Black in College

Squeezed on the Rutgers bus system yet again, I read something interesting in the Targum. I’m not really sure how I feel about it. The former governor of New Jersey, Christine Todd Whitman, came to speak at the Eagleton Institute of Politics a couple days ago. She came to speak about diversity in politics, and she mentioned the recent demolishment of the Republican Party as an example. She said it’s time they get with the times and start reaching out to darkies of all sorts. I think that’s obviously what the Republican Party should have been thinking of when they were running against a potential black president. They should have tried to come up with their own platform catering to dark folks–perhaps they would have gotten more votes.

Mark Huckabee is a good example of a white politician who actively sought out black voters–and it worked. Whether or not a politician actually cares about the plight of brown people of all sorts, it’s important to at least seem like you care if you’re going to get any votes outta people. Unless you hadn’t noticed the recent presidential election, a majority of the people in this country aren’t vehement racists. I think most people are just uncomfortable with the idea of “racial mixing,” but I’ll sure as hell take discomfort as opposed to… pure hatred.

Whitman also talked about gender. She said in order to ensure diversity in politics, it’s important to vote women as equally qualified as their man-counterparts into office. And while I feel encouraged by the increasing number of blacks and Hispanics in political positions, I also think it’s going to take a while to reach true diversity. Where are the Asian politicians, for instance?

Anyway, it seems that people are more concerned with filling up the Obama administration with non-threatening black men than anything else. Don’t get me wrong–I like the guy and I like his reputation and political viewpoints thus far, but all politicians shouldn’t be chosen on the tenants of white guilt.

…Right?