CNN has some encouraging poll numbers that indicate that more and more people feel that America is ready for a black president–the numbers have risen by 14 points in the past 16 months, which is pretty astonishing. Hurrah! While Obama’s name was not used in the survey, it seems that his popularity and success is what is making Americans more confident that the United States is ready to be led by an African-American.
I think what is most important about these stats is that, in terms of involving minority groups in politics, we cannot sit back and wait for the country to say that it is “ready”–we need to have gutsy people who are willing to speak out and show the country that such things are possible. And America is willing to listen . . . as long as someone speaks loudly enough.
I think the same is also true for putting women in positions of power. Here is what the CNN article stated about women in leadership positions:
The poll also suggested more Americans think the country is ready for a black president than a female president. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed say the country is ready for a female president, 13 points lower than those who say the country is ready for a black president.
“Do Americans see more prejudice against a woman than an African-American? More likely, they see more negative feelings about this woman than about this African-American. Because it’s true. More people have an unfavorable opinion of Hillary Clinton than of Barack Obama,” Schneider said.
I don’t like the way the article presents the poll as an either/or, once again pitting African-Americans against women (blech). However, I think the fact that 63% of the country is currently receptive to a woman president is, while not a great majority, at least a positive enough signal that more women should start running for office. The more women run, the more acceptable it will be for women to take an active position in government.
Kudos to Obama and Clinton for proving people wrong and for showing that white males are not the only ones for whom America is “ready”!
Filed under: politics
Dashaway
femmemeister
Bento
I think America is ready for a black president because African-americans need a good role model. These days youth blacks are force-fed images of hiphop artists objectifying women and acting like gangsters. An articulate, well-spoken individual like Barack Obama is just the man to give his race a positive influence.
With W. Bush in the office, we are ready for anyone!
Hmm–originally I had approved a bunch of comments arguing about whether McCain, Clinton, or Obama would be the better-qualified candidate.
But . . . that was not the point of the post. (So I took away a lot of those comments upon further reflection.)
This post is not an endorsement of either Obama or Clinton. (And it SURE isn’t an endorsement of McCain.) This post is about how Clinton and Obama are both positive role models (whether or not you agree with their politics) and that it takes a powerful candidate to prove to the American public that it is possible for an African-American or for a woman to be a strong leader who can govern the American people.
Save the Obama vs. Clinton vs. McCain debate for dailykos or americablog. We are not averse to politics here, but we also will not tolerate people’s blind trolling for their own particular candidate without actually paying attention to the content of our posting.