Posted on 11/01/2012 11:07:08 AM PDT by Kaslin
What do I tell my black child if Barack Obama, America's first black president, loses his bid for re-election? This is a question many parents are asking themselves -- especially those who would blame the loss on racism.
Jubilant black parents on the front pages of newspapers, the day after Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, said things like, "for the first time" they could "sincerely" say to their children that a black person could realistically aspire to become president of the United States.
The New York Times wrote: "That a new day had dawned was immediately apparent at breakfast on Wednesday at Eagle Academy, a young public school in the spot where the often hard-edged Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brownsville and Ocean Hill intersect: The sixth-grade boys sat in silence over their eggs, biscuits and apple juice.
"They were too busy poring over the transcripts of President-elect Barack Obama's speech that teachers had handed them as they walked in. Too tired, perhaps, from having been awoken at midnight to hear the news from their tearful mothers. ...
"The 30-year-old principal, Rashad Meade, pushed his proteges, asking why they thought ... this moment was so important ... why their parents had woken them the night before.
"Isaiah Purcell, who is 11, started to say something about the issues, then trailed off. He picked up again, asserting that Mr. Obama's ascendancy to the White House 'makes us think that we could accomplish anything when you put your mind to it (emphasis added).'"
Goodness! Pre-Obama, what were these parents and teachers telling these kids about their future? What would the teary-eyed parents have said had Obama lost? Would they have told their children that racism remains a major force in America and Obama's defeat proves the point? And assuming he loses his bid for re-election, what will this defeat say about "race" in America?
My father, a former Marine, World War II vet, was born to an illiterate single mother in Athens, Ga. An only child, he never met his biological father. He was a 14-year-old teenager in that Jim Crow South when the Great Depression began. Hard, hard knocks.
But as I write in my new book, "Dear Father, Dear Son," my father taught my brothers and me that the only barrier to success is lack of effort. My Huntsville, Alabama-born mother also taught us that, through education and steady application, goals could be achieved -- no matter how lofty.
Yes, even the presidency of the United States.
I write: "Mom made me feel like I could spit lightening and make bullets bounce off my chest. She sat me down on the front porch when I was about 6 years old. She had an illustrated book of all the presidents from George Washington to Dwight Eisenhower. We talked about their achievements and disappointments.
"'Larry,' she said, tapping the book, 'if you work hard enough and want it bad enough, someday you can be in this book.'"
My parents told us that no one can make you feel inferior without your permission. In high school, we read a sad, bitter poem about racism in a black literature course:
"While riding through old Baltimore, so small and full of glee,
"I saw a young Baltimorean keep a-lookin' straight at me.
"Now, he was young and very small, and I was not much bigger
"And so I smiled, but he put out his tongue and called me 'nigger.'
"I saw the whole of Baltimore from May until September,
"Of all the things that happened there, that's all that I remember."
The teacher angrily talked about the permanent damage done to this little boy's psyche. The permanent stain of racism. The assault on the little boy's dignity. The boy, said the teacher, will never be the same. By the time the bell sounded, everyone was angry.
When I got home, I read the poem to my mother. She was in the kitchen, cooking a pot of greens. When I finished the last line, she turned, big spoon in hand, and looked me in the eye.
"Too bad," she said, "that boy let something so trivial spoil his vacation."
If Obama loses, how many parents will tell their children that his race did him in? Already, The Associated Press published a poll supposedly showing that the negative "racial attitudes" people hold against blacks could likely cost Obama 2 points in the election.
Really?
Not only does Obama benefit from a near-unanimous black vote, but also from the many whites who voted for Obama because of his race. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, explained in 2008: "This is (their) chance to demonstrate that we have been able to get this boogeyman called race behind us. And so they are going to vote for him, whether he has credentials or not, whether he has any experience."
Hall of Famer Frank Robinson became the first black manager in the modern major leagues. There have been many since. Robinson's hiring made a statement about the irrelevance of race. Years later, when his team underperformed, Robinson was fired.
Obama can be fired, as well.
Tell your black child that Obama won the first time because he was part black, but lost the second time because he is fully evil.
go ahead not caring what color anyone is...I don’t give a sh!t..
When Obama loses, you can tell them, See.. that’s what failing to do hard work gets you. Lost opportunity.
Best take is in the exchanges between meyer, dfwgator, Kaslin, and laweeks.....
...Judging a man on the content of his character, not by the color of his skin....
Truer words.....
Men may make laws to hinder and fetter the ballot, but men cannot make laws that will bind or retard the growth of manhood.
We went into slavery a piece of property; we came out American citizens. We went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery without a language; we came out speaking the proud Anglo-Saxon tongue. We went into slavery with slave chains clanking about our wrists; we came out with the American ballot in our hands.
Progress, progress is the law of nature; under God it shall be our eternal guiding star.
Booker T Washington “The Problems of the Colored Race in the South,” lecture, Hamilton Club, Chicago (1895-12-10
Evil knows all colors.
That he lost because he’s a communist and a crook and brought shame onto the black community?
“Mr. Elder. What did you tell him when Obama won? Did you say you voted for a black man because of his color? If you did, you’re a damned racist! If you vote for him again, you’re a racist, and an effing FOOL!.....”
I’m not sure you read the entire piece. Larry Elder is a conservative. He may or he may not have voted for Obama. But, either way, he ends this article with a dose of common sense. Echoing Clint Eastwood, his answer is, “If he can not do the job, then he gets fired.”
In my opinion......post of the day!!
LLS
That reminds me of the old Ozborne Green joke.
Teacher to young black boy:”What’s your name, son?”
Child:”Ozborne Green”
Teacher:”No, I asked you what your name is.”
Child:”Ozborne Green!”
Teacher:”Son, you need to look in the mirror cause youse not born green, youse born black!”
She will tell you the black child is the only one of yours!
(El negrito es el unico tuyo!)
Tell them:
Before 1947, there were no black baseball, football or basketball players in the major sports leagues.
In 1945, the white owner of the Dodgers (Branch Rickey) noticed that there was a lot of talent in the black baseball leagues. Mr. Rickey wanted to break the color barrier to improve the game of baseball.
Mr. Rickey chose Jackie Robinson to be the first black baseball player in the major leagues. He chose Jackie Robinson because he was a great baseball player. He was a great hitter, a great fielded and he stole a lot of bases. Rickey wasn’t looking for someone who was packaged well; he wasn’t looking for someone who didn’t frighten white people. He needed someone who could prove himself through his talent and not use his color as a crutch.
He chose Jackie Robinson because he was first and foremost, a baseball player.
There were lots of other great baseball players at the time who were black. What set Jackie Robinson apart was that he agreed to NOT make race an issue.
Jackie Robinson turned out to be a great ballplayer in the white major leagues. He was a brave man. He took a lot of guff from white racists. Sometimes it was very tough for Jackie Robinson, but he toughed it out. But when he proved himself to be great as a ballplayer, he made the racists look foolish. After a while, all Dodger fans learned to love Jackie Robinson. Other teams saw this, and then they also brought in black baseball players. Soon after, other sports brought in black players.
Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, football and basketball. Because of Jackie Robinson, the major sports are almost completely color-blind. Black players are now respected for what they can do, not because they are black.
President Obama wasn’t chosen for his talents. He had almost no talents that would help him be President. He was elected President because Americans decided that it was time to have a black President. And Mr. Obama, being half-white and half-black, was thought to be someone that everyone could accept.
Unlike Jackie Robinson, Barack Obama was not very good at what he did. People lost their jobs. Americans died. Barack Obama tried to force things that most people didn’t want.
Mr. Obama was elected only because of his skin color. This is called “reverse-racism”. Reverse-racism is still racism. It makes white people feel good for a little while, but it doesn’t help black people in the long run.
Be the best you can be with the talents you have. Your skin color should not be used to get special treatment, because in the long run it is your performance that people will look at.
Tell them to console themselves reading and reflecting upon Maya Angelou's upcoming poem: "On the Pulse of Mourning Leftists"
Jackie repaid them not only by behaving like a gentleman, but by performing like the Hall of Fame player which he became. Nobody had to fire him.
Frank Robinson made baseball history by becoming the first black big league baseball manager. He certainly deserved it. He was also a gentleman and had a Hall of Fame playing career. But he really made baseball history when he got fired less than two years later because the Cleveland Indians ownership held him to the same standards as a white manger: The team wasn't performing and you can't fire the whole team.
Frank Robinson picked himself up and went on to manage four other teams at the major league level. So far as we can tell, not one of them hired him because of his color, but because of his skill.
Obama, on the other hand, never had a hall of fame career. He couldn't even win his first election to the minor leagues (Illinois state senate) without first disqualifying his opponent. He did the same in winning his U.S. Senate seat. He would have done the same thing in winning the presidency had he not gotten a congenial opponent who basically handed it to him. It is only natural that when you build your career by getting things handed to you rather than actually earning them, you'll be in for a major shock when the handouts stop. That's the lesson to be learned here.
Ummmm....
1. Toughskyshitsky, get over it.
2. Run for president as an American, you have the opportunity to accomplish anything you are qualified for and want badly enough and work for hard enough.
3. Pull up your pants and face the music. You are going to have to work like everyone else.
4. The party is over. NObody owes you an damn thing. Now get to work and set your goals high.
Child: Omelet
Teacher: Omelet?
Child: Omelet that slide.
Jackie repaid them not only by behaving like a gentleman, but by performing like the Hall of Fame player which he became. Nobody had to fire him.
Frank Robinson made baseball history by becoming the first black big league baseball manager. He certainly deserved it. He was also a gentleman and had a Hall of Fame playing career. But he really made baseball history when he got fired less than two years later because the Cleveland Indians ownership held him to the same standards as a white manger: The team wasn't performing and you can't fire the whole team.
Frank Robinson picked himself up and went on to manage four other teams at the major league level. So far as we can tell, not one of them hired him because of his color, but because of his skill.
Obama, on the other hand, never had a hall of fame career. He couldn't even win his first election to the minor leagues (Illinois state senate) without first disqualifying his opponent. He did the same in winning his U.S. Senate seat. He would have done the same thing in winning the presidency had he not gotten a congenial opponent who basically handed it to him. It is only natural that when you build your career by getting things handed to you rather than actually earning them, you'll be in for a major shock when the handouts stop. That's the lesson to be learned here.
The best advice those parents and teachers can give to the children is that when you are hired to do a job, you’d better excel at it or you will be fired. You are judged on your ability to get the job done, not by the color of your skin.
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