1.20.2009

They Still Call It the White House, But That's a Temporary Condition Too

I'm no chump. As relieved as I am to hear words like "change" and "workers" replace words like "tradition" and "family" in American political discourse, I remain reluctant to invest too much hope in electoral politics. 

But you'd have to be either a cynic or a racist not to feel great about today.

5 comments:

  1. have you tried basing your judgements on policy and issues rather than the obviously mass-marketed (and frankly, necessary) campaign slogans? if you're "no chump" why do you stick on the slogans rather than the reality?

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  2. including the classic parliament jam was meant to locate this event in the history of american race relations, rather than as some kind of utopic political turning point. you'd be a chump to think that it was something revolutionary, but you'd be a downright fool to think there's some kind of deferred "reality" beneath political rhetoric. take this for what it is, which is a discursive redefinition of what "america" is and what "americans" are. the significance of this event took place at the level of signs, and i'm okay with that. the way it has inspired young people of color all over the country forces even far-left skeptics like me to care.

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  3. agreed, i thought your post was exceedingly clear. i'm a cynic but i do think the change is much more than a campaign slogan. like you mention, the reality is there is a 'man of color' in the white house.

    there are probably several other emergent realities, and we will just have to wait to see what happens.

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