Are black women "women"? Are older black people "older people"?
This passage in this morning's Portland (Maine) Press-Herald brings this to mind:
It will be interesting to see on Sunday if Maine falls into the same pattern as the rest of the country: Clinton winning women, older voters, Hispanics, some white men and, perhaps surprisingly, voters who make up their minds at the last moment and Obama winning African-Americans (the few that there are in Maine), the youth vote and some white men.
Reading this at 5:30 a.m., I did a double take because my mind at first easily accepted the absurdity within it.
Apparently there are:
Women
Older voters
Hispanics
And then, in a separate category, there are:
African Americans
white males
mmm ... okay ...
I would think that a black woman might find it odd that she is not included in the "woman" category -- but I'm not a black woman.
I am a "white male" -- and I get my own special little category right alongside "African Americans." Hey !!! I've always said that, as a white male, some of my best friends are African Americans. And I was just making it up !!!
Who knew it was true !!!
Maybe it's time to drop the whole gender, race, age stuff in political reporting -- or at least get it reasonably accurate. As a voter, I don't care who else is voting for a candidate. I want to know WHY voters are selecting a candidate -- and why they are not selecting another candidate. That is useful and interesting information because it focusses on the intersection of voters and the issues which concern them most.