"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she continued. "And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
From here.
As the only woman to be on a national ticket of either party, it is perfectly understandable that she is an adament supporter of Sen. Clinton. But implying that Obama somehow is lucky to be African American or that if he were a young charismatic woman that he wouldn't be popular is stupid and a bit racist in my opinion. It sort of sounds like the "oh well if it wasn't for affirmative action then these black people wouldn't be able to compete" type of racism (with the clear implication that white superiority is the only reason that whites are advantaged in society, and not, say, pervasive racism). The notion that being black is some how an advantage in US society is deeply unrealistic. Is it horrible? Well no. Frankly it's pretty common amongst white people, especially of white people her age, but it certainly doesn't reflect well on her.
Regardless though, it is CERTAINLY an extremely silly statement. These kind of crazy counterfactuals are not really helpful or enlightening. Like, sure, and if Hillary Clinton was a man she wouldn't be in the position SHE is in now, because Bill probably wouldn't have won the Whitehouse in '92 as part of a same sex couple. etc...
I'll add too that this apparently didn't come out of the blue. She made a similar statement, indeed nearly identical, about Rev. Jesse Jackson twenty years ago:
President Reagan suggested Tuesday that people don't ask Jackson tough questions because of his race. And former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his "radical" views, "if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race."
Via Politico, full context here, citing a story in the April 15, 1988 Washington Post.
Ferraro shouldn't be cast into the outer darkness for this. I think these statements reflect the type of low level racism that is pretty common among whites generally, even, especially, the many who insist they're "not racist" (like, I'm sure Ferraro will be quick to tell you that she "has several black friends" ... lol, ah the "black friend" what would we do without you?). Much the way that white people get nervous around large black men wearing sneakers, it's unconcious and, probably to a fair extent, unavoidable. The only way to address it is to be aware of one's own feelings and proactively compensate.
Anyway, no real point I suppose. The statement was silly and unthinking, and while it might be racist, it's probably not based in any particular racial animus.
UPDATE:
Oh dear, hole: meet shovel.
"Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up," Ferraro said. "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?"
Yes, the poor opressed white people who have to suffer charges of discrimination, THEY are the real victims of racism. So sad.
She would have been well served to simply say "gosh, that came out wrong, I didn't mean to be racially insensitive" and leave it at that. This type of defense only serves to make it very clear that her comments reflect a sincere belief which she will defend even on reflection.
But again I don't think too much should be made of this. This kind of low level racism is really common among white people. The way to fight it isn't to make an example out of someone who makes an insensitive public statement. That only will serve to increase resentment and send the message "watch what you say white people." The point isn't to make white people scared to talk. The point is people in general need to have more empathy. She needs to understand that when one unpacks some of the underlying assumptions on which statements like this is based, you begin to understand how this might be problematic. It's the process of examining and understanding that needs to happen, not wrist slapping every mildly racist public statement.
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