It’s time to grow up Black people. It’s time to put away those childish things if we wish to sit at the grown folks table instead of the kiddie one. Let’s be honest, for a wide swath of Black America, the 2008 election season was the first that many of us watched for its full duration. 2008 unfortunately marked the first national political convention that many of us paid any attention, Democrat or otherwise.
Don’t get brand new on Mo’Kelly now. You know this is true and you know to whom out there I’m speaking.
Part of which had to do with the coming of age of the relationship between the internet and the political process. Part of it arguably had to do with the coming of age of the African-American electorate. We were fully vested…for the first time. Emphasis on “We” and “were.” Both words will be addressed.
Cutting to the chase, history was made, an African-American ascended to the Oval Office and an unwritten law was put into effect; “Thou shall not critique the policies of President Obama or criticize the legislative moves of said president.”
That is…not if you wish to avoid being called a “hater,” “sell-out” or “crab-in-a-barrel.” Break the law at your own peril.
Really?
Most of y’all just started voting (if at all) sometime this century. And now you want to dictate the political ethos of the whole of African-Americans? Really? Honestly?
Yes, the argument would be some emotional rant centered around the idea that dissent aligns you with the vast Right-Wing conspiracy which helped bring down President Clinton and now also seeks to bring down President Obama.
Paraphrased: “You’re either with us…or against us.”
Sometimes I feel as in I’m in Bizzaro World. Up is down and cats and dogs now shack up. Many of these 20-somethings espousing this foolishness either voted for the first time or didn’t even vote at all in 2008; yet have the temerity to lecture those like me who have voted and participated in all elections national and local since 1988.
Time to grow up Black people and the first step is listening to your elders.
At the heart of this discussion is whether one can philosophically disagree with President Obama on some issues yet honestly support the president. Most of the 97% of my fellow African-Americans who voted for President Obama have misguidedly suggested you can’t.
Oh really?
See, here’s where my decades of active participation in the political process serves to my benefit and others’ detriment. The aforementioned President Clinton was and still is tremendously popular within the African-American community. There’s nothing wrong with it…Bill is “cool people” as they say. Yet, let the record reflect his signature on the Welfare Bill of 1995 and the Crime Bill (100 to 1 crack to powder cocaine sentencing guidelines) did African-Americans no favors.
In other words, Mo’Kelly could support the president and disagree with the policies that disproportionately affect or afflict African-Americans. Bill Clinton was a better option than Bob Dole or George H.W. Bush but that did not absolve Clinton of legitimate critique across his two terms.
Last I checked…my disapproval neither stood in Clinton’s way of a 2nd term nor led to him being impeached. Imagine that. In fact, Slick Willie is kicking it in Harlem in 2010, surrounded by many of the people and neighborhoods most adversely affected by the aforementioned bills. Going even further, Bill still wields considerable influence as there are ex-Clinton staffers aplenty in the Obama administration, from Hillary on down.
So be careful who you accuse of being a “Clinton supporter.” The Clintons have a hand deep in the pockets literally and figuratively of this administration. It is what it is and we can run the list.
That needs to be said a second time. Be very careful who you accuse of being a “Clinton supporter.”
How about that for irony?
I love my people, but I know my people. Most African-Americans (including myself) would tell you they are against the war in Iraq, but also support the troops. Meaning, there is room to philosophically disagree with the reasons for our involvement yet wish nothing but success for our troops.
Somehow, some way, for some reason, the sound logic often used by my fellow African-Americans in discussion of the war goes out the window in discussion of the 44th president. All bets are off it seems.
Time to grow up Black people. Put the pacifier down and back away from it once and for all.
If your response to a critique or criticism of President Obama contains the word “hater,” “crab,” “sell-out” or some inventive combination of the three…you need to go to your room and not come out until you think about what you’ve done. It’s sophomoric, ill-informed and infantile. This is big-boy politics. Ghetto hi-fivers need not apply. He’s the President of the United States, critique and criticism are written into the job description. His legislative decisions will be critiqued, his results or lack thereof will be criticized.
(And rightfully so.)
My vote for a candidate is not a 4-year blank check of support. It is my investment in my future, meaning I’ve earned the right to check in on it from time to time. I’m even allowed to make suggestions and press for changes in direction along the way. No vote by Mo’Kelly is an uncritical pass for four or even eight years. If it is for you, shame on you. It wasn’t when I first voted in 1988 for Michael Dukakis and it wasn’t in 2008. Voting isn’t a singular act, it’s a promise to remain engaged.
My folks inherently understand these truths and are completely clear on the role of critique in the public space; they just have relinquished all common sense in the past year. Mention the names of former Secs. of State Condi Rice, Colin Powell, RNC Chairman Michael Steele or Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and you’ll hear every eloquent argument available as to why it’s (supposedly) not about their color, but their politics which preclude them from gaining the support of the majority of African-Americans.
The point is this…
For all the emphasis and energy spent “defending” President Obama on all things significant and small, little if any attention has been paid by the African-American electorate to the approaching midterm elections. This is the “We” and the “Were.” “We” “were” engaged more than ever before, but have relinquished both our agency and urgency in the present political dialogue.
Democrats, the party which African-Americans have pledged their loyalty ever since the 1960s (arguably undeserved) have stood idly by as the gubernatorial seats in Virginia and New Jersey slipped away. The longtime Kennedy Senate seat fell by the wayside in Massachusetts, Senator Evan Bayh retired in Indiana. Roland Burris is not seeking re-election in Illinois and that’s not counting the numerous other House Democratic retirees prior to the November election.
The truth of the matter is that anyone genuinely in support of President Obama understands implicitly that a shrinking margin in the Senate or a switch in power in the House to the Republicans does President Obama zero favors the subsequent two years of his term.
How can anyone legitimately support President Obama and have NOTHING to say about the midterms? That is ignorance of cataclysmic proportions and the Republicans thank us for it. While “We” are out there compiling our list of “haters” and jealous “crabs-in-a-barrel” “sell-outs” we’ve taken our eye off the prize…the real prize.
For all the vociferous attacks on those individuals and Black leaders/pundits/intellectuals who have the “unmitigated gall” to petition or critique the agenda of President Obama, there’s not been a single peep as to this other reality. We as African-Americans seem to be preoccupied with the paint job on the car better known as the Democratic Party and have lost sight of the cinder blocks on which it rests.
Time to grow up Black people.
The Congressional Black Caucus has been working in many cases for 50 years longer than President Obama’s name ever traipsed from any of your lips. They were on the Washington front lines before our esteemed president emerged and will be after he’s gone. That is not a criticism of the President, it’s a statement of fact. Presidents have term limits, members of Congress do not.
Mess around and you’ll have some rogue members of Congress elected come November and he/she/they may not be voted out until 2040 or til death do they part. All because “We” “were” asleep at the wheel. Names like Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms come to mind.
Congressman John Lewis has seen many a president come and go. It’s ok to give him the correct amount of respect, he’s (and others) earned it. Only Congressman Lewis can say he had to endure the N-word in broad daylight for the past five decades while working for justice and equality.
Our president can’t say that. YOU can’t even say that.
Time to grow up Black people…or go to your room with no dessert.
President Obama may be the metaphorical belle of the ball, but the CBC provided the transportation to the dance. Let’s not forget how we got to the dance in the first place. As they say, “dance with who brung ya’.”
The recent passage of the Healthcare Reform Bill was both landmark and historic. Kudos to President Obama. He’s accomplished in one year what his predecessors have failed to do for the past 75. His recent efforts to undergird HBCUs should also to be lauded.
But at no time can I praise any president if there isn’t also room for informed critique…and criticism if need be.
The Gay and Lesbian community will criticize President Obama if he fails to deliver on his promise to redress Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell…and well they should. The Latino community will criticize the president if he fails to deliver on comprehensive immigration reform…and well they should.
So it should go without saying Mo’Kelly reserves the right to heap both praise and criticism if President Obama falls short. In this fantasy voyage to a “post-racial” society, where color supposedly does not matter, it only makes sense to apply critical analysis of the presidency of Barack Obama in the same way Mo’Kelly critiqued that of Presidents Bush (H.W. and W.) and Clinton.
And for those of my fellow African-Americans who are of the opinion that critique and/or criticism of the 44th president has no place in the public discourse, may I show you to your room. This discussion is for grown folks…act like it or tuck your own self in for the night.
[Stay tuned…the new mrmokelly.com website is coming to you in 2010. Set your browsers now.]
18 responses to “Black Electorate…Time to Grow Up (Or Go to Your Room)”
"How can anyone legitimately support President Obama and have NOTHING to say about the midterms? That is ignorance of cataclysmic proportions and the Republicans thank us for it. While “We” are out there compiling our list of “haters” and jealous “crabs-in-a-barrel” “sell-outs” we’ve taken our eye off the prize…the real prize."
This is the part that struck me the most. So many people are acting as though "the job is done" now that Pres Obama is in office. People seem to have given no thought to the near future, and I can't tell if it's laziness on the part of the people "resting on their laurels" after the success of Obama's election, or if it speaks of sweeping ignorance in the political process, and the implications thereof. Or is it both?
And I think criticism of Pres Obama is always going to be a sticky subject for the same reasons. The Af-Am community is notorious for ignoring the flaws and failures of prominent figures that "represent" Us. I agree with you telling Us to grow up. It's indicative of social and political immaturity, this unwillingness to acknowledge that Our leaders' character, motivations, and actions are Most Definitely Not above reproach. Unfortunately, most people don't actually grow up untl they're forced to by an unpleasant realization or sutiation.
On the other hand, what an incredible achievement it has been for Obama to get health care passed. The history books will be writing about this one.
And it caps off a remarkable first year+, doesn't it? He saved American Auto, he provided a massive stimulus that probably should have been even bigger but was still the biggest ever, and now that he has gotten this piece of sausage through the grinder, the legitimate question is this:
What CAN'T he accomplish?
He ought to be wearing an "S" on his chest. Seriously.
Obama is not a black man the way Jesse Jackson is. Obama is mixed blood, raised substantially but whites in places other than the inner city, and has never that I am aware fully embraced the civil rights agenda that says black issues need be front and center politically.
However, who can deny that the health care bill and the stimulus bill "disproportionately" affect black people in a POSITIVE way? By percentage, more of that money will flow to people of color, people who have been left behind by economic prosperity, people whose safety net is tissue-thin. In other words, black folk, while you were standing at the front door yelling about what's not happening, your president sent aid through the back door.
He's a clever, disciplined intelligent man, and Morris: Maybe he does know better after all. Maybe he has a workable plan after all.
I think his trajectory is now sky-high, and I think Democrats will GAIN, not lose, in these midterms.
And to the extent that folks showed up for the big party and lost interest after that:
What's new?
"raised substantially BY whites", he meant…
Thanks, Mo. You're on target as usual. My first vote was also in 1988. I even remember my vote for governor of Louisiana that year – Buddy Roemer. LOL! I have been involved in the voting process since I could stand inside the booth with my mother. I was blessed to have parents who valued the right to vote and exercised it cautiously. They taught us to do the same. For the many African-Americans who are new to the voting table you said a mouthful. They should chew, swallow and digest it all. The time to be passive has passed. Our active involvement in the political process will make the difference in our quality of life in the years to come.
I wonder why more people participated in this discussion on Facebook?
Such a well written post deserves more vigorous discussion…
Thank you Walt, but that's just the way it goes. There are days where I think I've written the most wonderful piece (not this one) and I think "this" is going to set the world on fire…and nothing. And there are other times when I throw something together and it gets 30 comments having nothing to do with me contributing. I can't explain it.
My own personal favorite posts that I put hours into often times have little verbal feedback. It doesn't mean people aren't reading, the webstats say people are. But it's hard to gauge outside of that. All of this is truly an inexact science.
*Standing on a chair, applauding this post*
BRAVO! BRAVO!
We should be critical of ANY elected official because that's part of our civic duty. Just like we are mandated to participate in juries (if called) and pay taxes and fill out census forms, we should feel equally encouraged to be involved AFTER the election is over.
I just think that many folks don't want criticism to be confused with the "crabs-in-a-barrel" phenomenon. You have some, including my late grandparents, who thought their kids to NEVER turn on their own kind in front of Mr. Charlie.
It's not that they are acting like babies, it's more of being confused about "what age" we are really in. This is NOT the age of Obama. I'm sorry to disappoint you all. This is the age of his presidency, but his agenda is not shaped by a black agenda just yet. His first order of business is to please corporate folks…then the gays and lesbians….then the Latinos…then maybe, just maybe, if they let him, US.
Nicely said. I don't agree with you on just about anything, but good stuff. I am not a proponet of racial politics at all, and I wish ALL Americans could grow up, criticize and vote based on issues and not skin. I was born in Mississippi, grew up in a segregated elementary school in Kansas(one of the last in the nation, defying the law)and am particularly disturbed by anything that divides based on race. I used to see the black children playing on the other side of the playground fence and wondered who they were? Plenty of black children lived in my neighborhood, but I never saw them at school. I choose now to live where there is less racism (there is always some) because I never want my kids to experience what I saw as a child, open hostile racism on both sides.
Hopefully there will be a day when there will no no need for a CBC and there will be only Americans in the Congress.
Who am I kidding? Race sells and people on both sides will exploit it when they see advantage in it and it is a sad thing.
Good article.
Going Walt's earlier point, this really should have been more widely addressed than the FB post. I had started writing yesterday and got called off on a series of projects that just ended. But what I had planned to say was a more concise (better thought through) version of my Facebook thought. That being that the masses too often consider critique as criticism, and our leaders too often mask criticism as critique. You cannot critique someone on something that has not been established they do. Obama's first year is up for critique of his performance on his campaign promises. I can critique his performance of "don't ask don't tell", because it was understood and accepted that he would work on that this year. I can't critique his handling of funding appropriations to rebuild inner city schools. It is extremely important, but he gave no indication he would be doing that this year.
In essence, the electorate may not know the difference between criticism and critique, but many know enough about how brothers interact to know when someone is getting dissed vs. getting checked. Lack of sophistication doesn't mean they're stupid (and I'm definitely not saying anyone on this post has called them that… I'm just making a point), and in that respect, many of the complaints levied toward those who use criticism under the guise of critique are correct.
good post.
keep in mind that "20 somethings" didn't even have a chance to vote for clinton. for all of their adult lives bush was president. and these younger voters made the difference in the 08 election.
the challenge is keeping these people involved in the political process. many are transient, either in college or moving around a lot as they establish themselves, making them less likely to vote in local elections. on top of that most would rather not align with a party and only did so to support obama. the democratic party is going to have empower young people from the ground up (again) in order to win the midterm elections.
hopefully obama's run and election will be the catalyst to keep this younger generation involved.
I am a retired teacher. My passion for a quality education for ALL children embraces every color. I strongly disagreed with President Obama's defense of firing the entire staff of a New England school because the children were not achieving. I was very disappointed that President Obama has not focused more on education. Although I do appreciate very much what he's done for healthcare I believe that the true wealth of this country lies in our young people and what they will contribute. Someone close to me and a higher education administrator suggested that this country needs to have an education summit to come up with some viable ideas to solve this crisis. I do appreciate the fact that the President and his family are very positive Black role models. I have not however kicked up my heels sang we have overcome and sat down. I've been voting since 1969. I try to read and keep up. I will not avoid criticizing a government official because he/she is Black. I will not avoid praising a government official because he/she is not Black. I sincerely hope that this country can get beyond color and do what's best for the people especially the young people. I want to see President Obama moving in that direction. If not I'll send emails, letters whatever to express my opinion. I love the lyrics of a popular song that states " I believe the children are the future". Black people must become as sophisticated as possible about politics. Our job right now is to create the best world possible for our children.
Excellent article, Mo.
But my issue is with Walt this time, but only a minor one. We don't actually know how much wealth is being redistributed to anyone. The health care bill, with its few good things and many monumentally bad things, has not been put into effect yet. It remains to be seen just who benefits.
I just want to repeat that Obama seems to be quite stealthily redistributing wealth back toward poor folk, which will disproportionately benefit people of color.
From what I’ve read, this is no small deal. For decades, wealth has been moving upward. Obama’s policies will in real ways reverse that.
He’s not so dumb.
Jack,
I certainly anticipate that Inscos will win big with this law, and you will notice, as I have pointed out, that markets are quiet, as sure an indication you could ask for that th business community does not dislike this law.
Why should they? A govt requirement to interact with the private sector for thousands of dollars a year?
But where is the money coming from? Primarily from wealthy wage-earners. And where is it going? Primarily to subsidize premiums for people of low income, who will presumably be healthier as a result, spending less of their money on medicine and so forth, or having to choose between medicine and food.
All money eventually ends up in the hands of the powerful. No avoiding that. But at least it will pass through the hands of the poor along the way, something that the rich rarely do by choice.
Well, that may well come to pass. We'll see. Of course, we then must ask what downside we the lower-income folks see from the increased taxes on the wealthier populace?
The stock market predicts that it won't be a disaster.
Great column Mo. No one gets a pass for being a Black elected official. I vote based upon my interest not based upon color. Just because someone is Black does not mean they represent my interest. Elective officials do not get a pass.
Our race is too weak, too tempted by evil and ignorant. We will never grow up. It's better to worry about other races who need and most importantly want real help, really want it. We just wanna be spoiled like little babies all the time.