The Complexity In Being Black And Critical Of President Obama Written by Gerren Keith Gaynor

[Mark Wells]

As absurd as it may seem, there is much complexity in being both Black and a critic of President Obama. As our nation’s first African American president, Obama carries a historical eminence in the Black community.

For most, he appears to be an untouched, can-do-no-wrong figure that represents the progression of a race. Many Blacks from the 1960s civil rights era never thought they would see the day the White House welcomes a man of color. Obama ran his campaign on change and hope, and many African Americans believed that change had finally arrived.

But behind the foggy mirrors, not much has changed for Black Americans. Ten percent of African American men remain incarcerated, Black youth are far behind their white counterparts in education, and the unemployment rate in the community is at a high of 16.2 percent.

Even with such disheartening numbers, the majority of Black America stands behind their president. In fact, 85 percent of Blacks approve the job performance of the president. While that number has slightly dipped, 85 percent is rather significant.

Of course, not all Blacks are exalting our nation’s president. Black public figures such as Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, and more recently hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco, have publicly denounced the president for his seemingly failed policies.

Oftentimes Black supporters vehemently attack such Obama dissidents, sometimes questioning their level of “Blackness.” It appears that when it comes to lambasting the president, emotions mount. Those emotions stem from the idea that if you do not support the Black president, that somehow you are slamming the Black agenda.

That idea is characterized in Rev. Al Sharpton’s refusal to criticize Obama in fear of aiding the attitudes of the president’s most notable adversaries.

So which stance does Black America take?

In an age of racial bigotry on the right wing, capitalizing Obama’s shortcomings as ammunition to remove him from office, there is much difficulty in taking a critical stance on the president.

Condemning the president does not have to render one to relinquish their allegiance to Obama. One can be both Black, a supporter of Obama, and yet critical of his job performance. That criticism, however, should always be legitimate, honest, and used with discretion.

Tara Wall, a conservative columnist for The Daily Caller recently begged the question, “Why aren’t African Americans outraged at Obama over [the] economy?”

Truth be told, many of us are. But in the midst of the political crusade against Obama, it would behoove us to choose our battles wisely.

[PR Joe Felix]

How long before they either corrupt or kill him?

[Penguin Board of Directors]

Cornel and Tavis, I can understand. What is all the noise about a singer called Lupe F? How much was expected of someone who already declared himself a Fiasco? He might do better to simply focus on his singing; he would not be the first to end up making billions in the process. He has JayZee for a model. He could live a productive adult life (to boot) if he manages to dodge the bullet and the pipe. But, if he does not understand the foolishness in not voting, how can he begin to appreciate more complex issues? Talk about a Fiasco!  

Joseph e. Felix said:

How long before they either corrupt or kill him?

[Min. W.D. Patterson]

Hark Ye people of the world who feel both compelled and lead by the greatest nation on planet earth. DO NOT BE DECEIVED by any psychologically induced and influenced mind-sets into believing, joining, and acting upon the notion that Barack Obama is to blame for their own plight. When in fact, Barack Obama does not run anyting here! He's only symbolic at best.

 

 He's told what to do and say and depends on others to excute it at their own discretion. A phenomena unknown to him at his inception and election as president. There is no way he could have known ahead of time what he was being sworn into. The Illumnati looms . . .

 

Therefore, if you allow other dissidents to pursuade you otherwise you then take ownership for your own actions and can blame no one but yourself for your beliefs and demise. My advice is for you to intelligently stay 'outta 'dis fight. 'Nuff Said!

 

www.blogtalkradio.com/the_black_plight-in-america

 

To listen and learn more. . .

[PR Joe Felix]

Take a look and give a listen to George Carlin on Reagan which is one of Obama's heroes to which he payed tribute very recently. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5szw_kSYzw&feature=related

[Jeffrey Clark]

PR Joe Felix (name change???),

 

Language is important.  Word choice can be the difference between making sense or simply making noise.  When you write, “Reagan…  is one of Obama’s heroes…”, your choice of the word hero begs clarification.  Certainly you’re not suggesting that Obama and Reagan share policy positions?  They most certainly do not, and there’s enough information out there written (much of it from Obama himself) that makes this point clear.

 

Where Obama admires (my word choice) Reagan is in how Reagan successfully managed an obstinate Congress during his first term, and leveraged that success enough to gain re-election.  (It just happened to be the largest margin of victory in the history of the American presidency.)  Reagan (no friend of black Americans) captured votes from a large numbers of independent Democrats; Obama will have to do the same with Independents if he wants to get re-elected and have any type of legitimate policy mandate. 

 

But ultimately, friend, anything that Obama says which might seem to flatter Reagan is really code to white voters:  “I’m your president, too.  I’ll look after your interests, too.  I believe in ‘One nation under God…’, too.”  The need for this type of code is an example of Obama, as a black president, carrying a burden that no white US president ever had to bear:  He has to govern against hundreds of years of suspicion and mistrust that American racism installed at the midpoint of black/white relations in this country.

 

Peace,

 

Jeff

[Tamam Tracy Moncur]

I voted for president Obama because he was black! Did I think he was going to come in and change the capitalist (wasp) white anglo saxon protestant power structure of our government. Nope...I certainly was not that naive and I'm surprised at anybody in my generation who may have thought he was going to make a significant difference.  I have lived with the saying that the democratic party is the lesser of two evils, and ususally when democrats are in power more money does flow down to grassroot level folks.

I really believe President Obama truly thought he could make a significant difference. Health care was dear to his heart but he got shot down quick even by many in his own party and smacked back hard to the white racist reality that we as black people are confronted with every day of our black lives.

I will vote again for the President because he is black! Until there is a redistribution of the wealth in this country (like taxing the wealthy at a much higher rate) there will never be a great difference between the two political parties. The bible says "the love of money is the root of all evil". Unfortunately the capitalist ways in this country are entrenched in the love of money.

[Avid Follower]

Most people I believe by now, during this U.S. Presidential reelection cycle, have decided whether they will vote for President Obama (again) due to his skin color OR performance in office. Sadly, all future U.S. Presidents of color, I imagine, will face the same template when running for office: skin color for some or performance when it comes to (re)election.

. . . "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." - Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream".

[Jeffrey Clark]

SharonB,

 

Can you elaborate on your criticism of the Obama administration?  How has he been dreamy in his executive capacity?  What decision has he or his administration made that you believe represents a failure to take "the higher ground"?

Peace,

 

Jeff

SharonB said:

"The little things that count..."  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. entitled his speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop" not "I Have A Dream".  Let's not continue to mis-educate.

It is a concerted and deliberate attempt to invalidate Dr. King's prophetic gift, along with the destiny of those to whom he is referring, by focusing on the statement "I have a dream" which then makes the words and the resulting outcome fallacy and figments of an overactive imagination. 

 

It is my opinion that President Obama and his administration have chosen to officiate/legislate with/in/from a dream-like mentality rather than charging forward and taking the higher ground.

[Tessa Byrd]

Thanks so much for sharing....

“Condemning the president does not have to render one to relinquish their allegiance to Obama. One can be both Black, a supporter of Obama, and yet critical of his job performance. That criticism, however, should always be legitimate, honest, and used with discretion.

Tara Wall, a conservative columnist for The Daily Caller recently begged the question, “Why aren’t African Americans outraged at Obama over [the] economy?”

Truth be told, many of us are. But in the midst of the political crusade against Obama, it would behoove us to choose our battles wisely.”

I understood at the very beginning Pres. Obama is a Harvard educated Political Scientist with a specialty in Constitutional Law.  I recognized the run for the presidency as historic, I’d believed not in my lifetime. I think it is wise counsel “to choose our battles wisely”. I hear Pres. Obama criticized for unemployment, with unemployment reaching 10% concern is valid. I believe unemployment is a symptom, a consequence of much more than the last 3 years of legislation and policy.  I place the blame firmly on the shoulders of individuals who instituted, supported, and advocated the agenda that has accounted for the loss of jobs and opportunity in this country since 1980.  It is said Pres. Obama has not done enough and I agree….

 Pres. Obama, from day one has met fierce opposition from an entrench and very vested segment of the population interested in maintaining things just as they are.  The numbers he commanded are deceiving in that change is hoped for and expected as long as things stay as they are. How is that at all possible…???? Faced with such circumstances it is disappointing and disheartening to hear such bitter and sometimes vile criticism directed in what I see as the wrong direction. It is also disheartening to see and hear the same right leaning talking points (that got us here) used to buttress the position. I do not give Pres. Obama a pass; his administration has not championed the middle class as he promised.  The policy and agenda of the office of the presidency does not seem to have changed much from the previous administration, government for the rich by the rich…..

Pres. Obama is a politician….without the will of the people directing him it seems he does what all politicians today do…..attempt only to stay in office…

I am reminded of something F.D.R. was famous for saying after listening to the demands of a constituency “now go make me do it !”

[Jeffrey Clark]

Tessa Byrd,

 

What you’ve posted is wise and well reasoned and shows an understanding of how this country (crazily) operates.

 

Peace,

 

Jeff

Tessa Byrd said:

Thanks so much for sharing....

“Condemning the president does not have to render one to relinquish their allegiance to Obama. One can be both Black, a supporter of Obama, and yet critical of his job performance. That criticism, however, should always be legitimate, honest, and used with discretion.

Tara Wall, a conservative columnist for The Daily Caller recently begged the question, “Why aren’t African Americans outraged at Obama over [the] economy?”

Truth be told, many of us are. But in the midst of the political crusade against Obama, it would behoove us to choose our battles wisely.”

 

I understood at the very beginning Pres. Obama is a Harvard educated Political Scientist with a specialty in Constitutional Law.  I recognized the run for the presidency as historic, I’d believed not in my lifetime. I think it is wise counsel “to choose our battles wisely”. I hear Pres. Obama criticized for unemployment, with unemployment reaching 10% concern is valid. I believe unemployment is a symptom, a consequence of much more than the last 3 years of legislation and policy.  I place the blame firmly on the shoulders of individuals who instituted, supported, and advocated the agenda that has accounted for the loss of jobs and opportunity in this country since 1980.  It is said Pres. Obama has not done enough and I agree….

 Pres. Obama, from day one has met fierce opposition from an entrench and very vested segment of the population interested in maintaining things just as they are.  The numbers he commanded are deceiving in that change is hoped for and expected as long as things stay as they are. How is that at all possible…???? Faced with such circumstances it is disappointing and disheartening to hear such bitter and sometimes vile criticism directed in what I see as the wrong direction. It is also disheartening to see and hear the same right leaning talking points (that got us here) used to buttress the position. I do not give Pres. Obama a pass; his administration has not championed the middle class as he promised.  The policy and agenda of the office of the presidency does not seem to have changed much from the previous administration, government for the rich by the rich…..

Pres. Obama is a politician….without the will of the people directing him it seems he does what all politicians today do…..attempt only to stay in office…

I am reminded of something F.D.R. was famous for saying after listening to the demands of a constituency “now go make me do it !”

[Tessa Byrd]

 

Thank-you much...crazily operates is so so true!

Jeffrey Clark said:

Tessa Byrd,

 

What you’ve posted is wise and well reasoned and shows an understanding of how this country (crazily) operates.

 

Peace,

 

Jeff

Tessa Byrd said:

Thanks so much for sharing....

“Condemning the president does not have to render one to relinquish their allegiance to Obama. One can be both Black, a supporter of Obama, and yet critical of his job performance. That criticism, however, should always be legitimate, honest, and used with discretion.

Tara Wall, a conservative columnist for The Daily Caller recently begged the question, “Why aren’t African Americans outraged at Obama over [the] economy?”

Truth be told, many of us are. But in the midst of the political crusade against Obama, it would behoove us to choose our battles wisely.”

 

I understood at the very beginning Pres. Obama is a Harvard educated Political Scientist with a specialty in Constitutional Law.  I recognized the run for the presidency as historic, I’d believed not in my lifetime. I think it is wise counsel “to choose our battles wisely”. I hear Pres. Obama criticized for unemployment, with unemployment reaching 10% concern is valid. I believe unemployment is a symptom, a consequence of much more than the last 3 years of legislation and policy.  I place the blame firmly on the shoulders of individuals who instituted, supported, and advocated the agenda that has accounted for the loss of jobs and opportunity in this country since 1980.  It is said Pres. Obama has not done enough and I agree….

 Pres. Obama, from day one has met fierce opposition from an entrench and very vested segment of the population interested in maintaining things just as they are.  The numbers he commanded are deceiving in that change is hoped for and expected as long as things stay as they are. How is that at all possible…???? Faced with such circumstances it is disappointing and disheartening to hear such bitter and sometimes vile criticism directed in what I see as the wrong direction. It is also disheartening to see and hear the same right leaning talking points (that got us here) used to buttress the position. I do not give Pres. Obama a pass; his administration has not championed the middle class as he promised.  The policy and agenda of the office of the presidency does not seem to have changed much from the previous administration, government for the rich by the rich…..

Pres. Obama is a politician….without the will of the people directing him it seems he does what all politicians today do…..attempt only to stay in office…

I am reminded of something F.D.R. was famous for saying after listening to the demands of a constituency “now go make me do it !”

[Min. W.D. Patterson]

Thank you Tessa Byrd and all others who have posted here. It's nice to know that there are yet some amongst us who have much more than an ounce of good sense, reckoning, and reasoning mixed with compassion and humility! What seems to be mistakingly a rare combination these days. God Bless us in all here in America!

 

"Land of the _ _ _ _ and home of the _ _ _ _ _, Land that I _ _ _ _!"

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