Unfortunately, it appears this sudden flooding of images is in fact a not so subtle argument ad misercordium, part of the "vote for Obama because he's a black man" ploy, and that's too bad. Because I think it would be great if we had this much coverage of real social problems year-round.
Instead, we just have a familiar and depressing form of exploitation. Images of suffering are linked with guilt and the command to act - and the action we are supposed to take is not linked with actually eradicating the suffering.
I am reminded of the stories one reads about*, of parents in famine-prone areas who deliberately leave one child starved, so that they can produce the malnourished child when relief workers come through. It seems to me to be much in the same way that rich black men like Obama and Rev. Wright and Al Sharpton** produce Africa and the inner cities and the poor who suffered through Katrina and they say, in essence, Look! Give me what I want, because you should feel ashamed of how blacks are treated by people just like you!
And it works, because people are genuinely upset at what they see - as well we all should be, because it's horrific. But the problem is, people learn to game the system, and that is what is happening in this election. Too often if you give these "leaders" what they want, they hog it all themselves and don't share more than they absolutely must with their malnourished child. (They don't want the kid to die, but they do need those ribs to keep sticking out, after all.)
I don't think that Obama as President would do anything to end starvation in Africa, or in Louisiana either. But it's nice to see the issues addressed. I just wish there were some proposed plan of action for fixing the problem.
What is really needed is are real solutions** - plans that addresses the causes of poverty and suffering instead of just chanting ripped-0ff slogans. Unfortunately, we are not going to solve the poverty problem until we also figure out how to manage the corruption problem, because poor people anywhere in the world are vulnerable and weak and easily exploited, and when you combine that with government funds and relief funds and charitable handouts and other attempts to relieve suffering, impoverished communities tend to get infested with parasitic life forms feeding off their already-inadequate resources.
If Obama were seriously intending to make black suffering disappear, how come he left so many slums in his district? I want better explanations re: Rezko and financial dealings, please.
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* well, if you are in the habit of reading about poverty relief anyway. Or if you are in the habit of reading about how female children are mistreated and undervalued in impoverished nations.
** From the Daily Howler:
The high-mindeds had all reported for duty! “ ‘Standing Up for the Children,’ ” the headline says, quoting one of their lofty statements. But uh-oh! Here’s paragraph 3:
TURQUE (6/12/08): Flanked by a group of prominent education officials and advocates, including D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, Baltimore City schools chief Andres Alonso and former Colorado governor and Los Angeles Schools superintendent Roy Romer, the two [Joel Klein and Al Sharpton] endorsed no candidate and offered few specific policy directives. But they said they intend to drive the debate through position papers, public forums planned at national conventions in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul and behind-the-scenes advocacy with the campaigns.
Darn it! Klein and Sharpton forgot to say what should be done—though they promised they’d fill us in later. But it seems that Sharpton may have blurted a bit of their high-minded thinking:
TURQUE: “To me this is not just an issue of school reform," Klein said. "It is a civil rights issue, the civil rights issue of our time."
Sharpton, a 2004 presidential candidate who has close political ties to Klein's boss, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said it was time for the traditional civil rights coalition to seek "a new paradigm," confronting old allies such as the teachers unions and insisting that they become more accountable for student performance.
(Note that I absolutely disagree with the Howler about whether teachers can or should be blamed. They are certainly not solely responsible for society's ills - but right now blaming the parents and whining is a national preoccupation with the teaching industry. Teachers who blaming are not solving, and these losers should be absolutely thrown out and replaced with teachers who believe in universal education. You know - education even for the kids born to the wrong sort of parent?)
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