Black or White
"Don't tell me you agree with me,
When I saw you kickin' dirt in my eye!"
In 1982, Tom Bradley, the Black Democratic candidate for Governor of California, ran against the White Republican candidate George Deukmejian. Polls up to the day before the election showed Bradley with a comfortable lead. Some early editions of various papers even had Bradley as the projected winner; but lo and behold, to the surprise of most Deukmejian staffers and the chagrin of all Bradley supporters, the Republican narrowly edged out the Democrat and won the Governor's seat.
From that situation was coined the phrase "Bradley effect," which is the phenomenon of White voters expressing support for a Black candidate to pollsters to try to hide any evidence of racism, but when in the booth, voting with their heart for the White candidate.
That phrase is now being floated around with regard to the current race for President of the United States of America. Most polls show Barack Obama with a lead over John McCain, but experts warn that the polls are totally misleading because of the Bradley effect.
Michelle Obama tried to dispel the notion of this so-called Bradley effect, intimating to Larry King that if it really existed, then her husband would not have been named the Democratic nominee.
She could not be more naïve, that is, if she really believed that. But I know she's being politically correct. She cannot avow that she and Barack are worried about this phenomenon, because White privilege does not allow her to express such concern without appearing bigoted.
The Bradley effect is a real concern, because there doesn't seem to be any ill intent attached to it. Some psychologists have suggested that we're all wired to some extent to exhibit varying forms of racism. So that's why the Obama campaign is so focused on getting as many folks registered to vote as possible, because both candidates need adherents who will vote with their hearts.
I suspect that there are some White voters pulling for Obama that don't even know they're going to vote for McCain. I can't claim to know what it feels like to be a White person in the voting booth, but if there is some unseen force that causes a White person to go against what he knows is right to side instead with the dictates of his race...then that is a real problem.
Now, it should be noted that there has got to be the exact phenomenon that happens among Black people. If you're Black, and you really feel that McCain is right for the country because of his experience in the Senate, his war record, his politics or his sensibilities; but you're voting for Obama because he's Black, then you have to reconcile your inner struggle as well. Especially if you're expressing your support outwardly for Obama, but internally you're like, 'I don't trust his limited experience.' Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?" So this voting with your heart is a treacherous and desperate move.
When we go to vote, if we're going to vote, that is, we must make sure that our heart is playing no part in the process. We have to make sure that we've examined the issues that are important to us, and that we choose the person who we think (an activity that is a primary function of the brain, not the heart) will exact real change, and would most effectively deal with those issues.
The question was posed to a Black man, "Are you voting for Obama because he's Black?" The Black man replied with the legitimate question, "Are you not voting for Obama because he's Black?" Race should never have been allowed to be a factor in this election, but that's like saying, ice cream should never be allowed to be a part of summer. It's there, always there, crouching at the entrance. It's too bad that it's got to be this way in this country, supposedly one of the most progressive countries in the world, but since race is a factor, we must deal with it. And by dealing with it, I mean fighting our own demons to make sure we're thinking and acting in our own and our families' best interests. And hopefully our thoughts and actions are correct.
We can't tell each other to squash our racist tendencies when each of us are laughing at the racist jokes our friends tell, or when each of us feels uncomfortable within a group opposite of our own race. We are each one of us an individual project, and we have to fix ourselves before we can hope to foster those fixes on the people we're closest to.
So when you're in that voting booth on November 4th, vote with your brain. I guess that's all I'm trying to say.
Peace.
Michael Jackson
When I saw you kickin' dirt in my eye!"
In 1982, Tom Bradley, the Black Democratic candidate for Governor of California, ran against the White Republican candidate George Deukmejian. Polls up to the day before the election showed Bradley with a comfortable lead. Some early editions of various papers even had Bradley as the projected winner; but lo and behold, to the surprise of most Deukmejian staffers and the chagrin of all Bradley supporters, the Republican narrowly edged out the Democrat and won the Governor's seat.
From that situation was coined the phrase "Bradley effect," which is the phenomenon of White voters expressing support for a Black candidate to pollsters to try to hide any evidence of racism, but when in the booth, voting with their heart for the White candidate.
That phrase is now being floated around with regard to the current race for President of the United States of America. Most polls show Barack Obama with a lead over John McCain, but experts warn that the polls are totally misleading because of the Bradley effect.
Michelle Obama tried to dispel the notion of this so-called Bradley effect, intimating to Larry King that if it really existed, then her husband would not have been named the Democratic nominee.
She could not be more naïve, that is, if she really believed that. But I know she's being politically correct. She cannot avow that she and Barack are worried about this phenomenon, because White privilege does not allow her to express such concern without appearing bigoted.
The Bradley effect is a real concern, because there doesn't seem to be any ill intent attached to it. Some psychologists have suggested that we're all wired to some extent to exhibit varying forms of racism. So that's why the Obama campaign is so focused on getting as many folks registered to vote as possible, because both candidates need adherents who will vote with their hearts.
I suspect that there are some White voters pulling for Obama that don't even know they're going to vote for McCain. I can't claim to know what it feels like to be a White person in the voting booth, but if there is some unseen force that causes a White person to go against what he knows is right to side instead with the dictates of his race...then that is a real problem.
Now, it should be noted that there has got to be the exact phenomenon that happens among Black people. If you're Black, and you really feel that McCain is right for the country because of his experience in the Senate, his war record, his politics or his sensibilities; but you're voting for Obama because he's Black, then you have to reconcile your inner struggle as well. Especially if you're expressing your support outwardly for Obama, but internally you're like, 'I don't trust his limited experience.' Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?" So this voting with your heart is a treacherous and desperate move.
When we go to vote, if we're going to vote, that is, we must make sure that our heart is playing no part in the process. We have to make sure that we've examined the issues that are important to us, and that we choose the person who we think (an activity that is a primary function of the brain, not the heart) will exact real change, and would most effectively deal with those issues.
The question was posed to a Black man, "Are you voting for Obama because he's Black?" The Black man replied with the legitimate question, "Are you not voting for Obama because he's Black?" Race should never have been allowed to be a factor in this election, but that's like saying, ice cream should never be allowed to be a part of summer. It's there, always there, crouching at the entrance. It's too bad that it's got to be this way in this country, supposedly one of the most progressive countries in the world, but since race is a factor, we must deal with it. And by dealing with it, I mean fighting our own demons to make sure we're thinking and acting in our own and our families' best interests. And hopefully our thoughts and actions are correct.
We can't tell each other to squash our racist tendencies when each of us are laughing at the racist jokes our friends tell, or when each of us feels uncomfortable within a group opposite of our own race. We are each one of us an individual project, and we have to fix ourselves before we can hope to foster those fixes on the people we're closest to.
So when you're in that voting booth on November 4th, vote with your brain. I guess that's all I'm trying to say.
Peace.
Michael Jackson