Talking Down

If you've heard the story of Jesse Jackson and the "hot mic," you don't need to read the gory details again. (If you haven't and want to, click here.) You know what Jesse Jackson said — the crude, even violent expression he used. News broke on Wednesday that he also used a racial epithet in the same whispered conversation.

Some say it was Barack Obama's "Sister Souljah" moment. Wikipedia describes such a moment as "a politician's public repudiation of an allegedly extremist person or group, statement, or position perceived to have some association with the politician or their party."

How do you repudiate something when you're not even the one doing the talking? You let the perceived extremist repudiate you.

Jesse Jackson's popularity peaked twenty years ago. Because he exudes attitudes like "holier than thou," "smarter than thou," "a whole lot holier than thou," and "way yonder smarter than any ‘thou' out there," a big part of the population loves to see him fall on his face, and he's been taking some hard hits over this.

He later explained that he spoke in reference to Senator Obama's Father's Day address at The Apostolic Church of God, a predominantly African American church in Chicago. In his speech, Obama called on fathers to take personal responsibility for raising their kids. "Any fool can have a child," he said. "That doesn't make you a father. It's the courage to raise a child that makes you a father."

Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune said, "It was a speech in which Obama revealed his inner Bill Cosby."

At a commercial break during an interview with Fox News, Jackson's fellow guest asked what Jesse thought of Obama's messages in black churches. The question hit a nerve. Jackson angrily whispered what he would like to do to Obama because he's been "talking down to black folks."

Most Americans like it when a Presidential candidate speaks of personal responsibility — especially the personal responsibilities of people other than themselves. Obama was racially specific and, though fatherhood statistics don't look good in any racial group in America these days, they are worse in the African American community. He was talking to a predominantly black congregation, so he expressed his concerns in a way that related specifically to that group.

That his words offended the Reverend Jackson probably helps Obama, but there is a potential downside. What if people begin to realize that Jackson was right, that Senator Obama does speak down to "black folks"? In fact, what if it finally dawns on them that Obama talks down to everyone?

After his speech on race back in March, some white commentators showed their own form of racism by acting stunned that a black man could have such a subtle understanding of the issue. Had it never occurred to them that African Americans have the intellectual capacity to express two sides of a topic on which they are rightfully passionate?

He talked about things from two perspectives, but the speech struck me as condescending — to blacks and whites — explaining things that everyone on both sides already knew, or else showing his Jeremiah Wright-skewed view of American life. And he spoke these wrong or obvious things as though giving a revelation from on high.

In "An Open Letter to Barack Obama" in January and "American Messiah II" in February, this site noted messianic overtones, both in his speeches and in his followers' reactions.

In June, when he declared himself the Democratic Party's nominee for President, he spoke of his humility, then said, "I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless. . . ."

Can you imagine a more prideful or audacious thing to say? He doesn't just "hope" or "expect" or "believe," he is "absolutely certain" that he is changing history in profound, fundamental ways — that he's saving America, and maybe the world. Future generations, he is sure, will look back on his nomination as the time when provision of care for the sick finally began. Amazing how no one ever did that before him.

He continued, " . . . this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal. . . ."

Apparently all the planet needed was for him to be the Democrat's nominee for the healing process to begin. According to myth (still believed by some pagans) "The king and the land are one." A weak, ill king means a sick, barren land, and a rich, healthy king means a fertile and fruitful land. What is Obama saying about himself when he claims the earth's healing began on the day he proclaimed the nomination his?

" . . . this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals."

He's saying all these things about his arrival on the world scene. How can one who lives at such heights ever speak to common folk without "talking down"?

Posted: 7-18-2008
Note: At original posting, all links were active.