Media Manufacturing of a President

The perfect candidate to put on display to "prove" their earnestness about diversity.

I cringe when I hear people praise what a history-making moment this is.

In research for my upcoming memoir addressing sexism and racism in law firms, I have been knee deep in up-to-date statistics and theories on how the old white-male system of entitlement is alive and well. White men occupy the corner offices of most major law firms not to mention corporate boards, medical schools, the list goes on. The progress of both women and male minorities has stalled.

For a while it was fashionable to claim that women simply weren't ambitious and wanted to be home with their babies. Since male minorities have stalled up the ladder at the same rate as women, does that mean that male minorities are similarly having urges to stay home with their babies? Or does it make more sense that law firms are hostile environments for both and that's why they're dropping out and/or not being promoted.

I laugh when I get angry, caustic emails from people telling me I don't know what I'm talking about. I'd bet my knowledge of current statistics and academic theories on race and gender relations against most newspaper columnists writing today. Here's the way I describe the problem in our culture: We teach white entitlement and we teach male entitlement, and then by the time people are at companies promoting only white men, we hold half-day "sensitivity" courses once a year to "teach" the white men that they need to be "sensitive" about not saying words that women or male minorities might find offensive. I always found that a bit insulting. Teaching young white men to preference their interests above others and call it objective - and then tell them those sensitive women and minorities out there don't have senses of humor so you have to careful around them. It would be a whole lot simpler to just stop teaching white male entitlement.

The point of this is the statistics show that positions of power in our culture are still disproportionately dominated by white men and since the 1990s any progress women and minorities were making has stalled. Every February during black history month blacks complain -- I'll say whine because that's what the black male columnists felt free to say about Hillary Clinton - whine about racism in the media, and the wholesale lack of black faces on television. And they're right - the "objective" face and content of television and media is still white and male - and every February the black scholars get together and whine (again - that's the word black men used about Sen. Clinton so it's fair game) about how the media marginalizes black interests and then trots out stories every February only to be ignored again for the next 12 months.

And then, magically, when Barack Obama came on the scene as the only credible challenger to Sen. Hillary Clinton, the liberal media became black-obsessed overnight. The cable channels added black faces to their lineups in pretty blatant pandering. Their newfound obsession with equality and making him the first black president rang hollow since they'd had no similar interest in making Sen. Clinton the first woman president.

The statistics show our culture is still very sexist and racist in its attitudes - and the system of entitlement is very entrenched. It allowed a sprinkling of women and minorities into power positions during the 1970s and 1980s, only when lawsuits made them do it. But the pervasive, and possibly more of a barrier, indirect prejudices are firmly in place.  Yes there are some women and male minorities, but most who make it to the top do so by tacitly promising not to make any waves. Worse, there are the apologist-types like the Katie Courics and Maureen Dowds who rise to positions of power by publicly scorning powerful women, or the Condoleeza Rice's who advance due to affirmative action and then curry favor with old white men at Stanford and the Bush White House by insisting there are no barriers to black advancement and they just have to work harder.  It's a deal with the devil, but collaboration is the quickest way and often only way for women and minorities to secure approval and advancement to the top.

And now who's curried favor with the white, male media but a half-white black man who talks and acts like a fat, old white guy with a southern accent and a cigar -- oops, cigarette -- in his mouth. Better yet, he is bland as can be with no record of challenging anyone on anything.  The perfect candidate to put on display to "prove" their earnestness about diversity.   But who anchors about every cable news analysis and opinion show there is? White men. 

If Rev. Jesse Jackson had been elected (whom I campaigned for in 1988), I would be joining the celebration. If former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun had been elected (whom I supported in 2004), I would be joining the celebration.  They were both true advocates and experienced leaders for civil rights. But, oddly, the media didn't take either seriously.

Blacks have shot themselves in the foot by voting in the 90th percentile for this bigoted sexist man. Bigotry sinks all ships - the only way for blacks and women to rise is together, by reducing our tolerance for bigotry. To allow Barack and the media to say the shameful things they did about Sen. Clinton and then Gov. Palin makes it okay to degrade and dehumanize. "We don't have to listen to you because you're a whiny woman" only puts the problem under the rug and doesn't allow people to talk about it. I agree with one of my commenters that that kind of dismissal is not insightful and, only postpones the discussion for everyone. 

I could go on, but this is a sad day for progressives. The media literally manufactured a president in front of our eyes with bigotry and hate. The British media has called the media's performance in the primary "gloating, unshackled sexism."

So remind me, what it is, exactly, that we're celebrating today. Our cultural tolerance for bigotry was proven during the election to be alive and well.  Our capacity for denial was already pretty hearty, but Barack's candidacy made it okay to shame anyone who didn't pretend that what was happening wasn't sexist. Barack may have single-handedly pushed our denial of bigotry so deep that the everyday lives of women and blacks may suffer because of it. 

Comments

[Alison]

Yes, electing Obama as president makes "the creative class" of white men feel that they live in a day and age of equality. The women who seek to please these same white men also get to feel that pump of pride by voting for Obama.

Funny, I have been lambasted by my Obama supporting friends for voting for McCain. I have been called selfish. Racist. A delirious feminist. Funny, because they know that I have spent the last 10 years of my career working for the poor - African American and Latino children and adults. None of my friends have any signifigant interaction with poor Americans - yet they call me selfish. They call me racist while for the past few years I have been supportive of reparations to the African American community in the form of educational grants. And they call me a delirous feminist because I object to any woman being treated less than... particularly women running for the highest office.

But with a simple vote - a vote for Obama - my friends were able to categorize themselves as not selfish, not racist and not hysterically feminist. How easy it is.

[David G. Mosby]

Hillary Clinton has called the election of Barack Obama as president "an historic victory for the American people." 'Nuff said.

[Lisa Nuss]

I appreciate the feedback from Alison. I have no doubt that the 2008 election will serve as a thesis topic for future sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, race relations experts and women's studies student.

I received a thoughtful and concerned email from a British woman asking me to please reassure her that our entire culture didn't hate women (as it would appear from watching television). And she was appalled at watching how black Americans treated Sen. Clinton.

And yet while we're all supposed to be celebrating this triumphant happening. I think Alison has well pointed out the trouble ahead from this mis-named triumph.

I want to fully respond to David's comment so please see the new post.