Value Judgment: Kerry Oblivious to Malcolm X

Value Judgment is a daily weblog written by two independent voters on the eastern seaboard of the United States. VJ will focus on the 2004 U.S. Presidential campaigns, including strategy, tactics, and substance. The authors supported Howard Dean in the Democratic primary. Accordingly, his activities will be a prominent topic on this site.

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January 26, 2004

Kerry Oblivious to Malcolm X

Someone who was in the room for one of Kerry's events yesterday relates the following:

Then he asked for questions.

A man with an "X" on his hat asked John Kerry about resonating outside of New England, and he said that Kerry could prove it to him by explaining the relevance of the cultural icon on his hat. He was a white guy, and John Kerry didn't know what it was. "The Roman Numeral 10?" he asked. "I don't know, tell me?"

It was Malcolm X! Of course.

Hey, I grew up poor white in a rural factory town in the north and I know enough about Malcolm X to have gotten this right. But, remember, according to Kerry's friend Paul Begala, since I don't watch much cable news I'm the ignorant one. Cuz, you know, reading books and actually interacting with people who aren't multi-millionaires -- that's no way to gain a broader cultural understanding!

This just doesn't bode well for Kerry. But then, the slim hope I cling to when pondering a Kerry nomination is the idea of a complete Bush collapse. I don't think Kerry can defeat Bush on his own (like V, I'd rather watch Dweezil and Lisa's cooking show on Food Network than listen to John Kerry--did you know that Emily Saliers co-owns a restaurant called "Watershed" in Georgia?), but there is a chance that Bush will do himself in.

Posted by J at January 26, 2004 05:26 AM

Comments

This is the dictionary definition of "unelectable." Although I give credit to Kerry for saying "I don't know," I still think Molly Ivins got it right: "he comes across as a tall Dukakis."

Posted by: Squelch at January 26, 2004 08:23 AM

A tall Dukakis (who was Dukakis' Lt. Governor, btw) with no elvis! (Another Ivins observation.)

Posted by: J at January 26, 2004 08:41 AM

Man, that's just painfully white.

Posted by: genehack at January 26, 2004 09:35 AM

But on second thought, might it be generational thing? After all, the white X on the baseball cap became an icon not because of Malcom X himself, but because of Spike Lee's film Malcom X. I know it, sure, but I was in college at the time, and Spike Lee was big among college-age folks at the time. . . bigger than Malcom X himself, I would argue.

My point is merely that there may be many people Kerry's age who wouldn't get that either. Still, "many people Kerry's age" aren't running for President.

Posted by: Squelch at January 26, 2004 02:24 PM

It also depends on your peer group. In mine, more people would think that it referred to Mac OS X than to Malcolm X.

Posted by: Dori at January 26, 2004 06:18 PM

oh come on ... so john kerry didn't match an X on a baseball cap with malcolm x. that whole spike lee baseball cap thing was too juvenile for words from the get-go. as if an x on someone's head is a message with any wweight.

and don't get me wrong -- reading malcolm's autobiography when i was in high school in 1967 (in a white suburban public school) had a real and lasting effect on my life. it was one of the first steps in a radicalizing process that took me through the anti-vietnam war movement, to the anti-draft movement, and most recently to seeing dennis kucinich (as unelectable as hi might be) as the only serious candidate with a truly progressive platform. (and by serious, i mean most of those other than rev. sharpton, with his republican money and handlers).

so don't tell me about kerry not knowing that someone the letter x is owned by malcolm. tell me something that's going to change the way this country has been mishandled by the sleazoids in the republican party.

Posted by: zayde at February 11, 2004 09:06 PM

The point of the matter is to run a country you need to be knowledgeable of all aspects of society and if you are not- have an open mind to learning new things. I am only eighteen and some of the comments that have been posted show the pure stupidity of "America's elite" Just because you came into the light about a situation at a given time does not validate you to say when that issue was created...and symbolism is one of the oldest methods of creating weight behind an issue. The larger issue is whether or not America is ready to face the past, understand it,and progress. My parents instilled in me to always know what you are not expected to... I can give you intense debate about Malcom X's tactics as well as Tony Blair. Don't blame ignorance on an entire generation.

Posted by: shaunteria at April 15, 2004 12:21 PM