I have been thinking some more about the duel between Oprah Winfrey and Barbra Streisand. It seems somewhat comical in a way -- Winfrey is, after all, one of the top entertainment celebrities right now while Streisand hit her peak maybe 30 years ago. So in a way, it fits in with the themes of the Clinton and Obama campaigns. Clinton's campaign looks back to her husband's time in the White House while Obama looks forward. And to be truthful, do celebrity endorsements really mean all that much?
But there is something else here which is interesting, namely how race is not playing a part in this. Winfrey is black, yet she is enormously popular (she owns Chicago). Obama is black, yet he is really running as the liberal yuppie candidate.
While race is never too far removed in the US, maybe we are finally overcoming our obscene obsession with it.
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Before Ophrah was, Bill Cosby was the black entertainer whose vast riches were the talk of the town. Cosby also gained stature by completing a Ph.D., after he was filthy rich.
Today, Cosby is speaking to the black community leaders, as an educator and role model, rather than as a politician. He is trying primarily to focus the attention of black community leaders, and parents, on the need for education, and on the destructive nature of hip-hop and other abominations in the black culture that influence black youth away from the mainstream.
While politicians like Obama, backed by moguls like Oprah, focus on selling themselves to the white community, Cosby is focused on selling black kids to themselves as persons of worth who can succeed in life, if they take the intelligent path.
It would be fine with me if Obama were the Dem candidate for POTUS. And it would be fine if he won. That said, taking seriously the message of Cosby would be much more important to black America than having a black president would be.
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