Commentary on Barack Obama and Racism

A COMMENTARY ON OBAMA AND RACE

Obama's protection reveals ugly 'secret'
Leonard Pitts, a syndicated columnist in Washington:
McClatchy-Tribune NewspapersPublished May 8, 2007

Not Rudy Giuliani, who is a supporter of abortion rights.

Not Tom Tancredo, who is a hard-liner on immigration.

Not John Edwards, who is a critic of the war in Iraq.

Only Barack Obama, who is black.

No other presidential candidate, no matter his or her polarizing positions, has felt it necessary to seek protection from the Secret Service. But last week we learned that Obama has sought and will receive that protection, the only candidate ever to do so this early in the process. Only one other candidate even has a Secret Service detail: Hillary Rodham Clinton. And that's because she's a former first lady.You know who else required early protection? Jesse Jackson, when he ran for president in 1984 and '88.Neither Obama's campaign nor the Secret Service will comment on precisely what went into the decision to assign a detail to the senator, beyond saying it was based on no specific threat. But one need not be a seer to divine the reason. Put it this way: The darker the candidate's skin and the more serious his candidacy, the earlier he seems to need protecting.All of which adds a telling dimension to the ongoing debate about Obama and blackness that has percolated for months beneath the surface of his candidacy.On the one side, you have earnest white people insisting that, because his mother was white, Obama is not really black, but "biracial."On the other side, you have earnest black people insisting that, because his heritage does not trace to slavery, Obama is not really black enough -- that is, not black in a cultural sense.Apparently, however, he is both black and black enough for whatever individual or individuals unnerved his handlers enough to seek Secret Service protection.That's a truth that cuts the clutter.In a sense, the fact that we have the luxury of debating "what" Obama is testifies to the racial progress this nation has made.

Once upon a time, nobody had to debate. Back before Colin and Cosby and Condoleezza, before Air Jordan took wing and Johnson made Magic, before Oprah was America's favorite sister girl and Martin spoke of dreams, back when a Southern restaurant caused an international incident by refusing service to an African diplomat -- back in the day, there was no need of abstract rhetoric on what black is.You knew. The world made sure of it.If we have moved beyond that day, if we are proud to think ourselves more enlightened now, it is nevertheless naive to believe the naked meanness of that day has wholly disappeared.It is fashionable now to speak of systemic racism and the need for black folk to take a greater hand in their own salvation. Those discussions are valid. But it is also occasionally instructive to remember that old-fashioned mean-as-a-snake, thick-as-a-brick hatred is still alive and well and living in the U.S.A.

Sometimes, it lolls in the shade of the intellectual cover provided it by the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

Sometimes, it is dressed in suit and tie and sounds reasonable when told by the likes of David Duke.

Sometimes, it is sung in wobbly adolescent voices by the likes of Prussian Blue.

And sometimes, it just rears up on its hind legs and brays that it will commit violence rather than accept a black man as its president.

We like to pretend this bile is not still in us. We like to pretend we are beyond it. Then the man who could be our next president must ask to be protected from those who think him too dark for the job. Something to remember next time you are tempted to debate what black is. The world still has ways of making you know.

And people have a nerve to say that we're colorblind. Colorblind my foot! Racialism is alive and well and it's not going away as long as bigots in high places promote, reproduce, and tolerate antiblack racism as a means to maintain the status quo.

News for 5-10-2007

Here are several stories for this week:

NYT article concerning the lack of Black ballerinas. Click here

Ex-trooper surrenders in 1965 Ala. death Click here

That's all I have so far.

"The Apotheosis of Shawna" (2007)

I made the sketch over a two-week period. Isn't she lovely? What say you?

News for 4-27-2007

Here's a very disturbing report on the plight of Native American women. The Native American women are far more likely to be assaulted than other women. It's due to lack of police and tribal funding as well as lack of societal concern for such women and girls. Here's the link below:

Native American Women Face Higher Rape Rate

Policewomen in NYC are suing NYPD seargent for making insensitive racist/sexist remarks. Click here for story.

Imus producer upbraided Al Sharpton. Click here. Can't the producer accept critcism for once!

Black and beautiful: African-American women haven't had an easy time in the fashion world

Related article:

Are black men dressed as women just a drag? By LaMont Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


It's sad and it's wrong for Black women to be shortchanged in this manner by the Black community and society at large. If you don't like what I'm saying in connection to the plight of Black women in America, that's too bad because it's the truth and truth hurts.

Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald of California, R.I.P.

The Honorable Juanita Millender-McDonald
of California

Congresswoman Millender-McDonald Dies

More on the Virginia Tech Shooting

Students held a vigil for the victims of the
horrendous massacre at VT on Monday


Window Photo of the professor shot at VT on Monday

Here are several newslinks to the Virginia Tech shooting. This is the most senseless shooting in recent times. It could have been prevented by warning the students and faculty in advance after receving threats from the student there. Again, here are the links below:

Names of Victims at Virginia Tech

Brief Security Alert at VT

Police Questioned Cho in 2005 After Student Complained

Opinion: Massacre at VT Renews the Search for Answers

May God watch us all and the family members of the victims and may the victims rest in peace, amen.