2008 Woodie Awards
Hillary has female African American voters
Catherine Morrisey
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: Editorials
- Page 1 of 1
The French feminist Simone de Beauvoir believed women are the only group in society that have not started major wars or practiced genocide. That isn't to say women have not taken part in this, but there has never been a united army of women that carries out these actions.
They have all, in fact, occurred under the control of men. The reason for this, Beauvoir argues, is because women have never been able to unite with each other like men have.
Conceptualizing identity is no easy task. What Beauvoir ultimately argues is that, contrary to their male counterparts, women identify themselves on grounds other than being female; rather, women consider their race, religion, class or sexual preference before their sex.
This, however, is slowly beginning to change.
With the presidential primaries still eight weeks out, the breakdown of statistics is really the strongest card any candidate can play. Within the Democratic party, the public is seeing a battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, one that will be fought until the last poll closes in February.
The most interesting of statistics is one concerning African American women. CNN reported that 68 percent of African American female voters preferred Clinton to Obama at this point in the race.
It isn't outrageous to suggest that people tend to vote for candidates that seem to reflect tiny pieces of themselves. To some extent, using that logic, African American women are seeing more of themselves in Clinton than in Obama.
I have a few theories as to why this is, and I hope this does not step on the toes of Obama fans (because I, too, love the man.)
I think the African American community is consistently disregarded by candidates from both parties. Democrats assume that since African American voters are registered 90 percent Democrat, they won't really have a problem. Republicans assume they can't defeat a number like that and don't try.
Because the African American community is routinely detached from candidates, the moderate voter becomes cause for concern, who is white more consistently than any other race. Once again, we see a white agenda reaching the ears of candidates rather than a balanced one that reflects all groups of America.
I don't believe Obama has been disregarding black women voters intentionally. Rather, that the racial climate in this country forces him to continually ease the fears of many white moderate voters who need to know he can represent all of America rather than just black America.
The 2008 primaries are showing signs of reshaping the more traditional views of social identity in America. Our identity is not, and should not be, as easy as black and white - no pun intended.
- Catherine Morrisey is a senior history major and a Mirror columnist.
They have all, in fact, occurred under the control of men. The reason for this, Beauvoir argues, is because women have never been able to unite with each other like men have.
Conceptualizing identity is no easy task. What Beauvoir ultimately argues is that, contrary to their male counterparts, women identify themselves on grounds other than being female; rather, women consider their race, religion, class or sexual preference before their sex.
This, however, is slowly beginning to change.
With the presidential primaries still eight weeks out, the breakdown of statistics is really the strongest card any candidate can play. Within the Democratic party, the public is seeing a battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, one that will be fought until the last poll closes in February.
The most interesting of statistics is one concerning African American women. CNN reported that 68 percent of African American female voters preferred Clinton to Obama at this point in the race.
It isn't outrageous to suggest that people tend to vote for candidates that seem to reflect tiny pieces of themselves. To some extent, using that logic, African American women are seeing more of themselves in Clinton than in Obama.
I have a few theories as to why this is, and I hope this does not step on the toes of Obama fans (because I, too, love the man.)
I think the African American community is consistently disregarded by candidates from both parties. Democrats assume that since African American voters are registered 90 percent Democrat, they won't really have a problem. Republicans assume they can't defeat a number like that and don't try.
Because the African American community is routinely detached from candidates, the moderate voter becomes cause for concern, who is white more consistently than any other race. Once again, we see a white agenda reaching the ears of candidates rather than a balanced one that reflects all groups of America.
I don't believe Obama has been disregarding black women voters intentionally. Rather, that the racial climate in this country forces him to continually ease the fears of many white moderate voters who need to know he can represent all of America rather than just black America.
The 2008 primaries are showing signs of reshaping the more traditional views of social identity in America. Our identity is not, and should not be, as easy as black and white - no pun intended.
- Catherine Morrisey is a senior history major and a Mirror columnist.
Be the first to comment on this story