White's Great Hope

The Wall Street Journal posted an article last week entitled "White's Great Hope?" discussing Barak Obama's run in racial terms. It is an excellent expose on just what is wrong with White America and why Obama irks me.

"Because he's black it makes me want to believe that he will change



things," says Mr. Oliver, leaving an Obama campaign rally here. "It



feels like you are part of something that's starting to change American



politics. It's the cool factor. He's a rock star."

Wow. Because he's black he's a magical person who can change things? Really? No. Actually the important part is that he's a popular "rock star" black person. This is important because the "approachable" and "cool" black male has always been popular in America. Remember that prior to Colin Powell deciding not to run for president, He was a "rock star" too. An "eloquent" one at that. So the question is what makes him so "cool" and "approachable"?

As he campaigns across the country, Sen.



Obama, the son of a black father and a white



mother, is both revealing and tapping into a



changed racial landscape, especially among



younger whites. After decades of often bitter



polarization and racial tension on issues ranging



from the spread of civil rights to affirmative



action, many whites say they are drawn to Sen.



Obama precisely because they think his



mixed-race background reflects America's



increasingly diverse population and projects a



more optimistic vision of the country's racial



future.

Let is be clear here. The above statement is extremely important here. White people in the US have a history of bestowing favors upon "light skinned" blacks (often their own offspring). While such people were still seen as "not quite human" white folk could not help but see a little of them in those individuals. Sometimes they went so far as to provide rudimentary education to these individuals. Down through the passing of time, we will note that even today the research shows that "light skinned blacks" are automatically afforded a presupposition of intelligence and culture relative to "dark skinned blacks." In other words, those white people who feel "good" about Obama because he "has a little of us in him" are simply playing out the same warped racist attitudes of their ancestors. Same shit different century.

What is also significant is the discussion of "polarization" comment. In other words, Obama becomes yet another white appointed "black" leader. Again this is straight out the Old South playbook. Find a Negro whom can keep the niggers in check even while being a "voice of reasonableness" to the majority population. While Barak Obama can be forgiven somewhat for not seeing this situation, I'm not sure if I can give his wife the same pass. She should know better and not let Obama fall in for that. But then again, when one is seeking the highest office of the land, such "little" quibbles like mass insults to the race ought not to be a source of distraction.

Sean Briscoe, a 24-year-old white who writes a political blog in



Nashville, is one: "Obama doesn't come with the baggage of the



civil-rights movement, focusing entirely on the race issue," he says. "He



went from Hawaii to Indonesia. He has been in all these places where



you get an appreciation for people who aren't like you."

Sean Brisco is an idiot. Let me translate this for us:

"Obama isn't one of those Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton niggers who cry racism all the time. I'm tired of those people and wish they were dead. Black people need to stop complaining and be more like this Negro right here."

The problem with Brisco and his ilk is that they think that Civil Rights, mean Black rights. No sir-e-bob. Civil Rights laws protect everybody. See before the police were dragging people off for demonstrating against Bush they were practicing on Black people in the ol south. So when "Civil Rights" people protest against police brutality they are lookin' out for you too. Mind you that "White privilege" (what ought to be called "the status quo") keeps many white folk from realizing this. In fact one of the greatest benefactors of Civil Rights legislation has been women. White women.

Two decades ago, Jesse Jackson broke new ground by challenging



whites to consider a black mounting a serious run for the presidency.



Now Sen. Obama and a new generation of black candidates are running



campaigns that make whites feel good about themselves. These younger



black politicians, including Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and



Tennessee Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr., are, like Sen. Obama, seen



by many whites as proof of the country's racial progress -- and their



own.



Sen. Obama "doesn't steer away from race but makes sure that



everything he does is influenced by his bi-racial identity," says Harvard



Law School professor Charles Ogletree, who knew Mr. Obama as a law



student and is advising the campaign.

Like I said, There is nothing new here about black "leaders" making white people feel good about themselves. In fact it is apparently the job of black folk in America to make white folk feel good about themselves. It's a pretty sad state of affairs. Really. This isn't progress. All it does is allow white folk to continue to wallow in the self-centered universe they operate in in which that which they want is paramount and to hell with everyone else. Of course we know from history that white folk have often allowed certain negroes to be their lookout men (and women). Trust us with their children. Heck tryst us to drop dime when the rest of us were seeking freedom.

I remember back in the day when Dr. Leonard Jefferies caught flak for singling out students in his class who were biracial. He reportedly challenged there commitment to black people because he thought that their white parent would be a source of conflict when it came down to standing up for black folk. A lot of people were not comfortable with this but here we have Mr. Obama expressing the very same issue that Jefferies was concerned about. See Obama is really the literal 'White Negro" and plays right into the hands of racist white America that would love to see the rest of us good and gone (except for entertainment purposes). The rest of us though are quite happy being "black on both sides" and guess what? We are just as American as anyone else here and don't need any other bonafides.

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