Now I finally understand the hateful tone and--dare I say, bitterness?--behind Geraldine Ferraro's divisive comments throughout this election. In her op-ed piece today in the Boston Globe, "Healing the wounds of Democrats' sexism," she says a whole bunch of ridiculous stuff. Most of it we've heard before, from her and from others.
But there was something new in this piece--something that instantly sent any lingering respect I had for her swirling down the drain of division and past the point of no return in American politics. It also sent a message, loud and clear, about Ferarro's real motivations for speaking out in this campaign.
Here's the scary, scary thing that Ferarro says: she claims to speak for "Reagan Democrats," (later calling identifying this group as "white") and says that when Barack Obama "said in South Carolina after his victory "Our Time Has Come" they believe he is telling them that their time has passed."
Of course, "Reagan Democrats" have said no such thing--Ferraro is projecting onto an entire group of people with diverse opinions and support for many different candidates. And when Barack Obama speaks of "our time", he is speaking of Democrats, Republicans, and anyone in this nation who wants to move forward past the divisive politics of the past.
But Ferraro clearly hears a very different "Our" in "Our." She's talking about white people here--she says so herself. And pretending to speak for them, she's clearly expressing her fear of black people. Her fear of the "other." Her fear, long held by a fringe group of whites in America, that "they" will rise up and destroy "us."
Geraldine Ferraro is afraid of Barack Obama. She's afraid of black people. Or maybe she's afraid and also bitter about what she sees as a woman's turn, being taken by a black man. I know many of you will want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I can't and won't. Not again. Too many times she's commented on Obama's race, his racism, his playing the race card. And now this. Read for yourself, if you think I'm exaggerating. This is scary stuff:
As for Reagan Democrats, how Clinton was treated is not their issue. They are more concerned with how they have been treated. Since March, when I was accused of being racist for a statement I made about the influence of blacks on Obama's historic campaign, people have been stopping me to express a common sentiment: If you're white you can't open your mouth without being accused of being racist. They see Obama's playing the race card throughout the campaign and no one calling him for it as frightening. They're not upset with Obama because he's black; they're upset because they don't expect to be treated fairly because they're white. It's not racism that is driving them, it's racial resentment. And that is enforced because they don't believe he understands them and their problems. That when he said in South Carolina after his victory "Our Time Has Come" they believe he is telling them that their time has passed.
Hillary Clinton and her supporters must distance themselves from Ferraro, and stop using her to further their own cause. (To her credit, I don't believe that Clinton has done so recently, but many of her supporters still cite Ferraro often as a leading source on the "sexism" and "racism" they see as coming from the Obama campaign in this campaign.) In any case, Clinton supporters must be very careful. Ferraro had already crossed a line, and she's five miles past it now, shouting from her pulpit of hate and well beyond the pale. Clinton supporters have to expose this woman for what she is--a racist--yes, whether she realizes it or not--who's trying to distract the media from that fact by shouting about sexism.
It's not that I don't believe that Ferraro supports Clinton, or believes that sexism occured. I do. But I also believe that the woman is deeply, deeply troubled, with issues of her own that she is projecting onto Clinton and her supporters with every divisive word she spits out. And the Clinton campaign and its supporters need to kick her to the curb. Very publicly.
One other thing: no doubt many of you will write that I'm being divisive, that this diary is exactly what we don't need right now. I'm usually wiling to agree to disagree--but I'm going to be firm now. I'm going to tell you that you're wrong right up front. Why?
Because the most divisive person right now in Democratic politics is Geraldine Ferraro. She's trying to divide us on sex and on race--by appealing to our deepest-seated emotions and fears about who we are and our place in society. And that's wrong no matter how you look at it, no matter who you support. It's the one thing that our party should agree on right now, when we can't agree on much else.