Black Grandmothers
June 12, 2008 by Tracee Sioux
Filed under Parenting
by Tracee Sioux
I was anxious to find the Hillary-supporting women who have been saying they will vote for McCain or refrain from voting all together. I have read their arguments on the Internet and they seemed illogical, hysterical, and easily distracted to me – until I met them.
I was shocked out of my britches to find they were wise black grandmothers who have been down this road before and learned their lesson.
(Please note that the above photo is everyone on the Hillary bus I rode, not necessarily Hillary supporters threatenting to boycott Obama.)
These women told me how they fought through the Civil Rights Movement and heard their men say, Help us and when we get there we’ll help you. They did not. They took the power and kept it for themselves.
Same story with the abolition of slavery. These women fought the fight along side their men and their men took the power saying, we’ll pull you along with us.
They did not.
Same story with the vote. Black men took it for themselves and did not help their sisters get it for 100 years.
The women I met were a generation of black women who have raised their children and their grandchildren as the African American family and African American community has fallen apart and their men have left the family or been imprisoned.
They are a generation of women who are none to thrilled to see their men call them, or their daughters, “Ho’s” on the BET.
These black grandmothers have been down this road before and they know what happens at the end of it. They don’t want to keep making the same mistake over and over again and Obama represents the same mistake to them.
Who’s more misogynist than a white man?
A black man, they told me.
Except for some of the Hillary-loving Hispanic ladies I had lunch with who told me, Oh no, it’s the Hispanic man that’s the most sexist.
From their perspective, black men love racial equality, but gender equality is a whole different story. Seems they enjoy having their women doing all the heavy lifting and getting none of the power or glory. Shit rolls down hill and black men like not be the one on the very bottom, some of the women told me.
Some of those black women had shirts made up that said ONLY Hillary would get their vote. There is talk that they will write her in if Obama doesn’t name her VP. They want her to run as an Independent and split the party. Some even say they will vote for McCain.
Let me tell you something, a black woman I was boarding with told me. If the positions were reversed and Obama came this close black folks would march on Washington and FORCE Hillary to name him VP.
She’s probably right.
They also felt that because Barack Obama’s campaign was heavily online, as were his unheard of donations, that they were manipulated and inflated by Republican participation. In other words, they didn’t believe that many Democrats donated $5 to Obama. They believed that the Conservative Media had encouraged Republicans to help Barack Obama (Rush Limbaugh encouraged Republicans to vote in the Democratic Primary) win because they hate Hillary Clinton something fierce.
We let Republicans infiltrate our party and manipulate our votes,
they said.
They also felt that a LOT of that money actually was the PAC money that Obama said he wasn’t taking – because you can give anonymous donations over the Internet.
That money’s gonna dry up, they said. Those Republicans who gave Obama money are going to give it to their own candidate now. The big business and PACs who gave money are going to give to McCain now.
I should note here that these women were in the minority among their peers. The majority of black women at the convention were Obama supporters.
Also, the majority of Hillary-supporters at the convention were resigned to voting for Obama and not threatening a boycott.
But one Hillary t-shirt said, “I will not fall in line,” and I believe them. Before I met them, I thought they were bluffing.
The Democratic Party was paying attention because nearly every speech was about party unity.
They had us all join hands – Obama delegate and Hillary delegate – to signify our unity.
I thought it was kind of sweet.
“They can have us hold hands all they want to, I ain’t voting for that snake oil salesman and they’re are gonna regret they did when they see who he and his militant wife really is,” one black grandmother declared.
Please God, let them be wrong about Barack Obama. Let his election be a healing moment for the black men and women in this country.
Read about how some young women voted on Empowering Girls: So Sioux Me.
Images Source: Empowering Girls: So Sioux Me
I have read your blog and was not aware of what African Americans thought of Obama, I enjoyed reading the blog. Margaret in Michigan
Margaret – I want to be clear – this is NOT what African Americans think of Obama, in general.
Most African Americans at the convention were fully supportive of Obama – even the women. Most of them supported Obama straight from the go.
This article is about a small minority of Black Grandmothers who supported Hillary.
Gender equality is important, obviously, but it’s not what electing a president is about. Neither is racial equality. Obama and Clinton’s platforms are so similar, that I can’t fathom a Clinton supporter crossing over to vote for McCain. To that person, are all of Clinton’s policies (that are similar to Obama’s and dissimilar McCain’s) totally irrelevant? They were only voting for her because she was a woman?
No, I believe their position is that, in their personal experience you can’t trust a black man. That male apathy is worse for women than actual misogyny.
Their position is that nodding your head and saying, “I think your issue is important” is not the same as taking action on your issues. It’s simply placating you so you’ll shut up and support them. They believe that’s what Barack Obama is doing.
And McCain is going to take action on their issues? I guess I could understand more if they were just going to abstain from voting.
No I think they believe that now that Hillary is out NO ONE will take action on their issues. I heard a similar message from Hispanic voters.
I guess if you believe Obama is going to blow women’s issues off and you know McCain doesn’t care about them at all – it’s a wash.
Some are talking voting for McCain, some are talking writing her in. Some are talking about abstaining from the election.
They want him to pick Hillary as a running mate.
I don’t know how many of them there are. I’ve seen their Internet presence. I’ve talked to them at the Convention. I’ve read about them in the NY Times.
But, they were pretty quiet in the general assemblies and there were far more Obama delegates because he really got people to the Caucus. They were more vocal when not surrounded by Obama supporters.
So I don’t have a good indication of whether this is something that will have any effect at all on the actual election in Nov.
Certainly there is room for Barack to make peace with Hillary’s 18 million supporters.
The only way to win these women back, from what I heard, was to name Hillary as VP.
I wish I knew if they had the numbers to make it vital for Barack to do so.
I would also add that they would not agree with this statement: “Gender equality is important, obviously, but it’s not what electing a president is about.”
For them, and for many, that was what it was about. “We’ll deal with your issues as soon as we’re done with the REALLY IMPORTANT ones,” is a message these older women have heard their whole lives. The trouble is that the “really important” ones get replaced by new “really important” ones, and which never turn out to be their issues.
This has happened simultaneously with these women become the sole financial providers, while remaining the only child-care takers, in their families with the entire capitalistic, political and social system stacked against them getting ahead.
They believe their gender equity issues are legitimate economic equity issues. In other words they believe they have the REALLY Important issues. They are no longer willing to see other issues as more important, or more valid, than their own.
And they don’t believe any color of man is going to ever elevate their issues to “really important” status.
By gender equality I mean a woman having a shot at the presidency, not a politician’s stance on issues important to women. A candidate’s gender or race should not be what an election is about. Both Obama and Clinton have good records on issues traditionally important to women.
“should not be” – I guess what “should be” important about a candidate is up to each voter. For these women, Hillary being a woman was exactly what was vitally important.
They saw a woman being President as the best way to gender equality for themselves. Their experience tells them that men do not have a history of seeking gender equality once they are elected. They talk the talk but don’t come through in the end.
These are women in their 60s and 70s. They’ve heard, “Even though I’m a man, I’ll vote for women’s issues” a few too many times to believe them anymore.
I guess they believe Obama’s a male politician posing as a Feminist to seduce women into voting for him.
But, ultimately, they believe, he’ll ignore gender equity for the “really important” issues like War, energy, campaign finance or whatever else pushes their issues to the bottom of the list – never to be dealt with.
I felt sure he would name Hillary VP..I mean, wouldn’t that be the most sensible thing? Instead of splitting the party?
As far as I know he hasn’t decided.
“Gender equality is important, obviously, but it’s not what electing a president is about.” I wholeheartedly disagree. I want a president who will move us forward on these issues.
This is a really interesting post from a perspective I had not yet focused on.
Sounds like another ‘kumbiya’ moment in the Democrats’ history. How utterly ’sweet.’
If not Hillary, then McCain.