B-Rock, Hills, and Race & Gender In America...From a Frustrated and Vigilant Voter

Originally posted on Thursday, February 14, 2008
B-Rock, Hills, and Race & Gender in America...from a frustrated and vigilant voter.
Current mood: frustrated
Category: News and Politics

Election fever has hit the U.S. something terrible and I'm laying right up in the midst of it. Being from Chicago (which is really the "hometown" of both Barack and Hillary), the coverage is intense and constant. It's pretty much all you hear about and I'm so damn sick of it, I could vomit.

The whole movement surrounding Barack is off-putting to me. Why? Because I'm a realist. Always have been, maybe always will be. This whole "revolution" to elect a President based on the fact that he's different, new, and fresh is kind of stale to me. I mean, we had it with Bobby Kennedy, but that man had some REAL experience with the federal government and foreign affairs. He wasn't a charismatic upstarter who seemed to be the fabled oasis in the middle of a desert.

I respect Barack, no diggity-doubt. Back in 2004 (and even before then), I was supporting Barack by going to god-forsaken, tiny towns in Central and Southern IL where no Black person had been since they were running for freedom with Harriet. And I was riding to these places from Springfield, IL with a tall, lanky, beatnik lookin white dude who would drive and not say a word for HOURS. (And stopping at gas stations where I was too scared to stay in the car by myself but too scared to go into the station where the white people looked like they still called Black people "colored" and "negras.") AND getting up at the crack of dawn on Saturday mornings during the fall semester to go down to these little Corn Fairs that these towns had.

But I did it because I supported Barack. I thought he had some good experience in the IL State Senate and I highly respected his work in Chicago. (The fact that we attend the same Afrocentric, liberal, community-based church in Chicago doesnt' hurt either.) When he was elected into U.S. States Senate, I was very happy (in spite of that son of a Bush being elected the same day).

But hold up, wait a minute. President? For real Barack? Ok, to each his own. And I guess I'm supposed to vote for him because I'm Black? Don't say it! Don't dare say that you'd never assume or support that kind of decision. You know you do. You know you secretly question a Black person who wouldn't vote for the first Black candidate who has a real shot for the presidency.

Well, as for the "you're a liberal Black person" assumption that people make about me, fuggedaboudit. Yes, I'm Black, and so is Barack. But, in the words of Dave Chappelle "so the f*ck what?" While I am usually the person who always roots for the Black people to win on Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy, and sighs in relief when she hears the latest shooting spree wasn't committed by a Black person, I can't vote for a PRESIDENT based on that! Especially not now. After Clinton Pts. I & II, perhaps. But right now, while we're in the sinking sand of a ridiculous war based on lies, revenge and oil money, while we're in economic decline, and while living with more and more poverty-and-media bred violence, I want someone who I can vote for because I really think that they know what they're doing. Not because they're Black.

And by the way, me being the Queen of Unpopular Opinions, let me just say that while Barack is obviously and identifiably Black (and I'm sure more than a view cabs have declined to pull over for his fare), I don't currently see him really identifying with Black people. If he wants to be president of a predominatly white country, obviously he can't be in Jena linking hands with Jesse and singing, "we shall overcome." White people do not like it when you bring up the Civil Rights Movement. It reminds them of how sh*tty they used to treat us and how we haven't come as far as we should because they keep blockin us.

But here's where I had to really look at Barack sideways...

When Barack made the announcement that he would seek the Democratic Party's nomination for the Presidential race, he did so in Springfield, IL. Home of Abraham Lincoln and the IL State Senate. Well, Barack is a member of the same church I attend, Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's Southside. Our pastor, the wonderful Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. is quite the Afrocentric-liberal-radical. He also believes heavily in the Black Value System, which basically says that Black people should learn to take care of each other once again, stop depending on handouts from the government, and still fight the racist systems in this country and anywhere in the world. (http://www.tucc.org/black_value_system.html)

Pretty simple.

Well, obviously, it ain't so simple. Ever since Barack placed his eye on the prize, our church, and especially our Pastor, have been under attack from all sectors of the Right and even some in the Left. They've called us racist for teaching OUR children OUR history and not asking for their permission or their input. They've said that our emphasis on the Black community is polarizing on the lines of race and that true Christianity doesn't do that. They've even called us anti-Semitic for speaking against the U.S.'s unwavering and unquestioning support of Israel despite several human rights violation accusations. What they've failed, or refused, to recognize is that being a Black person in this race-conscious world is not a walk in the park, and that, to help ourselves in our Christian walk, we choose to stress principles from the Bible that can assist us, as Black Christians. To them, if you ain't got a white Jesus statue above your Black preacher's pulpit, and your Black preacher doesn't bow down to the shrine of conservatism and faith-based initiatives, you're not really a Christian. You're not really observing Jesus' mandates of unity. It doesn't really matter to them that they've worked hard to use mutilate Christianity and Jesus' name in a manner meant to oppress us!

Anyhoo, back to the story. Barack UNINVITES my pastor from his announcement! Why? Because advisors in his camp felt that my pastor was too controversial and Barack didn't need that. Simply put, your pastor scares the white people...and we can't do that, now can we?
But even that slight is not enough for me to decide on whether I will or won't support him.

In 2008, after having the most violent, ignorant, uncompassionate, pathetic buffoon of a resident (not president) in office for 8 years, I'm not just looking for a "change" or for "the audacity of hope," I'm looking for a PLAN.

On Facebook, I read a note written by a Black male friend of mine who is a Hillary supporter. It was urging John Edwards to endorse, and hopefully run with, Hillary. Another friend of mine, a staunch Barack supporter, shot him down with by stating how many states Obama had won and how many delegates he had, and was going to get, in his pocket. Most the commenters were like me; young, Black, college-educated, career-driven, politically aware, and socially conscious. (Hell, we probably all even bump the same music.) And they were all in support of Barack. A few even went so far as to make sly personal shots at the author of the note through sneakily dissing his "grammatical errors," chiding him for "begging," and even calling his beliefs "slave mentality at its zenith."

I found this disturbing. Slave mentality? Begging? C'mon now. Couldn't Barack be accused of the same for seeking out Edward's endorsement? (It could be looked at it like this...What Barack, you need a white man to help you with this? Why you all up in John's grill after Hillary hollered at him?)

Nobody would look at Barack seeking John's support in that light, so why would we look at a Hillary supporter sending a letter to John with such disdain? Because he's Black and he's supporting a white woman? Puhlease. I responded with by saying that I didn't think either candidate deserves John's endorsement until one of them starts to really talk about the issues vs. each other.

(i.e. "So, I don't think either one of them really DESERVES Edwards endorsement until I see some concrete proof that one of them is REALLY trying to be a good President, not Superstar. We got folks shooting up schools and malls left and right, but where's the gun control debate? We got people from New Orleans who haven't seen home in years, but where's the talk of the Gulf Coast renewal (Barack did a lil bit, I know)? We got extreme violence against women (look at Dunbar Village and Megan Williams…whom I've yet to hear Barack OR Hillary address in any REAL way) and children (all the Chicago Public School System children who were killed in ONE school year, 2006-2007) left and right, but where are the rape and child abuse voting records? And let's not talk about serious and clearly predominant plans about healthcare, the war, immigration, discrimination, etc.")

I don't have beef with Barack supporters. Hell, I am one myself. I support a Black man who has worked hard to get where he is despite of many obstacles. And Lord knows I support the idea of the fabulous Michelle Obama getting her hands on that White House and D.C. and showing the world how fabulous an incredibly intelligent, educated, beautiful, brown-skinned, woman, mother, and wife can work it!

I just don't think he's ready right now (because of a lack of experience and hook-ups...you must know the importance of a favor-owed, knowing where the bodies are hidden, and a hook-up in politics…this isn't going to change so don't go there), and I think he's been caught up in the hype of the elections more than the actual issues that this country is facing.

I'm not really impressed with Hillary either. Gosh darnit, as much as I'd like to support her because she's a woman (tee-hee-hee, that made me laugh too), that's not me. I'm not the feminist type. Especially if it's a white feminist. I don't feel that they've ever really cared about the plight of other women. I don't think they've done an extraordinary job of showing us that they care right now either. And as much as Bill makes my bell whistle and my liver quiver (hiya, Bill), that's a personal *wink, wink* sorta thing. Politically, Bill Clinton didn't help a lot of Black people much during his administration. The legislation he helped pass during this time in office did more to hurt us than help us...and let's not mention that his little stop in Harlem has driven up real estate prices even more in an already gentrifying community on the brink of losing a lot of its Black population...and history.

If this is the experience that she is laying claim to, I don't want it anymore than I want Barack's lack of experience. I realize that she's been in Senate longer, and that does give her the slight upper-hand. But let's be real, would she be here if she weren't Bill's gal? No.
Would Barack be here if he were a Black woman? No.

Carol Moseley-Braun, with all of her experience wouldn't be able to keep up with either candidate. True, she lacks the charismatic and charming ways of Barack, and the already-existent fan base of Hillary, but she was/is a smart woman. Would we take her as seriously as we're taking Barack and Hillary? Did we?

Hell-to-the-no.

Which tells me that our country hasn't come that far at all. We've still got a lot of hang-ups. If you're Black and male, just maybe. If you're white and female, perhaps. If you're Black AND female, whatchutalkinboutwillis? So are we truly ready for a Black or female president? Right now? Hope isn't real or sustainable without a SOLID plan, and I've YET to see that from Barack. Experience means little if your experience was gained riding the coattails of another.

I dunno. All I know is that if I, like many other Americans, don't want to see another Republican in office. I'm sorry, but you all have had your turn and you didn't do a good job (and that's putting it so lightly and politely). Fall back. If it comes down to Barack or Hillary, I'm voting for them. But, will it be a choice that I truly support or one that I was forced to make? And if I am forced to make that choice, can it please not be based on my melanin levels or sexual organs?