CLASSIC Interview, Cornel West on the Election of Obama

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A Classic interview with the Professor from Princeton on what he thinks of Obama, his appointments and it's a blast!

Princeton University professor of religion and African American studies, Cornel West, speaks about the election of Barack Obama, his selection of Eric Holder to be Attorney General, the possible selection of Lawrence Summers to be Treasury Secretary and the role of the progressive left to push Obama.
West is the author of the new book Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom.

[url=http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/19/cornel_west_on_the_election_of
]* Cornel West on the Election of Barack Obama: "I Hope He Is a Progressive
Lincoln, I Aspire to Be the Frederick Douglass to Put Pressure on Him" *[/url]

AMY GOODMAN: Well, congratulations on your new book, Hope on a Tightrope. When people talk about a post-racial America, what is your response?


CORNEL WEST: I say there’s no such thing, no such thing, Amy. By “post-racial,” they really mean “less racist.” You’re talking about white brothers and sisters who are now willing to vote for a black man based on qualification as opposed to pigmentation. That’s a beautiful thing. But at the same time, it recognizes that there was a time in which pigmentation would trump qualification.


Black people have been voting for white candidates, as in Gary, Indiana. You had a white mayor, the Chocolate City. Black people voted for the white candidate vis-à-vis the black candidate, because the white candidate was better. That wasn’t post-racial; it was just black people were less racist.


And so, we have to be honest about this. There’s no such thing as “post-racial” in that regard. It’s a beautiful thing to be less racist. Same is true for “color blind.” We can’t say it’s color blind, on the one hand, and then be so happy when we cross the color line and vote for Brother Barack Obama, that there is a color line, we cross it, we’re trying to stay in contact with the humanity of each other. We need to be embracing of each other’s humanity, not trying to subtract our bodies and somehow be color blind and post-racial.


AMY GOODMAN: Professor Cornel West, you were a big supporter of Barack Obama, but you also have been giving speeches about holding him to account. What are the issues you are most concerned about right now?


CORNEL WEST: Well, I think, as a deep Democrat, I recognize I have some significant differences with Brother Barack. He’s a liberal. It looked like he wants to govern as a liberal-centrist, given the choices of Emanuel—Rahm Emanuel and others. And one has to be honest and candid in terms of one’s criticism, because in the end, it’s not about Barack Obama, it’s about empowering working people and poor people. It’s about trying to accent the dignity of those Sly Stone called “everyday people.” And when he moves in that direction, it’s good. When he doesn’t move in that direction, we need to criticize him. Same is true in terms of foreign policy: Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. We have to be honest about it.


For me, my criticism of Barack has to do with trying to acknowledge the degree to which, one, thank God we’re at the end of the age of Ronald Reagan, we’re at the end of the era of conservatism, we’re coming to the end of the epoch of the Southern Strategy. For the first time now, we’ve got some democratic possibilities. This has been a political ice age, and the melting is just beginning. And Barack Obama is a symbol, but we’ve got to move from symbol to substance. We’ve got to move from what he represents in a broad sense—and it’s a beautiful thing to have a black man in the White House, we know that, and black slaves and laborers and other white immigrants built the White House. And to have a black family there, significant; black face for the American empire, fine. Can we revitalize democratic possibilities on the ground with Barack in the White House? I think we can. We can put some serious pressure on him, and we can actually continue the democratic awakening among working people and poor people and push Barack in a progressive direction.

Peace

jimed14

I've seen Cornel West speak a few times ... he puts Barack Obama to shame with his speaking skills ...

But, indeed ... the conservatives are going to pressure him to not be too liberal .. and "deep democrats" are going to criticize him if he governs from a centrist point of view.

There has never, at least not in my lifetime, been more pressure on a president-elect.