Cara Live!

During the Republican National Convention of 2000, the GOP flaunted diversity. There were minority speakers, performers and delegates galore. The Republicans were trying to meet the challenge of presenting the “illusion of inclusion.” With this presentation, it allowed them to make an argument that the Democrats are taking the minority vote, specifically the Black vote, for granted. In 2004, 290 of the party’s 4853 delegates and alternates were African American. This year that number dropped significantly. As the cameras panned the audience of the Xcel Energy Center, in Minneapolis, MN, it became apparent to the viewers that the audience did not look like the majority of Americans. It was obvious to viewers that the demographic was age 50+ and white. The numbers indicate that there were only 2300 delegates and 36 were African American. Based on the projected number of minorities in this country by 2040 which will out number their white counterparts, how does the GOP intend to s...

In the past weeks, I’ve been plagued by the question of ‘Is America Ready For A Black President? With racism raising it’s ugly head since Barack Obama entered the race, the most appropriate question ‘Is A Black President Ready For America?’ Initially, Obama’s campaign was viewed as insignificant until he won Iowa. Once it was understood that Obama is a player in the game of presidential politics, as said in street vernacular “it was on.” Obama was running a campaign that transcended race. During the South Carolina primary, Hillary & Bill Clinton decided to play the race card. All of a sudden, Obama became the Black candidate, instead of, the candidate who happens to be Black. When the race card wasn’t working as effective as anticipated, then the religion card was put on the table ……”is he Muslim? Oh better yet, we got these Rev. Jeremiah Wright tapes, let’s make him Christian and play the 3 second loop over & over & over. Yeah, that’s the ticket.” You can’t help but notic...

While working the Obama campaign in Pennsylvania, my canvassing partner, Sophie (a 20-something white female) asked me ‘why does Obama identify himself as Black'. At that very moment, I realized that there is now a generation that is not familiar with the one-drop rule or maybe doesn't even care. Although we are moving towards MLK's dream where people are judged by the content of their character and not by the color their skin, race still seems to matter. Racial identity is still important especially with how the media and government categorize us. In the American psyche, identifying by one race is a focal point, but as society continues to blend culturally, this is becoming increasingly complicated for those who would like for us to check just one box. So, why is it significant that Obama chose to check the Black box?