And I'm not talking about Obama.
Yesterday I was watching one of those "more conservative" black shows on ABC and they said that Obama is running for president of all Americans not just African-Americans. I've heard this many times and it bothers me a great deal. The implication of this statement is that the wishes of Black America or of less importance of any other group and/or black America's issues are somehow not good for the whole country. That is, they are only good for black Americans.
The problem with this analysis is that it is defied by the history of black struggles in America. The public school system was the creation of the black representatives during reconstruction. Indeed they wanted to get education for the newly "emancipated" Africans in America, but that same public school system would educate countless white people. So here we have an example of where the desires of black folk turned out to be beneficial to the entire population.
Another example is the Civil Rights Act itself. Anyone who reads the document will clearly see that it is not directed only at Black people as it includes protections for ethnic groups, gender, etc. Again mostly black folk who took water hoses, dogs, lynchings, etc. got legislation through that now protects a large number of people many of whom lifted nary a finger to gain those protections.
Want more? How about Affirmative Action, Supposedly this executive order was to help blacks, but the data is clear that the group that has benefitted the most from Affirmative Action programs are white women..
These are but a few examples of how "black issues" have been beneficial for the country. So it is high time that the marginalization of black issues as somehow not good enough for everybody, when it has been "black issues" that have been at the forefront of holding the US to it's constitution, stop. When you hear this nonsense, let 'em know.
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