Last night while I was watching CNN. One of the commentators made the statement that “African Americans were looking for a sign from whites that it is OK to support Obama.” Now this is jus the kind of shit you have to deal with being black in America. The problem is I think Obama believes it as well.
"Obama, through an unprecedented convergence of luck and skill, has never before faced serious attack delivered by a competent opponent," Democratic strategist Dan Newman said. "He's now earned the right to be mercilessly scrubbed and scrutinized. No one knows how he'll respond to the challenge, and how voters will evaluate the criticism." link
The problem with that is … that ain’t the way it works. If we hadn’t already run and won with a unity candidate, Harold Washington, I might believe the hype. Harold pulled a true rainbow coalition without the divisive tropes of race, and he did it from a base rooted in the black community. I have yet to see a white rainbow.
My concern with Obama is there are no links to the black community. I know I keep saying this but it’s true. Any time you see a black person out front without black folk behind him, not just the rich and famous, it’s a set up. Jesse Jackson don’t count. All of his support and all of his coverage comes from white second tier power brokers jockeying for position in the democratic party. Maybe Barack is right and white America has changed in the last 4 years but, in my opinion he is coming dangerously close to the tragic "mulatto" paradigm.
If Obama had a connection to the civil rights movement or slavery he would understand America better and be able to see beyond the glitter and hype and hear above the din of the crowd chanting his name. Remember James Byrd. But, in all honesty, my greatest fear is that he may be right. Black America may, in fact, base their decisions on the approval of white folk. Obama is, in many senses, the new New Negro. Non-threatening, lovable, articulate, apologetic and impotent. If that is where this new Blackness is going, count me out. Because if Tom Joyner and Oprah Winfrey and all the other rich Black folk out there are so hyped about the political process, where are the black think tanks and lobbying groups. Where is the black political machine. Because from where I sit it seems like everybody is trying to be Cinderella – another whore out on the stroll.
Weather the Clinton assault – that’s a real test.
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Let the teabagging begin!
Dan Balz, Shalaigh Murray. How wonderful that the press gets to pick our candidates! I feel all warm and runny on the inside.
[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
Obama says
"I want to campaign the same way I govern ..."
Senator Obama, WADR (With all due respect; yes that's right shifting the acronymic lingo) what the hell have you governed other than filling in political voids? Remind me.
To legislate is not to govern
That's just wrong. That's.... nonsensical.
And first you campaign, then you govern.
WTF
?
[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
African Americans looking for a sign
I saw that too and nearly spit a gut laughing, far and away the most stupid line of many from a whole lot of very puzzled looking white faces. What was that guy thinking? Had he just watched a re-run of Song of the South? And nobody else laughed, nobody criticized, nobody suggested that maybe, just maybe, some black people would be able to make up their own minds without the Massa’s guidance and, even more shockingly, make decisions about who they want for President based on reasons other than skin color. This, in 2008. Sometimes I’m convinced America has come a long ways, other times I’m not so sure.
The best black candidate ever for President was also the best-ever woman candidate, one of if not the smartest, easily the most compassionate and certainly the most genuine person to ever run for the office, period. I met Shirley Chisholm during the winter of 1972 in, of all places, Salt Lake City. She came to town for one campaign speech, a rare opportunity to meet the first black woman elected to Congress and a co-founder of NOW so of course I and my wife and all the 200 other progressives in town turned out for what was a marvelous experience. I’ve heard a lot of candidate speeches and forgotten most of them; hers is etched in permanently. From her formal announcement speech, this is the opening:
You want an interesting challenge in political operations, try slogging through the spring snow knocking on doors to ask Mormons (who then still observed as a matter of doctrine that black skin is the mark of being cursed by their god) to not only become Democrats but to commit to vote for a black woman they never heard of from New York City.
The advantage was that most of them were so astonished at my intro they would just stand there, mouth agape, and let me get the whole pitch out uninterrupted. I took on that Quixotic task because when we shook hands Ms. Chisholm took mine in both of hers, looked me straight in my eyes and asked me to; I said yes and I would never have been able to live with myself if I had reneged.
At the Democratic convention she had 151 delegates, the first woman to ever have her name put substantively into nomination for the Presidency from a major party. Her personality, her charisma, was so huge she just filled a room, and warmed your heart. Barak Obama has many gifts, but I’m not nearly as impressed as I was with Shirley Chisholm. Still, the argument that there is strength in unity, nobility in hope and power in charity is a proper one and that someone running for the presidency should aspire to be "President of all the people" isn’t weak, isn’t wrong and isn’t foreign to the interests of the poor and oppressed regardless of their sex or the color of their skin.
Nice to read you again, Xeno; been a while.
BIO luvs him some Sistah, and Xeno is trying to make me
crazy today. great post, exactly right, and spot on.
but you wound me. "tragic mulatto paradigm?"
it would've been nice if you'd used quotes around the m word. unless you're trying to make me call you and harangue you. ;-)
In my quest to make sense of...
... Obama's embrace of GOP rhetoric, several times I've been treated with this line of thinking:
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2008/1/...
Do you expect a black man could really win the presidency with the kind of tear-down-the-system rhetoric that has been (conveniently) adopted by Edwards lately? Would that be a good political strategy?
Are we supposed to assume that Obama is neutering his rhetoric for racial/ethnic reasons? And how are we supposed to feel about that?
The Assassins
Charlie Rose had Shelby Steele on last night and asked him about how the black community look at Obama. Wha! Shelby Steele knows something about the black community?
He went on to say that Obama is acceptable to white people and is so popular because he lets white people wash away their white guilt. A poisonous, poisonous man, Mr Steele. This is where the attack is going to come from. Shelby Steele will say it with off-hand venom. Jon McWhorter will say it with reluctant disdain. They will play the reverse racism card as much as possible.
I have my doubts about Obama, I question whether he has the sand to do what needs to be done and whether he isn't a little too deep into the corporate pocket. He needs to stand up with Dodd on FISA and he needs to get some of that economic justice fire from Edwards.
After watching Deval Patrick here in Massachusetts (God save the Commonwealth) over the past year, I wonder whether Obama, a similar type of candidate and politician, can keep his promises and govern effectively. They are both what I call "everybody come to the table" politicians and I don't think that's gonna work too well when some of the people at that table are committed obstructionists as Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi has been here in MA and the Reps will be, with a vengeance, in DC.
And, dare I say it, I worry about literal assassins for all the Dem candidates, most especially Obama and Clinton for obvious reasons. (I wouldn't put it past Huckabee to arrange a faux assassination attempt either.)
Solar is civil defense
Choice of subjects to debate
I guess I'd like to see this conversation focused on specific policy issues, as Lambert has identified with SS and FISA, rather than on things like hope and reaching out and sitting down with. Just because you reach out to someone doesn't mean you will necessarily allow yourself to be pulled in their direction, nor does sitting down with them mean you will be willing to eat whatever pile of bullshit they serve up.
I still prefer Edwards/Obama as a ticket, but I could surely live with the other way around.
As for my feelings towards Ms. Chisholm, they were/are awe and admiration more than love. Pity she’s gone; I dearly wish we could hear what she would have to say.
CD
Noted. ""'s inserted. But - you know that's where he is. He's fence straddling. Unless he's a closet bull leaper it tends to end up . . . tragic. No offense intended.
What was that guy thinking?
Same shit I am.
dearest X-man, of course i got your point
i was just being my usual princess self.
A poisonous, poisonous man, Mr Steele
no, he's a "paid, well paid hack." pay me enough and who knows? i could sell out. any of us may. it's only that they don't need so many traitors that they don't offer it to all/most of us.
i was just being . . .
You always will be to me. :)