No Rest for a Black Man, Even on Martha's Vineyard

If anyone deserves a vacation, it's President Obama. The litany of disasters he's had to address since stepping into office reads like an end-of-days prophecy from the Hell Raiser series. Like him or not, there's no debating that the guy his been on his grind for eight months straight, attempting to affect all manner of change.

All this can be traced back to August 2001 when George W. Bush was also in his first term. It was during this month, eight years ago, that his incompetence landed our country back in the Dark Ages. Other than mending considerable amounts of fence in Crawford, Texas, he hadn't done much of anything. Our enemies saw the hole, they hit the gap and rammed 9/11 down our throats. The rest is world history.

Like many Democrats before him, President Obama has decided to take his vacation in my happy place. I spend two months per year in Martha's Vineyard but I generally forgo the summer in favor of the offseason. My friends are not the black elite or the wealthy media moguls who have made the island famous. Taxi drivers, longshoremen, school teachers, fishermen, waitresses, cops, landscapers, construction workers, pool salesmen -- these are the folks I do Beer Summits with... and we drink a lot more than one Offshore Ale per sitting.

All my friends have expressed their excitement about having the president on the island and it has nothing to do with political policy and everything to do with economics. These folks rely on a strong tourist season to make ends meet and the Bush recession has their finances in a rear naked choke. Even those who don't like the bailout can't argue with the fact that President Obama is a one-man stimulus plan. Where he goes, cash follows. That's positive micro economics and it demonstrates the kind of stimulus I need. If my homeboys are liquid, I don't have to pay for their beers all winter long.

On the flip side, a part of me wants the president to stay in his up-island compound and rest so he's fully recharged when he returns to Washington. I would gladly pay for cocktails this winter if it means he can make universal health care happen this fall. I'll take a public option with that shake, too. Frankly, the only thing worse than the health insurance companies is the private militia industry (Blackwater... Halliburton...) and I'd be elated to see them all go out of business. I'm as capitalist as they come. I'll put a kid's lemonade stand out of business if it means I can make a buck, but I draw the line at companies who burden the government and leech off the people without providing any product or service whatsoever.  Show me a citizen who has had a positive experience with his health insurance provider and I'll show you a Republican who isn't afraid of progress.

It speaks volumes about our country that we were able to temporarily put our fears about race in check and elect a black man to lead our country. However, it's also clear that a lot of Americans are still struggling with the fact that America is no longer an all-white nation with an all-white worldview. There's a simple explanation as to why people challenge the president's citizenship, bring guns to public rallies when the Second Amendment is not on the table and obstruct legislation that we all agree needs to be fixed, for obstruction's sake: They're afraid that their heritage is being minimized and that's a difficult position to rationalize when you've been top dog for 400 years.

How can anyone label a man who’s a minority a Nazi? When I think Nazi, my mind returns to white folks who have traditionally perceived themselves as better than the rest of us for no reason other than their skin is a different color. Mark Furman, llamame, homes. How the mulatto from Hawaii became the poster boy for Nazism is beyond logical explanation unless we acknowledge that fear is the engine behind the argument.

What is being played out publicly with this presidency is what black men have been saying since black men have been allowed to talk publicly in this country. Many of our fellow Americans have been brainwashed to believe that we cannot be trusted. In order to prove we're capable, honest and patriotic we must outperform our white counterparts at a clip that's 4-1. You juggle three balls, we have to juggle 12. You have a BA, we need two PhDs. You hit a home-run, we need to hit a grand slam.

Even if President Obama gets nothing done during his presidency other than stabilizing the economy, it's a tremendous improvement from the ignorant, lazy guy who preceded him. You know, that guy we allowed to lie, cheat and steal. The one who bankrupted the country and entered us into a false war that has made the world hate us. We gave that guy the benefit of the doubt. He didn't even have to apologize for his transgressions. We just accepted his excuses and allowed him to ride off into the sunset unscathed despite his tremendous failures to the American people. On the flip side, President Obama says it was stupid for a police officer to arrest a senior citizen in his own house who wasn't breaking any laws and right-wingers aren't happy without a fleet of mia culpas. If you consider that equal treatment, you must be the type of person who's used to making black people move to the back of the bus so you can sit down in the front.

When President Obama has the kind of leeway to screw up that we afforded the imbecile before him, then we can say we've made some major progress toward a raceless society. In the meantime, the most constructive thing he can do is enjoy a brief respite in my happy place because there's a lot more work to be done come September. I'll be diligently organizing beer summits on South Beach in Edgartown. The president will be juggling 12 balls minimum because, in this new America, you’re underperforming if you can only juggle three.

If you judge a man by his actions rather than the political posturing of the day, the message emanating from the White House is clear: Step up or you'll get left behind. At least you'll have health insurance.

Comments

[MOMMASHANKS]

"Take back our country", indeed! And do what? Give it back to Bush-Chene­y-Rumsfeld­-Rice? It is quite an irony that we have a "black" person who is "cleaning up" after the white guys who made the mess!

[joceeco]

Anyone who feels that Orlando is just another guy crying racism as a reason for the short "honeymoon" that President Obama has experienced, is probably an "angry White republican" who just cannot deal with the racial/ethnic transfomation taking place in this country. The people at those healthcare rallies are crying because the wonderful "White America" that they knew and loved is beginning to look like the America that our constitution explains and declares America to be. Today's White republicans cannot see an America where everyone is experiencing equality, prosperity and a healthy lifestyle, because if that happens, they can no longer get rich off of poor, unhealthy, ignorant Americans. America is just a game to old, White, prejudice and too often racist republicans. Poor Whites, Blacks, Latinos, Asians and definitely Native Americans, have all been pawns in this game that racist republicans call America. Hopefully the game is about to favor the less fortunate in America...­for a "CHANGE."

[AleshiaMassey]

Thank you for an excellent article. It addresses the double standard sham - I support President Obama, no matter what, I'm in for the long haul - I made a point of attending a townhall meeting tonight, not one person that was trying to raise objections had a clue about what they were objecting to - they were afraid the Constitution was going to be changed - when I challenged them on exactly WHAT was going to be changed, not one of them could even quote me was in the Constitution to begin with. And these were so called patriotic Americans.

[kbojar]

Thanks for this!

[Tanyars5]

Orlando Lima thank you for a great article. I can see by the number of posts many don't agree with you.
I think the President is doing a great job. He has done more in 7 months than Bush did in eight years.

I will send the article to people who actually supported the President with a vote and who are intelligent enough to understand that the term of a President is 4 years not 7 months.

I know the education system in the US is bad but many of these people are void of any basic knowledge of how the government works.

[DeloresT]

I LOVE this article and will send it to everyone on my email list....wi­th instrutions for them to pass it on. I have been saying the same thing: Bush/Cheney took 8 years to drive this economy and country into the ground. Neo-cons and some liberals too, want President Obama to solve all of the country's immense problems in 8 months!!! It's NOT fair and it's ludicrous.

[Orlando Lima - Huffpost Blogger]

I accidentally deleted the post from myopinion2 so here it is:

"This is the kind of knee-jerk claim of racism that alienates independents and also moderate liberals. Remember the assault on President Clinton. The assault on Pres. Obama is a function of the Republican­­/Conserva­t­ive v. Democrat/Liberal warfare that enflames every issue, policy and program. I do not believe that the worshippers and minions of Rush, Limbaugh &Levin would be acting any differently were the Prez white, green or purple w/indigo stripes."
----------­----------

One suggestion to forward the discussion: Don't use the terms: racism or racist. Few people understand what racism means and most often use it when they should be using terms like prejudice and discrimination. This term often gets in the way of healthy debate because it is loaded, intentionally so, in order to confuse and anger people so that we can't talk about these issues like adults.

For more info on defining the term "racism" check the article, "I'm Not Racist. Some of my Best Friends Are Black."

[Gasparilla]

You also did not publish my post and I said pretty much the same thing as myopinion2. I said I thought it was more of a continuation of all the things the Clintons went through, like being accused of being murderers and drug dealers. If you only post what you like and agree with, that's not much of an exchange.

[andy5555]

Wow this is a pretty ridiculous article. Did he really say 9/11 was Bush's fault because he took too much vacation? Don't get me wrong, I never liked or supported Bush but this is just absurd. You cannot blame the whole recession on Bush, there is plenty of blame to go around on both sides. And of course then there is the racism claims. I am just amazed that this article was published, pretty disturbing.

[Tanyars5]

You must be amazed that most articles on this website are published.

[perk]

I do not think holding a man to his promises is too high of a standard. Of course that is no longer a remote possibility. We have now adjusted our expectations to the point that we think he simply "'... is doing a better than Bush". That is quite an adjustment.

[VTya]

Refreshing to hear the views of this journalist. Pres Obama was not afforded the "honeymoon" period given to previous Presidents because of the mess he inherited. White Americans deserve credit for putting race aside and voting for him based on his vision.
At the same time we have to be willing to admit the type of attacks leveled at him from during the campaign to the present time has never before been witnessed in our country's history. But then again our country has never had a President like him before.
We're o.k. with racists turning up at town hall meetings, in close proximity to an AMERICAN PRESIDENT with loaded guns? We're o.k. with them questioning his place of birth despite proof he is an American with the same rights as the bigots? May God forgive us!

[JNarragansett]

I don't know if we can call allowing someone to screw up or holding our president to a lower standard "progress".

[david43a]

Racial equality = holding Obama to a high standard because I know he can do it....
And, not using GW for any benchmark, racial or otherwise!

[MisterCole]

Don't forget the other vacation Bush took, you know the one where he let a city drown. 'Heckuva job Brownie.'

The President has been attacked from before he was even sworn into office. There hasn't been a thing he can do that doesn't get turned into a pathetic attack from the right wing nutjobs. And this also includes attacking the First Lady. If the left had done that to Laura Bush they would have been forced into apologizing after being called a traitor who hates America and wants the terrorists to win.

[zenaby56]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It is comforting to see this in print.

I know this country has a long way for there to be true racial equality and I have been watching the "conservatives" make noise and spew hate about everything President Obama does. No one has been calling it what it is. Thanks you for drawing that comparison of how President Obama is being treat. I am grateful we have the kind of leader we have through President Obama. I don't necessarily agree with everything he is doing but I support him whole heartedly. After 8 years of the Bush administration, complete with apparent imbecility and opportunism to steal from the American people, anything is better. However, President is not at that low standard. He is raising the bar of what we should be expecting from our public leadership. I am thankful for that. Finally, we will get back to government taking responsibility for the people.

[Shifted]

Very good! Very well put and easy to understand. Thank you.

[BlueFloyd]

thank you for pointing out the inherent double standard that everyone just is forced to swallow, and see every frickin day; and not call raycysm, lest we ourselves be tarred with that term, simply for pointing it out, when it is oh so obvious, in others.