Colorblindness was a ploy to refuse to
acknowledge race, but racism is as plain as it’s ever been. Thanks to
the arts, we again smell the stench of racism. Now it’s time to take
out the trash.
The massive demonstrations by immigrants and
their supporters have been magnificent to behold – many hundreds of
thousands in cities across the country, with total participation well
over a million. Most progressives are ecstatic, believing that a new
era of activism has begun. But, as a Black man, I’m feeling twinges of
a different emotion: shame.
There exists in the African American political conversation a great
disconnect on the subject of “economic development.” Among some Black
political tendencies, the term “economic development” is thought to be
synonymous with individual entrepreneurship. That’s a very narrow
definition of economic development, one that reduces most Blacks to the
role of mere potential customers, who are expected to support
individual Black businesspeople as if the survival of the Race depended
on it.
In recent years some nationally prominent Black leaders have complained
that they resent being known as Black leaders, they say they want the
world to know they are capable of leading anybody. Rather than
demonstrate that leadership by leading their own people to the
necessary levels of self- sufficiency and competitiveness, these
leaders have abandoned the critical issues facing Black people and have
begun to chase an ambiguous romanticized notion of alliances with other
groups...
Is Barack Obama more worthy of Black "loyalty than any other Democrat?" The answer is no - Black America should not "purchase a lemon" just because the "seller looks like us." Obama has mastered the fine arts of bullshitology, while avoiding issues of core concern to African Americans in order to make white people feel comfortable. Although no worse than Hillary Clinton, Obama is no better either, on war, health care, the economy, mass incarceration or affirmative action. Why should Black America vote for a man who proclaims "there is no Black America?"
