Comments on: Post Election Thoughts http://cac.ophony.org/2008/11/05/post-election-thoughts/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:00:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Luke http://cac.ophony.org/2008/11/05/post-election-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-37236 Luke Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:19:34 +0000 http://cac.ophony.org/?p=880#comment-37236 @ Rob: thanks for your comment, and I understand and share your disappointment.  Perhaps my noting Prop 8 in the last bullet in a list of afterthoughts was dismissive-- I apologize.  I should note that Obama's opposition to Prop 8 was tepid, at best,  <br /><br />At the same time, I think we need to be able to concurrently celebrate our achievements and express disappointments at our failures.  Proposition 8 is a step backward within a step forward.  Andrew Sullivan offers some <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/stripped-of-the.html" title="Sullivan" rel="nofollow">perspective</a>:  <br /><br /> <blockquote>Twenty years ago, equality of gay couples was a mere idea. Forty years ago, it was a pipe-dream.... In the long arc of inclusion, we will miss our goals along the way from time to time. Today, we have full marriage rights in two states, we have many civil marriages in California that will remain in place as examples of who gay people really are, we have civil unions in many more places, and marriage rights in other parts of the world, as beacons to America. And this is a civil rights movement. It goes forward and it is forced back. The battle to end miscegenation took centuries. These are the rhythms of progress. Sometimes losing, and being shown to lose, shifts something in the minds of those watching as a small group is punished for daring to dream of full civil equality. In this battle we have already had far more defeats than victories. But each time, we have come closer to our goal. And in the hearts and minds and souls of so many, we have changed consciousness for ever.</blockquote> <br /><br />@Ken: thanks for your comment as well... this election is as much about youth and the future as it is about race and the past.  I hope it's a 1932 moment that ushers in a new progressive coalition and a mandate to reinvigorate liberalism... I think that's needed.  But 1932 wasn't immediately recognized as a 1932 moment.  We'll just have to see. @ Rob: thanks for your comment, and I understand and share your disappointment.  Perhaps my noting Prop 8 in the last bullet in a list of afterthoughts was dismissive– I apologize.  I should note that Obama’s opposition to Prop 8 was tepid, at best, 

At the same time, I think we need to be able to concurrently celebrate our achievements and express disappointments at our failures.  Proposition 8 is a step backward within a step forward.  Andrew Sullivan offers some perspective: 

Twenty years ago, equality of gay couples was a mere idea. Forty years ago, it was a pipe-dream…. In the long arc of inclusion, we will miss our goals along the way from time to time. Today, we have full marriage rights in two states, we have many civil marriages in California that will remain in place as examples of who gay people really are, we have civil unions in many more places, and marriage rights in other parts of the world, as beacons to America. And this is a civil rights movement. It goes forward and it is forced back. The battle to end miscegenation took centuries. These are the rhythms of progress. Sometimes losing, and being shown to lose, shifts something in the minds of those watching as a small group is punished for daring to dream of full civil equality. In this battle we have already had far more defeats than victories. But each time, we have come closer to our goal. And in the hearts and minds and souls of so many, we have changed consciousness for ever.

@Ken: thanks for your comment as well… this election is as much about youth and the future as it is about race and the past.  I hope it’s a 1932 moment that ushers in a new progressive coalition and a mandate to reinvigorate liberalism… I think that’s needed.  But 1932 wasn’t immediately recognized as a 1932 moment.  We’ll just have to see.

]]> By: Ken http://cac.ophony.org/2008/11/05/post-election-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-37235 Ken Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:15:57 +0000 http://cac.ophony.org/?p=880#comment-37235 While the election of Obama does not signal the end of race or the arrival of a post-racial America -- race is a durable reality -- it is also the case that his majority election is indeed a signal moment and the American racial order is changing.   When the election returns are consulted, we will be able to see that, beyond the expansion of the electorate and recruitment and mobilization of the young, this election marks the mobilization of a remarkable coalition of African Americans (95% plus) and of post 1960s immigrants and immigrant children (60-70% plus), which suggests new realities about the American community.  It is a 1932 moment. As we watch who Obama recruits into a new administration and we watch the commitments of a new administration, it is possible we may move far beyond what race has meant in the past to new meanings, new possibilities.  Look for these in discussion of health care, education, and national service, of targeted public investment, and more.....       While the election of Obama does not signal the end of race or the arrival of a post-racial America — race is a durable reality — it is also the case that his majority election is indeed a signal moment and the American racial order is changing.   When the election returns are consulted, we will be able to see that, beyond the expansion of the electorate and recruitment and mobilization of the young, this election marks the mobilization of a remarkable coalition of African Americans (95% plus) and of post 1960s immigrants and immigrant children (60-70% plus), which suggests new realities about the American community.  It is a 1932 moment. As we watch who Obama recruits into a new administration and we watch the commitments of a new administration, it is possible we may move far beyond what race has meant in the past to new meanings, new possibilities.  Look for these in discussion of health care, education, and national service, of targeted public investment, and more…..  
   

]]> By: Rob http://cac.ophony.org/2008/11/05/post-election-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-37234 Rob Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:05:17 +0000 http://cac.ophony.org/?p=880#comment-37234 As a gay man, the passage of Proposition 8 goes much further than lessen any joy.  It devastates me as I am regularly devastated the day after election day in America in the new millennium.  Growing up, the only message I received was that all people should be treated the same.  I never understood until adulthood that other people had a different experience.  Now in "later" adulthood I must bear the excruciating pain of seeing people organize to restrict my rights.  What makes it so hard to not take personally is that the rights gay people seek have no bearing on the lives of others.  I think, although I am not sure, that I have the exact opposite experience of a black person.  Yesterday African Americans say they were finally able to believe in their hearts that there was nothing they could not achieve.  But for me, yesterday the largest state in the nation voted to restrict the rights of a minority group to which I belong.  There are countries where discriminating against someone on the basis of any minority status is illegal.  I wish I could live in one of those countries. As a gay man, the passage of Proposition 8 goes much further than lessen any joy.  It devastates me as I am regularly devastated the day after election day in America in the new millennium.  Growing up, the only message I received was that all people should be treated the same.  I never understood until adulthood that other people had a different experience.  Now in “later” adulthood I must bear the excruciating pain of seeing people organize to restrict my rights.  What makes it so hard to not take personally is that the rights gay people seek have no bearing on the lives of others.  I think, although I am not sure, that I have the exact opposite experience of a black person.  Yesterday African Americans say they were finally able to believe in their hearts that there was nothing they could not achieve.  But for me, yesterday the largest state in the nation voted to restrict the rights of a minority group to which I belong.  There are countries where discriminating against someone on the basis of any minority status is illegal.  I wish I could live in one of those countries.

]]> By: Ryan http://cac.ophony.org/2008/11/05/post-election-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-37233 Ryan Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:28:58 +0000 http://cac.ophony.org/?p=880#comment-37233 Well said Lucas. OveralI, am still a little stunned by the level of emotion I'm feeling today and felt last night. Communication-wise, one of the great speeches in American history. And, to be fair, I was really pleased with the gracious concession McCain delivered. Where was that guy for the last year? Well said Lucas. OveralI, am still a little stunned by the level of emotion I’m feeling today and felt last night. Communication-wise, one of the great speeches in American history. And, to be fair, I was really pleased with the gracious concession McCain delivered. Where was that guy for the last year?

]]> By: Suzanne http://cac.ophony.org/2008/11/05/post-election-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-37232 Suzanne Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:15:54 +0000 http://cac.ophony.org/?p=880#comment-37232 Just a note about O'bama's acceptance speech seen through the eyes of my students in organizational communication. Many said that they really liked the fact that he only made one promise, "I will be honest with you." They seemed to not be expecting miracles but at the same time the phenomena of something new- no political promises just honesty. Does O'bama speak to a new electorat's will? Just a note about O’bama’s acceptance speech seen through the eyes of my students in organizational communication. Many said that they really liked the fact that he only made one promise, “I will be honest with you.” They seemed to not be expecting miracles but at the same time the phenomena of something new- no political promises just honesty. Does O’bama speak to a new electorat’s will?

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