The Black Community and Obama

Which person within the Black community undermines the chances of us actually attaining or "Permanent Interests"?

1. A person who is critical of President Obama and does not credit him for anything positive.  They actively taunt Obama on his failure to lead and get passed certain legislative initiatives that they themselves actually oppose.  They dismiss the benefit of the positive emotional based impact that he has had for Black Americans and others in the nation and around the world.  A positive outlook on the future is important for a people to turn their skepticism into hope
2. A person who is defensive of President Obama and they actively work to defend his policies and focus upon the antics of the critics of the president and his policies.  They believe that Obama's policies have the best intentions.  Those who are unwilling to change America "for the better" and thus who stand in the way of Obama implementing his agenda is the reason for Obama's difficulties.  Thus, one year later they are still very supportive of President Obama, their frustrations are rooted in the intransigence of  America and its institutions.

 My answer to the question is rooted in the "trick question" that I received at a job interview during college.  I was asked "Is it better to come to work a half hour early and start working or to be a few minutes late?".  I said "early".  The old man said "Wrong!!  I want you here on time every day.   Accuracy is better than overshooting the runway or falling short of it".

Thus the answer to the two scenarios above is that the Black Community is best served by a system of evaluation of Barack Obama and any other politician or leader in which they are ACCURATELY evaluated but DISPASSIONATELY evaluated with reference to an immutable reference.  If there was ever a time for the Black community to adopt the long heard chant "No Permanent Friends.  Only Permanent Interests" it is now.   Failing this the operatives inside of our community will leverage the "Soul Brother-ness" of Obama as COVER for advancing their own ideological and partisan interests.  All without challenge.  To challenge a "Brother man with power" is said to be disloyal.

"You feel more comfortable with a WHITE MAN in power - Don't you?   You hate yourself and your race."

The flaw in this group think tactic is that is ASSUMES that Barack Obama and the Democrats fully encapsulate "Black Consciousness" and what is best for our community.

The only thing that one can say, without proof otherwise, is that Barack Obama , the Black Establishment and the Black voting block represent what is POPULAR or Popularly ASSUMED to be the "Best Interests of Black people".

TAKING THE NEXT STEP

I have no aversion to yielding that the package of thoughts and images that is "Barack Obama" is attractive to most Black Americans AND that they are fully intelligent human beings who can justify their disposition with respect to their own system of rationalization.

My only demand is that these same people be willing to put their system of rationalization up for SCRUTINY and open to TRANSPARENCY.

The "bigoted White Southerner" is seen as the reference standard for intolerance by most Black people.  When a "60 Minutes" camera crew sticks a microphone in his face and asks this person to LOGICALLY explain himself we all are treated to one of two responses:

1. A Hostile Response And Refusal To Be Interviewed - The person feels no compulsion to "explain himself" to anyone, especially those who are inclined to disagree.   "That's the way I think, take it or leave it, but you have to deal with it" is their viewpoint.   This allows them to wallow in their own bigotry and ignorance.  In doing so they retain their little piece of POWER that they believe they have.
2. Agreement To Be Interviewed But An Irrational Set Of Thoughts Displayed - Bigots depend on the non-judgmental acceptance of fellow bigots to maintain their network of bigoted thoughts and behavior.  As the "enlightened masses" listen into the antics and rationalization heard in the interview, all are made aware of the disingenuous and dishonest person that is on camera.  Ironically upon seeing the video the "fellow bigots" will be made proud that their views are being aired.  

With reference to the bigoted Southerner, America in aggregate saw that these people need to be bound by a  FRAMEWORK that was greater than their own machinations and self-indulgent control.  That framework was the US Constitution and the notions of "human rights" and "civil rights".

The bigoted White displays his "ignorance" via his irrational hatred of Black people as a threat to his way of life and the need to keep the Black stratified economically and academically below him.

The bigoted Black displays his "ignorance" via his irrational hatred of White people AS EXPRESSED by his claims of ubiquitous RACISM  imparted by Whites. This is the case even in places where the segments of Whites which are contemptible to him have departed and people of his own choosing lead the way.   In his logic his "hatred" is merely a "secondary hatred" that was triggered by the original hatred of him by others. 

The Unfinished Work From The "Civil Rights Movement"

If you listen to those who believe themselves to be wearing the "cloak of Martin Luther King Jr" today they will likely tell you that "Economic RIGHTS" is the unfinished task that we must focus upon.  In doing so they are allowed to continue with their EXTERNAL struggle.  This outside focus is what they are most attuned to per their organizations.

In my observation the "Next Phase" of the "Black Community Development Movement" exists in "inner-space".   The need to bound the human resources within our community to a framework that is primarily targeted toward obtaining our "permanent interests" per their individual actions is paramount.

Failing to erect this framework makes our community susceptible to the antics of the "snake oil salesmen" who operate within our "secret space" but for their own agenda that has not proven to advance our permanent interests DESPITE the popularity of many of their initiatives.

Regardless of how appealing "popular notions" might be to the masses - if they can't be proven as the course to the attainment of our permanent interests - they are merely a draw upon our sympathies in the context of our present state of mind.

The people must decide if their are in it to build themselves up or to merely continue a permanent struggle.

In either event - they must content themselves that they have done all that was necessary to deliver themselves to the status that they one day find themselves in.  Or they must change their course to obtain different outcomes.