In a nation founded by the owners of Black slaves, a Black man now has a better than even chance of being elected President. And, according to this op-ed written by Ángel Guerra Cabrera of Mexico’s La Jornada:
“The United States will not emerge from its deep structural crisis or its demented warmongering course without major surgery, even within the system. That requires first and foremost the dismantling of Bushism – a difficult task that will take awhile, and Obama is the only candidate with the support and the indispensable social energy to do it … provided they let him reach the White House.”
By Ángel Guerra Cabrera
Translated By Douglas Myles Rasmussen
June 5, 2008
Mexico – La Jornada – Original Article (Spanish)
An unusual event has occurred that no one would have dared imagine six months ago let alone a year ago, when Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared certain to be the Democratic Party candidate for the presidency of the United States. Barak Hussein Obama, of mixed race and 46 years old, son of a Kenyan Muslim and a White woman born in Kansas, has surpassed the number of delegates needed to be nominated for that position, which was supposedly predestined to be the noble title of his rival, the cream of the crop of the imperial elite, who – of course – still hasn’t recognized defeat.
The mere fact – which now appears unstoppable – that someone “of color” could for the first time reach that position in the land of the stars and stripes, should be regarded as a very significant and progressive change in the attitudes of millions in the United States. This is even more remarkable since it’s happening in the midst of – or more likely as a rejection of – the unprecedented ultraconservative, anti-populist, warmongering wave established in the eight long years with Bush in the White House.
It’s worth remembering that in the Republic founded in 1776 by White slave-owners, the famous phrase, “All men are created equal” didn’t apply even remotely to Blacks. Almost another century had to pass before the Civil War did away with slavery, but not racism or discrimination, which continued unimpeded up to 60s of the twentieth century. And this was despite significant reforms having been achieved by the determined struggle of African Americans and progressive Whites. Even today, racism remains a serious social and cultural scourge that marginalizes a significant portion of the African-origin population. There remain more than a few Whites who claim that they would “never” vote for a Black man for the highest government post.
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