Oops, I'm sorry. Wrong presidential candidate. It was Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) who was in Beaumont in February. That would be a huge political gaffe for McCain, though, if it were to happen.
Now, any of us health-minded people may believe that children should not eat fried chicken for breakfast - black children included. But who can advocate for black children in front of a large black audience? Which politicians can talk directly about racial issues? I'm sure if John McCain, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) or Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin were there in Beaumont, they'd have a tough political career in front of them afterward.
The question I'm trying to ask is: What qualifications does one need to talk about racial issues without repercussions? Obama was raised by a white mother and white grandparents. His father was African, not African American. While his upbringing is very unlike that of many American black people, Obama is allowed to speak frankly about the issues facing that community. In his defense of whether he was "authentically black enough," Obama discussed his difficulty hailing a taxi in Manhattan.
So it is safe to assume that Obama has often been treated like any ordinary African American because of his skin color, and perhaps because of this he can talk straight about the issues. On Father's Day 2008, Obama delivered a speech to a largely black audience in Chicago that urged black fathers to take greater responsibility and help mothers raise their children.
But can a white student who majors in African-American studies in college stand in front of a neighborhood, a community or a nation and tell it that Popeye's is hurting its children? Or how about a white man who has many black friends, or a white man who grew up in a black neighborhood? There is an invisible line that separates how politicians of different backgrounds who talk about race are judged. Because of this invisibility, it is easy for people to make some accusations, and it is hard for politicians to address these issues.
Toni Morrison called Bill Clinton the "first black president" for his poor, single-parent, working-class, junk-food-loving upbringing and did not face criticism. Obama, during a debate with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), told the nation he wanted to check out Bill's dance moves before confirming this. But when Bill Clinton brought Midnight Basketball to inner-city kids to curb gang violence, Rush Limbaugh called the program racist.
Any attempt to address issues can be misconstrued and publicized as racist and can damage or ruin a politician's career. These consequences stop us from addressing poverty, immigration, affirmative action and other race-related topics. Eventually we just can't answer and solve these issues as quickly as we should. It seems, though, that someone like Obama whom we can view as African American but who is not necessarily "black" can do this.
Are we afraid to talk about race on campus? Are we afraid to discuss the effectiveness of diversity efforts at Princeton? I rarely hear white students speak of race, perhaps because they don't want to sound bigoted. How about Asian Americans who are frustrated with affirmative action? I get a little nervous when I talk about it with black and Hispanic students. Perhaps the racial issues are few and small. But the Committee on Background and Opportunity has shown that students of different socioeconomic groups have unequal experiences; I'm curious to see if the University would produce such data across racial groups. Let's encourage some campus dialogue here.
Nonetheless, as an Asian American, I'm happy to see that on the national stage someone is frankly discussing race. With all polls currently pointing toward a person of color winning the election, perhaps over the next few years we'll see a growing discourse on the racial issues in our country. As we progress, I hope it won't be necessary to have Obama to talk about race: Eventually, someone who is not of color must be able to talk about race in public.
To achieve real change in racial politics, we need to be able to accept any politician's opinions on Popeye's or absent fathers without getting charged with being politically incorrect or insensitive. When anyone can talk about anyone else's problems, that's when American society will go from salad bowl to melting pot.
Ben Chen is a mechanical and aerospace engineer from Los Altos, Calif. He can be reached at bc@princeton.edu.
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