Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Black Community, Yes President Obama the party is over.

June 8, 2012 by  
Filed under News, Opinion, Politics, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) As we gear up for the 2012 Presidential election, it’s interesting to see how the White House works to explain the fact that it’s been MIA for the Black community.  The last three years have been a relative wasteland when it comes to political and economic progress for African Americans, and even the most ardent President Obama supporters are growing tired.  They want to defend him at any cost, but he’s made it remarkably difficult.

Policies and action that have come forth to help the gay community, women, immigrants, and other groups have flown over the head of Black America, like Jay-Z performing in a city where Black people can’t afford to buy tickets.  But similar to the Jay-Z concert, some of us love Barack Obama anyway, standing outside the arena hoping to catch a glimpse of our hero as he gets inside his limousine.  Our job is to lift the throne and watch it, but we dare not ask the throne to give anything back to us.

When Cornel West lashes out at President Obama, the president’s supporters still get angry at Cornel West, mostly out of habit.  They go after West with principled ferocity, calling him nasty names and attempting to undermine his relevance as a scholar.  By asking the president to do something for Black America, Cornel West has committed the mortal sin of bothering President  Obama while he has more important things to do, like taking care of White  people. Some get angry at Cornel West because they believe that he is wrong.  But with each passing day, Obama supporters are getting angry at Cornel West, because deep down, they know he might be right.

Many former Obama enthusiasts are disappointed in Barack  for giving them no ammunition to use for the battle.

They grow weary of grabbing onto any morsel of hope that allows them to win heated debates on Facebook, e-mail or around the water cooler.  For some, defending President Obama is like demanding a better grade for your child when you know that your baby has been lazy in class.

A picture on the cover of Essence Magazine doesn’t have the power that it once had when African Americans are losing their jobs, their homes, and their freedom at a record pace.

The Obama enthusiast is virtually dead.   The number of Black people running around with Obama T-shirts, putting signs in their front yard, and putting his picture on the wall next to Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus has plummeted.  Obama is not the iconic figure that he once was, no longer a rock star.  Far fewer African Americans are begging the Obama campaign to let them join the team and we’re all too broke to give money.

People like President Obama, they respect him, and they are damn sure that he’s better than the Republicans, but that’s about all they can say at this point.

The beautiful thing about Barack Obama in 2008 is that he was the Tiger Woods of politics:  The light-skinned, highly educated, post-racial Cablinasian who made a very boring profession (American politics) really cool and interesting.   But similar to Tiger, the expectations were high for President Obama:  He carried the hopes and dreams of an oppressed people, and he also endured mountains of resistance from angry White men who were not interested in seeing change.

Unlike Tiger, President Obama was not skilled enough, nor strong enough to meet the high expectations in front of him.  To  whom much is given, much is expected.  So as Obama proudly accepted the crown placed on his head by the African-American community, he seemed to forget that (as Spiderman’s uncle said) “with great power comes great responsibility.”

The Obama Administration graciously allowed Black people to believe that he was their political messiah but accepted none of the obligations that come with receiving an unprecedented amount of African-American support.

I say this to those who love President Obama:  Let him defend himself.  Don’t fight battles for someone who isn’t ready to fight battles for you.  Let the White House produce data to show that Cornel West is wrong and that their policies have benefited Black Americans as much as everyone else.

Don’t try to see him as the man that you want him to be, see him as the man that he actually is.   From where I’m standing, the love affair between President Obama and the Black community has been as lopsided as the one between “Celie” and “Mr. Albert” in” The Color Purple” – it should never have been so imbalanced in the first place.

Staff Writer; Dr. Boyce Watkins
 
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. For more information, please visit http://BoyceWatkins.com.
 
 

Comments

11 Responses to “Black Community, Yes President Obama the party is over.”
  1. specialadi says:

    I have been saying this for years,Think if we built America on our backs what makes us think we can’t rebuild America,You don’t understand what America is missing is you. Using your innovated Ideals to help change your status, did you even look at the Presidents job bill, he knew who he was targeting but your anger made you miss it, We don’t need another hand out or token for the black male, the black male needs to stand up and take his place in this country, not with violence but with brotherhood, unity, and creation, no manufacturer here so why not get jayz or any one of these stars we put money in their pockets by buying their good to help you rebuild whats necessary, america is looking at this all wrong

  2. Patty says:

    In the past, I wrote on this website how come there is no job section? I observed the same things in other Black websites. How come we don’t e-mail to each other job offers? We have to take responsibility for ourselves!!! Also, we need to emulate Asians. Entrepreneurship is very important. I can’t stand when I hear our people who have been brainwashed and say that they have to give their 150% to White companies. We have to do this for our own companies. Asians and Jewish people understood this a looooong time ago. As I wrote in this website the U.S. government never created (and never will) an Oprah, John H. Johnson and Reginald Lewis. We need to wake up and smell the coffee!!!

    To finish, I have a great example to share with the readers. Right now, I am reading the last book of Dr. Ben Carson: “America The Beautiful”. He shares the story of one of his Black friends, a genius. He is an engineer. He created two inventions for companies from the mainstream which generated hundred of millions of dollars. As usual, they didn’t give him any credit. Actually, the last company offered him a cheque of $75, 000 when he was supposed to get 20% of the profits estimated to over 100 million dollars. He cut the cheque and threw it in the face of the CEO and founded his own company. He was able to have profits of over 100 million dollars. This is what I call a proud Black man, we need to have faith in ourselves!!!

  3. Patty says:

    Thanks James and let’s hope that other people will be generous to post other helpful ideas.

  4. James Davis says:

    To Patty:

    Great question. http://www.sslumpsum.com is a viable solution. Caution: Politicians with no political courage need apply to execute it.

  5. Patty says:

    What our experts in finance have to say about solutions? We want to hear solutions and not criticisms. It is with solutions that we can move forward. Dr. Claud Anderson suggested a Marshall Plan for Black America with his book which is a masterpiece “Powernomics” available on amazon. We want to hear and/or read what other people have to bring on the table to reduce black unemployment.

  6. White Man says:

    Ho My! I came across this site while looking for more insight and knowledge of black people, practically males. And I find this site to have employed some of the most prejudice black writers ever. Talk about black on black crime, just read your articles.

    I’m white and I’m embarrassed for black people especially black women, it seems the males hate you all and have no respect for you.

    And you guys are clueless when it comes to President Obama, you have no loyalty, well seeing how you’re not loyal to your own women, I shouldn’t expect anything different when it comes to the FIRST black man to hold the highest office.

    It’s only been 4 years and you’ll turned your backs on him quick, 4 years that’s all it took, when it took from creation to 2008 for white folks to mess things up repeatedly.

    I never once heard President Obama say he is here or running for office to only serve the betterment of black people.

    I own a business and want to hire more minorities practically males, but I’m concerned about the way you guys think. It’s alarming and one of the reasons why you’re not getting hired. Not because you’re big and strong, it’s because of your one-sided, misguided tunnel vision, you hate on your own kind, I can only imagine how you feel about me. Scary!

  7. harryo says:

    I’m a sports fan who will not leave a game until the last out or until the clock hits zero regardless of the score because I’ve been to games where baseball teams have come back from a 9-0 deficit to win and have seen the Lakers come back from 40 points, so I’m one to say that it’s ain’t over until it’s over.

    To say that the President hasn’t done anything for African American ignores the facts. When the president took office, the auto industry was in freefall, with GM and Chrysler on the verge of bankruptcy, record low auto sales and dealerships going belly up left and right. A significant amount of African Americans earn their living from the auto industry; either as owners of dealerships, employees at those dealerships, owners and employees of small companies that supply the major auto manufactures and over a million African Americans who work at the big 3 automakers one the assembly line or in white collar office jobs. The President put his neck on the line when he bailed out Chrysler and GM. Without that bailout, millions of African Americans in the auto industry would have lost their jobs. Today the auto industry is thriving with record sales. Not only are Blacks who would have lost their jobs without Obama’s bailout still working today, many more who were laid off from factories scheduled to be torn down four years ago have been recalled and working as much work as they can get.

    The President has not only increased funding to HBCU’s but has increased Pell Grants that help Black students not only attend HBCUs, but Michigan, Duke and UCLA.

    This President has also fought to eliminate the racially biased drug laws that required long mandatory felony sentences for minor first time crack possession suspect who are mostly Black,Hispanic and poor, but allowed judges to impose misdemeanor probation for people convicted of first time possession of powder cocaine who are mostly white and middle class. There’s a long list of things you can’t do with a felony conviction; that list is much shorter for a misdemeanor conviction and a direct factor in why so many Blacks can’t find jobs.

    Also let’s remember it was Obama’s banking reform bills that has outlawed subprime loans that have placed so many Blacks in foreclosure.

    We’ll find out in a few weeks the Supreme Court’s decision on the Health Care Bill which upheld by the courts would address the most critical issue facing African Americans, lack of access and affordability to quality health care.

    Finally; in the last four years, America has not been attacked and the President has responded quickly and forcefully to national security; and has eliminated the architects of past terrorist attacks that have taken the lives of hundreds of African Americans. Obama has quickly responded to the natural/manmade disasters of various floods, hurricanes, blizzards in Black communities and the BP blowout which affected the same areas of the country destroyed by hurricane Katrina. I don’t have to remind you all about how the last President responded to attacks on the nation and natural disasters that adversely impacted African Americans.

    Many people forget Obama’s inaguration speech in which he said that the country was in such bad shape that it would take more than four years to turn it around and slowly it has, but not fast enough for many people. The day after the President’s inaguration, Rush Limbaugh urged Republicans to do anything and everything possible to make sure Obama was a failure.

    Is criticism of Obama from people like West and Watkins like the Black folks who complained that there were no Black judges, but after they lobby to get a Black judge appointed or elected, they get upset when that Black judge does his job and rules against them in court?

  8. D says:

    Dawn Lewis, you did not critique the article. What is your opinion on his assertions?

    Great post again Dr. Watkins!

  9. James Davis says:

    Great Truth In Your Words

    There is great truth in your river of words and I think we all need to hear them as we reach this point in the river, where we have a reality check. As your words flow, do we as a people see a river leading to a waterfall, or will your words lead us to some calm point, where we are able to catch our breath and regain our momentum? Or, are your words just for the moment and have no clear objective, except to critcize? Shame on you, brother!! Where does your river of words flow from here? Words tend to become hollow in assertions, just as the words of Mr. Obama have become so meaningless, if there is no positive end game. Jobs and Their Creation, google it! If not my way, show us another way brother to the prosperity we seek. Let your river of words ultimately flow to the lake of job creation or pretty soon, you too my brother will sound like the person about whom you are writing. Mr. Obama’s words have not reduced the pressures of double digit unemployment in our community for last four straight years. Will yours? You see, brother it is not about you and it has never been about Mr. Obama. For those who lifted Mr. Obama up and made him more than a man with flaws associated with all men, I say shame on them!! If our focus is correct and sane, it should be about our well being as a people. When you crunch the numbers, they will show we as a people have not positively benefited from this man’s Presidency. So speak the truth, air the dirty laundry of this first black President. It is only through truth, we are able to dispel the lies and false pretenses. However let your river of words lead us to a better place, for there is no better truth, than the truth that will see us in a better place at the end of the day. Peace my brother and God’s speed. http://www.sslumpsum.com

  10. natalie says:

    No one heeded the warnings of select black folks from chicago that were familiar with his politics. He has always only been concerned with his ascensiin to the presidency, insulated within hyde park and disconnected from the realities of boack folk living rght up the street on the southside..this is why his activism as a ” community organizer” from TWENTY YEARS ago is often the only citation regarding his efforts in and for the community.. the one man that gave him credi ility in the community he distanced himself from..rev wright.

  11. Dawn Lewis says:

    Please do not speak for all black Americans. If your circle of people believe this than fine, but do not say as a whole this is what the black community believes. You have never been in mine or other communities to make a blanket statement like that. Things are not always what they appear to be. If you are going to be a black scholar, please use wisdom before you write columns like this.

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