Recent reports show that by 2042, white people will become a minority in the US. Eight years ago, 6.8 million people checked multiple boxes to describe their racial and ethnic heritages in filling out the U.S. census form.
Mark Penn, former Clinton strategist, urged his candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton to paint Barack Obama as “fundamentally” foreign.
“The March 19, 2007, memo included a section titled “Lack of American Roots,” in which Penn recommended making an issue of Obama’s “diverse, multicultural” upbringing. Obama was born in Hawaii and spent part of his childhood in Indonesia before returning to Hawaii to live with his grandparents.
Obama’s “roots to basic American values and culture are at best limited,” Penn wrote. “I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and his values.”"
Having been schooled in multiculturalism and in the benefits of diversity since my days as an undergraduate in college, I find this suggested strategy to be utterly disturbing. What exactly are American values? Isn’t diversity one of our strengths? Or is “fundamentally” foreign a code term for “white”? Maybe being born in Hawaii to a mother from Kansas is not American enough for Mark Penn.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Obama Campaign, Young Barack and his maternal grandfather, Stanley Armour Dunham
6 responses so far ↓
1 Wendy Carrillo // Aug 16, 2008 at 7:00 pm
it was a shady move by penn, but at least HRC took the high road and did not go this route. mccain on the other hand, is full speed ahead with this idea that obama is not american enough. how disturbing.
2 Michaelr // Aug 16, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I am still amazed how small-minded and racist people still are…and unashamedly so in so many regards. It seems politics and religion brings out all these ugly human traits that expose those fears that there are genuine differences between the races. I watched a video clip of the California Latino Coalition introducing George W. Bush’s Secretary of Commerce at a rally for John McCain, and as I listened to this group talk about how many Latino friends John McCain has, I wondered why John McCain wasn’t there talking to his so-called Latino friends. Then I wondered what planet these people could be living on. It was so surreal, the thought it was a gag.
3 Sheila // Aug 19, 2008 at 2:29 pm
The reason Obama appeals to me, as a first-generation American, is that he IS what America is all about. He IS the changing face of our nation, and has the diversity of life experience we need in our highest leadership position.
4 Irma // Aug 22, 2008 at 8:55 am
Why this memo was released is beyond me.
No doubt it was just another anti HRC fanatic who has nothing else to do.
Racism is not restricted to white people as we all know. Latinos, blacks, Asians can be racist too.
What about Joe Biden? Geez – he was impressed that Barack Obama could speak proper English.
Sounds racist to me ………
5 Connie // Aug 29, 2008 at 7:15 am
What’s interesting about the changing face of America is that even though the country is getting more diverse, racial profiling still occurs and sometimes change is slow to happen.
I posted this blog about one incident that’s eye-opening:
http://blogs.creditcards.com/2008/08/hispanic-credit-card-offers.php
6 Jermaine // Mar 11, 2009 at 3:52 am
Obama is the face of many diverse societies. he is what America is all about,. he’s gone through alot in his life. He represents today’s world.
Leave a Comment