DISQUS

zackboston · 1 month ago

if it is inspiring to the young people then i am all for it! we need to provide our youth with positive images and opportunities to feel positive feelings about themselves to counteract all the negative offered by the MSM and by folks in their communities.

Admiral_Komack · 1 month ago

When they hear of this, the wingnuts will lose their minds!

I love it!

Shazza · 1 month ago

Oh I'm sure Hannity will be whining about this tonight!

AxelFoley · 1 month ago

You and me both.

Guns3000 · 1 month ago

I don't know if I like the sound of this. I think things like this should wait until Obama finishes his presidency. I don't care about a black president if he is not a good president. I was over the black president stuff on Jan 21th. I'm not surprised this is happening in a poor and uneducated area. How is this going to work? Lets say BO isn't doing a good job next year and the holiday rolls around. Then what? This is borderline Barack Obama worship. It seems like some of us are content with having a President that is black for symbolic purposes rather than for good government policy.

AxelFoley · 1 month ago

Methinks thou doth protest too much.

I'm not gonna say President Obama is gonna be the greatest president ever, but I know enough about the man, through his accomplishments throughout his life, that he won't be an average president.

And if this pushes kids, especially African-American kids, to make the best efforts to achieve their goals, to not settle for good, but to strive for great, I'm all for it. There hasn't been an inspirational leader from our commnity on this level since Dr. King died. I'm not saying he should replace parents or guardians as a child's role model, but he and Mrs. Obama are great examples for our children to emulate.

Guns3000 · 1 month ago

"but I know enough about the man, through his accomplishments throughout his life, that he won't be an average president."

I want that to be correct but you don't know that. And that's not even the point. Would you be comfortable with every county/city with a majority of black residents in the US having an official "Barack Obama Day?

AxelFoley · 1 month ago

Why not? We basically did the same to get Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Hell, we celebrate Juneteenth.

Why can't black folk be proud that one of us made it to the highest office in the land, the leader of the free world? Do we always have to worry about what the critics will say?

Guns3000 · 1 month ago

I'm not concerned about critics. That's the point. We're black people having a debate about "Barack Obama Day" I'm not asking anyone for their approval. I don't think anyone else is either. I don't know what I would be celebrating on "Barack Obama Day?" Him getting elected? That's it. That's not enough for me. Give the brotha a day for being good president. But I'm not crowning him prematurely and he could possibly turn out not to be a good president. That's my point. Its seem like people don't care if he is a good president or not they are just happy is there.

Town · 1 month ago

What's the problem? People still idolize Ronald Reagan even though he wasn't that great (not to non-whites, anyway) and asleep most of his presidency. There was even talk of replacing Roosevelt with Reagan on the dime, even though the reason Roosevelt is on the dime is because of the MARCH OF DIMES. Idolization isn't unique to poor blacks; half of the reason Reagan is idolized is because he was hostile to blacks and signalized to white people that it was ok for them to be hostile to blacks, too.

And I just *love* how the media makes sure to point out the county is poor and black.

Guns3000 · 1 month ago

Idolatry isn't unique to any particular group but a "Barack Obama Day" and he hasn't been President for year yet. Come on Town. That doesn't strike you as a bit odd? Let's take Obama out of it for second. Does ANY President deserve their own day after 11 months in office?

Town · 1 month ago

Nope, because there are plenty of schools across the south celebrating "Robert E. Lee" and "Jefferson Davis" and neither one of them were presidents of the USA for a year, 8 years or 8 days. In fact, I recall they led the charge AGAINST this country.

So when they start scrubbing schools of the "Robert E. Lees", "J.E.B. Stuarts" and "Jefferson Davises," that's when I'll care about somebody having "Barack Obama Day."

AxelFoley · 1 month ago

BAM, right there!

Guns3000 · 1 month ago

Town, I'm not concerned who white people celebrate. What white people do should have not bearing on your logic. If you want BO holiday you should want it for reason....XYZ. What white people do has no bearing on why I don't think that holiday is appropriate. We are talking about black folks. And with all that white folks talk you still didn't mention why you(Town) believe why this holiday is appropriate AT THIS TIME. In the future.....maybe. But right now..........NO. And that's another problem. You ask some black people a question and the first thing out of their mouth is "Well, white people........."

Town · 1 month ago

If you want BO holiday you should want it for reason....XYZ.



The people in that county did have a Obama holiday for a reason...because they wanted to celebrate him.

Here is the reason: The sponsoring commissioner, Albert Turner Jr., said the holiday is meant to highlight the Democratic president-elect’s victory as a way to give people faith that difficult goals can be achieved.

The problem you're having is not that the people didn't give a reason...the problem you're having is the people didn't give a reason you liked.

They're not celebrating him for being the president, they're celebrating him for reaching his goals even when faced with impossible odds...pretty important stuff when you're stuck in a backwater where people tell you that you CAN'T do anything except be a poor dumb ol' nigga.

They don't need for him to be a great or even good president to want to celebrate him. Maybe they want to celebrate him for getting elected in the first place, or overcoming obstacles they could never imagine themselves realizing. Maybe they see the children in their county wanting to do better, because a President who looks like them is doing well, and they want to be like him. Maybe they celebrate the fact that he married a black woman, eats fried chicken or smokes Menthol cigarettes or gives hustlemen selling posters and T-shirts on the side of the road a boost in their wallets. It doesn't matter why they want to celebrate him, and they don't need a reason to justify to you or anyone else why they want to celebrate him.

Now you're coming at me with the "your logic is suspect because you're basing on what white people think," but that's the basis of your whole argument as to why this poor black county shouldn't celebrate Obama ---because of what WHITE people think. Jimmy Carter allegedly wasn't a good president either but if his hometown wanted to have "Jimmy Carter Day" I doubt seriously you would be on here crying about "Well, Jimmy Carter wasn't a good president so he shouldn't have his own day, this is wrong blah blah."

People bring up "what white people do" not because we care about what white people do, but because people who have the mindset that you have care about what white people do.

If that county wants to celebrate Barack Obama taking a shit in the middle of the White House lawn, that's their perogative and they don't need to justify their decision to you or anyone else.

AxelFoley · 1 month ago

This. Absolutely this.

rikyrah · 1 month ago

This is spot on.

JJai · 1 month ago

So in this case, I understand their desire to funnel some of the hopefulness that a black man can attain the presidency into their area.

As a Christian, I obviously take issue with idolatry. However, also as a Christian I understand that people perish without vision and the Black Belt counties are in dire need of vision and hope.

Guns3000 · 1 month ago

I understand their desire to funnel some of the hopefulness that a black man can attain the presidency into their area.

Tell them to turn on their television. PO is on there 24/7. The jury is still out if Barack Obama is going to be a good president. What if he turns out be a bad president. Are we going to celebrate a bad president because he is black? I'm not. That's not enough for me.

JJai · 1 month ago

Perry County's poverty is near 3rd World Poverty, bleak and incredibly backward. Perry is apart of the Black Belt Counties. Entering these counties is like going back in time 100 years. There is no Wal-Mart, only overpriced general stores (where you can pay $500 for a $200 Wal-mart TV on credit and repay over years and years), people indebted to their employers on catfish farms- sharecropping circa 2009. It is pretty bleak.

twg · 1 month ago

Have you ever been there? It's a county with only 11,000 people, mostly farmland and National Forest. So, I'll fight by your side if you want to discuss funding/school/tax equity issues......but just to sh*t on the place and folks to grind your political axe is disheartening. Walmart is 23 miles away, BTW, and before they ran the mom & pop stores out of business, you could shop local more often. I wonder how far some of the posters here will drive to go to SuperTarget or Wholefoods...

On the county holiday, that should give everyone pause. I'm sure youall here would have a hemorrhage if we had a George Bush day after he got the tax cuts passed. On the other hand, the President's election is a great inspiration for many and I've got no problem with the holiday.......except that tax dollars are hard to come by in Perry county.

Guns3000 · 1 month ago

twg, I don't get your post. I didn't read what JJ posted as disrespectful. He was just articulating the economic realities of the county. I've never been there. And most people on this board haven't. I don't know anything about rural areas of Alabama. So if someone can give some insight on the area it is appreciated.

twg · 1 month ago

I guess I was reading it as condescending. Bleak is one thing, but backward, and "back in time 100 years" seemed a little much to me. I can go to small farm towns and county seats all over the country and it's the same. If we need to discuss school-funding, or specific equality issues, I'm down with that, but there's nothing wrong with plain rural living.

rikyrah · 1 month ago

the shock to me Town, was that I somehow had missed this last year. this is a story that I thought I would have known about immediately afterwards. i love the self-definition part in all of this.

twg · 1 month ago

mispost redact

rikyrah · 1 month ago

AFTERNOON OPEN THREAD IS UP

Willie Williams · 1 month ago

I was their and it was GREAT!

dlrgray · 1 month ago

BO was raised as a privileged "white" kids. He DID not have the same disadvantages as any poor person (white or black). He is only making the poor more dependent on the government. I have lived in Africa for the past three years and I do not feel sorry for any person living in America. We have every opportunity. Everyone wants to blame someone (whites) for their problems. America is the only country to go to war to free another race. WE DID THAT! We (blacks AND whites) have fought for justice for all americans. I think many black forget that many whites have fought for them. One day we will all be accountable for God how we use what we've been given. We need to do the best with what we're given. My family lives in the bush of Africa with no electricity, phones, or hot water. I am on break in the states now and I am LOVING all the comforts. STOP WHINING AND APPRECIATE ALL THAT YOU DO HAVE! My Mozambican friends would be very confused by all of this more, more, more mentality. If you want, work hard to get it. Stop blaming others.

dlrgray · 1 month ago

BTW..I know this os on the BO holiday thing. I think it is premature to have a day for him. I only think our country is in worse shape since he became president. On the issue of morality alone, he can be placed in the same category as a pagan. I cannot believe how liberal he is. Do black Christian Americans understand how he is turing our country away from God. It seems to me that they are selling their souls for this man. I am praying for him. It really scares me how he fights for gay marriage, abortion and apologizes to other countries for our country. He is making our country weak. After four years of this, we WILL have a different America. We'll all be poor and depending on foreign aid.