Zola Ray addresses the issues of sexism versus racism in this year’s election in “What Patton Oswalt Got Wrong: The Problem With Comparing Racism and Sexism in America,” by jumpstarting her opinion from a tweet by comedian Patton Oswalt. Of the tweets Oswalt wrote during and in the wake of the election, Ray, while admitting that many were intelligent and poignant, found issue with one in particular which said “What I've learned so far tonight: America is WAAAAAAAAY more sexist than it is racist. And it's pretty fucking racist.” While news sources such as Huffington Post proclaimed his tweet “summed up election night,” Ray puts forth that it actually misses the mark.
Ray acknowledges that, undoubtedly, the subconscious and conscious view of president as a man’s…show more content… Ray points out multiple instances displaying the crude views he put forth in his campaign, including his calling Mexican people rapists, advocating for more stop-and-frisk, and his statement that he would ban Muslims from the country. Some Trump voters voted for him because of this bigotry, and others voted for him despite it, choosing to look the other way. Either way, voting for a candidate requires voting for the whole package, racism and all. The author mentions that CNN political commentator Van Jones described the results as a “white-lash against a black president, in part,” which aptly addresses the part of Trump voters that voted for Trump in anger about Obama’s presidency. Ray also addresses the election process itself and how it’s systematically oppressed black voters. Some examples being the voting rights lawsuit that found in July that in North Carolina the state eliminated Sunday voting because most Sunday voters were black and democratic. Ultimately, it’s summarized quite succinctly with this line from Ray, “There was so much racism involved in this election, and Oswalt’s tweet just highlights our society’s inability to recognize it in its
