NCRW Plenary - Post #7Ok, it’s Q&A time—generally the best part of any panel IMHO. And here we have Sandi Morgen taking the mike, expressing deep frustration about the “down tone” of this panel. We have an African American running for President, people! Applause. Says Morgen, “Women’s organizations that take a down tone right now are not helping to build the coalition that we need right now to build.”
Kim Gandy responds, asking for recognition that it’s only been a few days, and that there’s a group of people who are hurting out there (HRC supporters), and in a little bit of mourning—just as it would be in the case of the reverse. She calls for an understanding of that. And then she references a column she wrote last night about her daughters who were too young to pay attention to the 2004 election, but who were engaged in this one. Says Gandy, “They saw a woman and an African American run against each other for President. For them, forever, that’s what a Presidential election is. That’s who runs for President. My daughters will grow up never knowing a time when only white men could be considered serious candidates for president. And that is truly groundbreaking.”
Interesting convo about race and gender follows….Feminism’s uncomfortable history with race….How did women of color make their choices in this election?....An audience member says that Frederick Douglas was the only one of all the people at Seneca Falls to truly address a human rights agenda and frame women’s rights as human rights….
Ok, I've got to sign off. 'Til tomorrow!
2 comments:
A few days isn't much to ask. Even Sen. Clinton needed a couple though I hear she has met with Obama already to make plans for unifying and that she is instructing her people to go into Obama promoting mode because winning back the White House is the most important thing. I think her critics are going to have a lot of crow to eat.
Dear Deborah,
One of the really big things that bothered me about media coverage of HRC is the constant harping about how much support she was getting from "white women."
Okay, yeah, we get it. White, middle-aged women love Hillary Clinton. No need to beat that horse to death, thank you very much.
Of course, if you're not a white, middle-aged woman, that could make you feel a wee bit left out of the conversation, as if your own vote and support don't count. I donated money to HRC, devoted some of my weekly columns for the local paper to covering her campaign, and wrote about her in my blog. Yet I'm a thirtysomething Gen-X Asian-American. Where does all the rhetoric leave me? Where do I belong in the dialogue? Just because I'm a young person of color does not mean I automatically spread my arms out for Sen. Obama.
And I think that my twenty-six-year-old African-American friend, who also supported HRC, would agree with me.
Cheers,
Marjorie
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