MATTERS OF RACE AND GENDER

Race and gender matter. We all know they do. We may act like they don't. We may say they don't. But deep down inside, we all know that they do.

Last night gave us a perfect example of this reality. The mainstream media has, possibly above all except for the educational establishment, talked down the significance of race and gender. Yet as I watched the Super Tuesday commentary I couldn't help but to notice something as strange as it was predictable: the journalists were fixated on the racial and gender dynamics of the election. They had pie charts, graphs, and a never ending stream of statistics, all having to do with race and gender. They broke down the Hispanic vote, the Black vote, the White vote, and then broke these down into the categories of male and female.

I wish I could say that I was shocked by this, but I'm not. It's easy to say that race and gender don't matter when there are a bunch of rich white men in fancy suits pacing the platform. It is something altogether different when we have a black man and a white woman running neck-and-neck for the Democratic nomination, both having the potential to be the next president of the United States. Now race and gender matter, and they matter a lot! In fact, it seems as if racial and gender identities are the only things on everyone's mind.

Prior to this election, such focus on race and gender would have been seen as racialist or sexist. Now it is a matter or national interest and intrigue. Talking about these two factors is not only permissible, it is something that may cut hard into your ratings if you choose to ignore it.

The big question shouldn't be why race and gender have taken a central role in election coverage and commentary. The answer to that question is rather obvious. The real question is why such conversations were ever taboo in the first place. And what will happen post-election? What if Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton lose? Will we return to silence? Or will this newfound fascination reinvigorate lively debates over racial and gender inequality that have, for at least some time, been confined to academic symposiums and sit-ins? Time will tell. It always does.

THE AMAZING AMERICAN SYSTEM

Here we are in the midst of Super Tuesday. Different candidates winning different states at different rates. This all seems too typical. What many may miss is the fact that when all is said and done and the final primary vote is cast, the winner may come out with just around 40% of the party vote. This, too, is all too typical.

The problem I see here is that the next Republican candidate, and his platform respectively, will have the backing of just over 1/3 of all those he will soon represent. How is this representation? Will this person tailor his platform in order to better represent those 60% of people who didn't vote for him in the primaries? This is unlikely. Instead, if history is trustworthy guide, the winner will ignore the beliefs and values of the 60% that caused them to vote for another candidate and act like he and his platform have some mandate from heaven to stay the course.

My fears and frustrations were confirmed while recently watching Chris Matthews interview a delegate from New Jersey. He is an officeholder and has endorsed Mrs. Clinton. The question was what he would do were Clinton to lose the state. Would he delegate in a way that is consistent with the voice of the people, or would he stay true with his endorsement of Clinton. Without hesitation he vouched for the latter! While he admitted he would be going against the people, he must stay true to his endorsement. Bye-bye representation. Bye-bye notion of delegation! Yet this is typical not only of delegation but of those who take home the gold and head on to the general election.

However this works out one thing is for sure: 2/3 of the American voters will be let down... once again. What an amazing system we have.