Unfiltered Opinion

If This Is True - Maybe Blacks Should Be Wary Of Obama

Marc Ambinder, an associate editor for The Atlantic has a blog that I enjoy reading on a daily basis.  I don't agree with everything that he writes, but I respect his opinion.  Yesterday, he posted a short entry on his blog entitled "The Edifice Crumbles?" and he the proceeded to post the following thoughts of an Obama supporter,

"It may be cynical, but I've started to think that Wright sees Obama as, in a way, a threat to his ministry. It would be difficult for him to preach that the government systematically destroys the lives of black people if a black man is sitting in the White House."

Ambinder then writes, "I know that many people inside Obama's campaign share this belief."

If what Ambinder says is true then many blacks will be offended and disappointed that members of Obama's campaign have subscribed to this tired theory on race in this country.  First of all, it does not surprise me that there are people in Obama's campaign that believe Wright views Obama's success as a threat to his ministry.  I would like to know the identification of those people.  I would be disappointed, but not surprised if the Obama campaign members who believe this were black. 

This unproven belief of some people in Obama's campaign is based on nothing.  These are the same people who will argue that racism is not that prevalent in today's society because a biracial male is on the brink of becoming the Democratic nominee for president.

There are many whites and some blacks who harbor similar thoughts about the media appointed black "leaders" like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan.  They believe that Jackson, Sharpton, Farrakhan and others do not want racism to go away because its demise would make them irrelevant.  I am not a fan of some of their methods and commentaries, but a person would have to be a fool to believe these men want people of color to continue to be discriminated against so they can continue to be relevant in the publics eye.  Now if there is a way to make them irrelevant, please let me know.

I do not believe Wright or any other black "leader" is threatened by Obama's success.  I am sure there are some people who are jealous of the attention Obama gets and the "easy road" he has traveled to get to this point. I do not believe that Obama has traveled an easier road to his success.  I believe Obama has traveled on a road that many members of the "black leadership" are not familiar with.  Nevertheless, there does seem to be a disconnect between the civil rights leaders who cut their teeth on the politics of 30-40 years ago and the new vanguard of black "leaders". 

The bottom line is this - Wright was revered on the South Side of Chicago before Obama came along and he will be revered when Obama is long gone.  Are there people who wish Wright had kept his mouth shut until Obama was elected president?  Yes.  However, the South Side community in which Trinity United Church of Christ resides is not going to turn their back on Wright.  I know they want Obama to sit in the Oval Office, but I guarantee you that they will never trust Obama over Wright.  Trust me when I say that Wright's ministry and his legacy is secure with the people that he represents and that is all that matters to Wright.

Obama Is Walking A Fine Line With Some Black People

I remember it wasn't that long ago when most black people wondered aloud if Obama was black enough.  Some blacks did not trust him because of his biracial background.  He did not have the similar life experience that the majority of blacks have as a result of living in the United States.  Blacks who doubted Obama pointed to the fact that he was the son of a Kenyan father and a white mother.  He also attended and graduated from some of the best schools in the country.  Therefore, some blacks questioned his authenticity on his knowledge of being black in America.

Now approximately 90 percent of the voting black community supports Obama and his quest for the presidency.  Even though he is biracial, Obama has allowed everyone (black, white, media, etc.) to say that he could be the first African-American president of the United States.  For the record, I respect Obama's decision to identify with his African heritage, but I am of the opinion that Obama would be the first biracial President who happens to identify as a black male.  I only say this because I believe when people say Obama is African-American, they totally disregard his white mother and her family.  Obama is the man he is because of his white mother and her parents who basically raised him as a young man in a white household.

When Obama won the Iowa Primary, most black people were stunned that a predominantly white state would vote for someone of color.  The Iowa victory and his strong showing in New Hampshire gave some blacks the courage they needed to support Obama.  For example, Jesse Jackson won 77 percent of the black vote in 1984 and 92 percent of the black vote in 1988.  Currently, Obama is getting numbers close to what Jackson got in 1988.

Despite the support he gets from the majority of black voters, Obama has to be careful of his perception in all segments of the black community.  There are already rumblings from some members of Indiana's black communities that Obama and Hillary Clinton are basically ignoring them while concentrating on courting the blue collar white voters.

Obama is also being watched to see how he handles the Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ controversies.  When Obama denounced Wright yesterday, most people knew he did it for more political reasons than for personal ones.  For Obama to have any chance of making inroads into the white blue-collar vote that Clinton has consistently beat him in he knew he had to strongly denounce Wright.  However, Obama has to be careful how he denounces Wright so as not lose many members of his black voting bloc.  Obama knows that there is a risk that some blacks will think he's just criticizing Wright to appease some white voters.  I believe young black voters are more likely then older black voters to understand why Obama had to give the speech he gave yesterday.   I think older black voters will understand, but will be less likely to forgive him for it.

Obama has to continue to find the balance that allows him to criticize Wright's views while not making it look like he's selling Wright out to white America because he needs their votes. For example, Obama was allegedly criticized by Al Sharpton for trying to "grandstand for white people" by appealing for calm after the controversial verdict in the Sean Bell shooting trial.

Obama is in a delicate situation but he can overcome it by just being himself.  The trouble is I don't know if Obama really knows who he is because I sure don't.  The man is being pulled in all directions by all people on a daily basis.  This is one reason why most people do not run for President of the United States.  I wish him well even though I will not be voting for him in the fall because he's too liberal for my blood.  However, I am willing to overlook the flaws or political leanings of any candidate who would be willing to forgive student loan debts over $50,000.

Barack Obama Chooses To Be An African-American

If you are looking for a negative commentary on Barack Obama today then you should stop and go to another site.  This is not an endorsement of Obama either.  I'm an independent, moderate African-American male voter, so Obama is too liberal for my blood, but that's okay.  That's his right to be liberal and if the American public wants a liberal president in the White House then Obama is your man. 

This is a short commentary on the racial labels that so many members of this society feel they need to put on people. For example, I felt that I needed to identify myself by race and political orientation in the aforementioned paragraph.  I remember when I first heard political commentators talking about Obama running for president.  They all said that if elected, Obama would be the first African-American president.  I started laughing because I never considered Obama to be black.  I have always considered Obama to be a biracial male with a white mother and an African father.  However, I do understand how this country operates.  If somebody even looks like they have some type of black ancestry then society will usually label them a black person.  When I say society I am talking about white and black people. 

Some blacks will get upset if the biracial person does not identify himself as black or African-American.  For example, look at the heat professional golfer Tiger Woods gets from some members of the black community because he insists on calling himself "cablinasian" instead of black.  Tiger explained that if he identified himself as an African-American then that would be denying his Thai mother and her heritage.  I have always respected Woods for not succumbing to the hateful rhetoric.  I attribute this to the fact that he had two strong parents who told him that he had a black father and a Thai mother - this is who you are.

It would be interesting to see what racial identity Obama would have assumed if he had two strong parents, like Woods, who were in his life on a daily basis reinforcing his confidence in his own unique racial profile.  Instead Obama's father was out of his life at two years old.  Combine that with the fact that he lived in Hawaii and Indonesia during his young life, it is obvious why Obama had a difficult time growing up as a biracial male.

I wish Obama would say that he is a biracial male who has chosen to identify himself as an African-American.  That's fine, but it should be stated that way.  It is unfortunate that most biracial children, especially those with a black and white parent, feel the pressure to identify with a single race.  Some biracial children do not have a choice because their skin color will decide for them which race they will identify with.  Despite it all, Obama has succeeded so far in life and he seems to have found a comfort level with his racial identity.

I am the father of three biracial children. My seven year old son is the oldest child and he is hoping that Obama becomes president. My two daughters are 2 and 5 years old and could care less about Obama unless he was in an episode of the Backyardigans.  He has questioned why my wife supports Hillary Clinton (so have I) and why I am not enthusiastic about none of the candidates.  It is obvious to my wife and I why our son wants Obama to be president.  Obama has not offered to make school lunch thirty minutes longer.  Nor has he mandated that dodge-ball be played in gym class everyday.  Therefore, my son is not supporting Obama because of his policies.  My son likes Obama because he projects a very friendly image, but most importantly, he can relate to Obama's racial image on television.

I can still list all of the black candidates that ran for national offices or state wide elections in Missouri when I was growing up.  That's because there were not that many blacks who ran for office unless they were representing a district that had a black majority or close to it.  The first presidential race I remember is the one between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.   I always thought that one day there would be a black or a female president.  I never could predict who it was going to be, but I could tell you who it was not going to be.  It was going to have be someone like Obama who could appeal across racial lines.  It was going to have be someone who would be comfortable talking to black men at an inner-city barbershop while at the same time being at home talking to white coal miners in West Virginia. 

I don't agree with Obama's politics and I don't necessarily trust his judgment, but it is obvious that he possesses the gift of cross-racial appeal that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson could never own because of their personal beliefs.  I just wish Obama and his campaign would identify himself as a biracial male.  I think the media would be inclined to do so if Obama wanted his ethnicity stated that way.  For example, the majority of the media does not use Obama's middle name when writing about Obama.

As a father, I am very excited that my son is interested in who is going to be elected the next president of this great country.  Every day, when the situation arises, I teach my children about the complexities of race relations in this country.  My wife and I continue to teach our children that they should never allow themselves to be defined by the color of their skin despite the pressure they will get from members of society. We tell our children that they are half black and half white.  They know they could not be who they are without one or the other. 

I don't know Obama, but I bet he believes that he is an American running for president who happens to be a biracial male who identifies himself as an African-American.  I think Obama's life story is inspirational to many people.  I just believe Obama could be a great role model for biracial children - if he wanted to be.

King's Last 24 Hours In Detail

This magazine details the last 24 hours of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life.  According to the details of the time line, King's last hours were spent being happy and reflective.  I also found the actions of the Memphis Police Department very interesting with the placement and removal of police officers at certain times of the day for no apparent reason. You can feel the intensity of race relations at the time with the comments made at some of the meetings depicted.  I believe if someone in 2008 was acting as suspiciously as James Earl Ray was described as acting in this story, I think the police would have detained him for questioning before he could do anything wrong.  Well, at least I hope they would.

This Is How Conspiracies Get Started

It's hard to believe it has been 40 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.  It's also hard to believe that no law enforcement authority never interviewed King's assistant's that were with him at the time he was killed.  Jessie Jackson, Andrew Young, James Bevel, and Samuel Kyles told Time Magazine that they were never interviewed by police.

"Young, Bevel, Jackson and Kyles told TIME that although they witnessed everything that happened, no authority from the Memphis Police, the Tennessee State Police or the FBI have ever asked them a single question".

I had never heard this story before.  However, it now explains why many older blacks do not accept the fact that James Earl Ray shot and killed King by himself.  This is how conspiracies get started.  I know the assassination happened 40 years ago, but how do witnesses to a murder not get interviewed?  This just does not make any sense to me.  I would really like to hear someone explain what happened during the investigation because there is always two sides to a story.

He Didn't Really Slap Obama

This article provides another look at the interesting relationship between Barack Obama, Jessie Jackson, and Representative Jessie Jackson Jr. (IL-D).  For there not to be that much of a relationship between Obama and the elder Jackson, the article talks a lot about what seems to be the existence of one. 

I have always said that I thought Obama's campaign was running a smarter campaign than their Clinton counterparts - until recently.  The purpose of this article is to show the reader how Obama is not a descendant of the Jackson political tree.  The real question is what segment of the electorate are they trying to assure.

If you believe Obama and Jackson do not have a more extensive relationship than this article implies than I have a great weight loss pill that I would like to sell to you.  Let's review - Rep. Jackson is the National Co-Chairman of the Obama for President Campaign and his sister is godmother to one of Obama's daughters and sang at his wedding.  So, I'm supposed to believe that Obama has a real in depth relationship with every Jackson family member except for Jessie.   It's not totally unbelievable, but I'm not buying it.

It's not secret that to be a successful black politician from Chicago, you have to have a good relationship with several black Chicago "leaders" like Jackson and Louis Farrakhan.  To admit otherwise would be an outright lie.

Farrakhan, Sharpton, and Jackson - They May Just Pull This Off

If I am proven to be wrong about something, I will not hesitate to admit it.  This is why I want to congratulate Barack Obama and the supporters of his campaign. Obama is on the verge of being elected the Democratic nominee for president.  When Obama secure the nomination, it will be an historic moment.  I always knew I would see the day when a minority would have the opportunity to get elected to the highest office in the land.  I just didn't think it would be Obama because of his politics and his background.

I have always said that for a minority, in particular a Black person, to have a chance to be elected to a political office that is not in a predominantly Black area, a certain strategy has to be in place.  For the Black candidate to win, he or she has to have crossover appeal.  They have to be able to attract White voters.  This is no secret, especially in the Black community.  This strategy was alluded to by the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, in a March 2007 Nightline interview. 

For a Black person to be successful in a national election, certain controversial voices must be silenced or removed from the national spotlight.  Did you really think it was a coincidence that people like Farrakhan, Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton have not been as outspoken in public as they have been in the past?  This was strategy - they knew they would hurt Obama's campaign if their faces were along side Obama's on television.  It is no secret that the majority of White people have a negative opinion of Farrakhan, Jackson, and Sharpton - and for good reason if you look at some of their history.

It is obvious that Obama and his campaign staff are confident that they will eventually win the nomination because the controversial people are starting to talk more in the press.  For example, Farrakhan all but endorsed Obama's presidency during his speech on Sunday.  By the way, I find it amusing that Farrakhan said the following: 

“A black man with a white mother became a savior to us. A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall.”

This is the same man who is the head of a religion that opposes interracial marriage and believes that Black people should have their own territory in which to live.

Obama has played his candidacy beautifully.  His campaign had Clinton so scared to speak out against him, she didn't know what to do.  Clinton and her staff were scared to be labeled racists and mean. Now the same thing is happening to the Republicans.  If eventual Republican nominee John McCain campaigns scared against Obama in the general election, he will lose and the Iraq war will not be the reason.

This is why I want to congratulate Obama and his supporters.  Obama has crafted his message so well and manipulated the media to a point that a majority of White people do not even want to hear about his past associations with some one like Farrakhan.  If a person tries to question Obama on any thing controversial, the person is quickly labeled a racist or some other nasty name. 

This is the easy way out for Obama supporters.  I am not telling people not to vote for Obama.  I am just asking that people take a hard look at his background and associations without being blinded by his rhetoric of principled change.

Obama Has Allowed Jesse To Speak

In an interview, Jessie Jackson warned Democrats that they risk losing the general election if the party cannot heal the divisions between the Obama and Clinton wings of the party.  Jackson is also offering his mediating services.  I really do not understand why this man is still relevant.

Jesse Jackson Is Talking Baseball

Poor Jesse Jackson and his massive ego needs to be stroked - again.  No one is listening to him as much and he no longer has a captivated audience.  I guess this is why he felt compelled to offer his assessment of the controversy involving Major League Baseball (MLB) and its umpires.  Am I missing something here?  Surely, as a civil rights activist, he has more important things to worry about than meddling in MLB affairs.  Jackson should go to Houston and try helping their citizens remove the crackpot Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal from office.

However, I do understand that the MLB story was controversial and a national story in the sports world. There is no other reason Jackson would try and get involved in it.