Why an Obama presidency is good for American feminism

Obama is not so much a progressive candidate, as Clinton is a regressive one. And by extension so are the 2nd wave feminists supporting her. It has been disheartening to witness the unwavering, even hardening of support from so many white women for Clinton as her campaign has taken a turn toward open race baiting, and racial divide and conquer tactics to muster up votes.



The moral bankruptcy of this form of feminism has become clear to anyone who is willing to take a critical look and see it.

Steinem, Ferraro, Jong and others aren’t advocating for a radical change in the white and male power structure as much as they are seeking to take over its reigns. What appears to be an irrational fear on the part of these white women that if Clinton doesn’t get the nomination NOW feminism has lost its shot makes total sense if their form of feminism is about finally wielding power like white men do, not creating a radically different power structure in and of itself.

Call it the white (wo)man’s last stand, or so to speak.

As the bi-directional influence of globalization becomes clearer and undeniable, in order to compete globally Americans of European descent will have to give up white privilege, or at the very least expand it to an “American privilege” that includes its citizens of color. New centers of power both economic and cultural are taking root among brown and yellow countries in the world, and who better to negotiate with them than America’s own brown and yellow people? The value of a Thatcher-esque presidency, rife with social impact on gender relations for Americans, will be lost on the rest of the globe’s citizens of color who aren’t likely to suffer a kinder, gentler white supremacy when they are holding so many of the cards now.

Those who wish to see Obama become president right now are angling for America to stay relevant in this new global reality. Those who wish to see Clinton win are angling for whiteness to stay relevant in this new global reality.

In a post-Obama presidency, any white woman who runs and wins will not easily be able to wield power in a racially supremacist kind of way as all prior 43 presidents have done to varying degrees. In a weird kind of way an Obama presidency might force white feminists to give up their (nowadays not so) latent white supremacy if they want a shot at the title down the road.

Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton - 2nd wave feminists - white privilege

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