Race and gender in the 2008 election have proven to be the catalyst to some of the biggest voter turnouts in primary history. However, African Americans have been caught in a bind like none before. The question that has been posed to African Americans-what is your dominant social identity, your race or gender? This question has exceptionally painful to African American women in asking them to choose between dueling minority social identities. Nonetheless, many blacks, women and men alike, have answered in a resounding yes in their persistence in appearing to grab hold of racial loyalty. However, many of the white pundits of cable news have cried fowl towards ‘reverse racism’. I find this assertion logically problematic and utterly fallacious in the lack of respect given towards the intellectual capacity of black folk in America. The sentiment asserts that black people are somehow picking their president just of the basis of him being just a black man. Nevertheless, my final problem that I have with this nefarious pathology is that it fails to take in account the historical predicament of an oppressed minority social class and how the political establishment has neglected it.The notion of ‘reverse racism’ being a factor in the current primaries is a flat out fallacious accusation.What upsets me is that the outcry of racism has not spewed in the direction of the white women who are voting in high numbers for Hillary Clinton. Do we claim that the white women that are voting for Hillary Clinton are racist? It is also pompous and arrogant for any white male to be upset about racism taking place. White men have had the privilege of never having to worry about their social identity (White Anglo- Protestant male) not being represented in a presidential race because all 42 presidents have been white males. Hence, for a white male to levy accusations of racism against a citizenry of minority social identities, who have never had a shot of having a presidential candidate, is flat out offensive and disgusting. Further, if any accusations of racism are to be levied against blacks for voting Obama then it must be levied against white women voting for Hillary Clinton and white men voting for the male candidate and not the former.The problem many African-Americans will have to encounter this election period is the ideology of liberal multiculturalism that invokes the rhetoric of a ‘color-blind’ people. This means that somehow that an individual is fair, objective, and not biased because of their race. It means that this individual has so overcome race that they no longer can see it.However, in a racialist society such as America in is almost virtually impossible to be racially unaware. This ideology poses a unique problem for black folk because they must ignore any talk of race this election, for fear of being labeled a racist. In fact, one of the huge reasons why Obama has received so much praise is because of his ability to maintain his appeared racial neutrality. Essentially, he’s not an angry Negro like Jesse and Al. Consequently, many blacks inspired by liberal multiculturalists rebellion will insist on not voting for Obama because they want to be perceived as racially neutral. In return, they will exclaim in anger towards other blacks voting for Obama “ You’re just voting for Obama because he’s black!” In return, I will answer this accusation with ‘it’s not JUST because he’s black that I’m voting for him for him.”Obama being a spectacular candidate is a first, but being a black man is an icing on the cake.While the liberal multiculturalists will be out in full swing this election season, don’t let their faulty logic dupe you into thinking that race doesn’t matter. Furthermore, until we can march back into history and erase the 200 years of the transcontinental slave trade, 70 years of Jim Crow, and 100 years plus and counting of systemic institutional racism, race WILL ALWAYS MATTER.
