Juan Williams strikes an optimistic note about how Obama's victory puts the coda on black grievance politics.
The idea of black politics now tilts away from leadership based on voicing grievance, and identity politics based on victimization and anger. In its place is an era in which it is assumed that talented, tough people of any background will find a way to their rightful seat of power in mainstream political life.
The Jesse Jacksons, Al Sharptons and Rev. Jeremiah Wrights remain. But their influence and power fade to a form of nostalgia in a world of larger political agendas, such as a common American vision of setting the nation on a steady economic course and dealing with terrorists. The market has irrevocably shrunk for Sharpton-style tirades against "the man" and "the system." The emphasis on racial threats and extortion-like demands -- all aimed at maximizing white guilt as leverage for getting government and corporate money -- has lost its moment. How does anyone waste time on racial fantasies like reparations for slavery when there is a black man who earned his way into the White House?
If Obama truly wants to turn the page on such old grievance politics and do something for the millions of blacks who voted for him, he can turn now to stressing the importance of responsibility. He can stress how his whole life is an example that doing well in school doesn't mean that a black kid is "acting white." And that the model for black families should be following the example of his and Michelle's marriage and waiting until a couple is married and earning a living before having children.
Make no mistake, there is still discrimination against people of color in America. And inside black America, there is still disproportionate poverty, school dropouts, criminal activity, incarceration and single motherhood. But with the example of Mr. Obama's achievements, from Harvard Law to the state legislature, U.S. Senate and the White House, the focus of discussion now is how the child of even the most oppressed of racial minorities can maximize his or her strengths and overcome negative stereotypes through achievement.
The onus now falls on individuals to take advantage of opportunities. That begins with keeping families together and taking responsibility for the twisted "gangsta" culture that celebrates jail time instead of schooling. With Mr. Obama as the head of government, discussion of racial problems now comes in the form of pragmatic discourse for how to best give all Americans opportunty, for example, how to improve schools.
If Obama takes on this task, he will have done more for American blacks than all the giveaway programs have ever done. If he just supports the typical Democratic approach to problems in the inner city of throwing money at the problems, he will have missed the opportunity that his victory provides the country.
4 comments:
One of MLK's relatives was on the TV the other day. His response to Obama's election was this is just the start and there is much more still to be done for Blacks.
I see nothing in Obama's record to support Mr. William's thesis. The civil rights movement of 50 years ago has little to do with today. Then, blacks and whites fought side-by-side to make law color-blind, so anyone could achieve the American Dream. The word we used then was "prejudice," as in "are you prejudiced?" "Are you trying to deny John the quarterback position because he is black?" This was the moral question we asked ourselves in the '60s and '70s, and for the most part we changed our views for the better.
Today, this achievement has been corrupted by leaders like Obama who are not in favor of assimilation into the middle class by minority groups, but who favor the race, class, gender agenda of the left. Obama's record on divisiveness is long and deep: black liberation theology, his education agenda in the Chicago public schools, his complete carelessness with urban renewal projects, his support for Kenyan leader Raila Odinga, his support for the PLO, and his lying about all of these issues.
The symbolism of a black president would have meant a lot in 1975, when prejudice was the issue. But now that the movement is no longer about the elimination of prejudice, but about blaming America for unequal outcomes, a black president who accepts and promotes that premise will make matters worse.
I see it more as a rear guard action considering how long some black politicians have been working their way up the food chain to take control in some cities and then have it all snatched away by democgraphics. It says a lot when a city, Compton CA, that had been majority black and black run run is in reality a majority Latino community with new leaders taking control and checking to make sure the previous occupants don't take the light bulbs on their way out.
As such I expect that black politicians will not be demanding expanded opportunities but rather a way to freeze in place the gains, or rather the political power, that has been gained.
Throwing money is a tactic that the elitist illuminati have done for years, and it does not work. You can not just throw money at people who do not put money back into the economy.
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