“I am wondering if this is the time where we get over the hump, where an Obama victory will finally, at long last, move us beyond some of the old conversations about race…That possibly, just possibly, this great country can finally be forgiven for its original sin, or find some absolution.” - Joseph C. Phillips, Actor

Behold the warring souls of “Black conservatives.” Actor Joseph C. Phillips, who played Denise Huxtable’s husband on The Cosby Show, is not alone with his hope that a successful campaign of Sen. Obama could potentially transform America into the quintessential post-racial society. A couple days ago, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal written by Wardell Connerly, champion of initiatives in California, Washington, and Michigan to eliminate affirmative action. Connerly is currently leading similar efforts in Nebraska, Colorado, and Arizona, claiming that because we seek a post-racial American identity, there is no longer a place for race-and gender-conscious remedies to discrimination. In Connerly’s public mind, at least as it is conveyed in the media, race doesn’t matter. He writes in the WSJ article about being inspired by Sen. Obama’s supporters in South Carolina who were chanting, “race doesn’t matter.” Well, if you have to say it…

Fortunately, Sen. Obama’s campaign has been clear that he recognizes the importance of maintaining affirmative action, the nation’s most effective policy to date to bring about equal opportunities in access to employment, education, contracting, and public services. Obama’s campaign has confirmed that he opposes Connerly’s effort to eliminate policies and laws which seek to “break down historic barriers to progress for qualified women and minorities,” a stance which I applaud and completely support. I continue to be perplexed by Connerly and others like him who seem so committed to the ideal of a post-racial society that they are blinded by the realities of the present. Research that I have led at the Discrimination Research Center and at the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at UC Berkeley’s Law School have confirmed that people of color and women of all racial groups continue to face barriers to employment and equal access to public contracting opportunities. Our research has also found that without specific policies to enforce equal opportunity, access to contracting and employment erode over time and become reserved for the “good old boy network,” which is virtually impenetrable to women and people of color.

While I can empathize with the desire of “Black conservatives” to eliminate the use of race as a negative credential, the fact remains that racial bias is ingrained in the public psyche so much so that one cannot simply decide to be post-racial. You have to actually work on it. You have to have structures in place to hold individuals, governments, and institutions accountable to a raised standard of justice and equality. You have to make sure those in decision-making positions are aware of the historical manifestations of racial injustice–referred to by Condoleeza Rice as “America’s birth defect” –and its current legacy on access to many aspects of our society.

While I, too, am excited about the opportunity to cast my vote (again) for a candidate that I believe evokes a change in direction from the current disaster in leadership, I am also keenly aware that just because people of all racial groups are willing to vote for a man of African and European descent, that does not mean that racial bias and structural racism are no longer a part of the American social fabric. Just because one has made it, does not mean that the nation has transcended the real impact of racial bias. If one has been watching closely, this election has made it ever more apparent just how deep America’s biases are, and how much we are capable of reversing the course if we make a conscious effort to change.

It is not only unrealistic, but illogical, to think that removing race and gender-conscious remedies to discrimination will correct the deeply rooted biases that lead to real systems of preference, like those which come from elite schools that seek out potential legacy admits, and those which come from public agencies that consistently deny public contracting opportunities for people of color and women of all racial groups. While I agree that the election of Sen. Obama to the Presidency would signal tremendous social growth for this country, it will by no means negate the disparities in incarceration, poverty, health, education, and other areas that are so prevalent among people of color, and particularly, African Americans. And while I agree that it is time to change how we talk about race, the important thing is to keep talking about it so that we can overcome the cultural and social incompetencies that make for unhealthy assumptions about the diverse people that make up the American public. This is the discourse we long for; this is the discourse we deserve.

Copyright 2008 Monique W. Morris

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