According to an article I just read, you may be a black American, but you're not a GOOD black American unless you pull the lever for Obama in November!
This race for President that was supposed to be about ideas has broken down around racial lines, just as I suspected it would! In fact, I even blogged about it before ("And Then there's this." March 29, 2008), wondering aloud if support for Obama (or lack thereof) would become a racial issue and the same could be said of Clinton from a gender-bias point of view.
So, how are those good, thinking, and patriotic African-Americans supposed to feel when they DON'T vote for Obama? Will they lie to their black friends and claim to have voted for him or will they tell the truth and say that they, in good conscience, could NOT vote for Obama against their own conservative principals?
Why should they have to make such a choice? Who you choose to vote for, or NOT vote for, is a very personal choice and it always has been; and SHOULD be!
Here's the scary part: If Obama is NOT elected, blacks will probably riot and tear things up and a black American who did NOT vote for him will be seen as a traitor!
Why are white Americans not considered traitors to THEIR race if they DO support Obama?
The answer is simple. To whites (well...MOST whites), Obama's candidacy isn't about race, it's about ideas. To blacks, it's ALL about race! As long as blacks collectively refuse to let it go and talk ideas instead of race, we'll ALWAYS be in this same boat every time this Obama or that Obama comes along!
MLK said it best - (paraphrased) "I dream of a day when we'll be judged NOT by the color of our skin but by the content of our character." When blacks figure out how to forget race and judge others by THEIR ideas and character, a black candidate WILL be on equal footing and the question of race won't even come up!
Then, and only then, will a black candidate have a chance!
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2 comments:
Another excellent piece, Dan!
I've been voicing these same concerns if Obama doesn't win - but I've felt like John the Baptist - 'a voice calling out in the wilderness.'
As has been said by other very erudite political bloggers, American IS ready for a black president, just not THIS black candidate. I would modify this statement to say, America IS ready for a black candidate, but is the black COMMUNITY ready for one, or for one to be defeated?
Also, what is going to be Obama's strengths and weaknesses in Middle Eastern diplomacy? His Muslim father and Muslim education in the primary grades could cause the ME's powers that be to consider him a heretic and, therefore open to assassination, per the Islamic laws. Or, for that same reason, will they expect him to be more sympathetic to their political power plays, especially where it concerns Israel? Either way, I fear we will be between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
This is going to be the most conflictive election we've ever experienced in this country and could be the end of what we know as USofA culture,way of life, and political prowress, imho.
Thanks, Kathy!
Obama scares me on so many fronts it's hard to determine where to begin. He even scares me more than HILLARY, if you can believe that! LOL!
You're right; to the muslim world, he's worse than an infidel; he's a turncoat! I can't see him carrying the nuclear football with every terrorist eye in the world turned on him looking for an opportunity for revenge; it's just plain scary!
As I said in my rant, I don't think the black community is ready to face the failure of a black candidate in the general election. When said candidate is being held up as the litmus test of one's "blackness," it's clear that race is the key issue, not the ideas of the candidate. Oh, that MLK's dream would come true!
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