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.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Double Standard
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5 comments:
As long as you are talking about race --- abortion is the number 1 killer of African Americans.
http://www.nationalblackprolifeunion.com/
Race will continue to be a taboo topic in this country because people are not comfortable admitting that predjudice and racism still exist. Instead of addressing the effect that racial stereotyping has on each of our world-views, many of us choose to take on the BS position of being "colorblind". In reality, it is impossible not to see race in a society that is so seperate; segregation, though illegal, is institutionalized in our country based on the economic system.
Race will not be released from the taboo topics of discussion until we, as a society come to terms with the facts that most of us have prejudices. Prejudices are something we can overcome, but the first step is admitting we have them. The second step is coming to terms with the fact that race IS a factor in this country--and as you so eloquently pointed out, talking about it is not always a crutch--ITS TIME TO FACE REALITY.
I definitely agree. And now, the country, with the help of the media, is looking at this as a "race thing" between the two of them, when in fact, it is so much more. Yes, race is important and should be feely discussed by people who aim to lead this country, but now it is beginning to take the lead in a race that should be more focused on humanity, issues, equality. That means access to healthcare across the board, access to education, and dealing with the realities that not only divide us by race, but also by income, by location, and by status.
Kim
So let's be clear, Barack has been doing so well BECAUSE he hasn't been talking about Black issues. What I've enjoyed about watching his campaign is that he's done a beautiful job of addressing Black issues as American issues. The man was a community organizer, so when he talks about a struggling middle class, economic downturns, poverty, dilapidated education systems, he's talking about Chicago's Southside, East New York Brooklyn, North Philadelphia, Gary (IN) and East St. Louis--not Scranton, Alexandria, Schaumburg, Westbury or Winston-Salem.
For me, this is one of the few times when you allow a candidate to gloss over the issues that affect you most with the knowledge that he understands them first hand and is (potentially) passionate about addressing them. A Clinton in the White House will bring Clinton era economic policies which, for those who remember and are honest about Clinton's tenure, were not friendly the poor Black and Brown--the same who lay the palm leaves at their messiah's feet when he walked along Adam Clayton Blvd. in 2001 and on Georgia Avenue in 1992.
For all of our sakes, please allow Barack to be a candidate that happens to be Black for the moment in hopes that he remembers who loves him most when he's elected.
As for Bob Johnson, well, let's just say that I'd love to leave him in a cell block for an hour with a guy named Bubba and a bottle of Panista Jelly. The man made billions with the blood of our children on his hands. Anyone who allowed the drug culture to be celebrated in that way has little recourse to denigrate the admitted, youthful, recreational drug use of anyone. I'll blog is later--hate that bamma!
When in Boston, at the 2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address, Obama blatantly spoke of the issues of "the black community." To piggyback off of Kawshen, Barack has an amazing rhetoric and is able to articulate his beliefs without verbalizing those beliefs in a way that is typical. Yes, He speaks of black america, but instead of saying black america he rebuttles with,
"Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us -- the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of "anything goes." Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America."
If we continue to place ourselves in these "self hatred" categories, and continue to divide ourselves and not see that we are not the only culture facing hardships, we will never have the change that we all dream of.
If we truely desire that this so called double standard be erased, we must stop placing it on ourselves, and go out and get what you want and educate ourselves to realize that what we want is possible, though not overnight.
To end this, I will say take a look at the end of Barack's speech. He speaks directly to the populations that we speak of and he is attempting to place the faith back into a community that was once driven by it.
AuDaCiTy
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