Reel Urban News: Politics
With the understanding it’s nearly impossible to find a mano e mano photo op, these two are not so bad. Even people who live and breathe identity politics would have a hard time slamming one whilst being favorable to the other IF consistency were the plumb line.
Should one pontificate that one photo is an example of white power, what differentiates the other from the same description? Two black men and a black boy? On surface that is factually true (well, sort of), but policy wise, which is the topic at hand, is that really the primary difference? When Dr. King’s famous quote, “…content of character, not color of skin” is invoked as the plumb line, then why is criticism or comparison based on the color of one’s skin, even considered valid? Color is not a skill, so why is color being elevated as a resume qualifier or disqualifier?
With the “look like me” phenomenon in full force, if one photo makes you feel better over another photo that’s a different argument. In my world, what matters for one who is charged to be a representative of a people, is not color, but content. Having been accused of not being an adequate representative because I am not Hispanic (http://www.thecalifornian.com/story/opinion/soapboxes/2015/05/28/jeff-mitchell-column-perpetuates-racism/28072041/), all I am doing is offering a different perspective for your consideration.
Both photos were taken after legislative action was taken on respective healthcare bills. There are significant differences between the bills, so why Is the narrative based on color and not policy positions or governing principles? If color is the linchpin to the standing of legislative bills then at least be intellectually honest and forward that argument it its logical conclusion. If a photo op with President Obama is considered an adequate extrapolator as a policy that better represents people because he is Black than one with President Trump because he is White…then where do Koreans hang their “look like me” hat?
