by José de la Isla
José de la Isla
HOUSTON – On Friday, March 21, at two in the morning, Governor Bill Richardson sent an e-mail to his former supporters. The address window said, “A personal note.”
In the third sentence, Richardson told them, “I wanted to tell you that, after careful and thoughtful deliberation, I have made a decision to endorse Barack Obama for President.”
In the fourth line, he acknowledged “My affection and admiration for Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton.” Then he turned to what was the heart of his message.
Referring to Barack Obama’s Philadelphia speech earlier in the week, “He asked us to rise above our racially divided past, and to seize the opportunity to carry forward the work of many patriots of all races, who struggled and died to bring us together.”
Who could have guessed — given how political commentators have carried on about black-and-white complaints and grievances — that a new paradigm could so swiftly and definitively come about.
Perhaps that is because so many commentariat have made their reputations observing social friction instead of commenting about its consequences to the political system and our national life.
But the U.S. people got it, judging from the opinion polls measuring public reaction to the speech. Nonetheless, the incendiary white-resentment- black-rage quandary, as chatter, would have continued had Bill Richardson not weighed in.
In a realistic appraisal about this moment in history, we ought to be conscious that in those crucial hours following Obama’s historic speech, the nation lapsed back into a 1970s mental regression. Virtually all of the talk was again about black and white, like an LP with its needle playing over and over the same old tune.
That nation doesn’t exist anymore. The new nation is colorized. It has many people from many places speaking many tongues. Many of them are Hispanics.
The “one-size-fits-all minority” label is out of fashion, inappropriate and out of sync. Bringing up Jeremiah Wright’s 2001 incendiary sermon recalled old wounds and hurts all over again — maybe ones without solution–but that only serve to injure Obama’s candidacy with an implied guilt by association. What happened instead was that Obama did what armies of media commentators are paid to do.
Obama’s Philadelphia speech March 18 explained and challenged the public to rise above the words and to set a new high standard for tolerance, behavior, and responsibility. Not knowing better, the media consignetti likened it to MLK’s “I have a dream.” But it wasn’t that. It was not a vision quest. It was a political speech setting a new high political standard. That’s where Bill Richardson weighed in.
Bill Richardson in Portland said Obama “spoke to us like adults.”
He added, “He asked us to ponder the weight of our racially-divided past, to rise above it, and to seize the opportunity to carry forward the work of many patriots of all races, who struggled and died to bring us together.”
For Obama, said Richardson, “cynicism is not realism, and hope is not folly.”
What makes Richardson’s words remarkable is how he brought out an elemental truth — “As a Hispanic, I was particularly touched by his words.” He connected that to what we all know. “I have been troubled by the demonization of immigrants” and the rising rate of hate crimes against Hispanics. Richardson, like Obama, consigned divisive economic policies as the real demon.
Richardson said Obama “has started a discussion” that rejects the politics of pitting race against race.” Interpreted, this means a halt to the national backward movement and a new map with high standards of conduct. Why? Because this is not a black-and-white nation anymore. If you don’t see it or don’t get it, you’re out of it.
Obama opened a pathway to a new standard, and Richardson quickly stepped through it, for others to follow.
There’s an adage that says you understand people by their words which you cannot translate. “Este es un hombre que nos entiende y nos va a respetar,” Richardson said endorsing Obama. There’s a tone, a feeling there you just can’t translate.
[José de la Isla is the author of “The Rise of Hispanic Political Power.” (Archer Books, 2003). He writes a weekly commentary for Hispanic Link News Service. E-mail: Joseisla3@yahoo.com]. ©2008
