Via Matthew Yglesias, an AP reporter asks this important question in a write-up of Obama’s speech at the recent UNITY conference: “Can minority journalists resist applauding Obama?” Well, no, because they simply lack the same ability to make decisions based on factors other than race, which, history has shown, is a quality only white people are born with.
It would be really frustrating if the journalists of color gathering at UNITY would show any positive reaction whatsoever to Obama’s speech, because it would show that they are incapable of doing their job as professionals, much the same way McCain’s standing ovation and complimentary coffee and donuts at an Associated Press event forced others in the mainstream media to question their objectivity and professionalism.
In all seriousness, it would be a great improvement if people recognized that white journalists have as much of a particular cultural and racial perspective as journalists who aren’t white. (See Ann‘s take here).
–A. Serwer
