majority of them summed up one of two way;

"Yes, we've made enormous strides with regards to race relations in this country and a black president is a natural inevitability in that progression"

or

"No, America is stil lumbering in the infancy of our understanding and application of tolerance with regards to cultural diversity. We've not yet collectively reached the point where we can afford a minority candidate a viable opportunity for election to our highest office".

But just what does "ready" mean? I've yet to hear a single person specifically define the circumstances under which we would be qualified as "ready" for a black president. Yet everyone seems to be sure that it is or isn't "now". I, however, am not on either side of the issue because, frankly, I don't believe that readiness matters. At all.

America has NEVER been "ready" for African-American advancement.

Blacks didn't sit around discussing when America would be ready to give us civil rights. We never intended to wait until America was ready and, in fact, when it came, America was NOT ready for it. We had to march, and bleed, and riot, and die. We had to endure our children being bombed, beaten, lynched, and burned alive. We - and by we I mean those who had it in their hearts that this was a necessity, readiness be damned - had to suffer. And in the midst of that suffering, those people in the business of using readiness as the sole reason to proceed were making it known that they would not be moved and that they would never be ready. Among the unready stood the likes of Alabama Gov. George Wallace shamelessly screaming "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever" in his inaugural speech, poisonous words met with thunderous applause.

It was never the intention of the patriots who battled for civil rights to end racism. It was their intention to overcome it. It was their intention to achieve and progress in spite of it. Readiness was, nor shall it ever be, the issue.

The question of our readiness, however, is being treated as a valid means of qualifying a candidate - one specific candidate, in this case, Barack Obama. And, as I'm sure we're all aware, there are no shortage of people who would vote for Hillary Clinton that would have otherwise cast a vote in favor of Obama if they'd believed he had a chance of winning.

Only a handful of African-Americans have even won statewide office in the last decade. That's why Robert Ford, a black state senator from South Carolina who is an Obama fan, says he'll back Edwards or Hillary Clinton. "Obama would need 43% in some states of the white vote to win, and that's humanly impossible," Ford says. "We in the South don't believe America is ready to elect a black President."

Perry Bacon Jr., Time Magazine, 1.16.07

South Carolinian Senator Robert Ford's pseudo endorsement of Barack Obama does more harm than just about anything the opposition can muster. He disqualifies Barack Obama solely based on the color of his skin. What's more, it comes off as a perfectly valid disqualification - all because of the answer to that most asinine of questions, "Is America ready for a black president". Were readiness [or lack there of] not a consideration, I'm sure Senator Ford would have just voted for whomever he believed to be the most qualified. Instead, he forces himself to choose someone he has determined to be a lesser candidate - all due to a lack of faith.

The question is not only moot, it's dangerous as hell. It asks nothing of Obama save "What color is he?". It gives people bogus reason to discount him as a viable candidate - the majority of us would not vote for someone we believed had no chance of winning. And in the upcoming presidential election, that's what matter - the majority.

Is America ready for a black president? America, ready or not, i sin dire need of a capable, qualified leader. Period. Senator Ford and others would do well to be true to themselves and the process by voting for whom they believe would be best instead of whom they believe to be the most popular.

By the way, Senator Ford:

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Seventy-two percent of white Americans and 61 percent of black Americans surveyed in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Monday say the nation is ready for a black commander in chief.

CNN.com, 1.21.08


Make no mistake. We're as ready as we'll ever be. See you all on election day.


[Obama '08]