Heyas!
I happened to be watching Real Time With Bill Maher the other night as I was riding my recumbent stationary bike fighting the battle of the bulge. (The Bulge keeps winning, yet I persevere)
His first guest was Arsenio Hall and they were talking about the 20th Anniversary of the riots in LA which came after the Rodney King verdict. Those were some tough times. And they seemed to want to buy into the notion that things have changed, although they did touch on the Trayvon Martin situation.
So, they segue into Obama's re-election prospects and Bill Maher states that if Obama is not re-elected people would see it as a failure. "Well, we tried a black guy and it didn't work...oh well".
He stated that Obama is very aware of these expectations and as Bill says "for the sake of black America" Obama needs a 2nd term.
Now I suppose that's all fine as far as it goes. If you want to view the situation through that prism.
But the real question is, what exactly has President Obama done for "Black America" in his first term?
Oh, I'm sure that plenty of African Americans felt a sense of pride in seeing Obama elected. I fully admit that I was caught up in the idea that my mother would live to see a day that neither of us ever imagined.
But if you step away from all of the emotional racial element, and ask yourself what has been the impact of the policies of the Administration, where has "Black America" in particular benefited?
When The President was asked about any specific policies that he would promote to address the plight of minorities, his response was "I believe that a rising tide lifts all boats."
And that might have been OK, if the tide was rising for everyone. But as I say in one of my songs, a rising tide won't lift all boats, when your boat is filled with holes.
African Americans continue to rank at or near the bottom of most statistical measurements of progress. Whether that be income, unemployment, housing, incarceration, life expectancy, health care, you name it.
And I suppose, you can say to his "credit", many polls have continued to show him have a rock solid base of support among African Americans, even though their conditions have not improved and in many cases worsened under the Obama Administration. But I tend to think that shows either Black America's gullibility or President Obama's supreme salesmanship.
Now, I'm not trying to alienate any of you out there - and more than a few of you may feel like, I should just shut up and sing...or just shut up. But I'm calling it like I see it, and trying to encourage some conversation, discussion and thought.
So, what's your take?
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I happened to be watching Real Time With Bill Maher the other night as I was riding my recumbent stationary bike fighting the battle of the bulge. (The Bulge keeps winning, yet I persevere)
His first guest was Arsenio Hall and they were talking about the 20th Anniversary of the riots in LA which came after the Rodney King verdict. Those were some tough times. And they seemed to want to buy into the notion that things have changed, although they did touch on the Trayvon Martin situation.
So, they segue into Obama's re-election prospects and Bill Maher states that if Obama is not re-elected people would see it as a failure. "Well, we tried a black guy and it didn't work...oh well".
He stated that Obama is very aware of these expectations and as Bill says "for the sake of black America" Obama needs a 2nd term.
Now I suppose that's all fine as far as it goes. If you want to view the situation through that prism.
But the real question is, what exactly has President Obama done for "Black America" in his first term?
Oh, I'm sure that plenty of African Americans felt a sense of pride in seeing Obama elected. I fully admit that I was caught up in the idea that my mother would live to see a day that neither of us ever imagined.
But if you step away from all of the emotional racial element, and ask yourself what has been the impact of the policies of the Administration, where has "Black America" in particular benefited?
When The President was asked about any specific policies that he would promote to address the plight of minorities, his response was "I believe that a rising tide lifts all boats."
And that might have been OK, if the tide was rising for everyone. But as I say in one of my songs, a rising tide won't lift all boats, when your boat is filled with holes.
African Americans continue to rank at or near the bottom of most statistical measurements of progress. Whether that be income, unemployment, housing, incarceration, life expectancy, health care, you name it.
And I suppose, you can say to his "credit", many polls have continued to show him have a rock solid base of support among African Americans, even though their conditions have not improved and in many cases worsened under the Obama Administration. But I tend to think that shows either Black America's gullibility or President Obama's supreme salesmanship.
Now, I'm not trying to alienate any of you out there - and more than a few of you may feel like, I should just shut up and sing...or just shut up. But I'm calling it like I see it, and trying to encourage some conversation, discussion and thought.
So, what's your take?
Check me out at http://www.leemanuel05.com
Check me out at http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Leemanuel_Hightire
Help a brother out at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/222092430/debut-album-six-over-1-7-by-leemanuel
I think you raise a very compelling point and it seems to be a topic that is always sent to the back burner so-to-speak, at least in the mainstream media, if gets any attention at all. But, the numbers are simply intolerable, a true disgrace. We must not ignore the data, simply because we don’t like it.
ReplyDeleteSo, how to fix this?
I don’t know. I desperately want action.But the other guy in the major party blames everybody—including the poor-- for their own plight-- he has never even pretended to care. He worries about the downtrodden wealthy, I guess. (at this point, I don’t think independents would stand any chance, not in this political climate. Maybe in the future, and I fervently hope that to be true).
I really don’t know what to do, but I think a Romney administration would spell even worse doom.
Do you think Pres Obama, if he were to win a second term, would be a little more emboldened than he has been to address these disparities? …just a thought, what do you think?
Pres Obama was handed a huge mess and a congress that has no interest in working with him-- and worse. I still don’t know how he dukes it out every day like he does. As for his support, I don’t think it’s a matter of gullibility nor of salesmanship, but I understand your disillusionment, and I would not try to convince you otherwise. However, I still support him in spite of my despair about things.
But things can’t get better if people don’t even talk about it, so I think it is important to raise these issues. These uncomfortable facts won’t change if we don’t face them.
Very good points you make. It can lead to despair. We have a corrupt system - and there's the temptation of "lesser evilism".
DeleteBut I tend to think that a Romney win might actually re-awaken the left. And they would find themselves actually pushing back against the policies for political gain, that under Obama they simply accept, because he's supposed to be our guy.
That is a great point too! A Romney win may indeed awaken the left. But if Romney wins, you will have to talk me down from the ledge!!! I am still not over the Bush years.
DeleteBut I acknowledge your point, sometimes the differences between the major candidates seem to be about zero. Yup, depressing.
Don't get me wrong. I am not hoping for a Romney win. I would probably be on the ledge with you. But somehow we've got to bridge this gap between rhetoric and reality.
DeleteLet's don't and then say we did, is not a game I like to play.