American media is anti-progress

By Olivia Biagi
Collegian Editor
February 20, 2008

Back in August 2007, while home for summer break, I turned on the television to hear a question from a news anchorman that was both disappointing and angering. The discussion was the Democratic primary candidates, and the question: Who will Democrats vote for: The black man or the woman?

How sickening is it that in the 21st century, a “progressive” populace such as the American one finds it necessary to identify individuals by race and gender? A professional broadcast journalist actually had the audacity on television to not even use the names of two important people currently in politics, and instead labeled them. Didn’t the civil rights movement work to abolish that line of thinking, wherein we can place people in little, neat packages, with a label, based on something superficial?

The anchorman’s comment is especially disturbing considering the topic at hand is who will be the next person to run this country. Apparently, Democrats needn’t care about political platforms, policies and the general character of their candidate. The only decision they need to make is whether or not the next Democratic candidate should be black or a woman.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for having the first black president and the first woman president in the near future. But I’m also intelligent enough to realize that the qualities for a nation’s leader should extend far beyond that. Furthermore, it is incredibly insulting to be identified by only one trait. Just because Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is black, does not mean that that is all there is to him as a person. Just because Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is a woman does not mean that that is all there is to her as a person. And just because it would be a historical and important event to have either an African-American president or a female president does not mean Americans should cast their votes on that alone.

The media’s role in the current presidential race is a disappointment to the civil rights movement, which worked toward a way of life where all Americans were equal, regardless of race and gender. They have chosen to focus on and hype up one aspect of both Obama and Clinton, and in doing so, has demeaned both candidates. They have also decided to highlight these aspects in the candidates’ supporters. In a recent article from Bloomberg News (“Clinton, Obama supporters say fight may hurt party,” Feb. 17), writer Susan Decker found it necessary to point out the race of one congressman. Decker refers Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) as a “prominent black supporter of Clinton.”

Instead of focusing on gender and race, maybe everyone should think about what these two individuals stand for.

biagio1@lasalle.edu