Deggans on Fox News Saturday, talking sexism, black columnists and Geraldine Ferraro

  In case you missed it, former VP candidate Geraldine Ferraro is now blaming black journalists for unfairly attacking Hillary Clinton and taking marching orders from Barack Obama's campaign.

Here's part of what she told Shepard Smith on Fox News Tuesday: "All the surrogates that they had out there, from the black journalists — you know, have you read Bob Herbert recently in the past six months? There wasn't one column that had anything decent to say about Hillary."

Fox News is going to have me on their air at the ungodly hour of 4:40 p.m. Saturday (tomorrow) to talk about it. So if you can't get into the new Indiana Jones movie, feel free to check it out.

What I will say, basically will regurgitate what I've written about sexism and polics and Ferraro before: she's a token who assumes that other political candidates who aren't white males are tokens; she's uninformed about the fact that black columnists have been writing about sexism on the campaign trail for a while (Here's my column on the issue) and she's insulting both supporters of Clinton and her detractors by implying that the choice to support her is entirely about race and gender -- particularly when it's a choice made by people of color or women.

Worst of all, the one columnist whose work she mentions as an example of sexism is the New York Times' Bob Herbert, who wrote a column decrying sexism in politics and America in January, begging journalists and pundits to dig into the subject as a campaign issue.

No wonder she's declined an invitation to show up for this debate tomorrow night. Here's a clip of her comments:

Comments

Eric, your points are well taken. I'm not saying the Muslim thing is right, or that I believe he's a Muslim. However, I suspect the distrust of Muslims runs so high in many areas that people simply don't believe him when he says he's not a Muslim.

I also pointed out I'm not a fan of any of the candidates-- and I didn't say that Clinton and McCain were upstanding. I agree with you, most politicians are chameleons who try to blend in with/win over any given audience. My point is that Obama's been touting himself as the 'change' candidate who's not like the average politician when the truth is, he's a consumate politician. When you research his dealings in Chicago you see that he's a master at the game. I still stand by my assertion that most of the media has handled him gently.

As far as the Pew polls go, the numbers are interesting, thank you for sharing that. I have to say, it's still quite a spread from 60% to 90+% using the abortion example. And the fact that Clinton and Obama are similar on many policy issues highlights the point I was making-- in some states, whites and blacks are gravitating towards their own race, so it's hard to believe that's all based on policy.

Personally, I think voting for a candidate based solely on skin color is equally as foolish as voting for a candidate based solely on gender. I want a leader who can invigorate our economy, end the Iraq war, secure our borders and help make America a safe, peaceful and prosperous place for our children to grow and flourish. I'm not convinced that any of our choices are up to the task!

Eric, thank you for providing readers with a forum where they can have intelligent dialogue. The political blogs are so filled with vitriolic posts that it's hard to sift through the nastiness to try and learn about someone else's perspective. I appreciate your willingness to have these honest discussions about the campaign and the role race and gender plays in it. Thank you.

[Eric Deggans]

One of the things we know from opinion polling is that some people are using any excuse to oppose obama because they don't want to vote for a person of color for president.

I don't think it's possible to know how many people are doing this. But when i hear someone cite a reason for opposing Obama that is clearly not true -- i.e., that he is a Muslim or that he was schooled in a Madrassa -- it makes me think some people are grasping at straws to justify a fundamental uneasiness with Obama that has very little to do with the facts of his life.

A think a vast majority of black people believe a woman should have a right to an abortion, they hate the war in Iraq and want it ended right now and they are concerned about illegal immigration in so far as it makes life tougher for unskilled laborers who are citizens.

For example, I saw a Pew poll last year indicating 60 percent of black protestants believe abrotion should be legal in most cases, compared to 46 percent of white protestants.

All those positions are consistent with Obama's policies -- AND Clinton's, by the way.

And i wonder how you can conclude that Obama is a slick-talknig empty suit, when Clinton and McCain have also shown their capacity to totally change their messages and positions based on which group they are trying to win over.

I think relatively few people know many policy positions of these candidates. they're making decisions based on how they feel about their potential leadership. So, in that environment, it's hard for anyone to know whether these feelings are a result of real facts or prejudices and stereotypes that few are willing to face...

Couple of things- I think if Obama had a name that didn't sound Muslim, more of those white, working class voters would be less hesitant to vote for him. It's not skin color that deters some of them, it's the Muslim thing. And yes, that is stereotyping but let's be blunt; after 9/11 many Americans will always be suspect of anyone or anything that sounds Muslim.

As far as white voters in KY and WV flocking to Clinton, you saw the same effect with black voters flocking to Obama in other states. But I haven't heard many pundits or commentators pointing to that as being race-related. Can you honestly tell me that you truly think 90+% of blacks agree with Obama's policies? That they truly support his views on abortion and illegal immigration? Or his views on foreign policy? I find that hard to believe.

I think the bottom line is that while we've come a long way in this country, we're still not comfortable talking about race. And many people are afraid to say anything negative about Obama for fear of being labeled racist.

I don't care for Obama and it's not because I'm some uneducated, white, racist bumpkin as many of his supporters would label me. I am simply not impressed by his resume. The more I read about him, the more I think he's exactly like any other politician-- despite his constant claims of being different. I think the MSM has done a grave dis-service to the general public for not doing more investigative work on his background. As I continue to learn more about his affiliations and sphere of influence in Chicago, it begins to crystallize the image of Obama as the slickest, smooth-talking, empty-suit yet to catapault into the national spotlight.

BTW, I'm not an ardent supporter of any of the candidates, so no, I'm not spewing any talking points. And yes Eric, as a black journalist, I can see why you'd take umbrage with what Geraldine Ferraro said. I think there are nuggets of truth in what she said about sexism but I disagree with pointing the finger at black journalists. And I use the term journalist VERY loosely here, but last time I checked, Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman looked white. And they're the biggest offenders in this.

[Eric Deggans]

i think many columnists -- myself included -- have written about how sexism has been a part of the campaign.

But, frankly, exit polling hasn't revealed a wide block of males declining to vote for clinton the way working class white people have turned away from Obama.

Also, Obama hasn't used the kind of language regarding gender issues that Clinton and her surrogates have employed in trying to reference Obama's race. It was Clinton who made the reference to "hard working americans....white americans" supporting her candidacy. It was Bill Clinton who made the insulting comparisons to Jesse Jackson in South Carolina. And it was Ferraro herself who said that Obama is only winning because he's black.

I think sexism is making an impact in a different, less obvious way. And Ferraro needs to get her facts straight if she's really going to address what's going on beyond providing excuses for Clinton...

[Reader]

eric, i think the points ms. ferraro made are perfectly sensible and frankly needed to be said, given the campaigning the media has been doing for obama.

it's very easy for obama to look as slick and gracious as he does when he's got the media as his lapdog.

frankly i'm shocked that the sexism issue is so infrequently broached in a campaign like this, while on the other hand, we have to hear practically every day about race.