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Stopping Obama also stops Reyes, Kim and Singh from thinking they can run for the White House as well. We've already got little black kids looking at this thinking, well maybe I can be President too. And I think that's very disturbing to the Hannitys and Hasselbecks of the world.
as usual, you speak the truth.
THEY understand it.
THEY get what an Obama victory would mean.
THEY get it.
They get that next time, the platitudes about Jindal (if he survives Louisiana without being indicted IS the Senate and maybe the White House)
That maybe Richardson has too many 'women rumors', but there's a young Latino out there who doesn't have those problems.
It's also about the future. I know, sometimes it gets hokey, talking about the ' symbolism' of Obama, but I can't help but think about what this would mean, not only to little Black kids, but to little kids, period. Of growing up in a world where the President of the United States is a Black Man.
I read diaries, posted by parents of kids who go nuts over Obama. Who see video of his speech in Berlin, and then try and re-create it in their playrooms using their toys and stuffed animals, and think nothing of it. I believe that means something. Something that won't pay dividende for years, but it will pay dividends.
Yes, some people may believe there is no racism or discrimination anymore but its crazy to not want the man to win just to prove racism exists! I have actually heard comments by people worrying that him winning would be bad for Black people. So should we never be CEOs, Principals, or top executives because then people will say discrimination doesn't exist? I thought the goal was to give everyone the opportunity to get to the top. It seems like some people want us to only get so far so that the disparities remain so we can complain about them.
I'm hoping that although some people will start thinking racism and discrimination don't exist anymore others start thinking Black people are just as good as anyone else so there is no need to be racist or discriminate against them. Hopefully it will even out and the benefits will outweigh the negatives.
"When Will They Ever Learn?" [yes a 70's olde -Where Have All The Flowers Gone?]
Why do I believe that you don't care? :>) :>) Just kidding! :>) No disrespect. I always think of songs. :>) :>)
http://blackpoliticsontheweb.com/2008/08/06/bla...
Title: Black Reporters Should Attend Political Conventions
I agree :>)
As in scared they will be left out of the conversation. However, I disagree with the brotha who said "I'm the new Black Politics" because if it weren't for John Lewis and Jim Clyburn being willing to damn near die in the Civil Rights Movement, that brotha's ass wouldn't even be in a position to cry how he's "the new Black Politics." He dissed the Civil Rights vanguard, even though he said he wasn't. While I might not agree with my elders, I was brought up to never disrespect them.
Jesse, Sr., earns my disdain, but not my disrespect. While I understand Jesse, Jr., disagreeing with his father, I'm going to take the position he defended Obama and decried his father's statements in the heat of the moment. Additionally, Jesse, Sr.'s remarks were ghetto and he should have kept his mouth shut about turning Obama into a eunich.
It isn't the end of Black Politics - it just changed the rules of the game in terms of how Black politics will be discussed from here on in.
Yours and so many others have written great comments here. They are scared because they see that we, this generation, is thru with the ' One Leader' mess. We are finally using ' Black' and "ACCOUNTABLE" in the same sentence - THAT is scary to them, which is why I appreciate the report cards so much. They laughed at you, in the beginning...they're not laughing anymore.
Exactly!
I'm simple like that. Some things just go right over my head. Like this article.
You would do better to just act like the Title said "Great Taste, Less Filling"
Obama has already changed the game...I just hope it sticks.
Carryn' On
kdizo
www.kdizo.wordpress.com
We view the world as the children of those who were in the struggle.
It is a decidedly different view than our parents, but it shares a common heritage.
The struggle you see now is similar to the struggle our parents went through with THEIR parents.
People always act like the ministers in Montgomery didnt fight Martin tooth and nail.
What Martin did was unheard of in many respects and the fact that he was young enough to have a different vantage point and base of experience was the critical difference.
At 47, Obama is the elderstatesman of OUR generation. Old enough to have a sense of the horrors of Vietnam and the immediate post King years and young enough to understand HipHop in its proper context and be able to appreciate the true power of the current technology.
I think Black Politics as-we-know-it will remain with us for as long as we have problems that disproportionately affect our community. But I think that younger black politicians recognize that there are different ways to get stuff done than how the elders have been doing it. New avenues have presented themselves, leaving room to try new ways of being black in public office. I think Obama's candidacy is basically a national scale of something certain places have been seeing in local, young, black politicians. These guys (hmm... no young female officeholders featured here) know how to reach and work with more people in addition to just the black community - I think it can only make them more effective for their constituencies.
And, I love Michael Nutter and his attitude. Even though he supported Hillary. And he'll get my vote again.
Their support of Obama allows them to say and feel that we have grown past the sceptre of race in American politics and that racial politics no longer has a place in the national discourse. Too many times I have heard politicos say that we do not want to have race as an issue in the Presidential (or any other) race, when , in fact , the ignoring of race has been the glaring flaw of our Constitution and our unwillingness to discuss race in real terms has led us into our Civil War, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, the Digital Divide and current socio-economic-political inequalities that continue to plague our nation and ruin the lives of our darker countrymen.
Black politics has served as the moral conscience of American politics, we have always been agents for change. Until we deal with issues of race as an American family, all subsequent conversations and efforts will continue to be flawed and problematic. Because as the descendants of slaves we have known white Americans for a very long time and our knowledge of them is borne out of necessity - the necessity that a slave has to know the ways of the master. The lives of black people have depended on our knowledge of whites, passed down to us along familial lines and the exacting singularity of experience. The assimilation of Black Politics into the Amnerican mainstream will not occur until this nation can elect a descendant of African slaves to the Presidency.
See how Barack relates to White people of all political stripes, while married to a visibly Black woman; living in a largely Black city; worshipping in a largely Black church; and surrounding himself with mostly Black friends. And while he's living as a Black man, he has a rainbow of non-Black family members.
Being a successful Black politician today is an art. And we're witnessing an artist like no other.
Cory Booker was smarter than Harold and had experienced racism up close, despite an advantaged, privileged upbringing - the white kids still teased him about those naps on his head. Besides, Sharpe James was a crook and needed to be relieved of duties (not to mention heading for jail now).
Harold Ford was not a part of this bunch, so quit telling that lie about him ;-). He knew how to kiss ass - not compromise, cause that's a fine art of giving something up without selling out.
Oh, and what's so wrong with having a white wife? ;-)
{ducking and running for cover...}
I've familiar with some of Matt Bai's other writings, most notably, his book _The Argument: Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics_. I'm thinking this recent article moves in that direction and is less concerned with "an end" and more focused on the factors that are influencing an internal *argument* or differing perspectives among a particular group, in this case black folx.
In this regard, the piece is useful for putting a few issues on table, as opposed to trying to propose a definite answer or conclusion. But I'm certainly interested in seeing where things do from here, especially in local sectors.
The results of these new tactics remain to be seen because they're being clocked by the resistance from those set in their ways.
This technology "tool" helped in the win against billary!! She wasn't ready for Mr. O's type of political strategy! :>) Evidence - her tired A88 web site! :>) :>)
Since Hillary lost and Bill is whining that he is not a racist (yeah, whatever), does this mean that the Clintons are the end of white politics?
(Hey, somebody had to ask ;-))
I understand that these folks have larger ambitions and they would prefer not to be permanently assigned to the black seat. Their current posture, however, seems disingenuous in the extreme given that their political ascendancy (and celebrity) was made possible because they found more secure footing for their own ambitions among black voters. Now they will use the legitimate aspirational desires of these same voters to move on to higher office while denying any responsibility for addressing issues that have disproportionate effect on African Americans.
It has become commonplace to the point of cliche to talk about the alleged generational divide among blacks on the question of what black leadership means. The existence of this alleged divide is only possible if one assumes that those of us who are consigned to the box labeled "Civil Rights Generation" were always of one mind and one view. We never were. There were always divisions among us over the most pressing questions of the period and that included international affairs as well.
Artur Davis and other aspiring black politicians who share his views appear to be little more than younger versions of those who I have described elsewhere as being "second line inheritors" of the Civil Rights Movement. That is, those who attained political power less as a result of any sacrifices or risk they took but, rather, because they positioned themselves to take advantage of the opportunities created by the sacrifices and risks that others in their generation took. What exactly, for example, did Tom Bradley do or not do to rise to the rank of lieutenant in the notoriously racist Los Angeles Police Department and why did that department's behavior remain essentially unchanged during his four terms as mayor?
These are not radical or extremists questions because they go straight to the heart of this issue. If the Tom Bradleys and Artur Davises do not address the needs of the black electorate then what actual purpose is served by the black electorate in supporting their quests for political office? If electing Obama to the White House means that we get nothing more than a payoff on our aspirational desires and we understand and accept that reality, then we have no further complaint. If, however, we believe that he has a duty to address our issues because we have supported his candidacy then we have every right to make our views known and to demand attention. Every other group in America - business, labor, attorneys, Hispanics, Jews, women, faith-based organizations etc. - will have their hands out because it is the American way. Are we suddenly less American because a black family lives in the White House?
The shift in definition of who is African American gave rise to the shift in Black politics. The dynamism of Black Politics reflects the regional, cultural, class and circumstantial differences among African Americans The New Black Politics is built upon earlier Black political accomplishments and developments, however as the political constituencies have become more diverse, the strategies and goals of Black Politics have changed as well.
The future of Black Politics is predicated on the ability of Black leaders and their constituencies to address the injustices and inequalities of Black life in America in real, tangible concrete ways. Obama's presidency offers the opportunity for Black Politics and its operatives to address and solve some of the most critical of our nation's ills. Sound, compassionate policies in health care, labor, criminal justice, green initiatives, civil and reproductive rights and other areas of public policy benefit all Americans, and historically Black Americans have been at the forefront of all progressive political and social changes in our country.
Black Politics have been the conscience of the nation since the country's founding. We have righted this nation's path at the expense of our lives and treasure, even when our countrymen showed us no love. Now is the time we should assert ourselves to lead in this new fight as we have in the past.
We are the Soul of America and right now Obama is Soul Brotha #1.
I'm old school. James Brown is still Soul Brotha #1. Senator Obama is a brother who we would like to see elected as president.
I wrote my college thesis 11 years ago about a similar phenomenon in Boston's Chinatown -- two political styles, one born of the Civil Rights movement, one predating it -- both of which presumed to speak the community. I found both troubling and disempowering of the community itself, which struck me as practically captured by its supposed "leaders." And this was before the current era of post-CR politics.
There was a lot of value, I felt, in these two factions competing for the loyalty of the community, because that held them accountable. And maybe that's what's happening now across America across many political circles, not just African-American, but also white liberal, environmental, gay, evangelical. And, yes, Republican. Each group is struggling with a generational divide and an emerging new politics. (What a terrible year for Mark Penn to roll with "microtrends": if there is a macrotrend happening today, it is a change from the ideological to the pragmatic.) Environmentalists are embracing the market. Evangelicals are moving on from abortion. Gays are making sense of what legal marriage means for their historically marginalized status.
New politics -- new leadership. Is there an end in sight of "black politics"? I guess it's worth asking if there's such a thing any more of "Irish politics," "Italian politics," and "Jewish politics." (For better or worse, my thesis notwithstanding, there isn't much to say about "Asian-American politics"). It was clear for someone like Mayor Nutter that the end of a distinctive, isolated, ghettoized "black politics" is a desired goal -- a sign of true integration, even if incomplete. At the very least, perhaps, a leadership shakeup is always an accountability moment, which is never a bad thing in democracy.
Given the fact that the majority of the residents of Philadelphia are African Americans, what do you believe Nutter is specifically referring to?
The Philadelphia political situation is indeed unique and ghettonized was the best way to describe it prior to the election of Nutter. We had black elected officials and political power, but the economy was in shambles and violent crime was rampant. All Street did was throw his hands up and lined his pockets and those of his family and friends.
Maybe Nutter is bitter. I am too.
Black folks inherited and adopted a political system and a political regime that had long been in place before they became its leaders. Nutter was a garden variety product of this system until he saw an opportunity to distinguish himself. No fault finding here.
All politicians are opportunists. The real issue is whether they have talent or not. Nutter has talent but he will never be elected governor of Pennsylvania. We lived eight years in Hershey and folks in central and western PA are not going to elect a black person to occupy the mansion on Front Street in Harrisburg.
Many, many Asian Americans would take strong exception to this assertion.
Among grassroots organizers and cultural professionals I know, I see a lot of back and forth respect between the generations and for those who've come before any of us. But everyone likes to have something they can call "their stuff." However, the environment, jobs, energy, Iraq, and globalization are and have been black issues. They will be regardless of the outcome in November.
Jill Tubman suggested I share my take on "generation Obama." It's like a border group between Gen X and the Baby Boomers. [As of this election year we were kicked out of the Boomer group]. Our influences were the WW II generation (pragamatism) - grandparents, uncles, aunts, and perhaps parents. They were our rocks. They only had one TV and stereo (yep, that's what we called it) in the house. We watched what they watched. We listened to Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Sarah, maybe a little Johnny Cash. They were unselfishly sentimental. Second influence was the civil rights and black power generation (justice issues, multiculturalism, African diaspora). They may have been our older siblings or parents. If they were into the diaspora, they gave us the multi-cultural perspective. We were encouraged to demand, not ask; fight not flight and call it when we saw it. We were proud of who were were as we were - "Say It Loud..." Finally there's the coming of age years (Reagan). We were the test market for MTV and video games. Hip Hop was Rap and some of it stuck with us or we slipped our parents'/siblings'Nina Simone, Coltrane, Aretha and Sarah stash into the trunk of the car and headed back to campus where we fused with Ruben Blades, Willie Colon, Celia Cruz. Participated in panels hosted by the Asian Student Association, and pushed the board to divest from South Africa. AIDS came on the scene. Crack on the city streets. The divestment movement taught us something about investments, globalization, and commerce. It may have been the first serious encounter with the Wall Street Journal. We were intrigued.
All that said (and it's just a sprinkling), this group that includes Obama can't be neatly put into a box. "Border crossers" may be the closest label. The generations opened the doors. So many influences; and we probably have been receptive in some form or fashion to all of them.
I hope all who have commented here will join my Obama phone-in on 19th August.
Booker T. Obama is the anticlimax of neoliberal politics.
Personally, I think that the era of “black politics” ended some time ago, though its influence could still be seen when Sen. Lott was attacked by the left and he had to step down from the majority leader role. Still, that was just the entire left’s – along with its MSM – Modus Operandi of promoting hatred against anyone not agreeing with them (e.g. Robert Byrd still remains). Basically, the majority of Americans have been tired of “black politics” for some time now…as this article points out with the interviews.
Then came the primaries with Obama and Hillary, catching the usual Identity Politics of the Democratic Party off guard, and “black politics” surfaced again. Missed during all the accusations against Hillary and Bill being “racists”, was Obama’s own 20-year connections to the BLT racists, i.e. that blacks can be racists also. It will be hard to use “black politics” ‘as usual’ in the future, because the term racism will be hurled back into the faces of those claiming it, e.g. McCain’s throwing Obama’s use of the ‘Race Card’ back at Obama, and to a small degree, Whoopi’s claim of black ownership of the N-Word. White Americans may not have said much about Wright and Obama’s connection to him and BLT yet, but they noticed…noticed that something wasn’t right. I look for pressure to soon mount against Democratic Convention CEO Rev. Leah Daughtry (“Jeremiah Wright in a skirt”).
Interesting times ahead…