No one will ever be able to conclusively prove the extent to which white guilt played a role in Barack Hussein Obama’s election to the presidency in 2008. What is definitely known is that 43 of every 100 whites cast their ballots for Obama in that election and that he garnered 96% of the black vote.
White guilt could be defined as that bizarre, much-denied, conscious or subconscious, feeling experienced by an untold number of white Americans that it was time to give the black man a shot at the Oval Office.
After all, white guilters somehow believed, African-Americans had been enslaved for centuries in America and the least whites could do to make amends for that societal evil would be to vote for a black man to clearly demonstrate, first, that they were free of prejudice and, second, to recompense today’s blacks for the sins of our forefathers.
It’s bizarre thinking for any white American today unless he or she were at least 147 years old and former slaveholders and the recipients of that compensation were at least the same age and former slaves since Lincoln, technically, freed the slaves in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation.
39 comments
I am white.
I voted for Obama.
Was it out of guilt? No. I did it because he was CLEARLY the better choice than McCain. McCain clearly showed that he is a total fucktard in the 2008 Presidential race, and hasn't let up since. I don't even think the citizens of Arizona are going to vote him back into the Senate this year in my opinion.
Do I feel guilty that white people fucked over black people? A little...but it wasn't me to anyone currently living, so why give a fuck?
OK. How about wondering why the majority of the rest of the world had overwhelming support for Obama in the run-up to the election? And that when he was elected, there were genuine celebrations worldwide.
That wasn't, as you put it, 'White Guilt'. That was people wishing desperately that America would elect a leader who wasn't a total fuckwit.
Do you really think that people voted for Barack because of white guilt? Let me tell you something, kid. People voted for Barack because they were done with the bullshit the last republican president pulled off. And stick your head out of your gated community every once in a while to the real world.
No. A lot of whites voted for Obama because they realized how much the Bush Administration ruined this country, and did not want a repeat of that fiasco. (Had I been old enough to vote at the time, I would have voted for Obama for this very reason.) Race had nothing to do with it. Only racists like you think that race had anything to do with it.
Even if I didn't think Obama was a better choice than McCain, I would have voted for him. Not because of white guilt, but because I would have voted for Barney the Dinosaur (Purple guilt anyone?) rather than have a seventy some year old man being the only thing between Sarah Palin and the Oval Office.
You think people voted for Obama because they felt guilty for racism? And it had nothing to do with the crappy economy, Obama promising change, and McCain having no message other than, "I promise I'm not really just like George W. Bush" while he didn't know how many houses he owned or tried to convince people that he was "aware of the internet." He was just totally out of touch and his bimbo running mate didn't help his cause any. I think Charlie Manson could have run on the democratic ticket & won.
What was really scary was when I had fundies tell me they voted for McCain hoping he would die in office so Sarah Palin could become president. They were actually hoping for my worst nightmare to come true.
@hank: There's a simple explanation for Sarah Palin. The Republicans were being backwards and sexist, as if they're ever anything else. They seriously thought women were voting for Hillary Clinton just "to vote for a woman" instead of liking her, or the party's, politics. So they thought that all they needed was a woman and they'd get women's vote. They might have gotten SOME stupid people who shouldn't be voting anyway, but the Democrats have gotten the majority of the women's vote even before they had a woman in the primaries. Just like, oh look, they had been getting a majority of the Black vote even before Obama. They like to claim Christian White Persecution, but in the end, THEY'RE the ones who alienated everyone but rich white men. You can't be a jerk and then whine that nobody likes you.
@LadyJafaria, that was my take on Palins selection also. I felt that women should have taken offense that the Republicans didn't at least pick someone competent. Although I didn't agree w/ his political views, the republicans have fallen quite a bit since the days of William F. Buckley Jr. He could at least put together a logical argument. These neocons seem stupid or delusional.
"vote for a black man to clearly demonstrate, first, that they were free of prejudice"
Which, of course you're not.
"Lincoln, technically, freed the slaves in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation."
technically....
@Horus IX
It's not necessarily that McCain would have done a crap job in the White House. I think it's more that he could kick the bucket at any moment and then Sarah Palin would wind up in charge.
I still vomit a little bit in my mouth whenever I think about that possibility.
We "somehow believed" that black people were once enslaved in this country. Because, you know, it's such a fringe belief, not something so well-known that it's in every history textbook.
Did someone register John Galt just to troll? Because I don't remember the person who posted under that username before it was underlined being outright racist. Disagreeing with a submission once, but admitting what was racist about it once it was pointed out.
Now that he's underlined, he's flinging N-words left and right. I honestly don't think it's the same person.
We finally get registration, and trolls still find a way to abuse it. Figures.
I'm white. I voted for Obama.
Why?
Because he was clearly the better candidate. Plus, an intelligent, good-looking fellow-geek in office is FUCKING AWESOME.
Well if that's true then I voted against Bush twice out of guilt from being from the same state. No wait, I voted against him because I knew he was incompetent and brought religion into everything. You know, actually voted because of his politics, not who he was or the color of his skin.
@LadyJafaria: Exactly. Choosing Palin as his running mate because of the stupid and sexist assumption that female voters would vote for a female candidate regardless of her politics and credentials was one of the most insulting things that McCain did during the campaign, along with calling Obama "that one" and using air quotes when talking about women's health.
For crying out loud, there were dozens of competent female Republicans that McCain could have chosen. Why Palin? If he had chosen another female Republican, I wouldn't have necessarily liked her, since I disagree with many of the Republican Party's party lines and political viewpoints. But at the very least, I would have respected her as a competent political candidate. Palin deserves no such respect due to her ignorance, shameless tactics, and insane views.
Yes. It would be bizarre thinking, wouldn't it? That should tell you something about how many people actually think it. But, it doesn't because you really do think people are as mad as you, don't you?
At least this guy got his stats right. An astonishing (or completely unsurprising, if you're a giant cynic like me) proportion of the black vote went to Obama, and I can't believe its because almost every single black person in the US is usually a Democrat. Which is a bit sad, really, because really race shouldn't figure into such a vote at all. It should be entirely on policy. Ah well.
So much fail. Everyone else will cover the regular fail, so I'll just do the historical fail:
The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to states in the rebelling south, not to the four slave states that chose to remain in the union. Of course, because the US govt had no control over those states that had chosen to form the CSA, the Emancipation Proclamation did jackshit until the Union Army actually got there.
As for the end of slavery in the remaining four states, that was handled later.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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