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.
I would tell him that he is going to have to grow up and get a job because the gravy train just dried up.
Completely unqualified and sent packing after one anti-capitalist, big government, economically disastrous term.
Tell him an election is not a coronation.
Perhaps, she could tell her black child that 0bama’s white half lost...?
Otherwise, ya win some lose some.
No, not....strikes me as a BS question to ask a kid, myself. I’m tired of hearing about the great significance and the import of electing a black man to the Presidency.. We’ve seen what it got us, why the heck dwell on it?
“Don’t feel bad. I’m sure your school has some self esteem programs planned for you in the future”
Tell them that if they don’t do a good job, they can be fired. That’s the way life is for everyone, no matter their color, if there is fairness.
“Incompetent people come in all colors, son.”
How well someone does a job has nothing to do with their color.
Gasp!
When I was younger the city I lived in had exactly one black family out of population of fifty thousand. In those days, fifty years ago, religion was many times a big divider. I was raised a Catholic and heard a number of times people say they hated Catholics. I’m sure there were Catholics who said they hated Protestants. How did it affect me? Just about nothing at all. For one thing I had close Protestant friends, so I knew they weren’t evil, and they knew I wasn’t evil. I don’t let the fact people, (Islamists, Lefists) hate me for what I and my country are bother me much. I ignore them.
No more Bronco Bama.
Obama might have black skin, but he has nothing in common with you. He knows nothing about the real Black America. He had a privleged upbringing & has never lived in a black neighborhood in his life.
He's been a phony liar & we are lucky that he will no longer be the President.
Tell him about Aunt Pelosi and Uncle Reid putting their puppet vehicle for government takeover of health care on mute as they schemed over largess.
Ask him why he thought an unqualified, inexperienced political gun-for-hire was mainlined into the role?
Then tell him to grow up and drop the race card if he wants to aspire sentient being status.
Tell him about Aunt Pelosi and Uncle Reid putting their puppet vehicle for government takeover of health care on mute as they schemed over largess.
Ask him why he thought an unqualified, inexperienced political gun-for-hire was mainlined into the role?
Then tell him to grow up and drop the race card if he wants to aspire sentient being status.
Or you can choose to teach them that America is racist, that they have no hope, and that they should be miserable, lazy, vindictive, and offended all their lives.
It's up to the parents to decide what kind of outlook to instill in their child. These are the primary options.
“I have more business experience than 0bama because Mommy paid me a quarter to wipe the doorknobs one day.” - One Little B.
Boy, that is a tough one.
Millions of white voters who voted for Obama in 2008 are voting against Obama in 2012. Did they all just turn into racists during the past four years or were they always racists who just figured out that Obama is black?
Maybe you could tell your child that there are some people who judged Obama not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character?
Nah, just tell your child that the evil racist Republicans stole the election.
Larry Elder is a conservative black.
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