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Friday, August 1, 2008
Playing the Race Card? Ludacris!
In this Nov. 29, 2006 file photo, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and rapper Ludacris leave the senator's Chicago offices after a meeting. Maybe Luda is suggesting another song for Obama's i-Pod.

It kills me when African Americans get accused of playing the "race card." As if pointing out past and present  injustices is wrong, weak-minded and smacks of victimization. Heck, if anything, challenging your country to do the right  thing is not playing the race card. It's what concerned Americans do.

Not only that, blacks generally can't play the race card because they're seldom in the game. It's a game of power that only the people in those positions can play, and it's usually white men who get hands worth playing.

So yeah, I'm calling John McCain's bluff  over his claim that Barack Obama played the race card by describing himself as the guy with the funny name who "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills." I mean, you don't have to take an inventory of your dwindling cash to make that argument.

  If you want want to talk real race card, let's talk about McCain's constantly refusing to  vote for a Martin Luther King holiday in his home state of Arizona until the NFL threatened to boycott.

Oh, and let's talk about McCain, in his desperation,  likening Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, an image infused with racial overtones. It's unfair that Obama has to answer to almost everybody and everything that has nothing  to do with the serious issues that plague America. Silly and ridiculous. Not to mention Ludacris.

Posted by Annette John-Hall @ 3:06 PM  Permalink | 4 comments
Comments   
Comment removed.
Posted 10:41 PM, 08/01/2008
ampilot
Please. The "Celebrity" political ad is clever. It strikes a slightly adolescent chord, but at the same time it offers a bit of a profound question. In this media saturated society, is it possible to make an honest critical assessment of a person's accomplishments or are we just swallowed up by images and tag lines. It is the Obama brand vs. the McCain brand. A brand with no equity and equity with no brand. It is not racist. It is astonishing how reductively the media has interpreted this. The commercial serves as a commentary on celebrity culture. Obama is not being "compared" to Britney Spears or Paris Hilton. The idea is that some people in the popular culture are elevated to celebrity status based on very thin attributes. In Obama's case it is lack of experience, legislative record or accomplishment. So why is he such a rock star? That is the point. Not that he is some vapid airhead like Spears or Hilton. We know he is bright, well-educated and, admittedly far far more interesting to listen to than a coupla Hollywood twinkies. What links them is the hysterical media attention that belies the lack of substance in them and the lack of substance in his campaign. I hear pundits and commentators (along with the NYTimes) claim that the ad is racist because "white female celebrities" were used....Um, how is that so? If an african-american "celebrity" of questionable talents but no paucity of paparazzi following him/her around were used in the ad, the charge would be that Obama is being marginalized and pidgeonholed as "the black candidate." In fact, that approach would be racist because it would seem more like a comparison. Obama raises the race issue and he does it to inoculate himself against criticism. McCain does not nor do I believe he ever will. He is going after Obama on issues and on statements. That's what you do in a political campaign.
Posted 10:41 PM, 08/01/2008
ampilot
Please. The "Celebrity" political ad is clever. It strikes a slightly adolescent chord, but at the same time it offers a bit of a profound question. In this media saturated society, is it possible to make an honest critical assessment of a person's accomplishments or are we just swallowed up by images and tag lines. It is the Obama brand vs. the McCain brand. A brand with no equity and equity with no brand. It is not racist. It is astonishing how reductively the media has interpreted this. The commercial serves as a commentary on celebrity culture. Obama is not being "compared" to Britney Spears or Paris Hilton. The idea is that some people in the popular culture are elevated to celebrity status based on very thin attributes. In Obama's case it is lack of experience, legislative record or accomplishment. So why is he such a rock star? That is the point. Not that he is some vapid airhead like Spears or Hilton. We know he is bright, well-educated and, admittedly far far more interesting to listen to than a coupla Hollywood twinkies. What links them is the hysterical media attention that belies the lack of substance in them and the lack of substance in his campaign. I hear pundits and commentators (along with the NYTimes) claim that the ad is racist because "white female celebrities" were used....Um, how is that so? If an african-american "celebrity" of questionable talents but no paucity of paparazzi following him/her around were used in the ad, the charge would be that Obama is being marginalized and pidgeonholed as "the black candidate." In fact, that approach would be racist because it would seem more like a comparison. Obama raises the race issue and he does it to inoculate himself against criticism. McCain does not nor do I believe he ever will. He is going after Obama on issues and on statements. That's what you do in a political campaign.
Posted 02:50 PM, 08/04/2008
richard kincade
for someone who can't generally play the race card, this woman seems to have made a career out of doing just that. with a one track mind, black good, white bad, and a talent level better suited for an african american high school paper, ms hall is truly out of place in a large metropolitan newspaper. according to her blog, her continual blame placing of everything bad in the black community on whites, are the act of 'a concerned american'. a white writing the same type of column each week, well let's face it, a white with no ability would never have been hired in the first place. keep up the bad work annette. you're quickly becoming an underground 'must read' comic page for the paper's white readership. 'blacks can't play the race card'. good one. lol!
4 comments
About Annette John-Hall
Annette John-Hall
Annette John-Hall is a metro columnist for The Inquirer. She was previously a features reporter and columnist focusing on music, film television and pop culture. A native of Berkeley, Calif., she covered professional, college and high school sports at the San Jose Mercury News, the Rocky Mountain News in Denver and the Oakland Tribune.
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