There are so many things that I could blog about tonight: so much is going on in our world. Alas, time constraints compel me to focus on just one thing--a story that many of the popular blogs aren't running.
It's such an important story that I wanted to highlight it here, to make up for the lack of attention it's receiving, and to use it to respond to several remarks that a commenter has made on another blog.
Over at The African American Clarion Call blog I'm having a fun discussion with Constructive Feedback, and the blog author, Greg L.
Constructive Feedback describes the black electorate-Obama dialectics with the following observation in response to a statement proffered by the blog author:
"Black People SUPPORTING A "RIGHT WING DEMOCRAT"? PLEASE!!!!!
It is more accurate to say BLACK PEOPLE - knowing that they are going to get some measure of PROGRESSIVE policy AND seeking to retain their VICARIOUS LIVING through OBAMA'S EXPERIENCES - are SILENT over Obama's actions as COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE."
To underscore his position again, Feedback offered this followup observation:
"What we have today are Black people who are looking at Obama as KING Jr but failing to realize that KING turned AGAINST the man who seat Obama now sits when King could no longer accept his actions as Commander In Chief. King prioritized global JUSTICE over 'The Great Society'"
Undeterred by the utter brashness of his position, one shared by other black conservatives, I responded thusly:
I guess you're using an exclusionary clause, exempting yourself from the society of "Black People." But that's to be expected given your ideological propensities. Nevertheless, I would expect someone other than a black person to write the aforementioned statement. It reveals a total ignorance of black people, and their rationale for voting for now President Obama.
Would you say that you're living "vicariously" through Obama, and are waiting for some "progressive policy" from him? No, you wouldn't, but you don't hesitate to confer this dubious honor upon liberal blacks.
Other than being the best president this nation's ever seen--where most have been white--blacks want nothing from Obama: no handouts, no reparations (although Fox News insist we do), and no special treatment.
I didn't make this statement just to provide a counter to the one Constructive made, it's a position I've held from day one. Here's another:
Blacks did not, are not, pinning their economic, social, or political hopes on Obama. Were that the case, we would have deserted him months ago.
Yet, that's what you'd like to believe, because it fits the narrative you've contrived, and it buttresses your ideological predisposition. Blacks saw in Obama, not an opportunity to advance so much, but as confirmation that blacks can reach for the highest office in the land and achieve it, despite the obstacles, the hurdles, and the impediments that are often strewn in our path by the majority society.
That assurance along will drive the vision of blacks now being born, and those who, even now, are aspiring to do great things. You can't see that because you're wearing ideological blinders, and can only see what you've placed in front of you.
I dare to have more faith in our people than you; to believe in their eventual success; to know that a new energy has been unleashed, and a new vision of their potential brought before them.
Where there's a lack of vision, the people perish.
To support my position, let me offer the following:
MEMPHIS (CNN) – A hundred and fifty-five Warriors from Booker T. Washington received a high school diploma and a handshake from President Obama in Memphis today.
"Just a couple of years ago, this was a school where only about half the students made it to graduation. For a long time, just a handful headed to college each year," the President pointed out in his address to the students.
The schools graduation rate is one reason the President came to Memphis on this cool spring day. Booker T. Washington High School is credited with a jump in graduation rate from 55% to 82 % in just four years through the use of gender based classrooms and increasing teacher effectiveness by moving teachers that seem to get more than a years growth out of their students to the core classes of English and mathematics.
"Because you created this culture of caring and learning, today we are standing in a very different Booker T. Washington High School. Today, this is a place where more than four out of five students are earning a diploma – a place where 70 percent of the graduates will continue their education."
The President has set a goal of having the largest percentage of college graduates in the world by the year 2020. Booker T. Washington is an inner city school, is a low-income neighborhood with high incidents of teenage pregnancy and violence.
I believe that a part of their success as students results from this new vision of their potential, but I must also credit the hard work, and persistence of their principle and teachers.
Please watch the following video from CNN. As usual, you'll have to endure a short commercial before viewing it, but it's time well spent. When President Obama makes his entrance, one of the girls in the graduating class breaks down in tears.
Tell me that these young people will forget this special visit and honor, and won't go forward to do great things with their lives!
22 comments:
I enjoyed reading this post. I especially like this particular comment.
Blacks did not, are not, pinning their economic, social, or political hopes on Obama. Were that the case, we would have deserted him months ago.
It is a point that I can support.
It is easy to theorize. I don't see anything different in contemporary theory than in the past theories on what should be done by AAs. What I am not seeing is the leadership that is capable to unite through organizing. That is a problem that has not been addressed.
msladydeborah said..."I don't see anything different in contemporary theory than in the past theories on what should be done by AAs."
I agree. Yet, with the achievement gap, I think that we need to attack it broadly but focus narrowly--the narrower the better.
As a teacher, yourself, I'm sure you're acquainted with the plethora of "theories" that abound in the literature--but the answer, as articulated by the principle, may be no more complicated than her simple formula: "know your kids, know where they come from, and catch things early...."
>>The schools graduation rate is one reason the President came to Memphis on this cool spring day. Booker T. Washington High School is credited with a jump in graduation rate from 55% to 82 % in just four years through the use of gender based classrooms and increasing teacher effectiveness by moving teachers that seem to get more than a years growth out of their students to the core classes of English and mathematics.<<
BD, thanks for giving me some pub. This is a good example of unconscious consciousness. Unconsciously working on an affinity in a conscious effort to address a problem. This may be a model for other schools and there's definitely a need for models to emulate and build upon.
@Greg L: "BD, thanks for giving me some pub."
You have a great blog--timely, relevant, informative, and focused. You deserve a shout out!
"This may be a model for other schools and there's definitely a need for models to emulate and build upon."
It's worth a try. I'm not an advocate of the "one size fits all" school of thought, but the one that says, "If it works, keep working it."
When it stops working, or it doesn't work for everyone, be willing to try something else, at least for those students who aren't benefiting using a particular educational strategy.
Thank you for such a thoughtful post... you almost made me cry - lol.
Christine said...
"Thank you for such a thoughtful post... you almost made me cry...."
You're welcome.
Awwh Black Diaspora - I did not realize that I had touched you so much.
Do you mind if I unravel a few of your points that you got wrong?
[quote]I guess you're using an exclusionary clause, exempting yourself from the society of "Black People." [/quote]
I am glad that you said this BD.
You see - all the while that you attempt to separate the so-called "Black Conservative" from his racial loyalties - as YOU might say "NO clear thinking Negro would support policies that run COUNTER to the interests of Black people"..................I look at the policies that are lifted up as "Pro-Black" and struggle to find the BLACKNESS within them.
You see BD - for me a "Pro-Black" policy has an attribute that many don't consider:
When it is TRIED yet FAILS to produce the INTENDED result a "Pro-Black policy" is ABANDONED so no more injury is suffered by the next Black people in line.
Thus I am puzzled why you note my seeming abstraction from the larger body of Black people - while YOU seem unwilling to render tests upon certain policies that you prefer AND which dominate our community.
[quote]Other than being the best president this nation's ever seen--where most have been white--blacks want nothing from Obama: no handouts, no reparations (although Fox News insist we do), and no special treatment.[/quote]
BD - when I hear certain Black Progressive-Fundamentalists make the case that Obama should target funding for places that are the hardest hit by the present economic situation and they just happen to be focusing on BLACK PEOPLE ----- should I read this as their intention to focus on people with the attribute of "The Least of These" or Black people?
[quote]Blacks did not, are not, pinning their economic, social, or political hopes on Obama. Were that the case, we would have deserted him months ago.[/quote]
BD:
I simply cannot accept YOUR narrative.
In the process of stripping the clothes off of Cornel West and whipping him publicly so that no one else would dare do as he had done - we were treated to a scene never heard of before - Black people openly questioning the logic of "Speaking Truth To Power" because it might harm THE POWER'S poll numbers and compromise his reelection attempts.
The truth is that you are failing to consider all of this from an ARCHITECTURAL perspective.
I credit you for acknowledging that Black people have been on a hierarchical run to test the tolerance of present day America:
* The first Black mayor
*.... city council prez
* ...county board member
* ....state senator
*....US rep
* ...Governor
each of these rungs of POWER, BD, were occasions that were recognized as FIRSTS.
What I think that you have difficulty accepting is that in these "Mission Accomplished" zones - the Black community stands with FAVORABLE PEOPLE in power and yet our grievances remain. As the "embedded confidence men" sees that they are in the seat of power and there is growing restlessness - they merely need to EXPAND THE STRUGGLE UPWARD AND OUTWARD - keeping Black folks on a dual:
* Racial DEFENSIVE posture against RACISM
* A Racial STRUGGLE disposition by which each new seat is a VICTORY for "US"
I ask you BD - when is it that we should acknowledge that an environment has enough FAVORABLE PEOPLE calling the shots where we should expect to see INCREASE in our people??
The reason why there is no DESERTION of Obama is because the skillful propagandists know that BLACK PEOPLE prefer to DEFEND OBAMA over a birth certificate than they have the inclination to throw him overboard over a small thing like Black unemployment rising to 16.2%
I am not even calling for you to abandon Obama BD.
I am demanding that Black people DEFEND OUR "Racial Consciousness Nucleus" from the misappropriation that the CONFIDENCE MEN seek to use US for. (Does my use of "US" render your previous criticism of me moot?)
What do you do, BD when someone KNOWS YOU because THEY ARE YOU and begins to USE what they know about your DEFENSIVENESS to THEIR advantage?
One
Constructive Feedback said...
"Awwh Black Diaspora - I did not realize that I had touched you so much."
I admit: I have a soft spot for the ideologically challenged.
"I look at the policies that are lifted up as "Pro-Black" and struggle to find the BLACKNESS within them."
Where is the "blackness" in conservatism, and Republicanism?
Frankly, I know of no "Pro-Black" policies, be they from the Right or from the Left.
Policies that are legislated ostensibly for blacks rarely impact blacks alone.
Affirmative action, chief among the so-called black policy legislations, extends to a variety of other "protected classes," from white women to Latinos, and Asians--and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a "comprehensive U.S. law intended to end discrimination based on race, colour, religion, or national origin."
"You see BD - for me a "Pro-Black" policy has an attribute that many don't consider:
"When it is TRIED yet FAILS to produce the INTENDED result a "Pro-Black policy" is ABANDONED so no more injury is suffered by the next Black people in line."
What are these failed "Pro-Black" policies, and how are you measuring the success or failure of these policies?
My guess: It's not the so-called "failed" policies that you object to, but the political ideology that spawned them.
"YOU seem unwilling to render tests upon certain policies that you prefer AND which dominate our community."
I don't prefer "certain policies." And I know of none that "dominate our community." Aren't you a part of the black community? Clearly, these policies of which you speak aren't dominating you, or you wouldn't be railing against them.
"[W]hen I hear certain Black Progressive-Fundamentalists make the case that Obama should target funding for places that are the hardest hit by the present economic situation and they just happen to be focusing on BLACK PEOPLE...."
We're talking about the masses of black people, not some disgruntled nominal black leader, speaking more for himself, than the lot of us.
For my part, I'm not asking President Obama to "target funding for places that are the hardest hit by the present economic situation."
This seems to be the centerpiece of your argument, but that centerpiece rests on the Right of center, and is proffered to make a point that's based on few examples, and specifics.
In short, it's a specious argument.
"I simply cannot accept YOUR narrative."
I'm not asking you to. You can't accept it, because it's a "narrative" that counters what you've contrived as true--that blacks want something from President Obama.
As I've stated: We want him to be the best president this country's ever seen.
"Black people openly questioning the logic of "Speaking Truth To Power" because it might harm THE POWER'S poll numbers and compromise his reelection attempts."
I'm not vested in the "reelection" of President Obama. The people will make that decision for themselves.
However, I will say this: If the presidency goes to a Republican candidate, it would be incumbent upon us to commission a requiem for the country. Republicans will complete what they started before the country turned to "hope and change"--the utter economic destruction of this country.
Two
Republicans say they champion small government, and individual freedom, when in fact they wish to be more intrusive upon individual freedom, with their culture wars (redefining rape, coming between doctors and women's health, telling people who they can and cannot marry--to name a few).
"What I think that you have difficulty accepting is that in these "Mission Accomplished" zones - the Black community stands with FAVORABLE PEOPLE in power and yet our grievances remain...."
Changing political direction, as one would a horse in full gallop, will not assure black communities that they will get to the finish line first, if at all.
Clearly if change (economic improvement) is still elusive within black communities, your stated "'Mission Accomplished' zones" aren't "mission accomplished" at all.
I don't question that work needs to be done, I merely question your remedy to the perceived problem.
What makes you think that your prescription for black economic autonomy is any better than the prescriptions of the past, or will bring the "patient" once again to the blush of health and soundness?
"* Racial DEFENSIVE posture against RACISM"
Blacks can't bring up this bogeyman (racism): It keeps us in the wrong camp, and easy prey for Democrats, right?
Who is using this tactic to seize power and stay in power?
I know this: Republicans have been pretty good at conjuring up bogeymen--the war on terror, public unions, President Obama with his Mau-Mau influence from his father. And don't forget his "deep-seated hatred for whites."
Three
"* A Racial STRUGGLE disposition by which each new seat is a VICTORY for "US""
This is your faulty assessment of black achievements. A First is not a "VICTORY for "US", but constitutes a shift in consciousness, proclaiming the assurance that what one has won, all can achieve.
I'm not living vicariously through President Obama. I suspect that very few blacks are. I know that it's a penchant of yours to throw out this claim. It serves your agenda, but it's a false claim. (Trust me, it is!)
"BLACK PEOPLE prefer to DEFEND OBAMA over a birth certificate than they have the inclination to throw him overboard over a small thing like Black unemployment rising to 16.2%"
Black unemployment is probably higher than that. But your power of persuasion isn't good enough to convince me that Republicans, or black Republicans "embedded" in the Republican party, rather than those you call "Black Progressive-Fundamentalists," will be any better at whittling down the number of the unemployed in black communities.
I have seen nothing from Republicans, nor do I see anything now, that would convince me to throw my lot in with them. And if I did, it wouldn't mean that a brighter day for blacks, and the black community would be just around the corner.
"I am demanding that Black people DEFEND OUR "Racial Consciousness Nucleus" from the misappropriation that the CONFIDENCE MEN seek to use US for. (Does my use of "US" render your previous criticism of me moot?)"
CF, you talk in riddles. A little forthcomingness would be appreciated. Let's see if I can unravel what you've said.
Why do you believe that this "Racial Consciousness Nucleus" is under attack? And what is the "nucleus" of such a "racial consciousness"?
I'm conscious of being "black," yet I know I'm more than "black." I'm human. The body is more than the clothes it wears, and the food it eats.
Yet, I'm happy to be black, pleased to assert my blackness, and stand in solidarity with all blacks, regardless of where they live.
Four
The "nucleus" of that blackness stems from my involvement in our common black experience, and my "black consciousness" the product of choice--of choosing to see my world through the optics of black, if not totally, and exclusively, then first and foremost.
That others might seek to use and exploit this proclivity, certainly, but no more than say, the exploitation of whiteness as a "nucleus," and a "consciousness."
In short, I don't see the level of exploitation that you suggest, nor the " misappropriation" you perceive.
That blacks may prefer one political philosophy over another is the fault, or the failing, or the success and the achievement of those political parties that appeal to their political sensibilities, or repulse them.
There's nothing that you nor I can do to change that--a scorned political party has to do a better job of selling its wares, if it wishes to win over a majority of blacks in the voting booths.
"What do you do, BD when someone KNOWS YOU because THEY ARE YOU and begins to USE what they know about your DEFENSIVENESS to THEIR advantage?"
That's just it: no one "knows" me. I'm an enigma. Not, because I choose to me, but because I'm cut from a different cloth than most.
And even if I opened up to you, and told you who I really am, you'd call me a liar, and delusional. That's just it: no one is me! Therefore, they can't "use" what they don't know--to their "advantage" or disadvantage.
That a whole people might be so vulnerable to such machinations is highly doubtful. Blacks aren't as predictable as you think they are around the questions of racism, nor are they easy prey of the race con.
Pointing it out is not the same as being preoccupied by it, and neither is it the same as being easily swayed by those who you say are exploiting it.
Pointing out a rattle snake is not the same as being bit by one, and neither does it guarantees the death of the rattler--it just allows for your avoidance of the rattler if you don't wish to be bit.
"(Does my use of "US" render your previous criticism of me moot?)"
No!
The Weight Upon Black People Of Carrying Obama's Water
http://withintheblackcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/06/living-vicariously-through-obama.html
[quote]Where is the "blackness" in conservatism, and Republicanism? [/quote]
I claim to be a "Black Conservator" but not a Republican so I can only partially answer your question.
The recognition of BLACK COMMUNITY CONSCIOUSNESS and then seeking to CODIFY it and PERPETUATE IT into future generations is a CONSERVATOR idea. The Democrats and Republicans exist in the American Political Domain. I am speaking of the "Community Cultural Consciousness & Competency Development Domain".
My Dear Friend BD -
In your Point #1 - the curious thing about YOUR argument is that you try to DISMISS my claims that the prevailing "Black Racial Services Industry" has a particular IDEOLOGY and that it attempts to JAM this ideology as part of its legislative, economic and social actions.
Yet you PRETEND that it is "I" who is just imagining all of this when we can listen to the "Progressive vs Progressive" battle with Cornel West as DIRECT PROOF that my assessment is spot on.
West believes that progressives should have a "Poverty Centric" model.
The truth is (and you know it) is that he ran into trouble when he tried to Club Obama Over The Head with PROGRESSIVISM.
Its not that the "JingOists" had a problem with the underlying goals of West (THESE THEORIES ARE THEIR OWN) - they had a problem with him breaking ranks and attack Obama instead of Boehner with these tenants.
BD - thank you for writing your 4 part series. From this I can gather your points of obfuscation and molestation.
[quote]Changing political direction, as one would a horse in full gallop, will not assure black communities that they will get to the finish line first, if at all. [/quote]
Did you see what you did?
YOU ASSume that I asked you to promote a change in POLITICAL direction. (I can only assume that you mean 'Blacks becoming Republicans would be our cure')
In truth I merely suggested that BLACK PEOPLE look at the video tapes of the promises made to us for the past 50 years and make transparent assessments of the gap between what we were SOLD and what showed up on our door steps when FedEx delivered the package.
[quote]Clearly if change (economic improvement) is still elusive within black communities, your stated "'Mission Accomplished' zones" aren't "mission accomplished" at all.[/quote]
Think BD. Think.
The "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" attribute is NOT about the "SUCCESS" delivered TO BLACK PEOPLE.
It is focused on the EMBEDDED CONFIDENCE MEN who desired to harvest the currency of EQUAL BLACK VOTES and the more valuable - "BLACK COMMUNITY CONSCIOUSNESS". They tied our consciousness in with their ELECTORAL SUCCESS - in fighting the enemies of Black Progressives - THE REPUBLICANS.
Yet, my good man BD - when we look at REPUBLICAN FREE ZONES of Newark, Chicago and Philly - the absence of the ENEMY has NOT brought forth "Negro Prosperity".
If you and others were transparent you would see that in Newark - with all of the institutional seats occupied by FAVORABLE PEOPLE - the progressives merely FACTIONALIZE locally. As "Brick City " shows - they merely have bloody lateral fights.
YET when it comes to state and national politics - BOTH progressive sides are able to say "I am the OBAMA CANDIDATE vote for ME".
This is akin to both sides in a football game saying "God is on our side and will lead us to a victory".
BD -The political operations today for the balance of Black people is 100% counter to what Malcolm X WARNED us about.
[quote] proclaiming the assurance that what one has won, all can achieve.[/quote]
BD:
Take WHAT YOU JUST SAID and then apply it to the FACT that these FAVORABLE PEOPLE - who's portraits are now seen hanging on the walls of Black people NOW RUN THE "HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS" that Black people use for our DEVELOPMENT!!!
The Black female school superintendent in Philly - Dr Arlene Ackerman is INDEED a "portrait of accomplishment" in her ascension. YET as I read the paper which said that the school board's past decisions have HARMED STUDENTS - I am forced to see that her BLACKNESS and the PRIDE that can be extracted from it can't trump the MATERIAL IMPACT of the product of their work.
Now of course you understand that- Clarence Thomas - a Black man - must be appraised by MORE than his skin color. Strangely enough, BD - in his case indeed IDEOLOGY must be considered. You pretend than when I do the same with Progressive-Fundamentalists that I am snorting something.
[quote] But your power of persuasion isn't good enough to convince me that Republicans, or black Republicans "embedded" in the Republican party, rather than those you call "Black Progressive-Fundamentalists," will be any better at whittling down the number of the unemployed in black communities.
I have seen nothing from Republicans, nor do I see anything now, that would convince me to throw my lot in with them. And if I did, it wouldn't mean that a brighter day for blacks, and the black community would be just around the corner. [/quote]
BD - It is a good thing that I am not a gay man for you would be trying to drag me out of the closet , regardless of what I say otherwise.
It seems to me that YOU believe that this is a ZERO SUM GAME and that my ultimate goal is to get people to vote Republican.
If this zero sum game were true, BD, then the single party cities (Detroit, Philly, Newark, Baltimore, Chicago) would ALSO show evidence of increase for Black people.
I am stating for your future benefit: IF BLACK FOLKS STARTED VOTING REPUBLICAN - ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL - NOT A DAMNED THING WOULD CHANGE!!!!! This would be continued CONSUMER BEHAVIOR where our EQUAL BALLOTS are for sale.
I realize that you have a vested interest in marginalizing all that I have said. I have a documented history of repudiating the Black Republican for attempting to ensnare our people in the same manner that his Black Democrat counterpart attempts to do. BOTH are equal HIJACKERS of the Black Community Consciousness.
The reason for my heightened focus on "Democrats who are Black" is because THEY HAVE HAD far, far, far more success in getting Blacks to fuse our COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONSCIOUSNESS with THEIR PARTY and thus we have invested our EQUAL BALLOT to their cause.
It seems to me, BD, that you are ultimately OFFENDED that I make note of who is sitting in the institutional seats over our communities - PER OUR OWN PROMOTION - and then I expect to see EVIDENCE OF INCREASE rather than merely looking at a Black face in a chair and GETTING FILLED WITH PRIDE, duly motivated to continue the struggle.
BD - I am truly disappointed in your part #4. This is an intellectually dishonest argument.
The Black community THUS FAR has been presented a blue pill and a red pill as the cure for what ales us.
Thanks to the "Racial Services Machine" that has a marketing joint venture with the maker of the blue pill the Black community has a maximum strength prescription.
YOUR argument says that the RED PILL maker should reappraise their own relationship and marketing efforts toward the target group in question.
MY ARGUMENT is that the PILLS were recommended to us as a CURE FOR OUR MEDICAL ISSUES. Why is it that you are loathed to discuss the CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF THE UNDERLYING PROBLEMS - where YOU are inclined to go to the BLUE PILL MAKER - and the doctor who PRESCRIBE the blue pill to you and DEMAND that they fix the PILL that your people ingest in mass quantities for it has FAILED to deliver a cure.
Do you see BD - that you are being disingenuous. You are putting the onus on the RED pill maker to show that they can work better than the blue pill. AT NO TIME do you show any inclination that you believe that the AILING BODY has some INCUMBENT INTEREST in defending his own BODY against BOTH the pill makers AND THE DOCTOR who prescribed it.
All the while, BD, there was an ORGANIC alternative that was never considered.
IT required the person with the ailing body to:
* Make lifestyle changes
* Change his dietary habits
* LEARN ABOUT HIS OWN BODY and what it needs in the way of nutrients
* Realize that his ancestors DID NOT sustain themselves on red or blue pills and thus did not have the same ailments that we suffer from today
After KNOWING THEMSELVES they are then more prepared to return to the marketplace and find viable partners - but where THEY retain the upper hand in the relationship NEVER allowing their own SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS to become a subordinate FUNCTION of this partner.
Are you sure that I am the only one who puts up straw man arguments in order to tear them down BD?
One
@Constructive Feedback: "I am speaking of the "Community Cultural Consciousness & Competency Development Domain".
As I understand you, these things aren't political, and can be achieved outside of a political context, and perhaps should be. Creating "awareness" and "competencies" are laudable goals. Why wrap them in a political wrapper which serves only to muddle your objective.
"Black Racial Services Industry" has a particular IDEOLOGY and that it attempts to JAM this ideology as part of its legislative, economic and social actions."
Are you not equally guilty of such behavior (ideological ramrodding)? If such an "industry" exists on the level you suggest, it has failed miserably to inculcate within me its values, and I suspect that's true of most blacks.
"[B]attle with Cornel West as DIRECT PROOF that my assessment is spot on."
West speaks for himself. I wouldn't use him as a litmus test for what most blacks are thinking, or feeling. I don't see the pervasive black criticism you suggest, because West is more interested in pointing out President Obama's presumed unwillingness to address specific black problems with specific black remedies. Blacks see West for what he is: a headline grabber, and a spoiler. As I've stated before, and now again: Blacks aren't looking to President Obama to deliver them from centuries-old problems stemming from living within a majority population that daily put their "tribal" interests above ours.
"West believes that progressives should have a "Poverty Centric" model."
And if that's so, what "model" would you advocate? As it now stands, the country has a "Wealth-Centric" model, and that model is finding support within local and state governments, as well as within the federal government and the federal courts--all the way to the Supreme Court, given some of its recent rulings.
Two
"Its not that the "JingOists" had a problem with the underlying goals of West (THESE THEORIES ARE THEIR OWN) - they had a problem with him breaking ranks and attack Obama instead of Boehner with these tenants."
Frankly, if blacks are more like me, they don't give West much thought at all. I don't care who West attacks. But if he's attack President Obama as a proxy for the seat of the problem, rather than Boehner and the Republican party (the center of gravity for much of what has recently befallen this country economically), then he's placed himself out of step with the black mainstream, and that's something he'll have to answer for.
"In truth I merely suggested that BLACK PEOPLE look at the video tapes of the promises made to us for the past 50 years and make transparent assessments of the gap between what we were SOLD and what showed up on our door steps when FedEx delivered the package."
And once we've done that, what then? Blacks have not only seen these "video tapes," but have lived them, and have starring roles. We are featured in our own reality T. V. show, with nothing to show for it, but more of the same.
I ask again: Once we make these "transparent assessments," what then? Which way forward? You're short on specifics. Is this by design?
"They tied our consciousness in with their ELECTORAL SUCCESS - in fighting the enemies of Black Progressives - THE REPUBLICANS.'
Okay, so what? Were are your solutions?
Three
"Yet, my good man BD - when we look at REPUBLICAN FREE ZONES of Newark, Chicago and Philly - the absence of the ENEMY has NOT brought forth 'Negro Prosperity'."
Then, what will?
You're attacking what you perceive is the problem without offering real, workable alternatives to the deficiencies in black communities--a way forward toward black prosperity.
"YET when it comes to state and national politics - BOTH progressive sides are able to say 'I am the OBAMA CANDIDATE vote for ME'."
And before Obama, who did they point to? Who should blacks vote for in your opinion, if not "progressives"?
"This is akin to both sides in a football game saying 'God is on our side and will lead us to a victory'".
Actually, God is on everybody's side: that's why you can never be sure who's going to win--in football, a political contest, or an NBA championship contest.
"Strangely enough, BD - in his case indeed IDEOLOGY must be considered. You pretend than when I do the same with Progressive-Fundamentalists that I am snorting something."
You have been steadfast in your attacks on "Progressive-Fundamentalists," but who should we in the black community be backing, in your humble opinion? Whose "ideology" should win the day?
"It is a good thing that I am not a gay man for you would be trying to drag me out of the closet, regardless of what I say otherwise."
Not so. I don't care if you're a Republican, a conservative, or a "black conservator." In that I have no preference, but perhaps you should. I only care about what's working, what has worked, and what will work.
If "conservatism" had the answers, I'd embrace "conservatism." If "Republicanism" had the answers, I'd embrace Republicanism.
So that you know: I don't think "liberalism" or "socialism," or any other "ism" has the ultimate answer either,
but they do come closer than either "conservatism," or "Republicanism."
"It seems to me that YOU believe that this is a ZERO SUM GAME and that my ultimate goal is to get people to vote Republican."
What is your "ultimate goal"?
"I am stating for your future benefit: IF BLACK FOLKS STARTED VOTING REPUBLICAN - ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL - NOT A DAMNED THING WOULD CHANGE!!!!! This would be continued CONSUMER BEHAVIOR where our EQUAL BALLOTS are for sale."
I mostly agree.
Four
"I realize that you have a vested interest in marginalizing all that I have said."
I have no such interest, "vested" or otherwise. You're making it all up. I don't care what you believe. What you believe is your own business. But perhaps you should care!
"I have a documented history of repudiating the Black Republican for attempting to ensnare our people in the same manner that his Black Democrat counterpart attempts to do. BOTH are equal HIJACKERS of the Black Community Consciousness."
I can't say that you do, or that you don't. But this is the first time I've read such an even-handed repudiation of both sides of the political divide. Others have brought this deficiency to your attention, but you chose not to offer up an answer as definitive as the one above.
"THEY [Democrats] HAVE HAD far, far, far more success in getting Blacks to fuse our COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONSCIOUSNESS with THEIR PARTY and thus we have invested our EQUAL BALLOT to their cause."
Now I wonder why! And please don't use "racism" to explain Democrats success at the ballot box. Perhaps you have failed to examine the problem fully, or have viewed the problem with a jaundiced eye.
"It seems to me, BD, that you are ultimately OFFENDED that I make note of who is sitting in the institutional seats over our communities - PER OUR OWN PROMOTION - and then I expect to see EVIDENCE OF INCREASE rather than merely looking at a Black face in a chair and GETTING FILLED WITH PRIDE, duly motivated to continue the struggle."
I'm not "offended" at all.
I don't care who gets the job done, as long as the job gets done--be they white, black, brown or yellow. It's outcomes that interest me, not having "black faces" represent the solution, as much as that outcome would approach the ideal.
"Realize that his ancestors DID NOT sustain themselves on red or blue pills and thus did not have the same ailments that we suffer from today
"After KNOWING THEMSELVES they are then more prepared to return to the marketplace and find viable partners - but where THEY retain the upper hand in the relationship NEVER allowing their own SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS to become a subordinate FUNCTION of this partner."
If you have read me as closely as I have read you, you will know my response to the above. Greg L sums it well: He feels that blacks should exercise total control over their leadership, by first selecting them, rather than have them be self-selected or other-selected; and second, that blacks be the ones to fund their various activities. Without that level of involvement, blacks become someone else's agenda, rather than their own.
I agree with Greg L.
Yet, CF, you haven't clearly laid out your "model." You have focused almost exclusively on inditements, and very little on solutions, on generalities, and not specifics.
Five (A new record!)
Let me offer a suggestion (Of course, you're free to do as you please.): Rather than attack, propose--propose how we, the black community, should go forward.
Condemning what you see as our collective missteps politically (as gratifying as that may be), is counterproductive. It would be better to propose solutions--to be solution-oriented, if you would win converts.
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