When Will McCain and Obama Confront the Evils of Racism and Misogyny?

Georgetown University law professor Heidi Li Feldman isn’t letting John McCain and Barack Obama dodge their responsibility as leaders of their respective parties to confront the bigotry that continues to plague the 2008 presidential campaign.

Feldman begins her post by citing this quote from Fox.News.com:

"Effigies of Barack Obama were hung on the University of Kentucky campus and outside a home in Indiana after authorities said an effigy of Sarah Palin in California was offensive, but not a hate crime."

Feldman writes:

John McCain and Barack Obama have a once in a lifetime opportunity

--FoxNews.com

“I do not believe that the best way for political leaders to deal with unacceptable hate speech is to call for it to be legally defined as such or demand that it be prosecuted. By the time the legal issues in this contentious area are decided in any particular case the moment for political leadership is past.

“I do believe that that those who claim to be political leaders,especially in times of turmoil, must prove their mettle. The rash of so-called Halloween displays depicting lynchings of Barack Obama and Sarah Palin is symptomatic of one part of the turmoil our country is currently undergoing. It is no less grave than the economic turmoil, nor any of the other ills we will expect a new administration and Congress to to take on (the spread of terrorism and overall rise in political violence abroad, the underprotection of civil liberties in the U.S., global warming, universal health care, to name just a few.)

“The social ill that these effigies represent is bigotry. As the Presidential campaign comes down to the wire, both candidates are busy attacking and questioning one another as much as, if not more than, specifically detailing what they plan to do about anything if and when inaugurated. And thus, both candidates are not only failing to address the social ill of bigotry, they are contributing to an atmosphere in which public displays of bigotry are acceptable.

“If John McCain and Barack Obama each cared about the country as much as each man claims to, they would announce a joint press conference, surround themselves and issue a joint statement objecting to racism and misogyny, both in general and as these forms of bigotry have manifested themselves this election cycle. For the issue of bigotry in political discourse transcends policy differences. In a country riven by racism and misogyny, too many politicians play to those factors rather than pay attention to the policy matters. By doing so they contribute to a sick political environment, one that cannot foster good programs related to economic welfare, world peace, civil liberties, or environmental preservation.”

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