Here are Barack Obama Bucks in which the Democrat candidate for president is depicted on a $10 food stamp issued by the Chaffey Community Republican Women led by a housewife named Diane Fedele. See the photos and story, which have prompted legitimate outcries of racism from Obama supporters.
Obama Bucks Racial Stereotyping
The Obama Bucks image shows Obama surrounded by food that has historically been stereotyped with southern black individuals, most notably fried chicken, watermelon, ribs and Kool-Aid. Those are racist stereotypes from our past that are rightfully repudiated in 2008 when noticed.
But the good news is that we are progressing beyond the power of such stereotypes. At a basic level, Barack Obama is merely surrounded by food we all eat. That is the way the San Bernadino GOP woman from Chaffey Community Republican Women, Diane Fedele, says saw it when she sent a newsletter out containing the image.
She says that she was making an argument that Barack Obama will usher in a socialist welfare state, not that Obama is black. We all know that already. Diane Fedele has since apologized profusely. Assuming she is telling the truth, in an odd sense she seems to be the enlightenment one among us.
As a man of color, I too confess that the image doesnt have the power it would have once had in the past. People who react with righteous indignation are the folks who see color first, people second. Its just food, and the sooner we all see it that way the better. But we are not quite there yet as a nation.
The Obama campaign, of course, is trying to have it both ways on race. They explain to us that Barack is a new kind of candidate, that race does not matter anymore. They are mostly right, but then they complain vociferously anytime a picture like Obama bucks appears or John McCain talks about beating Obama in a debate. Barack Obama seems much too sensitive.
So what are your feelings about Barack Obama depicted on food stamps as Obama bucks? Does the stereotype bother you that much or is this a ho-hum in 2008?
