I am African American and I proudly voted for President Obama from my home in Switzerland in 2008. The insert image is a scan of my official ballot. Some might say I and eighty percent of African Americans support the president because he is black; I vehemently and profoundly disagree with this assessment. What I do know is that thirty percent of the population voted for McCain because he was White and they were bigoted in their critical thinking process, limited as it were. My support of the president was late and him being black was an after thought. I am a lifelong Barry Goldwater Republican and did not join Team Obama until August 2008 after Sarah Palin was announced by my home senator who I supported, as his Vice presidential selection.
Today I find myself at home in Europe reading the news wires from the states and totally absolutely floored by the latest events.
President Obama is taking some flak from some members of the African-American leaders in congress. This is not so surprising since those making the noise never were fully on the Team Obama bandwagon, at least they started out supporting Hillary Clinton.
The black community does not require the likes of US Representative Maxine Waters to tell us about our struggles or the members of the CBC (Congressional Black Caucus.) Here we have Maxine and a body which professes to represent the black community which I assure you they do not attacking the first African American president because they believe he has ignored the African American community in his three years in office. I submit to you where were these individuals’ initiatives for helping black folks during their tenures of decades in the nation’s capital? Where were they? I will tell you where, at their fancy parties with lobbyist collecting campaign donations from special interests and not too concerned about African-Community issues.
This weekend Representative Maxine Waters- (D, CA) spoke to a gathering of unemployed African-Americans in Detroit and asked them for their permission to the CBC to “unleash” their frustrations upon President Obama for his lack of job creation policies.
Ms. Waters have yet to author and legislation of significance to the African-American or American citizens in the one hundred plus years she has represented her California congressional district, the same can be said of any CBC member, niente (Italian for not a damn thing!)
Historically the unemployment levels in the black community double that of the national average. Black folks know also it is very true that if the president single out blacks to assist on any issue he would be lynched.
It has been said by Reverend Al Sharpton that we are a people who are born with a deficit; it is very true we know too well about dreams being demurred. What does not help our dreams is seeing a brilliant man as the president being challenged by people without merit.
Let me be clear about this, Maxine and the CBC endorsed then Senator Clinton during the Democratic primaries and during on TV interview Maxine Waters called then senator Obama a ‘’boy.” The African-American community or at least the old guard of leaders including the owner of Johnson Publishing Company which owns JET & Ebony Magazine all got behind Senator Clinton’s nomination initially. There were also insignificant black journalists who crowed for the Clinton camp and still do such as Travis Smiley of BET. They are and never have been aligned with the youth of today which support this president in unprecedented numbers.
Somewhere along the way these individuals, Maxine, Travis and CBC have lost their way. They are only black when it comes to attaining personal gratification and self-enrichment; collectively they have long forgotten the community.
Since we are on the topic of lost souls, any blacks who consider themselves of the Republicans Taliban Tea Party insurrection are betrayers to all the slaves who toiled the soils making their master wealthy, to the millions of salves who died during the crossings, to the Freedom Riders, to the very embodiment of black suffrage. This is especially true of US Representatives Allen West of Florida a disgraced US Army officer forced to resign his commission and Tim Scott of South Carolina. When the American author Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote ‘’Uncle Tom’s Cabin’’ she had you in mind. Somehow the gentlemen from South Carolina and Florida believe that they represent African-Americans, they do not. What they represent is oppression and segregation of those who share their skin-tones.
The facts are simple and obvious that these individuals, Taliban Tea Party Republicans and some old guard establishment Congressional Black Caucus members are out to destroy this president. This is what is clinically called self-loathing hatred.
The moment this president can be labeled as an angry black man or goes out of his way to assist blacks which can be misconstrued as preferential treatment is the moment that the Republican Taliban Tea Party have waited for so they can pounce.
There is a tinge of racism within the far rights attacks upon the president and this was obvious to me during the primaries and the general election. Their arguments and disagreements against the president are not on policy. It is their disdain for the man, his skin hue and because he is a successful Democrat.
I see very little differences in his governance than with his predecessors, other than he is sympathetic to shape policy for the common good of the people and his impeccable honesty.
The Republicans from day one insisted that Mr Obama was a sleeper Muslim, un-patriotic, not born in USA, etc. When some pundits and politicians were pressed for answers and clarifications about birther, religious, patriotism issues or whatever the dog whistle sounded loudly ‘’as far as I know’” and “I take him for his word.”’ It was and is a psychological control manipulation which the Republicans are masterful at. Only the weak-minded among our citizenry can fall into this deceptive trap.
When the anger first erupted over the Health Care legislation and the Democrats did not push back hard enough and this was the turning point politically which lead to the 2010 shellacking at the polls. It is a phenomenon to me as to why the Mainstream media has embolden this elongated cycles of despairingly negative messages about the president and our state of affairs, nothing could be further from the truth. America is not destitute nor are we doomed. These are messages from a radical mob of far right wing nuts that have the destruction of the presidency in their sights. They have admitted as much in their rants. What is obvious also is that phenomenon they do not care if they sink the nation in the process. The Republican Tea Party members are domestic terrorists. One of the definitions of terrorist is to disrupt normalcy. They have done this thus they are by virtue of deeds and words terrorists.
The visual optics of a black man in the Oval Office frightens them because they see CHANGE; politically the president has not done anything radically too far left and if he did he would not have such problems with his base. No, Mr. Obama has played it correctly he is in the center and I love him for it. The Democrats will appreciate this soon once it is digested. It is of note that for the first time in two generations the Republicans have ceded the center and veered extreme right. Politically the nation is philosophically in the center the Republicans have erred and are too ignorant to realize it yet.
Some folks say that Obama does not represent change which I strongly disagree with those insertions. I firmly believe that although some policies might not have changed too much that he is the embodiment of change far greater than eyes which are either too filled with selfishness or consumed with rage at the man’s skin tone can see to phantom. President Obama is the epitome of the American Dream and self-determination. This can only be denied by the ignorant and irrational. Nowhere else in the world could this even have been possible and it is a glass ceiling broken which opens the flood gates for other minorities and women in the future. That is what the right fears the most.
On that note, each time I look at a photo or video of the president interacting with young blacks the looks in their eyes upon meeting him is priceless.
Within American society there are more minorities incarcerated than which are in the nation’s high schools. President Obama gives our children something more than a sport figure or entertainer to emulate and offers them hope. Those individuals and entities who seek to destroy this great man will have to fight me and many like me. I can no more explain to you what it to be white than you can me to be black thus you cannot state you know how I or any of us feel nor can Maxine Waters because she is from an era long since passed our patience has grown think with her and those like her . The election of a half black president does not erase centuries of injustices and inadequacies but it does give one new hope.
At this point I might also take this unique opportunity to explain that Racism is institutional, in laws, education, housing and aspects of social life that minorities typically do not have access nor control over. An individual statement accredit to someone as racists is benign – words are emotions and express thoughts of bigotry and prejudiced and only have the power of oppression if you allow them. Racism without power is bigotry and ignorance.
The president of the United States is not a king. He requires assistance and support (Democrats are tough to herd) and I will support and do everything that I can to help with his re-election in 2012. As for the African-American leaders who have been sucking the public teat for a generation of more and now who think that they can demand that that president achieve in three short years something what they could or would not in twenty or more years do not represent GEN 44 your time has passed. Hope you are listening Maxine and CBC.