"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Black America took a wrong turn. At some time in the past few decades, although it pains me to determine precisely when, this occurred. In his March 26 article the Miami Herald’s Leonard Pitts Jr. illustrated this so eloquently that I really won’t have to say much to make this point… but I will!
Barack Obama completely missed the boat on this. His “race speech” was a bland continuation of his passionate delivery of vague generalities. He no more “showed us how” to talk about race than Pete Rose showed us how to talk about ethics.
Here stood the first legitimate Black American in the running for the United States Presidency. The bully pulpit was his. The media was all ears! The time was NOW! And…
A dud.
A stale, rhetoric filled dud.
If Obama had talked to us “as though we were adults” as John Leibowitz (Stewart’s real name) stated on his Daily Show then he would have been HONEST and DIRECT in his words to the country. This is something both White and Black America desperately need to hear, and they need to hear it from a black man. (Bill Cosby can’t do this alone and last I checked he was not a Presidential candidate, and while all my points are factual and true I am indeed a Typical White Person so I have racism bred into me since birth and am therefore disqualified to comment).
Obama could have been a reformer Democrat. He could have risen to this occasion and turned the negatives of his preacher’s alarming views into the ultimate positive. Instead Obama swung and missed.
Obama: “I can no more disavow my pastor as I can the black community.” With this he undid any chance he had for lifting up the black community. The remarks of Pastor Wright are so far removed from reality that most simply laugh them off or sit in stunned amazement of how dangerously pandering they are, especially coming from an educated adult. Not only should Obama have denounced the statements of his pastor of 20 years, he should have offered rebuttals! This would have started the American ball rolling towards… what is that word again??? CHANGE!
Here is what Obama should have said:
There is absolutely no conspiracy to let drugs into the black community, and the AIDS virus is a worldwide epidemic, not a scheme created by the U.S. Government to infect Black Americans. Anyone who would say this is either woefully ignorant or an outright liar.
Al Qaeda has attacked the U.S., the U.K., South Africa, Israel, Yemen, Australia, Spain, and Japan to name a few.
Al Qaeda opposes liberty and individual rights. They hate our freedom and way of life. They are indoctrinated against the West from the time they are children. This has nothing to do with any “chickens coming home to roost.”
People who support Affirmative Action based on RACE (and not on economics) are misguided and bigoted. They look at you based on the color of your skin and say “they are not good enough and need the help of the government.” President Bush was right when he called this the “soft bigotry of low expectations.”
We are fooling ourselves. We allow people like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton to claim they speak for us with race baiting rhetoric. We ignore the brilliant minds of Black Americans such as Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Roy Innis, Ward Connerly, Sojourner Truth, Justice Clarence Thomas, Shelby Steele, Francis Rice and Justice Janice Rogers Brown to name a few. These are the role models for young Black Americans to emulate!
Blacks face an uphill battle to start with due to the high rate of out of wedlock births in our community. It is at 70%. In the 1950’s it was at 20%. How did this happen? Why did this happen? This is not about slavery or even about racism. Look yourself in the mirror!
I was wrong when I called for the firing of Don Imus and although his statements were in fact stupid, bigoted and wrong, I see the error of my thinking and what a double standard I have set for those who look up to my leadership and vision for the country.
Man is imperfect. History has proven this time and time again. Racism will always exist in the minds of some. It is up to you to determine how this affects your sense of self worth and your ability to make it in America.
The “War on Poverty” has lasted for 40 years and cost $40 Trillion (with a T). Go to any big city in America and the poor section of town is always heavily populated by Blacks. 9 of the 10 cities highest in poverty are run by Democrats and have been for decades.
"You've been hoodwinked. You've been had. You've been took. You've been led astray, led amok. You’ve been bamboozled.” Malcolm X
Blacks now vote 92% for Democrats. This represents the highest voting bloc in the country’s history. Even as a Democrat I can see how this is harming us as a society. We are being taken advantage of. We should at least revisit the issues at hand. Which is the party that best represents your chance at economic freedom and success? Which party correctly defines the ROLE for the Federal Government?
Consider:
1. With blacks dying at an average of 7 years before their white counterparts, why do we support a Party who prevents us from passing our “social security” savings to our children?
2. Blacks support personal responsibility and strong punishment for criminals. We must understand that the criminal justice system is not racist: Blacks make up 12% of the population yet commit almost 50% of the violent crime!
3. Blacks overwhelmingly oppose gay marriage and abortion on demand.
4. Republicans support school choice in general and vouchers in particular, which would directly help the poorest inner city children with nowhere to turn. Democrats blocked school doorways for blacks in the 60’s and continue to do so today with their policies towards education.
5. Learn History. The Democrat Party filibustered to kill the 1964 Civil Rights Act, started the KKK, and proudly refers to a former Klansman as “the conscience of the Senate.”
In closing, we need to realize that we live in the greatest country ever conceived by man. We should thank God each day that we were born into a country that provides each and every one of us with the opportunity to do with our lives whatever we choose and to earn as much wealth for ourselves and our families as we can. Remember that “People vote with their feet” and millions upon millions of people each year would not risk their very lives to come to this country if this were not so. Wake up people!
Perhaps this was the turning point: When Senator Barry Goldwater (REP) voted against the Civil Rights Act the liberals seized this as a propaganda tool and a spark that drove Black Americans from the RED side to the BLUE. No matter that Goldwater did this based on a constitutional argument that the Act was unnecessary because of the 14th Amendment. Goldwater later regretted this vote. I do too as it led to millions of modern day Black Americans being led astray.
The real tragedy in all of this is that not only are many Black Americans missing the boat when it comes to the American Dream, they don’t even know what that dream actually is and that they too can achieve it, since they are constantly being told how awful our country is! This is truly a shame.
At the end of the day, the person telling the truth is typically vilified, as most of the time people don’t want to hear it. But the truth is the truth. Facts are facts and cannot be “agreed with.” What I have written here today is indeed fact. Cold and Hard.
If Barack Obama had said these things he would have made a difference. He would have forced the issue. He could have defined a generation.
I am still waiting. And Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is rolling in his grave.
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