Ostracizing Black Leaders Who Criticize Obama by George Curry

[Mark Wells]

George Curry

The Bible is filled with characters who started out on shaky ground - Paul, David and Solomon, among them - before being transformed into epic figures. But it seems that Black leaders who dare to criticize President Obama don't get second chances. Instead, they are the object of widespread ridicule and condemnation.

I spent some time last week with two such leaders - Cornel West and Jesse Jackson - at the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) national convention in Chicago. Although their standing among African-Americans has slipped, their analysis of where Blacks have been and need to go is as incisive as ever.

Neither Jackson nor West should be viewed in isolation. The Black community does not want to hear anything bad about Barack Obama, even if it's true. If a White president had been as dismissive of African-Americans' interests as Obama has been, Blacks would have been ready to march on the White House. As Michael Eric Dyson says, "This president runs from race like a Black man runs from a cop."

Even so, Blacks treat him like royalty.

My friend Roland Martin is quick to insist that guests on his television program refer to the man who occupies the White House as President Obama. I refuse to play this game. Obama - yes, I said it - is a president, not head of some monarchy. I have called Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush by their last names. I am not going to say President Obama every time I refer to him. Sometimes he is President Obama, sometimes he is Obama. I refuse to treat him like King Obama.

The problem with West and Jackson is their critiques, however valid, were wrapped in language that was offensive to many African-Americans. To call Obama the Black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs - a term most people hadn't heard since their last high school civics class - is over the edge in this instance. Don't get me wrong: there are some Black Anglo-Saxons who deserve to be called mascots and worse - and I've called them that. But Obama is not in that category.

When I gave Cornel West a chance to soften his description of the president during a discussion I moderated at the NNPA convention between him and Al Sharpton, he declined. He could have said, "I stand by everything I said about the president but not how I said it." That would have gone a long way toward refocusing the discussion on real issues, not the Al Sharpton-Cornel West sideshow.

In Jesse Jackson's case, he has been largely excommunicated from the race for a comment that reeked of envy. After an interview on Fox News in 2008, he told a fellow guest that he wanted to cut Obama's private parts off. He also used the N-word in a conversation that he did not know was being picked up by the microphones.

Jackson later apologized, saying his comments were "hurtful and wrong." By then, however, the damage had been done. At the time, Obama was making a credible bid to become president of the United States. And Blacks did not want to hear anything disparaging about the man who went on to win the nation's highest elected office. Many, if not most, Blacks haven't forgiven Jackson for his crude remarks.

Notwithstanding Jackson's expressed desire to dismember Obama or West's deeply personal attack on the president, each made valid critiques of President Obama. Jackson was correct to point out that sometimes Obama speaks down to African-Americans. That is particularly true when he lectures Blacks on moral responsibility but does not make similar speeches to White audiences. Cornel West is correct in stating that the administration does not pay enough attention to the needs of the poor and African-Americans.

Despite overwhelming evidence of disproportionate Black suffering during this recession, Obama refuses to target the specific needs of African-Americans. His response is: "It's a mistake to start thinking in terms of particular ethnic segments of the United States rather than to think that we are all in this together and we are all going to get out of this together."

Yet, it was not a mistake to address the specific needs of Wall Street. He can speak to the specific agenda of gays and Lesbians without it being considered a mistake. It was not a mistake in Obama's mind to speak to the specific needs of the automobile industry. It was not a mistake to speak to the special interests of banks. But when it comes to the needs of African-Americans, we are supposed to wait for progress to trickle down to and upon us.

Yes, he is president of all of America. But all of America includes Black America.

The sad reality is that most civil rights leaders have given Obama a pass. If the unemployment rates and economic gap had widened under a White president, Al Sharpton would have been in the streets chanting, "No Justice, No Peace." Instead, the ultimate outsider has become the ultimate insider, defending the administration with the vigor of a cabinet member.

As a group, today's collection of civil rights leaders are ineffectual and out of touch. For example, with all of the problems facing us, the NAACP chose to spend part of its limited national, state and local resources to make sure Black motorcycle riders were not discriminated against on the Memorial Day weekend in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

We have far more serious issues facing Black America. And we need the voices and analysis of all of our national leaders, even after they have put their foot in their mouth.

George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com You can also follow him atwww.twitter.com/currygeorge.

[Mark Wells]

A prime example of symbolism over substance. I guess we haven't  learned anything from the Clinton era!

[Curtis Coleman]

Obama is not at all concerned with the black agenda policy wise. He does the same thing as white politicians, pays lip service to our issues that are never back by action.

[Mark Wells]

I blame us more so than I blame him. We waste too much time trying to manifest ourselves in a system that is in the process of falling. We must mustard up the will and courage to build a better and more” just” system within the system... this is the smart thing to do.

Curtis Coleman said:

Obama is not at all concerned with the black agenda policy wise. He does the same thing as white politicians, pays lip service to our issues that are never back by action.

[Mark Wells]

[Orlandoblkman]

BASTARD!

That is his real name!

He is the illegitimate son of a African foreign service employee & a White mother from Kansas.

Barry Soetoro...Ah I mean Barack Obama was basically unknown to Black America until the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

President Obama was born outside of the central United States (I personally believe in Kenya,Africa)and so far his performance is questionable.

I have known Jesse Jackson & Cornel West when I was a child because they have an established civil rights record.

My father had an old saying:The Devil you know is better than the Devil your don't know.

President Obama would be the latter.

[Curtis Coleman]

orlandoblkman..that is over the top. I do not think he is a great president, but I dont think he is the devil either. That is part of the problem in politics..we are too polarized. We see things in extremes. Life is not so black and white.

[Curtis Coleman]

that is way over the top. Hes a man. Not a god or a devil. The condemnation and witch hunting concerning Obama is just as brain dead as the fawning and worshipping of him.

Orlandoblkman said:

BASTARD!

That is his real name!

He is the illegitimate son of a African foreign service employee & a White mother from Kansas.

Barry Soetoro...Ah I mean Barack Obama was basically unknown to Black America until the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

President Obama was born outside of the central United States (I personally believe in Kenya,Africa)and so far his performance is questionable.

I have known Jesse Jackson & Cornel West when I was a child because they have an established civil rights record.

My father had an old saying:The Devil you know is better than the Devil your don't know.

President Obama would be the latter.

[Walter Simtec Simmons]

The power is in the people not in any president. I am surprised to hear this type of response coming in this manner. Why not push the issues of concern and galvanize the necessary support to move in a progressive manner. Bashing and name calling will only turn people off. Most people didn't believe it was possible to get a black president. Now we are talking about him doing the impossible dream without the help of the American people. 

[Avid Follower]

Would love to discuss and exchange problem solving ideas to overcome this situation.

Coming from a background of participating in past public civil rights and human kindness demonstrations, another March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom would naturally be deemed imperative during this time of outrageous systemic ever increasing unprecedented numbers of black unemployed people coupled this time with new school technology and sciences.  At this junction in time, if nothing is being done now and in the near future to speak truth to power under a so called Democratic President, how much more will be done under the so called Republican party in the years to come?  Rage can keep building and overspill like in other countries or as rational human beings we can get out there and have a peaceful demonstration/march demanding justice since the black leaders' meetings in the White House aren't getting us anywhere but further in the h***.  These demonstrations, will then and only then, propel President Obama, I like to believe, to help, but only if his hand is forced like with President Kennedy and his administration.  We could probably expect little (at first) but a handout ... thinking that'll make us happy.  Man needs to fish (work) to continue to feed his family and avoid starvation versus accepting a fish (handout) that will last a determined short set amount of time and then be hungry all over again.

 

Year 11 and beyond demonstrations and marches, in my humble opinion, must be all-inclusive (multicultured) this time, as other races of people are too experiencing stagnant unprecented high numbers of unemployed people as well.  We should all be in this together producing an overwhelming unprecedented  amount of mixed race citizen protestors.  Out of many one.
Now, more than ever, with spending cuts to entitlement programs looming for the majority of Americans due to trillion dollar deficits, we need to constantly expect more from our government like businesses and corporations do despite that fact and not expect or accept even lowered expectations from our tax dollars for ourselves.  We didn't say okay go ahead and give me less to support these wars and bail out the rich.  Once again, a hidden varietal plethora of ideas, organization, foot soldiers, leaders and talent, etc., from the young and old must unite and rise up before everything else is gone this time and we are in mere survival mode only too weak financially and spiritually to do anything about it.  

 

We need somebody one day to help us (of all colors) and especially black people with the highest numbers of unemployment to regain jobs and that starts with a President of America making atonement to the majority of poor and middle class Americans from the snowball/trickle down effects of  9/11 onward as was done with too big to fail corporations, airlines and Wall Street, to name a few.  It may take a very long time again of our marches and demonstrations (decades) to reach the consciousness of such a President for the people because of corruption and greed now in the legislative branches.

[Curtis Coleman]

President Obama's election in itself was a major civil rights victory. His courage to run, the wisdom to win, and the determination to stay make him a hero of mine. That being said, there is nothing heroic about his policy. Nothing has been done about the inequalities in the criminal justice system. Nothing has been done about the drug problem in our communties. Nothing. Nothing has been done to curb violence in our communities. zilch. Noting has been done about the proliferation of guns in our communities. Zero. I expected SOMETHING to be done one any one of these fronts.

[Walter Simtec Simmons]

Hi Curtis, All of that you said is true and I feel your pain but it will take more than Obama to make that happend. Black skin do not make the world turn and we must not expect that to happen. It will take all of us involved demanding the change that we seek. You can gather all the support you want and change presidents and you will see that you still will not be granted your wish. Lets start eating from a realistic bowl of options for a change and have all institutions demand the desire results. peace

[Curtis Coleman]

I agree to a point Walter, but the the criminal justice system could have been altered if the President had the political will. Drug dealers who move product into this country are terrorists and should be treated as such. Heroin production in Afghanistan was almost cut to nothing during Taliban rule. After we invaded the heroin business is thirving once again. Why are we not challenging Afgani drug lords, who fund terrorism in the first place? Why are Mexican and Columbian drug lords allowed to operate in our communities with impunity without fear of miliary reprisal? We can do alot as a community at the grass roots level, but some of these things are in Obamas hand to do..but he will not do them. He doesnt want to rock the boat. Well..the damn boat is sinking. Our people our drowning. I dont care if rocking it makes right wingers angry-they hate him anyway I want to see him do SOMETHING SPECIFICALLY FOR US. with 96 percent of an historic black vote..HE OWES US.