A few days ago I was angry. I was angry at the media, and about everything I was hearing from the Talking Heads on almost ALL the news channels. I wasn't hearing anything different from MSNBC. I wasn't hearing anything different from CNN. I certainly wasn't hearing anything different from FoxNews.
This is what I was hearing over and over, and said in different ways:
Barack Obama has a problem with "White Working-Class Americans"
The general consensus was (and still is) that he needed to do something about this issue.
Let me tell you what he needs to do:
NOTHING
I wrote a nasty diary on Tuesday that said that basically West Virginia was a dump of crap as a state.
I apologize.
I apologize.
That is not true, and never has been true.
My own mother is from West Virginia, so I'm not sure what led me to spew such vile. But let me take a crack at it again here:
Barack's loss to Hillary in West Virginia had nothing to do with Reverend Wright. It had nothing to do with "Bittergate." His loss to Hillary there by a HUGE margin can be summed up in two reasons:
- The state is 96% white
- The state is poor and uneducated
Now, before you get mad at me....please, please let me explain.
It is hard to talk about a state without people getting all fired up about how not everyone from W.V. is poor and uneducated.
So, can we just not be so thin-skinned?
Here are a few facts...facts:
A) W.V. has only 14% of it's population graduating from college. The national average is over 24%
B) W.V. has over 16% of it's population in poverty, when the national average is 12%. That statistic is HUGE when you consider that the state is 96% white. Let me put it this way. Only 2% of White America lives in poverty in other states. That national average of 12% includes Blacks and Latinos who make up over 2/3rds of the poverty rate in America.
Statistics here
Does this mean that people from W.V. are dumb and racist?
No...and I'm sorry if I said that.
This does mean, however that Barack has a problem in West Virginia that he can't fix.
And that is because Barack doesn't have a problem with "white working-class people" in W.V.; they have a problem with him.
This does not reflect on his character, it reflects on theirs.
AND NO ONE IS SAYING THIS?
What are we afraid of?
Barack won 23% of the White Vote in West Virginia.
And before this shocks you, the writing on the wall could be seen long ago when he won another poor, uneducated state in the South...Mississippi. He won only 26% of the White Vote there?!
That was before "Bittergate." That was before Reverend Wright.
Barack lost Tennessee to Hillary. His White Vote percentage there? 26%!
In South Carolina he killed Hillary and he only won 24% of the White Vote.
So, this is what I want to say:
There are a lot of damn hard-working White Americans who live in Utah, and Georgia, and Virginia, and Missouri...and they voted for Barack.
But those states have a higher proportion of white people who have attended college, AND they are more diverse states than West Virginia.
You see, something happens when you attend college. Something happens when you live next to people of color. Something happens when you go away from home...you become tolerant.
For some it is because they must adapt to survive. For others it is eye-opening to simply live in a dorm with people who are not like you, and you must shower with and sleep with and discuss with, and study with persons you never would have even seen at "home."
So does this mean that W.V is racist and dumb? No
Not anymore than Mississippi, Tennessee and South Carolina.
But this IS what it does mean:
It tells us more about them then it tells us about Barack.
Barack, IMHO is like a litmus test for people. For America. He lets us know where we stand, and who we are in the 21st century.
And I dare say, with the utmost respect for West Virginia, he lets us know that some states have a long way to go.