I'm intrigued, and actually even somewhat mystified, about a discussion taking place on TV and on Twitter about the race of Herman Cain's accuser. She's white (and blonde). And several folks are saying that that is the nail in Herman Cain's coffin.
Here's what one (black) pundit had to say on MSNBC a few hours ago:
"It's very jarring for I think for the GOP, for anybody, to see a black man be sexually aggressive in an unwanted way to a blond white woman"I honestly did not have the same thought when I saw that she was white.
The argument about why her (white) race matters tends to be multi-fold, and I'm just summarizing what I've heard:
1. A lot of people tend to believe white women who accuse black men of things. (You can call this the "To Kill a Mockingbird" argument.)
2. Especially in the GOP, and the south, there's an illogical fear/concern about black men being sexual predators towards white women. (Again, I'm just summarizing what I'm reading and seeing on TV.)
3. Some in the black community may not be thrilled that Herman Cain was trying to fool around with women who weren't black. (There was a quick reference to, I think, this on MSNBC by a black pundit a bit ago.)
I wonder how this case might be handled differently than the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas situation, since now the accuser is white. @Patricialicious on Twitter commented on that:
These situations are an interesting mix of race and gender dynamics in this country. Anita Hill is black. A black woman making these types of allegations are typically viewed different from a white woman making these allegations.And Anita Hill was 20 years ago. One hopes society has advanced somewhat since that time.
