Perspectives On Race

Clarence Page: "Race Haunts Politics"

The moderate-liberal commentator opines: "A racial streak always has haunted populist politics. But in most of today's uprising by populist conservatives, race is only a marker, if a highly visible one, for other differences that have defined American politics since at least the 1960s. If there was ever a time we should be talking candidly about race it is now. Yet, it is considered bad manners at best or even racist at worst to ask how much of today's protests of President Barack Obama's policies might be motivated by race. People are touchy for at least three good reasons: One, race is so hard to quantify; two, the protests are more ideological than racial; and three, most Americans have little tolerance for outright bigotry anymore. Polls offer limited help. Obama's approval ratings have fallen in the November polls by Gallup and Public Policy Polling while Palin's have risen. At this rate, they might even meet somewhere in the high 40s, a Drudge Report headline trumpets. But what's race got to do with that? Much of Obama's fall results from recent bad news on the employment and Afghanistan fronts and much of Palin's rise results from her highly touted book tour. Still, since almost all of Obama's decline has come from white voters, while his numbers among blacks and Hispanics have stayed virtually the same, many still ask how much the difference results from the issue of race."

He continues his commentary: "Maybe that's what my friend and MSNBC 'Hardball' host Chris Matthews was thinking when he blurted out during coverage of the 1,500 people waiting for [Sarah] Palin at a Grand Rapids, Mich., bookstore that 'they look like a white crowd to me' and 'not that there's anything wrong with it, but it is pretty monochromatic up there' and 'I think there is a tribal aspect to this thing, in other words, white versus other people.' Conservative bloggers took umbrage at that, for all the understandable reasons of racial ambiguity that I listed above. You're not a racist just because everybody around you happens to be of the same race as you. Yet, as political demographics take shape, there is a tribal aspect to politics. Birds of a feather flock together, social scientists tell us, and so do people. Today's American tribes gather for reasons of shared values, interests and attitudes more than race or other shared ancestry. Yet, our ancestral differences play a big role in shaping our present-day attitudes. That's why we need to talk more openly and candidly about race, if we can only find the right language to do it."

Sandra Rose: "Is Whiter Better?"

The conservative blogger takes issue with skin lightening creams in an ad (view the video here): "Skin whitening products have been all the rage within certain cultures for decades. But now advertising for the products have gone more mainstream — and more brazen. This ad touts whiter skin as more socially acceptable, and assures us that our lives will get better if we smear the junk on our face. I feel sorry for black people who can’t embrace our African features and feel the need to lighten their God given complexion to appease morons who prefer LSLH chicks. Some black chicks go the skin lightener route when our skin darkens from exposure to the sun. The remedy is to apply sunscreen lotion or creams with high sun protection factors like SPF 20 or SPF 30 to block the harmful UV rays that wreaks havoc on the melanin in our skin and causes the cells to multiply rapidly on the surface of our skin. Yes, blacks need sunscreen protection more than whites. Do your research, people."