Gwen Ifill isn’t the only member of the family that is writing books about the “Age of Obama.” So is her “brilliant baby cousin“, Sherrilyn Ifill.
One must be careful here, because you don’t want the card whipped out on you for pointing out the family’s obvious bias toward the liberal Barack Obama.
Don't Take Any Heat Without It!
Anyhow, Sherrilyn Ifill is a University of Maryland law professor and author of “The Relevance of Nooses and Lynching in the Age of Obama.”
Prof. Sherrilyn Ifill
Professor Ifill is nationally recognized as an advocate in the areas of civil rights, voting rights, judicial diversity and judicial decision-making. She teaches Civil Procedure, Legal Writing, and a seminar on Reparations, Reconciliation and Restorative Justice. Professor Ifill has also taught Constitutional Law, Environmental Justice, Complex Litigation, as well as seminars on Voting Rights, Equal Protection, and Judicial Decisionmaking. Professor Ifill co-founded with Professor Michael Pinard the Reentry of Ex-Offenders Clinic.
Here’s a short excerpt from her book:
The challenge for 2008 and beyond is for us to embrace the hope represented by the widespread acceptance of public figures like Barack Obama and Colin Powell, while continuing the hard work of sorting through the lingering effects and reality of white supremacy in our society.
Oh! And, Sherrilyn, the “brilliant baby cousin” of Gwen Ifill (moderator for the only ’08 VP debate), doesn’t like Gov. Sarah Palin. That’s a shocker for you, I know. 😯
…“From the first day, Palin presented herself as shooting a bear in the morning, field dressing it, cooking up the breakfast, diapering the babies, passing legislation in the afternoon, cleaning the house, satisfying her husband, etc., etc., etc. And it’s just not true,” she wrote in an e-mail interview. “It’s hard to be an average working mom, really hard. And when women who are privileged present as though they have it all together, it’s offensive to black women.”
She said, “black women are not easily confused by false claims to feminism. When women like Palin lay claims to ‘representing’ average women, I think that black women have a visceral reaction to it.”
Ifill added that Palin “missed her opportunity when she announced Bristol’s pregnancy to explicitly talk about how painful it was to her as a mother – instead of making it as though this too was also part of her perfect life…
So, here are some parting questions:
What about Sarah Palin makes her “privileged?” She came from a home of blue-collar workers. She entered a beauty pageant to get a scholarship to college. She has worked most all of her adult-life. What is “privileged” about that?
How was Bristol’s pregnancy presented as “part of her perfect life?” It is a part of their life and the portrayal I have seen is that they are dealing with it as it was presented to them, perfect, imperfect or otherwise.
What about Sarah Palin makes her not a part of “average women“, versus,..I don’t know…say…Michelle Obama? Sarah Palin strikes me as a lot more humble than the latter.
Why does the “feminism” of Sarah Palin have to be a “false claim”? Is it written somewhere that to be a feminist, you must consider yourself a victim of sorts? If that be the case, I guess Sarah Palin isn’t a feminist.
Oh, well. The fix is in, I guess. Can we hope for a “fully even-handed” moderator for the debate tonight for this important debate?
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Others posting on this topic: Michelle Malkin, BUUUUURRRRNING HOT, Right Angles, The Florida Patriot, Riggword Weblog
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