Yay Obama – but:
I feel like a lot of people are really hanging on to the bit of Obama’s speech where he says everyone can make it if they’re ‘willing to try.’ And I just want to point out that this is a myth, this is a story we’re being sold about what it means to be American, and what it effectively does is put the onus for failure to ‘thrive’ back on the individuals who are most endangered by systematic and institutionalized oppression. Obama’s rad and all, but he’s a politician and i’ma join you in celebrating, but please don’t lose track of the fact that this bootstrapping shit is a way to shift the blame from the HAVES back to the HAVE NOTS. It’s like saying everyone can be thin if they just work hard enough. It’s like saying that everyone can get into college despite any access issues. It’s like saying that everyone who is struggling is just not doing their best. I hate to break it to you, but working hard is NOT the measure of success in this world. PRIVILEGE determines access. And with that, back to your regularly scheduled kermit arms.
Related Posts
Fat (Plus-Size) Travel Review: Skala Eressos, Lesbos Greece
General Thoughts: Skala Eressos is one of my favourite places on earth. This review…
Flying While Fat – A Web Comic about Using the Airplane Toilet
Down that narrow aisle is the bane of my existence as a fat…
Flying While Fat Animation Roundup
For those who haven't seen the Flying While Fat documentary animation yet, you can watch…
November 8, 2012 at 2:12 am
A. Elizabeth
Sorry, formatting is messing up, I’m doing something wrong!
November 8, 2012 at 2:10 am
A. Elizabeth
What I got out of that part of his speech was that if all of us are able to work hard to work together
, and put partisanship aside, we can fix this nation. I didn’t get the individualist, boot-straps thing out of it, but then again, I was tired.
November 8, 2012 at 1:51 am
A. Elizabeth
What I got out of that part of his speech was that if all of us are able to work hard to , and put partisanship aside, we can fix this nation. I didn’t get the individualist, boot-straps thing out of it, but then again, I was tired.
November 7, 2012 at 1:51 pm
JeninCanada
I saw that too; Everyone can make it if they work hard AND HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES AS EVERYONE ELSE. But we dont’. We live in a society where some people are very privileged and others aren’t. His working towards equality helps a lot to level the playing field, but we’re not there yet, not by a long shot. Yes, if you work hard you can make it, but never forget all the people who helped you get there, and all the circumstances you could take advantage of. You’d think a man who was raised by a single working mom and became the first BLACK president of the USA would know this.