Profs Offer Historical Context for Upcoming Election

With less than a week to go until the election, over 100 students trekked up the stairs of Hamilton Hall Thursday night for a little historical perspective.

Students turned out in droves to hear history professors weigh in on the election at an event called “Breakthroughs and Transformations: Historical Perspectives on the 2008 Election.” Most of the attendees were decided voters, and from its outset, the panel established Senator Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) victory as the most probable result of Tuesday’s election.

History professor Matthew Connelly discussed the long-term historical implications of an Obama presidency, while professor Alice Kessler-Harris discussed the significance of gender in the campaigns.

“Hillary Clinton ran like a man—with the same ambitions, the same agendas, the same platforms,” she said. “In doing so, she weakened and feminized Barack Obama.”

The Republicans, too, Kessler-Harris argued, used gender roles to promote a given image, but with very different intentions. “Sarah Palin is a throwback to the days of maternalism,” she said, emphasizing Palin’s use of a traditional domestic role to propel herself into politics, a traditionally male-dominated field.

Professor Natasha Lightfoot, who specializes in race relations, discussed Obama’s implications for the future of minorities in America. While she believed his achievement was an undeniable landmark, she thought he struggled with the “task of not be too black, but also to not be too un-black.”

Lightfoot said that Obama’s candidacy didn’t negate the existence of racism in America. “He is the exception, not the rule,” she said.

History professor and provost Alan Brinkley took the microphone to discuss class and its distinct role in American politics. Republicans, Brinkley said, had been successful in the past because they managed to “subordinate economic interest of a class to culture,” pointing to the GOP’s use of social and religious issues to attract voters.

Students at the event cited the importance of the topic, even if they had already decided on their candidate.

“It’s important to view things in a more detached, academic light, rather than through the political rhetoric of the actual campaigns,” John Sarlitto, CC ’12, said.

For Alex Thomas, CC ’12, it was appropriate to discuss Obama’s potential presidency in a historical context.

“It’s historical because it’s innovative,” he said.

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