Thursday, January 17, 2008

Double Standard


What baffles me the most about this election is the fact that Sen. Barack Obama represents a person of color running for the presidency, yet he cannot speak about issues that effect people of color for fear of scorn from the majority saying he's pulling the race card.

How is it pulling the race card when there are a disproportionate number of Blacks in prison, the achievement gap in education drastically hinders the future of Black and Latino youth, and other issues such as access to health care that negatively effect these communities?

How is it that speaking the truth is considered pulling the race card when it is far from it? Speaking up about this issues is not pulling the race card, it is threatening to the power structure in place in this country.

Think about it. When one says we need to get rid of the prison industrial complex, we are also saying we want Black men to be given an opportunity to attend places of higher learning, have the opportunity to raise their children and see them everyday, and become Black businessmen. When we say we want the achievement gap eliminated, we are saying we want more Blacks and Latinos in college, building enterprises, and creating wealth in their communities. All of those things and more, shatter the status quo of this nation. It shakes up the power structure.

Race is a sensitive issue in this country, and oftentimes blacks have to deal with the "race card" stigma when bringing up issues that negatively impact their communities.

On the flipside, Sen. Hillary Clinton is running to be the first woman president and is allowed to speak freely about issues that effect women and people of color. Barack doesn't even have to even bring up the issue and he's crucified. (ie. what happened last week with Hillary bringing up MLK and Lyndon Johnson) Talk about a double standard.

She's the one who has the token Black guy, the founder of BET, talking down on Sen. Obama. She's the one who said that Lyndon Johnson did more for Civil Rights than Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let me digress onto that comment. By saying that Lyndon Johnson changed more than Martin Luther King is to say that the President has more power than the people. Martin Luther King, Jr. represented a social movement for equality. The Civil Rights movement was made up of people who put so much pressure on the government that the government had to listen.

The government is supposed to be run by the people. By saying that the President had more influence over Civil Rights than the people says a lot about Sen. Hillary Clinton's ideology--an ideology that I do not agree with and cannot support. Government is by the people and for the people. As President you represent the people, it's not all about you.

Okay, so now that I'm off that soap box, I just want to say that this is supposed to be an election of change. Yet, Sen. Barack Obama, is not allowed to speak on issues that represent the change he can be. The biggest change will be when this country will be able to effectively talk about its most sensitive subject: race.