Wednesday - March 19, 2008

Courageous Obama?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/19/commentary.ashong/index.html

CNN Editor’s Note: Derrick Ashong is a musician, activist and entrepreneur. He recently became a You Tube “phenom” after posting a passionate defense of Barack Obama. Ashong identifies himself as an independent.

Like many Americans I watched Sen. Barack Obama deliver his speech titled “A More Perfect Union.”

I watched in a state of minor shock, not so much at the deftness with which he defused the sophomoric conflation of his call for national unity with the inflammatory rhetoric of the retired head pastor of his church—a conflation that would imply that we must each swallow whole the entirety of views expressed by our friends and associates.

It was not his repudiation of small thinking that struck me. It was the fact that here we had an American politician speaking with both candor and compassion about the proverbial elephant in our national living room.

Race is an issue that continues to confound this country. It is an undercurrent that paints our description, understanding and valuation of people in American society whether spoken or not. It is the subtext that places NBA star LeBron James and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen on the cover of Vogue, in uncomfortable caricature of brute and ingénue.

It is in the minds of some the very reason a person of color would even be considered a serious candidate for the presidency of the nation—never mind that three centuries into the American experiment there has been to date, only one such person.

I watched Obama’s speech with a measure of disbelief that he had the gumption to come out and say what we all know—that the problem of race remains one that we as a nation have yet to conquer. To be sure we have made strides towards reconciliation. But the hard conversations continue to be harder than most are willing to deal with.

Black America has yet to come to grips with its responsibility to tackle head on the problems that plague our communities. White America has yet to acknowledge the fact that here in the “home of the free,” true liberty has evaded many for far too long.

Too often these conversations are ended before they’ve truly begun, due to the ignorance, intransigence or simple unwillingness of people to acknowledge the validity of what the other side has to say.

Who can honestly argue that black America is not today contributing mightily to its own social, cultural and economic decline?

Who can honestly argue that white America has not been willfully blind and too often complicit in the injustices that continue to be visited upon people born with darker hue or stranger accent?

Who will have both the courage and the commitment to the promise of universal justice and equity that undergirds our country, to call upon the nation to move beyond the divisive rhetoric of racial “one-upmanship” and to embrace the challenge of fulfilling that promise?

Apparently a junior senator from Illinois by the name of Barack Obama.

For days pundits have pondered whether Sen. Obama could weather the controversy over Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s racially polarizing comments. The question at this juncture is not whether the candidate will rise to the occasion, but rather, whether America will.

Is this for real? Is this guy really calling out, saying that the time is now for the Big Talk? Because it’s going to be a Big Fight at first. And it might be ugly for a while. And if the bottom line isn’t the resolution to get past skin color in all circumstances, and a nearly immediate dissolution of the nationwide system of advantages based on race, then we’ll be worse off than before we recognized the elephant and gave her a name. I’m not familiar with this guy, but if this is his goal then I’m all for it. There are only two possible outcomes: a) Peace, Love, and Granola with Civic and National Pride, and a forfeiture of White Guilt and Black Victomhood Status or b) An insurmountable divide that could lead to another Civil War. That’s a big risk. Since death is on the line and most of us aren’t Sicilians, let’s up the ante and do Left vs. Right at the same time. There will be much yelling and rending of garments, but if we can all give enough to find a middle ground AND THEN STICK TO IT we can make huge progress. I’m beyond sick of the PC and the divisiveness, but I honestly feel my side has been giving and giving and giving for years. To find the happy center things need to tip quite a bit.

And nobody gets to sit this one out. Nobody. If it’s time to redefine the nation then you will take part in the process.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/19/2008 at 01:52 PM   
Filed Under: • Politically-Incorrect • Racism and race relations •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner