Posted on 05/16/2008 6:16:46 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Wouldn't it be something if Michelle Obama, not the Rev. Jeremiah Wright or John McCain, were the reason Barrack Obama looses the presidency? Instead of "change," the First Lady-in-waiting is sticking with old hurts held closely by certain black communities.
They are those who relish the pain suffered by their slave forefathers and mothers. They revisit, over and over, what was; hurts, carefully protected and harbored as badges of honor.
None of us on this land are responsible for what happened to their kin, but they don't care. They marinate in crippling history.
Why?
The reasons reek of the psychology of it all. As long as struggle is someone else's fault, change is not a consideration.
Very few pioneers, who wove the early foundations of this country, missed out on suffering caused by prejudice. Either they were the wrong culture, sex, skill or religion. None, however, endured the evil suffered by the Native American.
Surely, every one of us, who cannot claim Native American blood, should leave this land forever, if justice is to be granted a wounded race. When that is done, let the next victims speak their claims against a nation so grand that during the past century it astoundingly righted major civil wrongs.
Where will it end?
Time for healing is long passed. Resentments and victimhood are now simply an excuse.
Despite her education, Michelle doesn't seem to compute the reality of the struggle of all humanity, everywhere. Behind the scenes, I imagine the Obama campaign handlers are choking on their pizza.
"They just keep raising the bar on Barrack," Michelle complained.
And, we all know what that means. If it's hard to be elected president, it's about discrimination. No mention of black Americans who've broken the attitude chains of helplessness.
There are a good number among the black community who call on their citizens to stop sniveling, to reach forward, not back. They urge them to gather their families, mothers and fathers, and teach children values and the privileges of hard work. But, the other voices seem to dominate. Many are religious leaders, such as Wright, the Obama family guru for 20 years. They capitalize on a transparent time warp. They talk change, but they really mean hold fast to the past and cling to hopelessness. Be sure and blame the white man.
Sometime ago (March/April 1995), Psychology Today quoted British psychiatrist Anthony Daniels (pen name Theodore Dalrymple) in an article called "The Uses of Resentment:" "If the world is unjustly stacked against us ... it absolves us from the painful necessity to change. We can remain exactly the same while calling down anathema on a cruel world."
And then he drives it home: "There is one further advantage of believing oneself to be the victim of circumstance. Our supposed victimhood assures us of our own importance."
No one can ignore the evils of slavery. Like Auschwitz, it'll always be with us. But, even if black Americans cannot find it in their hearts or religions to forgive, they can at least consider the power of letting go for the sake for their children's futures.
The oddness of Michelle's tack is this: she and her husband have proven the laws of hard work. Still, she resorts to political dirty tricks with snarly references to prejudice. Michelle's seeking to capitalize on white guilt, but what she risks is the backlash of those who have grown weary of the gimmick.
Her husband's right. It's time for change. A great place to start is in those black American communities, which cling to cultural resentment.
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Linda Turley-Hansen is a syndicated columnist and former veteran Phoenix television news anchorwoman who lives in the East Valley. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached by e-mail at letters@lindastake.com.
‘I went through the list of words I used to hear routinely so the kids would know to avoid them. I was amazed at how many of those words there were and how long it had been since I had heard them and the kids had NOT heard them.’
Not sure what words you’re referring to, but the kids must be too young or uninterested in listening to rap.
Michele is one nasty piece of work. I can’t imagine her as First Lady.
“1) Except for a very tiny percentage, presentd-day white people do not have ancestors who owned or supported slavery”
....our family were slave holders...in our records they were listed as “servant”....they were given death bed manumission with land....one branch of these decendants still live on that land....they did alright because they were industrious and had a reverence for education...they were known in the county as “very respectable people”....nothing like that hip hop trash you see on TV.
He might be able to lose it, though.
Black leaders love to talk about slavery. No one in my family ever owned slaves! I am economically enslaved by the crime and laziness in the black community! Jesse...Al...if slavery never occurred, you would still be living in a mud/straw hut in some dark village in Africa. You suckers should rejoice about slavery.. because you never had it so good!
I understand your system but I do it just the opposite. When I meet a new person they start out with 100 percent respect and lose points as they go along. Some of them slip to zero before the first meeting is over but they all start high. Some gain points back over the years but generally when my respect for them is lowered they don’t get it back.
I've known far too many people who I know have IQ's over 130 (upper 2%) and/or have Ph.D.s (universities are full of them) but who are also ignorant marxists, socialists, and leftists. Their being intelligent does not mean they are smart. Actually their being very bright makes them more dangerous -- treasonously dangerous.
OK.
Imagine a white person was having a discussion with a black person about some issue, just for example, let’s imagine it was teen pregnancy of blacks.
So then, the black person drops the race/slavery bomb.
And the white guy replies as you suggest, and they begin a heated argument about who’s to blame, etc.
The white guy just lost. He played along, and the subject got changed. End of rational discussion about current issues.
I’m glad someone had the balls, even if her name is Linda, to write this article. Thank you, Linda. Oh, don’t ever plan to work for a big city paper, though. They don’t go for the truth.
Larry Craig?
If this is true then Borat Obamacide is going to be in for a rough time on Election Day.
My parents, grand parents and great grand parents did not own slaves.
So there’s no reason for me to feel guilty. Get over it.
“Point to the refugees from Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, etc. who came here with next to nothing, not even knowing our language — and yet they have succeeded in less than two generations! How many generations have the Blacks been playing victim instead of getting off their butts and learning and working”
You actually provided a cogent reason why this is the case in your own post #18.
A three-word reason: “The Bell Curve”.
- John
Slaves and reparations, Jim Crow my A$$.
Work, or don’t eat. Quit whining and using the neck thing like it’s a weapon.
I never owned slaves. My parents and grandparents never owned slaves. Etc., etc.
There ARE slaves in THIS COUNTRY and the world. Slavery was outlawed as a result of our Civil War.
Get over yourselves. Help the people who ARE slaves in this country. What a concept.
Over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS US has been spent at a minimum trying to help the blacks. Enough.
I’ll post one more comment and then sign off.......
Resentment?
Why would I resent it if someone were hired because of a quota? Why would I resent the extraordinary measures taken at workplaces and elsewhere to smile politely and exchange trivialities BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE SO CAREFUL WHAT A WHITE PERSON SAYS...but not a black one.
It was the children of the area in which I live who, 4 years ago, taught me what racism really is. I was raised and made it pretty far until then to practice tolerance and compassion for all (insofar as possible) of my countrymen (not the other folks though). I don’t talk about that revelation of 2004 though. I just can’t yet.
Nite all. A big salute to Jim Rob. Miss you, buddy.
btt
Right on the button.
Hey, if you're gonna say things like that on FR, you better have on your flame suit.
Despite her education, Michelle doesn't seem to compute the reality of the struggle of all humanity,
This is the cornerstone axis of this article, and quite true. She herself struggled, and made it to a great place. So, she hides behind a "group identity" in order to vent her spleen. The individual morphs into a "group identity"; making the personal, political.
And the food fight begins as to "who has it worse", but now involving groups all surrounding the Democrat convention of herding individuals into groups based upon physical characteristics and/or behaviors.
Michelle should be uplifting others, any and all others, that they too can make it, tho the path be difficult and trying.
That's not her message.
Unfortunately, Michelle is hung up by her own "black guilt". She made it to the top, probably with lots of extra help because of her skin color and sex (quotas), and now she feels guilty being proud of how she made it to the top. So, faux compassion for others like her is her meme. She certainly doesn't exude compassion for all, and including those not in her political identity group.
She's stuck in a "box" mentality. That "box" mentality made her well off. And now she can't think outside the box.
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