Barack Obama is our next president! But…
Although I voted for Barack I can honestly say that I don’t share the overwhelming elation that most black Americans are feeling right now. My parents hail from a small impoverished island and immigrated here with hardly more than the clothes on their backs, but I’ve never once felt that being Black was a limitation. I’ve always known that hard work and outstanding achievement leads to excellence. Unfortunately, many Blacks in America have never shed the shackles of slavery although its been ‘over’ for 145 years. True mental slavery has always been perpetuated by the erroneous belief that the color of a man’s skin weighs more heavily than the content of his character and his pockets! Sadly, I feel that Barack’s victory is based more on ‘racism’ in his favor than on his merits. Don’t get me wrong, I truly believe that the best man for the job won the election! But when has a Black man with such stellar credentials tried to achieve such a feat before? When has a Black man with such strong values and charisma ever attempted to lead a movement? Its highly likely that with the right leader and unified support the struggle that Black American’s have endured for so many years may not have lasted as long. Overall I’m more proud of Obama’s quality than his color. MY PRESIDENT IS SMART!! Why didnt anyone forward THAT text on the 4th?
November 6, 2008 at 12:03 am
preach!!
November 6, 2008 at 12:05 am
maestro you are a teacher fa real! lets not make the blog politcal and death-related for too much longer, but i am defnitly feeling this more ‘intellectual’ ride that your takin us on.
November 6, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Racism in his favor? Please elaborate if you will.
November 6, 2008 at 5:59 pm
racism=Discrimination or prejudice based on race…so its possible that black voters discriminated against the white candidate, hence racism in barack’s favor
November 6, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Nigga stop using all them big words, you sound like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7dPprbzNSc
November 6, 2008 at 6:04 pm
ohhh ok, but Mccain ran so sloppy it was almost embarrassing. Plus this is all just history repeating itself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffbFvKlWqE
November 6, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Its not as big to you because you didnt grow up when racism was “legal” but for our older generation who grew with it its huge! You weren’t around when they had colored only toilets and colored only water fountains at school! Thats to some of our strong black leaders of the civil rights movement you grew up without having to go thru that but had you have went through that you might see Baracks election differently!
November 7, 2008 at 4:53 am
Everybody’s got their own agenda. Never forget that.
Question EVERYTHING. Trust nobody.
November 7, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I truly hear what you are saying, I voted for Barack as well and I would say that the best man won but . . . you are preaching when you say when has another man qualified enough tried to run!
I am a female of mixed race as well but I have never felt like I was crippled because of it! My parents have always backed me and told me that I can be whatever I want to be! I have never felt like my race was going to hinder me and I have never thought once that being a female would either…..
I truly believe that you have to be smart, be around good people, focus, save and work hard. . .. hence, save and work hard! Be blessed and thankful and know that if you have a job, do whatever you need to do to keep it and save for your future!
Barack is not going to make all of your dreams come true you are, so don’t be fooled now that at the end of the day your future and destiny is in your hands!!!!!!!
November 8, 2008 at 4:44 am
I can dig it..but you say that as a Caribbean (as mentioned, ex-teacher, post college grad…Many of the black people you speak of aren’t and the only thing they could wrap their minds around is that he is “black”…racism has worked for white people for so long why is wrong for it to work for us a lil?…Also, my parents are both from the south…my dad has this story he tells of a hot day when he was 8…he wanted to go swimming but the only pool was in a white area of town and black kids werent allow…that day he just stood at the fence watching all the white kids swim, when all of a sudden he felt a sharp pain on his back…it was a white man that had walked up behind him with a belt in hand, whooping him…that man chased him for 3 blocks…So to go from not being allowed in a pool to being in the white house is huge for 50+ African Americans…did you see Jesse Jackson?…long way from the 1984 “run Jesse run” campaign
November 8, 2008 at 7:28 am
Are you kidding me…maybe you should stick to beats, because when you open your mouth you sound like an idiot!
1st Blacks just got the right to vote in 1965 and really could vote til the 70’s. Then you have the nerve to ask “When has a Black man with such strong values and charisma ever attempted to lead a movement?”…how about Martin, Malcom, Malik Shabazz, W. E. B. Du Bois the list just goes on…
Open a fucking book! If slavery has been over for “145″ what the fuck are prisons, but giant plantations. 90% of prisons population are non white.
Then your dumb ass goes and say “I feel that Barack’s victory is based more on ‘racism’ in his favor than on his merits” are you fucking kidding me, I guess George Bush really set the bar pretty high when it comes to having achieved high merits. I guess instead of teaching constitutional law, he should have gotten a few DUI’s and been fired from a few more jobs.
They poison the hood, and pile a few bricks on top of each other and call it a school. I’m glad you made it, but don’t assume everybody else that didn’t somehow didn’t want to. The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he doesn’t exist! Open your eyes!
November 8, 2008 at 6:04 pm
hey chozen i appreciate your input. I especially admire the fact that you (like myself) choose to speak your mind without hiding behind a shroud of anonymity (even though your link doesnt go anywhere, lol)
but I’m not here to argue, only to speak my point of view.
and as for my comment about his merits, i stand behind that still. Im sure if i was to ask the first 10 people who sent the “my president is black, my lambo is blue” text to name some points from Barack’s policy they’d be speechless. If i asked them what accolades from his background made him a far better candidate than those that he beat out, many would have no real answers.
i edited my post with my overall point…i am overwhelmed by the fact that Obama was victorious. I admire him and i know that his election will serve as a guiding light to many young people in need of inspiration. But overall, i mostly happy that we have an strong, upstanding, intellectual man in office first…the fact that he is black does not weigh heavily on my exuberance.
November 8, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Your points are both interesting and heavily disappointing at once. Should we be elated that a QUALIFIED candidate has FINALLY become President of the United States of America? ABSOULUTELY and without uncertainty. But should we also be proud of the fact that our President Elect is an AFRICAN AMERICAN? Hell yeah!!! Barack Obama is the epitome of what we as a people should stand for. Here is a man, a black man, who as a small child only dreamed of becoming President. He came from very little…educated himself…EARNED the right to attend Harvard University where during his time there, per my recent discovery, became the 1st African American President of the Harvard Law Review, which in itself is a huge feat. He then went on to be a lecturer on constitutional law at Harvard Universtiy, and eventually earned himself a seat as a US Senator, and now PRESIDENT!!! THIS IS THE AMERICAN DREAM REALIZED!!!
I am absolutely proud of the fact that Barack Obama is unquestionably qualified for the job. However, he IS NOT the first Black man with stellar credentials that has a lead a movement. There have been many that achieved much success as aforementioned in some of your other comments. I am just as proud of our political, religious, and civil rights leaders that preceeded Obama as I am of Obama. Let’s not knock the fact that what Obama accomplished has been long overdue, well deserved and something to be PROUD of, BOTH because he is qualified AND because HE IS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN!!! 63% of his supporters were White people—clearly his victory was NOT based on the color of his skin, but because of his merits, the need for positive change, and the fact that he was the better candidate. At the end of the day he won because enough is enough, and we needed change in The White House.
Barack Obama has proven to be a “breaker of barriers” the majority of his life. He will not change the world overnight but he did make history in just ONE NIGHT. I am PROUD and over-elated to be an African American woman being represented by such a qualified, smart, charismatic and selfless AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN!!! He has single handedly boosted the country’s morale at a time where we need it most. Now that we’ve successfully elected him into office, we can’t let him down. We as a people need to use his story and success as a foundation for what NEEDS to be done in our own individual lives. That’s when change is really going to come. It’s a domino effect. Let’s continue to say YES WE CAN every single day. Believe it or not, people (of all races) that believe skin color, sex, and origin will keep them from reaching their dreams only represent a small percentage of the population. The majority of us have always known that we can accomplish whatever we want to in our lives. However, for most of us it doesn’t come without a plan, faith, hard work and sacrifice. Some of us just don’t know where to start. And for those people…THIS is a step in the right direction! Use this to cripple any notion that our skin color and even our sex can hold us down. WE CANNOT BE HELD DOWN by anyone other than ourselves. A Black man is running what has been called the “White man’s world” for centuries. I bet former slave masters are tossing and turning in their graves at this very moment. We no longer have to imagine change. CHANGE HAS COME, and a well deserving BLACK MAN did it! Maestro–BE PROUD OF THAT!
November 8, 2008 at 7:37 pm
First let me say, you have the right to speak your mind, I just want you to remember many blacks died before you would had this right (Emmitt till). I also want to apologize for speaking out of anger, I am not an internet thug (lol) and I am a fan of your music or I wouldn’t have stopped by your page. Oh and my link is http://www.SchoolofILL.com if your interested in my opinion.
With that being said BOI STOP!! My friend and I did a documentary on election day interviewing around 100 people of all races, colors and creeds. Even I was surprised by peoples general knowledge.
Even more so, how ill informed McCain supporters are. By far, McCain supporters held less knowledge about the issues than Obama supporters.
Many Obama supporters would list the regular…Clinton like tax policy, the foreign affairs policy and anti war policy but the one that stood out for me was HOPE and or Change.
Barack Obama’s policy on change has given the entire world hope. Hope that it doesn’t have to be like its been since before we were born. Hope that somehow America can live up to what its supposed to be.
Think about, people around the world in every country celebrated Barack’s victory not just Black people.
Oh and your right that “Its highly likely that with the right leader and unified support the struggle that Black American’s have endured for so many years may not have lasted as long” but the problem is they keep killing our leaders and pumping crack in the hood (Reagan) and depleting the inner city daily while simultaneously breaking up Black families.
Read up about the early well-fare policy’s. How fathers weren’t allowed in the home if a family wanted to receive any kind of help. First they stripped the inner cities of jobs then they stripped them of fathers and got the mothers addicted to drugs. Why are all The Black Panthers dead, in jail or strung out?
If you ride through the hood, what do you see on billboards, what kind of store is on just about every corner? Its all negative for a reason, you would never get zoning for a corner liquor store in the suburbs.
And your right, he is very intelligent, he taught constitutional law for 10 years, as a community organizer he helped uplift poor and impoverished parts of Chicago. People laugh at that but there are more people on the south side of the Chi than are in the entire state of Alaska.
At the end of the day was Obama’s race a factor for why I voted for him…. yes. However, not the only factor. If Condoleezza Rice would have ran, I would not have voted for her, and I don’t think Black people would have either. So racism…hell na! Its called being proud! Obama himself was half White and screamed unity. So, if Black voters were racist they wouldn’t have voted for him either. YA DIG!?!
November 8, 2008 at 7:43 pm
I too voted for Barack Obama and did not share in the initial elation of most of America. I was more in awe that this was happening and it had happened so early in the evening. I am excited to see such an intelligent African-American man reach this level of success and am hopeful in his ability to change the state of this country. The drive and ambition that he exudes gives me hope that he can accomplish this goal. I am concerned that others are not excited for the same reason. I am a strong believer that hard work pays off. I totally agree with you Maestro when you say this. I have worked extremely hard for everything I have & will continue to do so. I am afraid that some of "us" who voted for Barack are expecting some sort of free ride. Anyone who has reached a level of success know what I'm talking about. You are now responsible for helping out your deadbeat homie or family member who feels that because you are successful you should now share the wealth. If this is the case, we will have a lot of disappointed people. I truly hope this is an incentive for our people to better themselves. At the end of the day, I am eager to see what is to come for the future and look forward to seeing us hopefully come together as a people. This was indeed a great day in America!
November 10, 2008 at 10:34 pm
I do agree that some black people use being black as a crutch. I’ve always felt nobody can stop you from doing whatever it is, you want to do. Putting in hard work is free, and doesn’t take any talent what so ever. But To say that “Barack’s victory was based more on racism”? C’mon homey, affirmative action didn’t put Barack in office, the votes of the American people did. I don’t think he got in because he’s black. I’m happy about Obama’s qualities, and resume, him being black, for me is a plus. Now if he wasn’t qualified, him being black would’ve went out the window. I wouldn’t have voted for that nigga. lol
November 22, 2008 at 6:06 am
He actually won because people are yearning for a CHANGE! Yes it’s true that some people voted for him because he’s “black” but that’s not it. He’s MIXED half Black half White so he represents two sides. One thing I love about him is that he doesn’t harp on race like so many of us Americans…he wants to be in office so that he can be of GOOD SERVICE for the American people. One thing we need to realize is that the only way a REAL change is going to occur is if we individually as well as collectively uphold the morals/values that this country was originally founded. …and yes I did cry when he won because for once in my lifetime a man was judged not by his skin tone but by the content of his character and to know that a BLACK-EDUCATED woman is standing right beside him and holding him down, serving as his backbone brings me such JOY and CONFIDENCE because it lets me know that women like me exist
November 23, 2008 at 5:24 am
Racism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Racism, by its simplest definition, is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.
Stro…do you mean that black people thought there are the superior race so the voted for BHO. Doubt it.
November 24, 2008 at 4:08 am
Meastro,
I apologize for coming to this thread so late in the day.
Your drop coalesced my feelings exactly on the outcome of this election.
Slavery has been such a bitch to both white and especially Blacks here in America. It doesn’t allow people to examine character because it trumps that from the gate.
The honeymoon for Barack Obama might be over even before the inauguration when we find out that he is as much like G Dubbz as McCain was, maybe even moreso regarding the ability to bomb Brown and Black folks at the drop of a dime.
Great drop homey