| Mythmom:
White women did not endure the Middle Passage during which more than half of the Africans brought to these shores died. They were not sold and made to breed for the benefit of their masters, they were not separated from their husbands and children, etc...
By the time women received the right to vote in this country, many African-Americans of both genders still could not vote.
An African-American might have been allowed to attend an Ivy League school. He might also have been the only one of his race to do so.
About ten years ago, in the mid-1990s, some African-American students at Harvard were challenged by the university police. Their crime: sitting on the steps of one of the college buildings, talking desultorily. The policeman did not believe they belonged there. The one who took it the hardest was the one who had not previously experienced discrimination (his dad was in the army, and the army has done an exemplary job of integration). No female student would have thus been challenged.
Having said all that, I agree with razorsharp that Alice Walker's argument in favor of Obama are not convincing. But her experience is important to bear in mind. |