As reported last week in the Pioneer, Chicago Tribune and In These Times Columnist Salim Muwakkil delivered the annual Hosokawa Lecture entitled “Presidential Politics: Race, Gender and the Media Frame” to an over-capacity crowd in the Reid Ballroom on March 31. In the talk, Muwakkil presented some rather radical ideas on the topic, but his reasoned and well-presented arguments were refreshing. The combination, especially given our current climate of political rhetoric, was potent, and Muwakkil undeniably engaged the audience for the entirety of his speech and the subsequent Q&A.
Everything about Mr. Muwakkil’s visit to Whitman was exemplary; this makes it all the more unfortunate that the speech he gave was ultimately worthless.
The title of Mr. Muwakkil’s speech seems to suggest that race, gender and how the media frames those concepts play a major role, if not the major role, in presidential politics today. Coupled with a review of his substantial body of Op-Ed work for In These Times (you can find an archive of his articles at inthesetimes.com) which reveals Muwakkil’s obsession, the title of his speech succinctly defines what he’s after. Looking at the prevailing representation of the current Democratic Party Primary, one would rightly conclude that Muwakkil’s focus is apt.
However, the roots of Muwakkil’s failure lay in not targeting the race and gender-based representation in the first place. Race and gender are indeed issues in this presidential race, regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination, obviously. This is unprecedented in Hillary Clinton’s case, and though U.S. politics has seen a small share of serious minority presidential candidates, Barack Obama’s prominence represents a new frontier for race in the contest for President. But don’t let this fool you: The 2008 presidential race is only special on these terms, terms which Muwakkil himself must admit are superficial.
During that Q&A session I asked Mr. Muwakkil to respond to this foundational problem. His answer was underwhelming at best. In short, he agreed that with the exception of race and gender, presidential politics this time around is and will continue to be business as usual. Mr. Muwakkil again agreed that that business is big business, the corporate interest. For an explanation of my perspective on that topic, please see my article “OpenSecrets.org: Your portal to our corrupt national reality,” in the Feb. 28, 2008 edition of the Pioneer. “The End of Race,” a column which Muwakkil published for In These Times in June of 2003, testifies to the superficiality of one of the issues with which he deals.
In the piece he details and explores the implications of contemporary theoretical and scientific work which breaks down the very concept of race as a differentiating factor among humans. As Muwakkil observes, white supremacist philosophies, along with the theories advanced to support an entire nexus of historical oppression, are thus rendered meaningless. So too, though, is the entire basis for Muwakkil’s speech.
The consequences of our prevailing representation of the 2008 presidential race, perpetuated even by fiercely intelligent thinkers like Muwakkil, are dire. This country will continue full-speed-ahead on its paths towards global and irreversible environmental destruction and an insidious and unstoppable military-industrial complex, and increase the financial worry and misery of the lower and middle classes, so long as we are distracted by race and gender in our political processes. If you think we wasted time and energy impeaching a President for his sexual indiscretions, just think twice about buying into the next article you read about Sen. Obama’s skin color or Sen. Clinton’s gender being signs of life amidst the corporate wasteland of American politics.