If Only She Were White….

One DeWayne Wickham, writing in USA Today, evaluates the Presidential chances of Carol Moseley-Braun and concludes that she can’t win because she is a one-term Senator who was defeated in her re-election bid as a result, in large part, of her own shady financial dealings, and has done absolutely nothing in the four years that have elapsed since she was unceremoniously thrown out of office. No, just kidding. She can’t win because she’s … a black female:
“The former Illinois senator has two politically fatal flaws: She is black and female….[The] possibility [of electing her] won’t be put to the test until one of the country’s major political parties ends its tradition of choosing only white men as presidential candidates.”
I suppose it hardly needs be said that if Ms. Moseley-Braun were a one-term Senator of the white male persuasion, defeated in his re-election bid and unheard from since, it would not occur to anyone to suggest him as Presidential material. Think Larry Pressler. Only I think he served two terms. In fact, the only reason why Ms. Moseley-Braun is taken even remotely seriously by anyone is that she is a black woman. Will the day ever come when we can put this hypocrisy behind us?

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