Thinking of Atticus Finch

Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote that: "many a man, who has contrived to hide his ruling passion or predominant defect from himself, will betray the same to dispassionate observers, bu his proneness on all occasions to suspect or accuse

others of it. ..."

Lately the air waves in America have been echoing Senator McCain’s assertion that Senator Obama has injected race into the presidential campaign. Enter Coleridge: you don’t have to look too deeply at McCain’s protestations to see a latent and pejorative utilization of racial figuration. The image of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, two young white women, presaging the appearance of a larger than life black man is a carefully constructed semiotic reenforcement of old fashioned white fear. Has anyone forgotten Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird for god’s sake?

By pretending that the Hilton-Spears ad is just a simple "celebrity" alarm about Obama the McCain campaign can divert attention from the haunting and racially motivated visual symbolism in their phony commercial.

I hope that Senator Obama can survive this ugly Karl Rove sponsored attack and that the American people will listen to what he has to say with keen attention.

But in a nation where some 40 million people can’t read I imagine that visual literacy—the ability to analyze imagery—is even less in evidence. Karl Rove and company know this full well.

Obama’s best strategy is to use his warmth and his sense of humor whenever possible. Ronald Reagan and JFK were witty in the face of adversarial attacks.

No one will sensibly suggest that John McCain is witty.

S.K.

Comments

[william Peace]

This post reinforces my fear that American citizens are simply not ready to elect a black man president. While lip service is paid to social equality in this country the reality is quite different. Sadly, I think there are too many in the closet bigots that say one thing but when able to cast an anonymous vote will do something else entirely. If this happens and McCain wins the poorest most disenfranchised population will suffer and the disparity between the rich and poor will continue to escalate.

[lelly]

oohh goodddd!!!!!!!!help us all...stop teh racism ..the best is going to win..i don't see color. listen the voice and ideas of both candidates.