Thursday, March 31, 2011
Another pro-life (but racially charged?) billboard
We've already discussed a NYC billboard from the same organization, and this one -- headed for the south side of Chicago -- is sure to trigger some heated debates. Putting aside the troubling claims (e.g., accusations of genocide) made by the sponsoring organization, I think the basic message of the billboard -- think twice about the human lives cut short by abortion -- is powerful and needed. It's obviously not a message that is needed only by the African American community, however, and to the extent that there is an implicit suggestion that President Obama was more vulnerable to abortion solely because he is African American (though born to a white mother), the billboard is on some shaky and disturbing ground. We need to account for the nexus between race and socioeconomic conditions so as not to present a misleading picture, though I realize that nuance is not the billboard's primary aim.
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2011/03/another-pro-life-but-racially-charged-billboard.html
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I agree that it's playing with fire. But, in fairness, the president's personal vulnerability, had abortion been as readily available at the time, is not based solely on his race. His mother was an unwed teen. He himself spoke about that situation, albeit without any abortion mention, when the Palin daughter's pregnancy became public.
Also, as to race, he would have been especially vulnerable precisely because he was not merely black, but because he was the black son of a white mother. I'd venture that the abortion rate for that alignment has historically been far higher than any other group.
Perhaps none of that reduces the controversial impact of the billboard, but it does make his life story an especially powerful example, for more reasons than race alone.