I still remember sitting at the local Obama Campaign Headquarters on November 7, 2008...like it was yesterday. After working all day, driving people to the poll and knocking on doors, I was sent to my polling center in my district to gather the vote for my local Representative . As I called her to give her the numbers, she stated that it was announced that Candidate Obama had won Michigan and I could come back to the headquarters to join in the celebration of this. This is my story and how I believe the climate of America not really has changed since this night.........
Back at the campaign headquarters, food was beginning to pour in. My local Representative was at the front desk, still gathering numbers from people that she send to the local polling centers. People were beginning to get a little excited as the other states kept pouring in....Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania and such.
The campaign headquarters was filled with so many people. So many different races... Caucasian, African-American, Asian, Latino and in between. People that probably would never speak to each other again after this night was gathered in this place..sharing meals and small talk...awaiting for the announcement that they hoped for would come in.."Barack Obama, President of the United States".
It was either shortly before or after 11:00 PM, I believe. I had sat down and got something to eat, talking to two Caucasian ladies from A2 that I have never met in my life. We were talking about how the situations were going to change once Obama was to be elected. We hoped that America had finally decided to end the ways of racism past by hopefully allowing this African-American man to be elected President.
Then, out of the corner of my right I saw an announcement on the television. Or more like a flash...Barack Obama-44th President-Elect of the United States. At first, I was frozen. I could not believe it. I thought it was a joke. My thoughts....Did this actually happen?, Did we actually do this? Did we finally allow a "Black" man to be President?
I remembered shortly the moments I spent in school, particularly elementary school. As a part of Generation X and a child of the 1970's, looking over on the school wall that showed all the President's past of the United States. We studied it many times during a history or social studies lesson. I also remember how I thought many times, "Not one of those guys are "Black". It was as if, African-American people did not "fit in."
That all changed on the night of November 7th, when I saw African-Americans, Caucasian, Asian, Latino and many other individuals hugging and crying over Barack Obama being elected President, in that campaign headquarters that night. It was as if, all the many thoughts of us as a people, "Not Fitting In" had disappeared, just for this night at least. Not only was President Obama elected but we had a First Lady, Michelle Obama that looked, sound and had similar characteristics to me. That was a FIRST to say the least.
The two women I never met before I spoke to before the announcement, came over to wear I was and hugged me as the tears of joy steamed down all three of our faces. I found my local Representative, in the crowd and hugged her as she did me. She told me thank you for volunteering to go to the polling place and gather the numbers. I turned around and told her..."We DID IT!!" and she stated, "Yes, WE DID". The some of crowd in the building moved out in the street and was walking and signing in joyous celebration of what we as a people as managed to accomplish, together. I will NEVER forget this night.
BUT............
Now, a couple of days shy of President Obama taking the Oath of Office one year ago....I feel as if we have moved backwards. First, we have the Teabaggers. These people never voted for President Obama in the first place. Regardless, they have the opportunity (and YES, I understand FREE SPEECH) to go out into the streets and carry racist signs against the President, talk about wishing harm to him, want to turn this country upside down to say the least and started the term "Barack, the magic Negro".
The word "Negro" makes the blood in me boil. As a Generation "X"er, a child of the 1970's, I never accepted this word as a description of my race, ever. I remember the word "Black" as a child and use to ask my Mother, "Why do they call me "Black" when I am brown?" Carmel brown-skinned to be exact. I was as a child confused with how I could be compared to a color of a crayon in the box that, in my option, did not look anything like my skin color.
My Mother stated to me that you are "Black" but your ancestry traces from Africa. Then she went on to explain to me the history of slaves and their migration history into the United States. She also stated to me that EVERYONE history traces back to Africa as this continent is the Motherland of all creation but we as "Black" people are one of the few that accept it.
For many years after this conversation with my Mother, I thought of myself as a "Black-American", even though I still had issues with being called "Black". Then, during my rebel teenage years, the 1980's, a group that I still respect to this day, Public Enemy, made it OK IMHO to use the word "African". By listening to their music and promoting the Africa Leather necklace with the colors of RED, BLACK and GREEN that many teens I know use to wear, (refer to African-American Hip-Hop Videos 1985-1990 for reference) it was indeed cool to be associated with that land my Mother told me about, years before. This was about the time the term I choose to call myself to this day came into play, "African-American".
I identify with this term as many other African-Americans in America because this clearly represents OUR history. I can identify my history as a descendant of slaves from the Motherland. I also can go refer to the history I have now, of the members of my family that I can trace, that comes from right here in America. I do not feel as if I "Fit" into a term like "Black", that does not describe me in ANY WAY. I am proud to call myself "African-American".
BUT..........
In America, we cannot let sleeping dogs lie. Recently, we witness the likes of a so-called Progressive Democrat, Jane Hamster, line herself and her group Firedog Lake, with not only the likes of the Teabaggers but with people such of Glover Norquist, who has said many negative things about my race. We have another so-called Progressive Democrat-Arianna Huffington, that uses her blog to promote "Race Baiting" title stories regarding President Obama on a regular basis. We have SOME people on Progressive sites like this one and D.U. that feel as if "African-Americans" should be OK with these and other types of behaviors.....and stay silent.
Of course we have the GOP, who never wanted President Obama to be elected in the first place. They continue to disrespect the President with shouts like "You Lie" during a full session of Congress on national television for the World to see. We have the likes of the Beck's, Limbaugh' and O' Reilly's being able to "Thread the Needle" or in the cases of Beck and Limbaugh....clearly jump over the Needle on Racism, on television and radio almost daily and it is OK for the most part. Yes, they are talked about but never pulled off the air....back to the FREE SPEECH thing, you know. All of them have made attempts to insight the Teabaggers and other Racists to harm our President.....ever so softly.....not to be caught or removed off of the airwaves.
Now, we have the Majority Leader of the Democratic Party, Harry Reid with this:
Republicans call on Senator Reid to quit post
Will Dunham
WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican Party chief called on Senator Harry Reid on Sunday to step down as Senate majority leader over racial comments about President Barack Obama, while Democrats tried to put the issue behind them.
Reid, a key figure in pushing Obama's agenda through Congress, apologized to the president on Saturday over remarks published in a new book calling Obama a "light-skinned" black man "with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one."
Both Obama and Reid are Democrats.....
Read the entire article here, if you like-Reuters Article
Ok, I am trying to understand here. Maybe with the issues over the 2010 Census and the awful word "Negro" being included on it because some people in the 2000 Census decided to write the word in when it was eliminated...made Harry Reid believe it was OK to compare "Ever So Slightly" to President Obama being "A good speaking, light skinned, Negro" but you would think he would know better, right?
I know he is from Nevada and the African-American population probably is highest in the cities of Las Vegas, maybe Reno and not to many other places in the state...but since he is in the main stream as a Majority Leader of the Democratic Party in the Senate.....he probably would think REAL HARD for saying such things that could be written about him....regardless if the sentence was used in a public or private place, right? Wrong!
Let me first correct, Senator Reid on a couple of points:
- President Obama is Butterscotch in color.
- President Obama is a African-American. His Father was from Africa and his Mother was from Kansas.
- President Obama speaks likes a person that is Educated, which his is....as a Harvard Graduate, I believe.
- President Obama's dialect reflects that he had interacted with a large number of different people during this. The President understands as a African-American, you can have ONE way of dialect as a Professional and another dialect in Private (i.e.-in your community).
- President Obama is in no way a "Negro"
The meaning of "Negro
The word Negro was used to refer to a person of Black ancestry prior to the shift in the lexicon of American and worldwide classification of race and ethnicity in the late 1960s. The appellation was accepted as a normal and was used by those of Black African descent as well as those of non-African black descent during the eras prior to the Civil Rights movement.
During the American Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, some African American leaders in the United States objected to the word, preferring Black, because they associated the word Negro with the long history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination that treated African Americans as second class citizens, or worse. During the 1960s Negro came to be considered an ethnic slur.
Source-Wiki and here is the link-Wiki article on the word Negro
Maybe Senator Reid got it confused with this Wiki Article:
The magical negro is a supporting, often mystical stock character in fiction who, by use of special insight or powers, helps the white protagonist get out of trouble.
The word negro, now considered by many as archaic and offensive, is used intentionally to suggest that the archetype is a racist throwback, an update of the "Sambo" and "savage other" stereotypes..........
The Magical Negro in Fiction
The magical negro is typically but not always "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by discrimination, disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner. He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist. He sometimes fits the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness." To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters." He is patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and is "closer to the earth."
The magical negro serves as a plot device to help the protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them. Although he has magical powers, his "magic is ostensibly directed toward helping and enlightening a white male character."
It is this feature of the magical negro that some people find most troubling. Although from a certain perspective the character may seem to be showing blacks in a positive light, he is still ultimately subordinate to whites. He is also regarded as an exception, allowing white America to "like individual black people but not black culture."
To save the white protagonist, however, he would do anything, including sacrificing himself, as Sidney Poitier portrays in The Defiant Ones, the prototypical magical Negro movie. Note that Poitier's character is also saved by the white protagonist, as the two help each other throughout the film.
Source-Wiki article on "Magical Negro, read it here-
Wiki article on the Magical Negro
Wow, thanks Wiki writers....I could not have sum this up better myself!
President Obama has since forgiven Harry Reid, in public, for his "Slip of the Tongue". The key to this is, "In Public". In private, I am sure it is another story.....
Why did President Obama have to forgive Senator Reid in public.....well first, Senator Reid is the Majority Leader in the Senate of the Democratic Party.
If President Obama showed he was the slightest upset about this, he would be termed as the "Angry "Black" Man".
Second, President Obama knows that if he allows this to go without a forgiving statement in the African-American community, especially with the "Generation X" crowd..we (a large number of us) would leave the Democratic Party in numbers and/or just "Stay Home" the next election in complete oppostion to this vile statement.
Third reason, President Obama needed to save Harry Reid's face.
Still..........
This has been said. The Census has the "Negro" word being tested on it. Quickly let me explain why SOME African-Americans continue to define themselves as "Negro" as I know this will be an issue that is questioned in the comments on this posting.
- The word as historical reference in the African-American community. We cannot EVER forget what is the true meaning behind this word and why we must continue to fight against it to BETTER our people...
- Just like "Jim Crow" (look it up if you do not know what the word means...) some people in the community will continue to define themselves by this negative term because they continue to believe that they fit into this term....because the "White" man gave it to them.
Please do not get offended here because this is true. Particular individuals that are older, over 60, from some parts of the South or that believe that this vile term is the one that they should associate themselves with, have continued to use this word.
Most of these people in our community lack the education to truly understand why "Negro" does not describe themselves, thus...they write it on a Census form, use it (or its' sister "N" word) in a Rap Song or speak to others of the community as the "N" word of "Negro" because that is all they know, sadly.
Let me get to my conclusion.....
- President Obama was elected to fix all the problems that the Bush Administration put on us. The problems in some people minds were so bad that they thought "Why not allow a "Black" man to fix it". At least if we do this and he cannot fix it, we can say "We gave you all a chance and you blew it" to never elect a African-American to the highest office in the land, again.
- Since, President Obama is not solving all of the problems in the form or fashion that they liked.....they are falling back on "Ever So Slight" terms of race. It's history in America and that is all we know.
- The GOP and Teabaggers are ENJOYING this. They never wanted President Obama elected in the first place. They will continue to do WHATEVER is necessary to harm the Presidency of this African-American man.
- Some Democrats will continue to give themselves "Pads on the Back" about the electing President Obama but in private or public (look at the blogs for the answer) start "Ever so slightly" or in Hamster and Huffington case, boldly, start using "Racial Overtones" to start knocking down the door of the Public at Large RESPECT for the President.
- Number 4 will be looked at as OK by SOME of Democrats and Progressives. Also, if African-Americans have something to say about the actions of point 1-4, they will say African-Americans themselves are "Race-Baiting" to shut the door on the conversation, quickly.
- We still have major problems with RACE in AMERICA as people, AS A WHOLE. Until we accept this and truly deal with it, OUR SOCIETY cannot grow to were it NEEDS to be.....period.
Thanks for reading my LONG diary.