By Faisal
In a recent Bill Maher talk show, result of a survey was discussed which indicated that Americans are more sexist than racist. What it means, in a nut shell, that they are less likely to vote for a woman, than a black man. With all the spin that goes on in US media, results of this survey could as easily be manipulated by one or the other campaigns, but that’s a discussion for another time.
So, is it true? Is America more sexist or racist? Stereotyping is simultaneously a largely meaningless exercise as well as a highly entertaining one. And this time, apparently, it is backed by survey statistics.
Blacks certainly invite many stereotypes, but it was always a struggle to pigeon-hole Barack Obama as a classic black man. He is actually an Uncle Tom type of black man – born of a Kenyan man and a white woman from Kansas, studied in Harvard and has all the trappings of a well-educated and polished politician. No where near the likes of Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton, whose primary appeal is only to people of own ethnicity. All was going according to the plan till Obama’s moronic pastor’s rabid anti-American tirades became public, and then you realize that at the end of the day, Obama really is part of a minority community that has huge grievances (slash chips on their shoulder slash complexes).
On the other hand, Hillary is hardly an embodiment of a typical woman either. She is tough and she is ruthless. She frequently attracts an unflattering (or flattering, depending on how you look at it) comparison to a certain type of female animal, to showcase that she is un-afraid to take on opponents. What’s womanly about her is that on any given moment, she can through a temper tantrum (“Shame on you, Barack Obama”)](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-campaign_5sfeb24,0,4350622.story), be sarcastic (“skies will open!”)](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/25/clinton-gets-sarcastic-mocks-obama/) or effusive in her praise for her opponent (“its an absolute honor”)](http://youtube.com/watch?v=rvhrh0yHhd8). What I find the most hilarious irony is that in her famous “3 am” television ad, she claimed that she is the best person in a time of crisis. Whereas in her own book, ‘Living History’, Hillary recalls that Monica Lewinsky scandal was the toughest crisis for her, and here is how she dealt with it: “I could hardly breathe. Gulping for air, I started crying and yelling at him”.](http://youtube.com/watch?v=2k5mkXtxw4g) Wonderful stuff. Just what Americans are looking for in a I-am-tough Commander-in-Chief. Yes, there is a difference between personal crisis and national crisis, but I don’t see any evidence how Hillary will effectively deal with any international crisis differently, either.
Point being, neither Obama nor Clinton are classic specimen of either being black or woman, but both have enough baggage of their ethnicity/gender to swing this race. If you ask me, I’d have no problems voting for either a black man or a woman. But I am hardly the best example of a typical American voter. I belong to a minority ethnic community and (gulp!) I’d actually vote on issues. Majority of American voters are still white men and women, and I suspect many, if not most, will vote on much vaguer criteria. So, the survey results may actually be on to something.