Who must be accountable to whom?

Over the weekend I read two blog posts about Barack Obama by two different white activists that I know. Both could be described as criticisms of Obama from the left. These are activists for whom I generally have some respect, and I’m convinced their comments come from a place of deep personal commitment to social justice. Even so, there’s something to that old saying about the road to hell being paved with good intentions, and in both instances I found myself wondering when we, as white activists, will begin holding ourselves accountable to black America rather than waiting for black America to be accountable to us.

The first activist expressed outrage because Obama had failed to condemn the acquittal of the NYC cops in the Sean Bell case. The second activist opened his remarks by expressing sympathy for Obama, who he described as being exploited by journalists from the corporate media in their attacks on Reverend Jeremiah Wright. He closed, however, by saying that if - “if” - Obama started fighting back against the corporate media and refusing to play their game, then he (the white activist) would “consider” voting for Obama.

Like both writers, I am disgusted by the acquittal of the police officers in the Sean Bell case and infuriated by the media’s attacks on Reverend Wright. They are each in their own ways symptomatic of the pervasive racism that exists in public life in the U.S. Sean Bell’s death reminds us that black men in America don’t just face the possibility of being pulled over for driving while black, they also face the risk of dying while black. The attacks on Rev. Wright - and on Obama for refusing to denounce Wright - remind us that in public dialogue, the term “racist” is still being used far more frequently to describe black people who resist oppression than it is being used to describe whites who support oppression.

Yet at the same time that we say we recognize the ways that racism marginalizes and even kills African Americans, often we seem to be holding up a white-created yardstick to black leaders and activists to see whether their resistance lives up to our standards and therefore deserves our support.

Consider not only the specific issues of the Sean Bell verdict and the Rev. Wright comments but the question of racism generally. Is there a reason that we whites expect and demand that Barack Obama must speak out even when many supposedly progressive activists - including candidates - have not?

So far as I can tell, third party candidates Ralph Nader (independent) and Brian Moore (Socialist Party) have not said word one on the Sean Bell verdict. In fact, when you go to Nader’s campaign website and click “issues” you will find his list of the twelve most important issues facing the U.S. today. Race and racism isn’t even there.

Brian Moore’s campaign homepage is similarly silent. If you go to his laundry list of important issues and go all the way down to #27 you will see that he does favor equal rights for all. Wow! Powerful words for a socialist candidate in 2008! Next thing you know he’ll be coming out against white-only lunch counters!

Yet where have you read a condemnation of either of these candidates for failing to address the issue of racism — never mind their failure to come out for justice for Sean Bell or to defend Rev. Wright? Is it because Obama is black that it’s “his job” to lead on this issue? Wouldn’t it make more sense to measure white political activists by how quick WE are to take up the fight against racism? After all, it’s whites who benefit from racism, isn’t it?

The African-American community is certainly not monolithic on the Obama candidacy. After all, the field of left wing and independent candidates also includes former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who is seeking the Green Party nomination. But there does appear to be near unanimity in the black community that Barack Obama’s campaign for president is an event of historic significance. Perhaps that feeling is amplified when killer cops are acquitted and black leaders are pilloried by the white media because it is a reminder of how high the odds against Obama are and how dangerous it is to be the most visible and controversial black man in America.

It is ironic that among white activists the phenomenon seems to run in reverse. Confronted with the virulence of racism, instead of demanding more accountability from ourselves we seem to feel (surprise!) privileged to demand more of African-Americans.