Originally, the following was in response to a close, and mostly liberal, friend’s series of anti-Obama postings regarding race, originally posted in March of 2008 or thereabouts(mostly all posts were copies of articles my friend found elsewhere, and were not my friend’s own). For a look at Barack’s actual policies on anything (instead of propaganda) please simply visit http://www.barackobama.com/.
This was in response to a re-posting of an article called Obama blew it: What the candidate should have said about race, by Michael Meyers, from March 20, 2008.
I may have revised some small bits, but the spirit remains.
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I like this one, but instead of saying this guy's right and Obama's wrong... I'd have to say it's not either-or; it's a question of context.
What you got here, in comparing both statements about race, is really just another black guy's (transcendent?) opinion compared to another; but it's like apples and oranges. It's a little like that Spike Lee movie, 'Get On the Bus'. Twenty guys; twenty perspectives on what being black means... There is commonality, mostly our shared histories and how (white) society at large effects us, but it's not like a religion. In fact, we were from different regions, tribes and religions when our ancestors were brought here...
When I was in Philly, one place in the U.S. which is probably one of the most racially intense and aware places for blacks I have ever been... The place where Obama gave his famous speech... A place where people are ‘into’ the racial part of their identity like many East Coast cities—Black, but also Jewish, Italian, Irish, etc. A place where racial enclaves were started a hundred years ago or more, and are still often basically the same neighborhoods ... When I was there I once had a conversation with a group of friends and we often made very clear distinctions between race, culture, heritage, etc.
See, you know I’m adopted... this makes me really an outsider even within my adopted black family... My birth mother was from Texas and of Scottish descent (so that’s where those red hairs in my beard came from). My father was black and who knows what else... I was brought up by black adopted parents— well, my dad also had Blackfoot Indian and my mom, Seminole (a tribe I understand also owned black slaves long after emancipation). Just what the hell does that make me..? Even though I grew up kitty corner from friends whose older brother’s were Black Panthers and in a house with an Ebony Magazine subscription, how am to relate to the ‘black’ experience..?
Well, when I try to get a cab in NYC, then I know how to relate to the black experience. When I hear that my brown-skin male cohorts are 10 times more likely to be shot and killed before the age of 26 than yours, more than twice as likely to go to prison, and the females more likely to be single moms in their teen years—you bet your sweet ass I know which box to check when the census taker comes to the door... I know which federal programs will help, and I wanna make sure the correct proportion of federal tax dollars go to those that do... So, yes, politically, there is no doubt I am black!
Yes, I am a human being, but politically, in a political context in this country... I am most certainly black...
That is the context... and that is what Obama’s speech was about, ‘context’... And what this guy wanted..? Well, it wasn’t wrong exactly; it’s just a different speech.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Adama for President
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dalai Lama for President
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Yo Mama for President
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Billary for President
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright © November 2008 by Gerald Ollison. All rights reserved.
This was in response to a re-posting of an article called Obama blew it: What the candidate should have said about race, by Michael Meyers, from March 20, 2008.
I may have revised some small bits, but the spirit remains.
---------------
I like this one, but instead of saying this guy's right and Obama's wrong... I'd have to say it's not either-or; it's a question of context.
What you got here, in comparing both statements about race, is really just another black guy's (transcendent?) opinion compared to another; but it's like apples and oranges. It's a little like that Spike Lee movie, 'Get On the Bus'. Twenty guys; twenty perspectives on what being black means... There is commonality, mostly our shared histories and how (white) society at large effects us, but it's not like a religion. In fact, we were from different regions, tribes and religions when our ancestors were brought here...
When I was in Philly, one place in the U.S. which is probably one of the most racially intense and aware places for blacks I have ever been... The place where Obama gave his famous speech... A place where people are ‘into’ the racial part of their identity like many East Coast cities—Black, but also Jewish, Italian, Irish, etc. A place where racial enclaves were started a hundred years ago or more, and are still often basically the same neighborhoods ... When I was there I once had a conversation with a group of friends and we often made very clear distinctions between race, culture, heritage, etc.
See, you know I’m adopted... this makes me really an outsider even within my adopted black family... My birth mother was from Texas and of Scottish descent (so that’s where those red hairs in my beard came from). My father was black and who knows what else... I was brought up by black adopted parents— well, my dad also had Blackfoot Indian and my mom, Seminole (a tribe I understand also owned black slaves long after emancipation). Just what the hell does that make me..? Even though I grew up kitty corner from friends whose older brother’s were Black Panthers and in a house with an Ebony Magazine subscription, how am to relate to the ‘black’ experience..?
Well, when I try to get a cab in NYC, then I know how to relate to the black experience. When I hear that my brown-skin male cohorts are 10 times more likely to be shot and killed before the age of 26 than yours, more than twice as likely to go to prison, and the females more likely to be single moms in their teen years—you bet your sweet ass I know which box to check when the census taker comes to the door... I know which federal programs will help, and I wanna make sure the correct proportion of federal tax dollars go to those that do... So, yes, politically, there is no doubt I am black!
Yes, I am a human being, but politically, in a political context in this country... I am most certainly black...
That is the context... and that is what Obama’s speech was about, ‘context’... And what this guy wanted..? Well, it wasn’t wrong exactly; it’s just a different speech.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Adama for President
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dalai Lama for President
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Yo Mama for President
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Billary for President
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright © November 2008 by Gerald Ollison. All rights reserved.
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