Rev. Jesse Jackson Wants Obama to Come to Chicago, I Just Want Him to Do SOMETHING.
February 7, 2013 by Staff
Filed under News, Opinion, Politics, Weekly Columns
(ThyBlackMan.com) Since the shooting death of 15-year old honor student Hadiya Pendleton, millions of black and brown eyeballs have turned toward the White House, wondering if there is a racial disparity between our beloved president’s reaction to the deaths of white vs. black children. Millions saw the president cry in front of the press after the tragedy involving the kids in Sandy Hook, but have watched him respond coldly to the slaughter of over 500 black children on the south side of Chicago. If those kids in Connecticut had been black, I dare say that the whole gun control conversation never would have happened.
Rev. Jesse Jackson of Rainbow/Push and other ministers are now calling for President Obama to come to Chicago to speak on gun violence in the same way he went to Colorado and Connecticut. Rev. Jackson recently made this statement:
Chicago is in a state of emergency. Lives are being lost. Fear is growing. Local officials, ministers and community activists are working diligently but cannot break the cycle. We’re seeing more than one funeral a day. Our children are traumatized. Many are afraid to go to school.
In this crisis, we need the president’s leadership. President Obama can provide the knowledge, vision and inspiration to bring us together to address the crisis. He can speak to the children to calm their fears.
“We are making this call collectively that the president bring the weight of his bully pulpit and bring resources,” T. Lane Grant, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, said.
“We have a modern-day Sandy Hook every day in Chicago. We didn’t have 20 kids killed in one place. But we had 26 kids shot at Harper School alone,” Bishop James Dukes, Helping Hands of Englewood, said.
Pendleton’s death struck a cord with many because they can’t find a way to explain away her murder: She wasn’t a gang banger, she wasn’t “running with the wrong crowd,” and she wasn’t hanging on the corner in the middle of the night (black kids are rarely considered innocent victims, for they are not allowed to make mistakes). Hadiya was just a good student, waiting with her band mates for her mother to pick her up. You see, people (even black ones) have a way of concluding that when a black child dies, it’s somehow his/her fault. This is how many of us become
convinced that black kids deserve the violence around them, thus giving our leaders a reason to pay more attention to dead white kids.
The “blame the black child” racism is sickening, and what’s saddest is that it usually comes from black people seeking to excuse Obama from performing his presidential duty. The three-fifths clause, which once declared black people to be far less than human, is still administered by some of “us” who believe that we don’t deserve the same respect and attention that the president has served to gays, illegal immigrants and white people. The president’s decision to compare a fight in a gay bar to the civil rights march in Selma Alabama is a firm reminder of just how little he and Valerie Jarrett think of the black struggle for real equality.
The mere request for equality, even if made humbly, is often blasted by those who seek to discredit the messenger rather than actually determine the validity of the message: For instant Obama defenders, the words “I care about Hadiya Pendleton” will surely be replaced by the words ‘I hate Jesse Jackson.” Or, perhaps they will blame Hadiya for living near a neighborhood where black people are killing each other, without recognizing the fact that white people kill each other too.
Oddly enough, we’re being more than generous to the White House by only asking that black people receive equal attention relative to other groups. The fact is that we actually deserve MORE attention, since we gave the president MORE support. For some reason, this logical math equation doesn’t compute for those who seek to worship Obama rather than simply support him: When you give more, you get more, unless you are naive and ignorant enough to ask for less.
“The area of Roseland and Englewood is where he was an organizer, so it would be so meaningful. So we reach out to him not as a political challenge, but as a moral appeal,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson said.
Even a request presented as humbly as the one stated by Jackson is likely to be met by vitriol from those who would rather talk about how much they dislike Rev. Jesse Jackson than to speak up for the poor little girl who died. Suddenly, some of us have decided that we don’t need Rev. Jackson’s voice any longer, and have gladly traded it in for a voiceless man in Washington who doesn’t even care to say a peep about nearly depression-era black unemployment or a documented discriminatory effort by the prison industrial complex so astonishing that it has ruined most black women’s chances to find a suitable husband (Clinton or Bush would never be allowed to get away with such a thing).
This is the era of Black McCarthyism, an odd period in history where even those who voted for Obama are handily persecuted by those who feel that we must bow to the president as if he were Jesus Christ himself. I reject this notion entirely and believe that all truth-tellers must make it clear that no one man’s political success is more important than the protection of our community.
President Obama, who earned the extraordinary distinction of being the first bi-racial president in American history, is at risk of having his legacy in black history tossed into the trash. Even more interesting is that I don’t think he really cares, not unlike the man who wonders why his mistress loves him so much when he rarely picks up the phone to call her. The black community, who supported Obama more than any other group, has sat to the side and quietly allowed the White House to put every group in the front of the line except for us.
The meaningless chants about Obama being “everybody’s president, and not just the president of black America” have even been echoed by the president himself. I dare the White House to respond to calls for support from gay rights groups by saying, “I’m not just the gay president,” or tell Latino groups that Obama is not the president of illegal immigrants. If he were to do such a thing, they would never give him their votes.
Of course, there are those who might read my words and somehow conclude that I’m a traitor because I refuse to worship any politician. They might be livid over the fact that I’ve openly questioned whether a bi-racial man raised in Hawaii by white people can truly connect to many parts of the black experience. As much as we hate to admit it, Obama may have cried for the white kids because he was once a white kid himself. Obama was never a poor black boy on the south side of Chicago.
I respond to the critics by saying that anyone who will let black children die in the midst of an unnecessary mandate for silence is not a friend to African American advancement. Those who refuse to speak up for Hadiya Pendleton might as well have put the bullet into that little girl’s back themselves, since countless deaths of children living today can be avoided if the president takes decisive action. In spite of what we have been led to believe, black children are people too, and those who care must strike the fear of God into those who dare act as though the suffering of our children is irrelevant.
It’s time for black people to show the self-respect that the Obama Administration believes we do not possess. If the Obama Administration’s treatment of black Americans does not match that which is provided for other constituencies, then one can only conclude that his presidency has been a disaster for the black community. When even the NAACP president (long a strong ally of President Obama) says that African Americans are far worse off under this president, we can see that the cat of racism has been let out of the bag. Racism is most sinister and destructive when it has a black face. I challenge anyone to present evidence to the contrary.
Dr. King reminded us that people must be judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin. This also goes for Obama and the binder full of white men who shape his presidency. It’s time to open our eyes.
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.
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My opinion is simple..we as black folks accept anything..in our community..example liquor stores; asian/koren/mexican/hispanic can open at any time with no opposition from the community..another sign of the time..LOL our young black men..I actually witness in a meeting a white guy invited a young(supporsely college graduate) to kiss his ass..the young man made hissing sound as to say bend over I WILL…SAD..SAD…WEHAVE LOST A RESPECTFOR OUR BLACK children lives/community and yes, I watched the president cry…ok…but the President can’t, let me repeat myself..can’t stop the killing in our community only we can..so inviting the President to Chicage isn’t going to change one doggone thing..we need to march in our neighboors when this happen..where is the outcry when a kid that looks like us killed in the neighbor..Let take back our community by taken care of our neighbors/watching out for their homes when at work/looking out for the kids playing and when we see someone out of place..call the law..keep your porch/deck light on..criminals don’t like an area when it light and they think someone is watching…one last thing..I do recall the Preident call attention to our Black Men about being responsible parents..stay out of the system..get a job..any job if U need to work to so what..two jobs at McDonalds can be a good salary start until u take a trade/college etc. to better yourself.
Its too bad that i think you have crossed… Straight into lunacy. Do you need to be back in the spotlight; to the point of making foolish statements to get attention. Well you got my attention and from here on out, I think I can speak for myself. I do not need your speaking for me or my family. You want to be back in the spotlight, Go fix your sons problems.
As for me leave me out of your foolish agendas.
No doubt hoodgirl that’s why I love ya because you are one of the few females on here who understand morality and business. Black people need to understand both go hand in hand
WOW!!!!! This is the most hateful argument I have ever read from you dude. Your anger is so misplaced I don’t know where to begin. I want to start with this statement first:
“Suddenly, some of us have decided that we don’t need Rev. Jackson’s voice any longer, and have gladly traded it in for a voiceless man in Washington who doesn’t even care to say a peep about nearly depression-era black unemployment or a documented discriminatory effort by the prison industrial complex so astonishing that it has ruined most black women’s chances to find a suitable husband (Clinton or Bush would never be allowed to get away with such a thing).”
You are blaming the prison industry for making it hard for black women to have husbands? Dude have you approached black women in the past 20 years? Do you know how much psychological issues and problems black women have? And I am not being funny either. Marriage requires a level of commitment and sacrifice that many black women care not to offer to many black men. This is truth. Many black women who would have met Barack as a community organizer would have turned him down because he didn’t make enough money.
Secondly, it’s a large reach to actually link the two together in the first place. “The reason why black women don’t get married is because there are too many brothers in jail, thus making it hard for them to find mates” argument is not backed by sound reason at all because if you actually did a sample of most black women, from various socioeconomic backgrounds, you would find that marriage is not on the top of the list in terms of black women and their goals. Studies have shown this. You exist in a liberal bubble that cause you to say some of the most idiotic things that I just can’t believe you really believe. If you really believe the stuff you’re saying then black people have no hope seriously because black people like what you say not surprisingly because they tend to agree with people who say there problems are not due to their own hand.
Let’s get to the heart of the matter: the moral fiber of black people as a group of people has eroded to the point of no return. You can go to any major part of this country where black people dominate as a demographic and see the decay in their neighborhoods, the few businesses they have, and the people as well. People’s environments are a reflection of the people in it. If you have a violent neighborhood, then you have violent people. Poverty tends to do two things: motivate you to do better or motivate you be criminal-minded. Too many black people have not used poverty as a way to motivate themselves to do better. I was talking to my preacher friend and me and her both agreed that black people hate the word authority. And this was a black woman in agreement with me. As soon as you tell black people something that is truthful about themselves when it comes to their negative way of thinking, they become agitated like a demon. Who is prepared on here to say that a teenager who goes out here and shoots someone should not be executed? Too many times we feel sorry more for the criminal than the victim. First and foremost, I would think a people like black people, who have collectively been attacked in this society, would be the major proponents of gun rights, but instead are begging for gun rights to be taken away. The Panthers used to ride around and monitor the police but what they really need to do is ride around and monitor the behavior of black people because the criminal element is out of control. It’s funny how when the topic of out-of-wedlock mother comes up, black people get quiet on this front or make all types of excuses. Why is that?
Why does out-of-wedlock mothers get a free pass on their irresponsible behavior but the President is called to answer and atone for their sins? But once again, when black women’s behavior gets analyzed honestly and openly, it’s termed women bashing. We all know that a woman can’t have a child by herself but ultimately the responsibility falls on her shoulders who she chooses to have a child with. In a GRE prep class I took, they said it costs about $300,000 to raise a child properly. Some people will never see this amount of money ever in their lifetime. So why should these people have children who can barely provide for themselves, let alone a child? There is a direct correlation to the out-of-wedlock mothers out here and the criminal element they produce and project onto the world in the black community and outside of it as well. White boys are not coming into black neighborhoods and killing black people. But there are black boys going into white people’s areas and killing them for flat screen tvs. In Georgia recently, a white woman shot a black man, ex-con 5 times in the neck and face for breaking into her home with a crowbar and scaring the hell out of her and her children. I guess she was racist for defending herself right? If she hadn’t had the gun that her husband taught her how to use at the range, and have him on the phone to assure her how to use it, no telling what would have happened to her and her children and I support her blasting his dumb ass too. Because I hate nigger shit. White people have never burglarized my home but niggas definitely have.
This statement is so reprehensible I can’t even put into words:
President Obama, who earned the extraordinary distinction of being the first bi-racial president in American history, is at risk of having his legacy in black history tossed into the trash. Even more interesting is that I don’t think he really cares, not unlike the man who wonders why his mistress loves him so much when he rarely picks up the phone to call her. The black community, who supported Obama more than any other group, has sat to the side and quietly allowed the White House to put every group in the front of the line except for us.
Now he’s bi-racial? When did black people start using the term “bi-racial’ to describe someone they considered black? You hate this man because of his clear connection to white people from a biological perspective. You don’t feel he’s authentic enough as a Man do you. He has to fit inside of your box which is an ignorant one that consists of labels that don’t really mean anything. However, when all these deaths in the inner cities were happening on Clinton’s watch, I did not see one of you negroes blast him at all. Where were you’ll at? Hmmmm? As long as he was playing the saxophone for you jungle bunnies, and laying the pimp game down on you telling you what you wanted to hear (like it’s not your fault that you had all these babies out-of-wedlock) you had no problem. But as soon as Barack comes into office, he’s required to come up with a cure for the nigger syndrome? GTFOH. Is it so hard to close your legs as a woman? I mean seriously.
Did not the government have abstinence only programs out here to teach girls and boys the dangers of teenage pregnancy? Yet black people said that was too unrealistic!!! Are you kidding me? Damn I’m a Man and I can keep it in my pants. Why can’t black women? Penis is not so good that it’ll have you sleeping in a cardboard box eating ramen noodles. Having children is always an economic decision and should be weighed heavily before a female engages in it because I do not want to hear any arguments about women being independent and don’t need a man if they are choosing to have children out-of-wedlock. When men were much more in control of their families in the 20′s, if a Man was divorced from his wife, he got the children automatically because family was the responsibility of men, including his wife. So even though there was no more marriage, men still were obligated to their children. Men did not receive government assistance to aid them in taking care of their children. However, since courts are more prone to give women children in custody battles, why is it that women who fight for equal rights so much, are always asking the government to intervene on their behalf when it comes to child rearing monetarily?
If we want things so equal, then why don’t women who have children, and get control of them, be made to take care of them just like men were made to take care of their children in the 20′s in case of divorce? Because women are clearly showing in this country that they are the least capable and responsible when it comes to taking care of children, especially by themselves. The last thing i would want, based off of what I’ve seen, is to be raised by a single mother. That is a death sentence for the most part for real. I lived with my Dad since I was two, after he and my mother divorced, and he didn’t have all types of women around me like that.
Many children, who grow up with a single mother, see a revolving door of men and think this is normal behavior for a woman. Yeah if she’s a prostitute. So what you have is women who behave like prostitutes in terms of their sexual promiscuity, yet having the role of mothers, not the sense of mothers. And you’ll wonder why these kids are screwed up? We have had 60 years of this out-of-wedlock experiment and it has proved disastrous. The music genre known as “Rap” has given us since 1993 videos showing females as hoes. And each year after that it got worse to the point “Tip Drill” has become the norm. But Barack is responsible for that right? Why don’t you see Indian women exposed like that? Because there are clear consequences for a female to objectify herself in a sexual manner (she gets cast out of her family and she does not get married by an Indian man). There is no need for government intervention at all: this is something enforced culturally within the ethnic group. Indian men only believe in marrying virgins. They believe in bringing back a woman to his family that his mother would approve of and I can guarantee you that no Indian mother would ever approve of her son marrying a whore, Indian or not. There used to be a time when black women acted the same way. Now you have black mothers who stand in the way of their sons becoming husbands because they use their sons as de-facto husbands, stunting their growth.
Black people have misunderstood the world completely. Majority of the people in the world operate by the Old Testament standards in terms of family building and marriage customs. There are places where women are checked first to see if they are virgins before a Man enters them. These people make sure they protect Men from getting themselves enveloped with women who will only bring them down through their sexually depraved ways. This is why prostitutes exist: if you wanted to experience sex with no responsibilities, these women were available for you in that capacity but you didn’t marry them. Now you have men out here marrying and procreating with women who are more in line with Julia Robert’s character in “Pretty Woman.” Only in America can you have a movie that depicts a love story between a prostitute and a businessman!!!! You will not see businessmen fall in love with prostitutes, especially white ones, in America. Because they have something to lose and will not lose it to a prostitute. Look at what happened to Eliot Spitzer. He resigned from the Governor position because his sexual relations were revealed by that stupid brawd. His identity was supposed to be kept hidden, yet they snitched on him.
But when it came out, you had people feeling sorry for the chick!!! When have we ever as humanity felt sorry for prostitutes? When have they ever been given rights? In America, in the last 60 years, they have been given rights. And as long as there is no repercussion for their behavior, then you will continuously see black people get annihilated in the streets by their own kind because there is no male around to put a boot up these kids asses. And to me, there is nothing worse than some bad ass kids. I hate ‘em with a passion. Because they reflect on the parent. Let me rephrase that: the lack of parenting reflects negatively on the kids. They show the parent has done a poor job rearing their child. Which is why it’s ludicrous to put the killing of black people, by other black people including kids killing kids and adults on Barack’s shoulders. Sandy Hook had children being attacked by an adult male with no ability to protect themselves. Hadiya was killed by someone who comes from an environment where all people show a lack of regard for life. If black people really did regard black life, then why do so many of them take it? Sandy Hook was an isolated incident. Hadiya’s case is all to much the norm. Colombine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook are unexpected: Chicago’s murder rate is the norm. That’s the difference. And the blame is placed directly at the feet of black people and their dependent-minded selves who think government will solve all of their problems.
And then you say this:
“Of course, there are those who might read my words and somehow conclude that I’m a traitor because I refuse to worship any politician. They might be livid over the fact that I’ve openly questioned whether a bi-racial man raised in Hawaii by white people can truly connect to many parts of the black experience. As much as we hate to admit it, Obama may have cried for the white kids because he was once a white kid himself. Obama was never a poor black boy on the south side of Chicago.”
Dude you blaming him for being raised by people with some sense? Do I sense a little bit of jealousy there? Are you jealous that his background was much more structured than yours? Dude your hate is very much prevalent in your articles regarding Barack. Black people think this type of criticism will get them somewhere with this President but it won’t. You can critique respectfully because I never saw any of you clowns critique Clinton this way at all and he wasn’t so great for black people either. I believe that the best way for black people to get themselves back to respectability is to attach themselves to the republican Party and the core values of it because these values used to be the norm for Blacks but now seem outdated.
Blaming Barack for the deaths in Chicago is a ponk move if I ever saw one and niggas like you make me wanna puke. Moral values start at home first and if your home environment is broken, then you will more than likely be a broken person entering into society and causing problems for not only yourself, but others as well. Niggas like you, Tavis Smiley, Cornel West are corny. Read so many books, but have no common sense whatsoever.
This question by dcarter says it all:
“I wish people would stop tap dancing around these self evident truths…sure we might not have an answer but that doesnt mean we have to ignore the question. Why does ignorance and mental dependency seem prevalent in blacks?”
My answer would be that despite their complaints, blacks are quite content to be a subservient class of people. They are not interested in freedom at all: only the notion of freedom. Like some women are only interested in the notion of love, but not really interested in making the sacrifices necessary that demonstrate love. As soon as black people are required to make sacrifices (like stop being morally depraved) their first response is to blame someone else for their nigger shit. That’s why I love my South American bros and sisters because even though they have slavery as apart of their history, they still have pride in themselves. They are not perfect but they at least are trying. Black people have all but given up on themselves as a collective unit and this is why I call ‘em losers. I have no use for stupid articles like this written by someone who claims to be educated because wherever you went to school, I can promise you you do not add value as an alumnus at all.
@Dcarter910 great comment. We tend to focus too much on others instead of self, family and community in that order. Above all we must abandon the victim mentality as Dr. Benjamin Carson suggested so that we can reach our full potential.
Dcarter910 you are absolutely right!
Great article – still our black males embracing gangster rap is a Major reason they kill each other. No one in our so called leadership got the guts to say it. Therefore not a damn thing going to change.
http://youtube.com/watch?feature=relmfu&v=YjJ0si69j54
No offense Mr.Boyce but at this point you are beating a dead horse. We have shown through and discussed time and time again that through the WILLFUL ignorance of black people, they will continue to support Barack Obama and anyone that ignores and destroys the black community. Recent point; Chris Rock comes out and says that Barack Obama is like the father of our country, we should listen to him because when we dont bad things happen. That is some subservient negro attitude that has left the continent of Africa in a perpetual state of being ruled by dictatorships. Black people prefer dictators that tell them what to do, what to believe and does not ask them to do anything for themselves.
Most black people are closed minded and have a very dependent attitude. I dont know how to change it but it’s evident. Someone is going to ask me for proof of these statements, you want proof? Ask yourself why websites like this are far and few in between? Why is it surprising and refreshing to meet and communicate with open minded mentally independent blacks? Why anywhere in the country where blacks are the majority, whites, asians and middle eastern people run the stores and local government.
I wish people would stop tap dancing around these self evident truths…sure we might not have an answer but that doesnt mean we have to ignore the question. Why does ignorance and mental dependency seem prevalent in blacks? Not just American Blacks but especially Africa. Africa is the most minerally rich continent on earth and yet Chinese are coming in buying huge swaths of land, developing it and exporting all the resources back to China while the local governments get rich and the African people kill each other over the pennies the Chinese give them? Why? There are no industries that blacks are the leaders in. Even middle easterners are the best when it comes to making home made bombs.
I dont hate or dislike black people. I am just tired of seeing one thing, wanting to believe something else and thus arguing for fantasy.
Jesse Jackson is a bigot. He brainwashes the African American community into thinking their problems is always someone else’s fault. He preaches onsense and as soon as his followers can understand that, the sooner the African American communities, in Chicago especially, can begin to strengthen and fight crime together. This scumbag was caught on tape mocking and criticizing the President. He’s a liar and a snake. His family members are criminals. He’s all washed up. 1983 was 30 years ago.
That is a deep article Boyce on many levels.