When All Other Possibilities Are Eliminated...Part 3

If you still needed incontrovertible proof of my theory that it is impossible for some white progressives to even entertain the theory of a conversation on race with persons of color, I give you a big ol' check mark in the "Zandar may have a point" column:  Salon's Gene Lyons (via ABLC):

See, nobody ever criticized Bill Clinton, another centrist Democrat who faced a hostile Republican congress. Indeed, he was “enthusiastically re-elected” in 1996. Therefore, “[t]he 2012 election is a test of whether Obama will be held to standards never before imposed on an incumbent. If he is, it may be possible to read that result as the triumph of a more subtle form of racism.”

The professor actually wrote that. See, certain academics are prone to an odd fundamentalism of the subject of race. Because President Obama is black, under the stern gaze of professor Harris-Perry, nothing else about him matters. Not killing Osama bin Laden, not 9 percent unemployment, only blackness.

Furthermore, unless you’re black, you can’t possibly understand. Yada, yada, yada. This unfortunate obsession increasingly resembles a photo negative of KKK racial thought. It’s useful for intimidating tenure committees staffed by Ph.D.s trained to find racist symbols in the passing clouds. Otherwise, Harris-Perry’s becoming a left-wing Michele Bachmann, an attractive woman seeking fame and fortune by saying silly things on cable TV.

The sheer political stupidity of turning Obama’s reelection into a racial referendum cannot be overstated. It would be an open confession of weakness. Whatever its shortcomings, this White House is too smart to go there. Harris-Perry will have to fight this lonely battle on her own. Voters can’t be shamed or intimidated into supporting this president or any other. They can only be persuaded.

I'm actually not shocked by this, as a matter of fact this is exactly the kind of response I expected to Professor Harris-Perry's article.  The good doctor has a PhD. in political science from Duke.  She has taught African-American studies at Princeton and currently teaches political science at Tulane.  She is an accomplished author, commentator, activist, and is founding director of the Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South.  When she voices an opinion on race and politics in the United States, any human being would do well to at least consider it based on her curriculum vitae alone.

Gene Lyons on the other hand wrote a book about how people were mean to Bill Clinton.  This makes him expert enough to qualify dismissing Dr. Harris-Perry as a "fool."

Both ABL and Joy Ann Reid have written pieces that obliterate Lyons, and they both are far more gifted writers on this subject than I'll ever be, but the issue of privilege in politics has always been one that those who have it never, ever wish to discuss.

This is what happens when you try, apparently.  It needs to be resolved and quickly, too.  We have a country to save from the Republicans.