As African-American blues legend, B.B. King, continues to wail in his famous all-American lyrics, "The thrill is gone!" It has been reported that the black community is falling out of love with President Barack Obama. Loyal and hopeful voters, the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and of course, news commentator Tavis Smiley, are all on record as strong and doubtful critics of President Obama. After Obama amassed a ridiculous 96 percent of the black vote in 2008, Rev. Jesse Jackson, the first black man to run for president in the 1980s, who advised Obama in the politician's early rise in Chicago, addressed a number of issues in a recent interview with the German website Spiegel Online. He addressed the president's failures of the black community, including: jobs and employment, housing foreclosures, health initiatives, education, as well as standing up to the Republicans.
But let's keep it real here. Is it the president's job to employ common citizens, create fair housing practices and affordable mortgages, provide information, funding, research and programs on health issues, as well as provide fair, affordable and sufficient education, while negotiating with and taxing the mega-rich, who have the ability to take advantage of the poor and blame them for their own conditions of poverty? Well ... that sounds like the job of the American president to me. That's what we all vote and pay taxes for, to place a strong, fair and objective representative into office, who can do his or her best to address ALL of those very important national issues. And President Barack Obama has attempted to do so on every count.
Unfortunately, and ironically, this black man came into office during some hard economic times of which he had nothing to do with. The economy got even worse as soon as he stepped into the White House. The first quarter of President Barack Obama's term in 2009 became panic city. Financial budgets were dropped or cut all over the country, followed by jobs, family incomes, investment stock, public resources, and charity. And not only were Americans feeling the economic hit, but the WORLD felt it, including a number of international economies who depend on American consumerism. So when President Obama claims that all of Americans are in need of financial help and not just black Americans, those words are not just "politics," his comments are real.
But as the saying goes in America, "when white America catches a cold, black America catches pneumonia." So black people, percentage wise, have now lost more jobs, more houses, more health battles, more teachers, more schools, more charity and have more to ask for than any other group of American-born citizens in this country. Hands down! Then that same black community looks at having a black man in office, with a black wife, two black daughters, a black dog, and extended black family members, and they understandably shout toward the White House, "Yo, cuz, hook a brother up! We family!"
Everyone knows the world works with nepotism, it's all about taking care of your own. That's elementary for ALL humans. You take care of your own family FIRST, especially after they give you 96 percent of their inspired vote, compared to just over 50 percent from white Americans. Even Latino Americans jumped on-board the Obama bus with more than 60 percent of their vote ...
Nevertheless, here's the real problem for black Americans who expect a good-old family "hook-up" from Obama. Just 40 percent of the voting population of white America still trumps the 96 percent of the voting population of black America. And when you add in the other percentages of white Americans who would NEVER vote for Obama, but who he still has to represent in office, the specific needs of the black community becomes small again. Therefore, an objective "of the people" President Obama still has more white Americans to cater to than any other racial group, despite the fact that his own community is obviously the most in need. Translation: all acts of President Obama's so-called "fairness" to support the "common" American, may still not affect the specific needs of black people.
Now ain't that a blizzard! Black citizens would actually be better off with a president who is not fair, and who would be willing to bend the rules, so to speak, to look out for their specific issues because it's needed. Rev. Jesse Jackson admitted as much in his Spiegel interview when he noted that past President Bill Clinton was more able to address the specific needs of African-American issues during his presidential term because he was a white man, where Obama's apparent blackness would immediately be criticized from a white majority nation as showing favoritism. And this obvious conflict has forced President Obama to play the middle zone to the detriment of the black community.
To his credit, popular news commentator Tavis Smiley saw this difficulty Obama had to deal with early on. As one of the first and strongest critics of the African-American community's election of a black man in expectation of "hook-ups," Tavis became very unpopular when he questioned how much Barack Obama's presidency would affect the black community's needs. Tavis was more in support of electing a candidate who would stand strong for specific issues and goals, regardless of race, where the black community could fit under a goal-oriented mandate, instead of supporting a black man, trying to effect change for a black people in a white nation. Tavis Smiley understood how very complicated that was going to be from day one, and he was stoned for voicing those concerns.
But as we now head toward a reelection campaign, where the president now asks the people to "Finish what we started," the African-American community is forced to ask itself, which "we" is President Barack Obama referring to? Is it the same "we" of black people who vote for white Democratic candidates who rarely go to bat for black people or addressed specific American-American needs, or is President Obama hinting at the "we" of African-American voters who still expect for him to be able to exert more backbone in his second term, understanding that he has only four more years to do all that he can for a people of color, who have helped to build this great nation with their underpaid slave labor, which the nation continues to bypass any economic restitution on?
For the record, I personally plan to vote for Barak Obama again in November 2012, mainly because I have no other choice but to still believe that he will go all out this time to do whatever he needs to do to execute a plan that includes the specific needs of black people. However, at age 42, I clearly remember the every-four-year-argument where black political activists advised black people to vote for "the lesser evil," while we would go back to the same old American game of racism and historical inequalities, still singing, "We shall overcome?" Really? When?
In the meantime, B.B. King will continue wail at concerts, "The thrill is gone!" Indeed. So instead of being inspired to vote for an intelligent black man, where black people gather around the television in the hope that "we win" again to bring change to the nation "for us" this time, we go back to voting for the most charming guy who's not a Republican. And this time ... that guy just happens to be ... black, unless he can prove otherwise with his action.
Follow Omar Tyree on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@OmarTyree
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
"There are Great Black men in this country, that would have honored the race," How did he dishonor the race? Seems like Rick Perry or Michelle Bachmann will do a much better job of that. Oh, or Romney singing "Who let the dogs out?" to a group of African Americans. Classy.
"He is not charming, well spoken or intelligent" WHAT? Obama studied Constitutional Law, has been classified as one of the best orators ever to hit the campaign trail and charged a nation with hope. Sounds like your standards are a little off base. I'm surprised you didn't offer, "and he ain't terribly good lookin'" into that strange sentence.
"Before you vote again look into it, not just what you see on TV " says a guy commenting on a message board to a New York Times Best Selling Author.
About as insightful as Anne Coulter's views on Islam.
He seems a bit depressed by the fact that he can't just show up, vote "present", and have everything basically work out on its own. Do you remember when he said that, if he didn't fix the economy in three years, he didn't deserve to be President? Why on earth would he say that? Did he really think fixing the economy in three years was even possible, let alone something he actually knew how to do? I think he thought he could just look at the economy, smile at it, and then make a speech and it would all work itself out.
He believed every single one of those things he said "we" could do in that embarrassing will.i.am video. He believed his own hype, that he could just wave his magic wand and fix it all. And why not? We're talking about a guy who was handed everything in his life. He was just GIVEN a Nobel Peace Prize for doing absolutely nothing! He didn't understand that some things take actual effort. You set him up for this huge failure by electing him President in the first place. The only people you have to blame are yourselves.
At any rate, to the extent that there are Republicans who want that, do you think Obama should copy them?
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/sometimes-a-president-is-just-a-president/
Obviously, this is partially just a symptom of the general lack of maturity of our time, but it's still kind of troubling. When you're in love with someone, you tend to overlook their many (often glaring) faults, which are completely obvious to everyone else (and which are going to become completely obvious to you, once you break up). It makes you kind of stupid, in other words.
I don't think you should really be in love with a president any more than you should be in love with the janitor who cleans your building (no matter how good of a job he does). Instead, you should actually stop and think about things once in awhile. For example, did you REALLY think this guy was going to fix the economy in the first place? This guy who had no experience with economics, with creating jobs, with really doing much of anything at all?
The greatest cause of 'Black" unemployment is assimilating into the IDEA of "America" influenced by the notions of acceptance and progress by pushing an equal employment agenda.
We will have to commit to an economic agenda that prioritizes businesses in our communities, create them where they don't exist and become vigilant about our collective economic future.
We are advantaged to be African people who have the knowledge, skill and ability to contribute to and gain from trade with Africans on the continent.
While we exist with measurable disadvantage in The United States, we can capitalize on our strengths and leverage those to the benefit of Africans world-wide. We have a Diaspora that we can tap into to expand our opportunities.
Obama can worry about the next four years, I am concerned with the next 400!
OK, so what's stopping you? You'd better hurry, because the Chinese appear to be re-colonizing the place, and gobbling up as much of Africa's natural wealth as possible. Pretty soon, you'll have to be making deals with them, rather than the Africans themselves.
So the only real effect of African American participation in electoral politics is to legitimize this madness - AND the insult to injury of only having the privilege to do so.
Whatever, man!
Why did you think that? One of his campaign promises was to escalate in Afghanistan. That's one thing he has definitely followed through on.
Reduce the troops in Iraq - Push for Dream Act. Many of the things you and i wish for requires congressional approval. How many times have you written, e-mailed or called your congressional leaders, state of federal and made your voice heard. How many of your friends. The President is not a dictator. We are all in this together. Do something other than carp or vote for Rick Perry and see what you get.
You need a mojority to be elected...that's the way a democracy works,
Understand?
I think you meant to say: "Make no mistake if white America was experiencing significantly less employment than black America . . . "
BTW - everyone is *not* hurting.
So if you can't get blacks and Latinos to work together (and you can't, since their interests clash so dramatically), then you're not going to have much of a lasting voting bloc. Sure, they'll work together for awhile, but only until one side gets enough power that it can afford to split off onto its own. Then you'll see the real trouble.
One thing blacks and Latinos are united on is that they are less accepting of homosexuality than whites. So it's hard to say whose side they would be on.
Ummmm...no, I haven't noticed that. What other things have you noticed that a lot of black people don't like? Maybe general statements based on the color of their skin?
Why and how does it affect black and Hispanic minorities more?
"The population confined under tough drug laws, moreover, is composed predominantly of young, African American men. Although whites have a higher rate of illegal drug use, 60% of offenders imprisoned for drug charges in 1998 were black. Drug offenses accounted for 27% of the increase in the number of African American state prisoners in the 1990s, compared to a 14% increase for whites. Drug enforcement, then, provided a steady supply of African American inmates to the nation's prisons over the course of three decades and "across distinctly different crime 'eras.'"
Of the two million inmates in U.S. jails and prisons at the end of 2002, black men (586,700) outnumbered white men (436,800) and Hispanic men (235,000) among inmates with sentences of more than one year. African American women were also imprisoned in record numbers. As with men, there were more black women (36,000) than white women (35,400) and Hispanic women (15,000) in jails and prisons at the end of 2002.
Source: Article Title: The Social and Moral Cost of Mass Incarceration in African American Communities. Contributors: Dorothy E. Roberts - author. Journal Title: Stanford Law Review. Volume: 56. Issue: 5. Publication Year: 2004. Page Number: 1271+
The republicans want to have it like the "good ole dsys" Sort of like portrayed in the movie "The Help". Omar needs to read some of the post placed by some of the yahoos who have no other agenda but to unseat the President. Their utter disrespect for President Obama is touted daily. If President were to become George Washington , Abraham Lincoln, Bill Gates , Neil Armstrong and Ronnie Reagan all in 24 hours they would say he took too long.
Nobody is trying to change voting requirements for minorities. Requiring photo I.D to vote (for everybody) is a reasonable requirement.
I know it sucks for democrats that it makes it harder for illegal aliens to vote and for people to vote as many times as they want to but that's the way it should be.
Nuff said.
Their complaints come from the promises b.o. made to them (for votes).. promises he didn't keep.
(most of his promises were insane to anyone who could think past 'what can b.o. give me').
btw.. we don't need Tavis Smiley, Cornell West, black commentators, loud mouthed, hatefilled black congress people..or whomever.. to tell us what's wrong with b.o.
We knew before he was elected.
It was his terrible policies and dislike of America, prior to him mounting the thrown...we objected to. We still do.