Talk about non-inclusive change. Sometimes I wonder, are we really headed to something new? Something fresh? Or is this just another ooooordinary daaay. These two girls went to an Obama rally rocking their Hijabs, and they wouldn’t let them sit in the seats they got because of their headgear (right behind Obama)
Ooooooooooohhhhhhh baaaaammmmmaaaa…I hope he’s not an o-booma (The direct translation is “owl” but my Iraqi cronies use it as a term of non-endearment). [ Political Whoas!]
Related posts:
- Zionism Must be Defended (or, Barack Obama’s AIPAC speech)
- Hillary’s Hopes & Obama’s RFK Scenario
- Nader, Obama, and… Can I get a “Palestine” up in here?!
- Obama, the Disappointment
- Gul Elected Turkey’s President: Who’s Afraid Of The Big Ol’ Hijab?
Personally, I think this is stupid. First, yeah, the volunteers were stupid, but you can understand where they got their ideas from. Second, Obama has appeared in pictures with hijabis, and apparently they have also appeared behind him before, although I have not seen that one. Thirdly, it’s not his campaign’s fault that low level people did that. I think the position he outlined at AIPAC is much much much more problematic than these incidents.
Posted by safiyyah | June 19, 2008, 10:20 amSee, this is one reason why white people love Obama. He’s like Oprah. He doesn’t treat white people White as long as they don’t treat him Black. People sometimes forget Oprah’s Black, you know. There’s no scary Al Sharpton/Jesse Jackson chip on their shoulder, which makes them so absolutely adorable. So in this way, Obama’s white too.
Except — his skin is black. And he might be president of the United States of America. His skin color has largely become spectacle. The possibility of Him embodies the American dream — something many of us learned about and believed in while younger. And have become jaded about once we became older and wiser. I think that people need to believe that they belong to a virtuous establishment. And Barack Obama is the hope to realize that, personified.
His added bonus is that he can identity-shift when necessary, to say the things out loud to minorities that white people are too afraid to. This past Father’s Day, Obama decided to address black males about how they’re a constituency of fuck-ups.
Because so many white folk are thinking that same shit but aren’t allowed to say it makes him an absolutely delicious proxy.
His response to the “Muslim smear” is potentially worse than Hillary’s if he can say and do these things and get away with them more than she can. Hopefully, these women really check him on it. They’ve done a great job by approaching The Politico and the press that followed that, but I doubt this will change his strategy. The stakes are too high and he’s doing what it takes to win. In this political climate, we don’t have to use our imaginations too much to see what that means. Hopefully, understanding why his camp does what it does doesn’t automatically translate into accepting why it does what it does.
Brace yourselves for more.
Posted by QuiQui | June 19, 2008, 11:30 amI read from another source that this was the doing of two volunteers and not from the Obama core staff. There are pictures of women in Hejab behind Obama in Seattle so I guess you never know what to believe or want to believe or choose to believe or need to believe !!!!
Posted by sleepless in seattle | June 19, 2008, 11:30 am“Something new” and “something fresh” are the things of revolutionaries, not politicians.
Posted by Bonty | June 19, 2008, 11:35 amActually I don’t blame him, those two hijabies would have reinvigorated those Muslim rumors again.
Like Ralph Nader said yesterday, he’s in training right now to become Panderer-in-Chief, we musn’t disturb him.
Posted by dopesexyfuck | June 19, 2008, 11:41 amI don’t see race.
Posted by White Middle Class Righteous Hypocrite | June 19, 2008, 11:52 amI have volunteered at several of these Obama events and there are usually hundreds of volunteers all over the place, most of whom are not local, who tend to spend most of the event running around like decapitated chickens. Very often these volunteers who get involved in higher responsibility logistical coordination efforts are gunning for a job with the campaign, tend easily to lose sight of the big picture, and (as a result) stick faithfully to script even where it’s self-defeating. I’ve been on the receiving end of it myself (“Do you have a Bruce Springsteen song on your iPod?! It’s not The Rising?! Then forget it, we can’t use it!”)
Obviously, women wearing hijabs would not be noteworthy in the Detroit area. More obviously, if you see the configuration they decided on at the event, hardly anybody in the background audience would’ve been clearly visible to TV audiences because of the in-the-round setup for the event. This was a dumb move by one or two underlings. The sentiment allegedly expressed is unfortunate, but it would be rather churlish to attribute it to any conscious decision by Senator Obama or his campaign.
And for those of you carping on how this is politics-as-usual, and somehow indicative of a sort of rhetorical insincerity on Senator Obama’s part, I need only mention that ideological purity and aversion to mistakes are not comfortably at home in a pluralistic democracy; but they do get unnecessarily venerated in so-called “revolutionary” movements. Whether by those on the right or those on the left.
Posted by Anonymous | June 19, 2008, 12:14 pmAlso, I’m not trying to change the world. I’d rather enjoy it.
Posted by Anonymous | June 19, 2008, 12:25 pmIts not something I would get pissed towards Obama about. Is it right? Obviously not, it shouldn’t be happening, but I have to agree with a comment someone made about the story:
“While I feel for these Muslim supporters … they must realize the true realities of the past 18 months. While Barack most likely has no personal issue with Islam – the far right, ‘blue collar’, ‘lesser educated’ Americans do. Barack is attempting to win the Presidency of the USA all the while attempting to downplay rumors that he is a Crypto-Muslim. While it is sad – It is not Obama’s fault. It is the fault of all those who attempt to use religious affiliation as a scare tactic. Unfortunately, the only reason it is an issue is because this kind of fear still works so well. “
Posted by Selma | June 19, 2008, 3:23 pmUnfortunately, as much as you may want to believe this is simply volunteers being rude to Muslims it goes far deeper than this incident.
Several months ago I got curious and looked at the Obama website and saw they have a “store”-so I went to buttons. (actually there were many more there then than there are now-mamas for Obama-SEVERAL ethnicities for Obama-different careers for Obama) I noticed they had a button in Hebrew, but not one in Arabic. So, I sent an email asking if they had such a thing knowing (mind you-this was several months ago-BEFORE the AIPAC speech, BEFORE letter sent to UN ambassador condemning rocket attacks without condemning Israeli aggesseion when a few cracks started showing up in support for him)that Arab-American support/Muslim was definitely in Obama’s favor. I received an email saying if I didn’t hear from them in three days, give them a call. After three days, I called. The store is a separate contractor I was told, they only sell things sanctioned by the campaign, so I should contact them which I did. Nicely I asked, “I would like to see an Obama button in Arabic because he has such great support in the Arab/Muslim community, my daughter who is Arab-American voted for him in the primary and would love to wear one, do you plan on providing these?”
I was passed to several different volunteers til I got a paid staff person at his campaign HEADQUARTERS who asked for my email and phone number. Within 20 minutes I received a curt email with a link to Obama’s Mideast policy and the declaration they weren’t planning on providing these at the moment.
If you want a button though, they ARE available, produced by the only IRAQI born Arab-AMERICAN/Muslim DELEGATE for Obama (from the state of Washington who happened to have garnered more votes than any other delegate candidate for the whole state) You can just google Majid al-Bahadli and come up with his Obama web page. (BTW-James Yee, former Muslim chaplain at GITMO is also an Obama delegate from the state of Washington)His buttons have been going like hotcakes once people find out about them, especially the one in Arabic/Hebrew /English which promotes the peace process which Obama DOES say he will focus on. Might be nice if the campaign would carry them since there IS a button in Hebrew. (and more below)
This hijab incident is but the tip of the iceberg.
BUT, if you would like Arab American buttons, hats, bumper stickers or t-shirts for MCCAIN, those are readily available! So John McTurd can and DOES offer gear for Arab-Americans while the Obama CAMPAIGN has thus far not done. I would definitely say this is a case of bad attitude on the part of the CAMPAIGN, not volunteers, who whether at Obama’s behest, or entirely on their own, have decided that it is better for their candidate to not openly associate their candidate for WHATEVER reason with Arab-American support for him. Not even offer a BUTTON for Arab-Americans to wear for Obama! I KNOW this because I have called them myself and received a negative response.
The question remains for how long they are going to do this and what affect it will have on the Arab-American vote (and Muslim)
If some of you might take the time and call the Obama headquarters in Chicago and ask about Arab-American for Obama buttons in Arabic I’d be interested in the reaction you get because my own call resulted in nada. Make sure though you press the issue and ask to speak to someone other than a volunteer. If you don’t want to make a long distance phone call, an email or call to local Obama offices would be good too.
The campaign just simply needs to stop doing these things PERIOD.
Posted by Robin | June 19, 2008, 4:26 pmI love the obama campaign rushed to release an archive photo of him with a Hijab-wearing woman in the background..
Hey, my best friend is black. I mean, he was even less subtle than Stephen Colbert taking pictures with his black staffer/best friend.
Posted by Fayyad | June 19, 2008, 8:02 pm“He’s like Oprah. He doesn’t treat white people White as long as they don’t treat him Black.”
Isn’t this kind of racist?
Posted by Anonymous | June 19, 2008, 9:29 pm“He’s like Oprah. He doesn’t treat white people White as long as they don’t treat him Black.”
Isn’t this kind of racist?
Posted by White Middle Class Righteous Hypocrite | June 20, 2008, 1:17 am@ anonymous:
Have you ever heard anyone say, “I don’t see race?” Basically what they are really saying is “I’m an idiot”. Have you ever overheard a conversation that went something like this?
“Do you know such and such? He works with what’s his name down at the work place.”
“Who?”
“You know, such and such. He has that mole on his face. He’s kind of tall with dark hair”
“You mean the black guy?”
“Oh, you’re terrible!!!!”
Since when did acknowledging distinguishing traits like ones skin color become such a massive social crime?
Basically, people are afraid that by simply acknowledging physical or ethnic differences that makes them a racist. These are the same people who lock the deadbolts of their homes in their middle class, white bread neighborhoods because it’s possible that some of the lower class ruffians might violate the sanctity of their private paradise and drive their dilapidated old Chevy Beretta’s into their neighborhood and have their way with them sexually. They also avoid the appearance of racism and usually preach equality while enjoying a life style free of large scale racial co-mingling and spend too much time convince themselves that racism is dead.
The phrase “I don’t see race” is a common plague amongst white middle class people who wish to maintain the appearances of being open and tolerant without actually having to be. It seems they have fallen prey to the lip service social order that we have established. In a world full of righteous hypocrites, why do we even try? Everyone knows you’re a god damn racist. I’m not condoning acts of racism or discrimination but to believe that just a mere 50 years after the end of segregation we are magically one united people without the worries and woes of times past is just too god damn moronic to even contemplate.
I have some bad news for those people. We’re all racist, every last one of us and the harder you try to cover up that fact the more you look like a god damn fool.
Have you ever heard a black guy say “I don’t see race”? Of course you haven’t. If you have feel free to punch him in the face for me the next time you see him and make sure to tell all his black friends. I can assure you that if you do he is in for the beating of his life. Why don’t black people use this phrase? I’m sure that part of it has to do with the fact that most of them actually enjoy their culture that is predicated on separation from white mainstream society. It’s because they remember a long forgotten, failed time in American history called Reconstruction where all the black folks wanted was to be like everybody else. What did we do when they requested this? We shat all over them. So why, just a few decades later, do we think that by ignoring all aspects of our negative past we will magically form a utopian society free of in-equality and race based oppression? The black folks are smart enough to know that we can’t.
Just because you acknowledge someone’s skin color does not mean you are placing yourself above them or saying they are of a lesser status. You do this by living in a predominantly white neighborhood where the minorities that are “acceptable” are cultureless, white washed versions of their brethren. You do this when you vote against initiatives that would bus students in from lower income areas because you don’t want to put your child in “danger” (of what is never said). You do this by self segregation, self-righteous culture bashing, and an unwillingness to acknowledge that these things exist. You don’t need to say a god damn thing because your true feelings are written on your sleeves.
What about those people who say race doesn’t exist? I hate those people. Of course race exists. How the hell else am I supposed to know who is who? I need something to go on. I need to know who to avoid on the road or who to ask for help with my math homework. I need to know who to pick for my football team and I need to know who to hire to mow my lawn or clean my house. If race doesn’t exist, my search would be much more difficult.
The bottom line is that we are not a homogeneous nation built upon a millennium of shared historical perspective. We are a cesspool of fermented waste that has somehow risen to dominate the world. Although I appreciate the value of basic societal norms, never should it include senseless lip service to bullshit principles that don’t and never have existed in any way. Go ahead and keep saying this shit if you want but remember that the world is full of people just like me watching and judging you like the douche bag you are.
Posted by cesspool messiah | June 20, 2008, 1:22 amIn response to Robin’s comments, very little of what the Obama campaign sells on their website is actually created by the campaign. More frequently (especially with regards to ethnic specialty items), it is produced either my outside venders or individual contributors on websites like Cafe Press (with the exception of Spanish Language materials).
Again, most of these volunteers (including those manning the phones at HQ), are not keyed into any mechanism by which the campaign can just start creating specialty apparel. The assumption has been that those who are interested can make the materials themselves fairly easily on Cafe Press, as appears to have already been done by some Obama supporters.
A Hebrew language blog was set up for Obama that many had falsely attributed was sponsored by the campaign; it was not. It was created by individual supporters of his. Whether or not John McCain’s campaign either internally commissioned or externally hired someone to print Arabic and Arab/Muslim-friendly material is neither here nor there (although, knowing their budgetary constraints, it is quite unlikely they made it themselves).
That is a reality of campaigning; these are massive, often chaotic organizations and its foolish, in my view, to fish an accountability issue out of something which few campaigns this size would be able to address as quickly and as affectively as you would have liked.
Posted by Anonymous | June 20, 2008, 5:10 amI love seeing nominal progressives twist themselves into the most ridiculous positions trying to justify Obama’s continued slide into ordinary American political duplicity.
Here’s a guy who takes a position on the Mideast to the right of the official American position and dopes are scurrying to detoxify his cowardice.
“He has to do/say these things to get elected”. How many times have we heard this before? And when has it ever-ever- happened that the Prog of the Month got elected and then said, “Whew! Glad that’s over! Now I can shoe my true colors and push for Mideast peace/single payer healthcare/increased labor rights/non-disastrous trade policies, etc?
I’ll tell you when. Never. That’s when.
Wake the fuck up. Stop privileging race over class identification. Your bewitchment by Obama’s blackness obscures your recognition that his policies are the same neo-lib disasters that we heard from Clinton et al.
Posted by Ismail | June 20, 2008, 6:00 amIn response to anonymous’s comment, the following email was sent to the Obama campaign. Link to them, where it says action, go to the bottom of the list, contact, then other thoughts and questions if you would like to send your own message to the Obama campaign concerning this matter.
Dear Senator Obama and Campaign,
I am contacting you as a life-long Democrat who voted for you in the primary.
A few months ago, I went on this website to the store. I noticed that you had
many buttons for different ethnicities offered, but none for Arab-Americans. At
that point in time, I sent an email to the store which replied if I didn’t hear
from them in three days, call them. After three days of not hearing from them I
called and was told they are an independent contractor contracted by the
campaign to sell what the campaign has sanctioned to be sold on the website, I
should call them.
So I did. I spoke to a gentleman on the phone and told him, “I see you have
buttons for many different ethnicities, even one in Hebrew, which is wonderful
since Senator Obama is inclusive. I am wondering why you don’t have one for
Arab-Americans because my daughter is Arab-American (I’m a mutt myself) who
voted for Obama in the primary, I have many Arab-American and Muslim friends and
I know his support is strong in that community. I would like to request that
you carry these”
The gentleman on the phone asked for my phone number and email. Within twenty
minutes I received an email with a link to Senator Obama’s Middle East policies,
nothing else.
Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by a gentleman from Washington, Majid
Al-Bahdli, who was at that time a Congressional delegate for Obama in Seattle.
He told me he had the buttons I would like and sent me 250 buttons which were
EASILY distributed here in Southern California at various events and in passing,
not just to Arab-Americans, but to others as well who liked them.
Since then, Majid has been nominated as a delegate for the state of Washington,
having received more votes than any other delegate candidate there because the
state of Washington was WELL aware of the hard work this Iraqi born delegate had
put in, hours and HOURS of his own time in addition to the money spent on
producing these buttons and distributing them to the MANY requests he has
received.
Yet, from my own knowledge, I know these buttons are still being denied a space
in your official website store. Then in the news I and others have read the
campaign has treated young Muslim women in such a shabby manner.
I am requesting an answer to this matter from someone in the campaign and ALSO
that these buttons be carried on the website. Do you realize that John McCain
has Arab-Americans for McCain, buttons, bumper sticker, hats and t-shirts?
While I realize the Senator has been busy denying he is a Muslim, the campaign
has been busy denying or SEEKING the Arab-American vote thinking that not only
must he distance himself, but also taking it for granted.
I am writing you to say that this is NOT inclusive and there is a much better
way to handle this situation than is being done thus far. While there will be
those who jump ship elsewhere or don’t vote altogether, as a former high school
government teacher I find this an appalling situation that the campaign is
acting in this fashion towards Arab and Muslim Americans.
A good start would be to contact Majid directly on his Obama page, learn about
what a fine asset he is to the campaign and place his buttons on the official
website for ALL to see that the campaign treats Arab/Muslim Americans with
dignity and welcomes their support.
http://www.obamadelegates.org/account/http://www.obamadelegates.org/account/
MajidALBahadli?t=anon
Thank you for your time in this matter.
Blessings,
Robin
Member of the Arab American Press Guild (while not being Arab or Muslim myself)
and life long Democrat who WANTS to believe that Senator Obama’s message is
meant for ALL Americans,
Note, I spoke to Nancy, a volunteer at your headquarters, a very nice Jewish
woman who told me to write you here. I would like to commend her for her
thoughtfullness on the phone and the time she spent with me discussing this
matter.
If you notice, Majid has also produced a button in Hebrew/Arabic and English
which is being worn by hundreds of people as a symbol of the Senator’s
declaration that peace in the Middle East will be a top priority for him.
______________________________
Waiting patiently for a response which I was told there are volunteers who DO read all the emails sent. If not in three working days send it again, then at that point in time I will call the campaign again and I will KEEP at it til I get some sort of response.
Posted by Robin | June 20, 2008, 1:48 pmYou guys here might want to know about the FIRST phone call I made to Obama’s campaign this morning before I got Nancy who was very nice and definitely thought the campaign should carry the buttons.
I called, clicked the extension, and for SOME reason it went to the store. This is what occurred then:
(By her voice) an African American woman answered the phone- I briefly said, “Oh, I somehow got the store and I realize you’re not the one I need to talk to, sorry”
SHE asked me what I was calling about, so I BRIEFLY said, “I’m calling again because I would like to see Arab-American for Obama pins offered in Arabic because you have many other ethnicities but not that one, but you’re really not the person I need to talk to because I know you only sell what the campaign sanctions, I’m sorry, I’ll call back, thanks.”
She went OFF her rocker. Said, “LOOK, you need to vote for McCain!”
I said, “Wait a minute, I’m calling for Obama, what are you talking about?”
I’M TELLING YOU, YOU NEED TO VOTE FOR MCCAIN BECAUSE OBAMA IS A SON OF A BITCH.
Mind you, this was definitely by her voice an African American on the phone with me.
Again I said, “PLEASE what are you talking about, I called for OBAMA, I dialed the OBAMA campaign.”
“I KNOW WHO YOU CALLED FOR AND I’M TELLING YOU TO VOTE FOR MCCAIN, do NOT VOTE FOR OBAMA, You HERE ME. Do NOT vote for Obama!!!!!!!I do not WANT you to vote for Obama!”
CLICK.
Those “volunteers”, only this was NOT a volunteer, but rather a paid employee who works for the independent contractor which sells Obama merchandise, sure do have ATTITUDE!
Posted by Robin | June 20, 2008, 5:45 pmMcCain is more honest and trustworthy than Obama. I really feel Obama will do anything for power and that definitely includes bashing muslims. Its always the other guys fault. McCain can help the problems in the Middle East better than a ass kisser like Obama
Posted by Anonymous | June 22, 2008, 12:31 pmUh, anonymous… McCain’s sold out pretty much every stand he’s ever taken at one point or another.
Check out the book “McCain: The Myth of a Maverick”, by Matt Welch.
Posted by Joe | June 24, 2008, 4:13 pmJust wanted to say that I am eployed at a big biotherapeutic corporation in Clayton NC and I endroce Barack Obama with all my heart. I invite all my friends and colleagues to say yes for Obama in 2012!! I LOVE YOU OBAMA
Posted by Diane Pearce Loves Obama | March 25, 2011, 9:25 pm