I read an interesting article here: http://www.theroot.com/id/47225 at a website called The Root. It's for black-people/african-americans/etc (for my purposes and based on my generation I will heretofore use the term "blacks"). Recently, Jesse Jackson made some very vulgar comments about Obama. This caused some blacks to think about the fact that Obama has actually...succeeded, in spite of or because of the fact he is black. Author Jack White (no, I'm not kidding) states:
"But in a deeper sense, his stunningly inappropriate comments symbolize the social, political and psychological vertigo that all of us, and especially black Americans, are experiencing because of Obama's success. We are all, including Obama, in a place we never really thought we would be, and it has knocked us off our feet. We don't know how to act. We don't have a plan. We're searching for our equilibrium. And until we regain our footing, we can expect all sorts of bizarre behavior from people who ought to know better. Hold on to your hat."
The implication here is that Obama's success, particularly his political success, is a complete surprise to Jack White and other blacks. This is particularly sad because there have been plenty of successful blacks in and out of the political arena. The Bush administration currently has many blacks in positions of political power. Both the Congress and the Supreme Court (which is arguably more powerful than Congress now) have black members. Where has Jack White been for the past thirty years?
Oh, that's right. He's been believing what black leadership and the media would have him believe - racism and bigotry are as bad today as they were fifty years ago, and blacks still can't succeed (especially without government sponsored reverse discrimination). As a black man he has been fed and digested this crap his whole life. Now, Obama is proving it to be untrue. I'd be a little confused, too, if I had been naive enough all these years to eat whatever is put in front of me without checking it first.
As a liberal, though, you can tell he is scared this myth that he and others have clung to (either innocently or for personal gain) is about to collapse:
"If that happens, how can we seriously argue that we're being held back by anything but the limits we place on ourselves?"
A good question, Jack. The truth is that very little has been holding back motivated blacks in this country for a long time, even though you've been provided every artificial advantage you could ask for. In fact, simply hold out your hand and the government or a guilty white liberal is likely to walk over and put something in it for you.
There are few things worse than having your world view get shattered. This is especially true when you start to realize not only could there be a better one out there, but yours was actually false. You have my sympathies, Mr. White. It's often easier to deal with the truth when it simply walks up and hits you on the head. But when it creeps up behind you and starts whispering in your ear it can almost be frightening. The good news is that you'll get over it, eventually.
