R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Back in May, the Chicago Tribune ran a photo of Barack Obama standing behind a podium with a presidential seal and the headline "Obama in '08?" And it got me thinking...
If Barack Obama ran for president tomorrow - or in the next election - would I vote for him? There are 2 possibilities. 1) He has a wack opponent, in which case I cast a lesser evil ballot with no problem. But 2) He has a qualified opponent and I quite possibly find myself voting against a very intelligent and charismatic black presidential candidate. Not surprisingly, my (apparently well-ingrained) racial politics makes the second possibility hard to get my brain around. So let's think it out.
In the past 6 years, there have (apparently) been 3 viable black presidential candidates.
1. Colin Powell. I actually really like this man. He was suspect for a few years while he was working for the enemy, but I think he got his mind right in time to have his membership reinstated.
2. Condoleeza Rice. When (white) political observers would throw her name out as a possible candidate, I would always wonder if they had any idea how much black people hate her guts. Art may never have imitated life as accurately as when your girl was "given away" on Chappelle's Show. I wonder what the chances are of a black president being elected without a single black vote. I do wonder.
3. Barack Obama. As much I love a good First Black... I'm not sure Mr. Obama is really qualified for the job. He may be an excellent senator - I really can't say - but, never having governed anything, I wouldn't want him to start with The Free World. I feel like the learning curve may be just a bit too steep for that.
I think it all boils down to expectations. When you don't expect anything - good or bad - from a president, just seeing a Black face in the White House counts as a pretty substantial victory. But since the current president has so aptly demonstrated how high the stakes actually are, I think, for the first time in my life, I might actually ask for more from a Black president than that he just be black.
Hmmmmm...
If Barack Obama ran for president tomorrow - or in the next election - would I vote for him? There are 2 possibilities. 1) He has a wack opponent, in which case I cast a lesser evil ballot with no problem. But 2) He has a qualified opponent and I quite possibly find myself voting against a very intelligent and charismatic black presidential candidate. Not surprisingly, my (apparently well-ingrained) racial politics makes the second possibility hard to get my brain around. So let's think it out.
In the past 6 years, there have (apparently) been 3 viable black presidential candidates.
1. Colin Powell. I actually really like this man. He was suspect for a few years while he was working for the enemy, but I think he got his mind right in time to have his membership reinstated.
2. Condoleeza Rice. When (white) political observers would throw her name out as a possible candidate, I would always wonder if they had any idea how much black people hate her guts. Art may never have imitated life as accurately as when your girl was "given away" on Chappelle's Show. I wonder what the chances are of a black president being elected without a single black vote. I do wonder.
3. Barack Obama. As much I love a good First Black... I'm not sure Mr. Obama is really qualified for the job. He may be an excellent senator - I really can't say - but, never having governed anything, I wouldn't want him to start with The Free World. I feel like the learning curve may be just a bit too steep for that.
I think it all boils down to expectations. When you don't expect anything - good or bad - from a president, just seeing a Black face in the White House counts as a pretty substantial victory. But since the current president has so aptly demonstrated how high the stakes actually are, I think, for the first time in my life, I might actually ask for more from a Black president than that he just be black.
Hmmmmm...
posted by Puff at 11:51 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home