Community Checkup

Melissa Harris-Lacewell wrote an interesting piece about the issue of race vs. gender in voting decisions for black women. She nicely breaks down why the popular notion in the media that black women have chosen race over gender in their support of Barack is a flawed one. She explains that…

It is not that simple. A lot of people have tried to gently explain the divide, so I’m just going to put this out there: Sister voters have a beef with white women like Clinton that is both racial and gendered. It is not about choosing race; it is about rejecting Hillary’s Scarlett O’Hara act.

Black women voters are rejecting Hillary Clinton because her ascendance is not a liberating symbol. Her tears are not moving. Her voice does not resonate. Throughout history, privileged white women, attached at the hip to their husband’s power and influence, have been complicit in black women’s oppression. Many African American women are simply refusing to play Mammy to Hillary. [source: MH-L]

Sometimes people do vote strictly based on one aspect of their identity. For some it’s race, others it’s gender, others it’s class, others it’s political identity… But usually, a mix of multiple identities comes into play when making such decisions. The same is true of the much discussed Hispanic vote.

Harris-Lacewell goes on further to say that the political issues the candidates stand for do matter a great deal and can’t be left out of the equation. In talking about Super Tuesday…

Black women want out of the war. Black women need health insurance. Black women need decent schools for their children. Black women need a strong economy that creates jobs. Black women need help caring for their aging parents. Black women want a Democratic win in the fall. Sisters chose Barack on Tuesday because they believe he can deliver these things and that is much more empowering than just having a woman in the White House.