Shirley Chisholm – 1972
Jesse Jackson – 1984 & 1988
Al Sharpton – 2004,
Alan Keyes – 1996, 2000, 2008
What is the correlation among these Black leaders? With the exception of Alan Keyes who represented the Republican Party, all have vied unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the presidential election. Enter 2008 one would be led to believe Barack Obama is the first Black person in history to make this feat. So what is it that places Obama on a higher platform than his predecessors? I applaud Shirley Chisholm and her determination, but in 1972 racism against blacks remained so upfront and open that America never would have allowed any black person to be President much less a black woman! Shirley Chisholm laid the foundation and brought to life the belief that we as a people can strive for something unimaginable.
We have all joked at one time or another about “painting the White House black”, and having barbeques (they way we do it) on the White House Lawn. The closest we ever came to making that fantasy come true was when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton announced their run for President. They represented Black America, the peace sign, Blue Magic hair grease, fried chicken, collard greens and all things Black. Unfortunately their message for change did not absorb the ears of all Americans. Republican Alan Keyes wasn’t embraced by the Black Community and never made any attempt to connect with us. We saw him as the guy on the “other” team, so he got no support from us (Keyes separated from the Republican Party this year).
Barack Obama is touted as the Savior able to unite the divide within our nation and create positive alliance internationally. As a culture, people of color and low economic status are no longer waiting patiently for our turn. We have traded our relaxed approach to politics for a more aggressive position. We are vocal about the things that matter to us and our livelihood and are tired of being ignored. We want a country which promotes peace, freedom of religious belief, acceptance and respect of all life styles, lower taxes, good paying jobs, and health care for everyone. It is assumed if you are black, you are only voting for Obama because he is black. Well, if that was the case we would have been barbequing on the White House Lawn alongside Jesse or Al a long long time ago! Obama’s being Black is merely a piece of the pie. It’s not the whole pie! Obama is a man whom America is willing to embrace. I clearly see his vision of change and direction he wants this country to go in and it is reachable. More importantly, his vision is for the benefit of all people not just some. Obamas’ plan for America uplifts the poor and middle class yet does not punish the upper class or wealthy. He paints a happy medium and dispels the myth that the classes can not come together. I’m voting for Obama because I want the wheel re-invented, how about you?
Are you voting Obama because he is a Black person? Are you voting for him at all? Holla at me, and tell me your position.
www.barackobama.com
Tags: Barack, Black President, Obama, president
NOW YOU ASK ARE WE VOTING FOR BARACK BECAUSE HE IS BLACK ?AND SAD TO SAY ON MY BEHALF…….YES!!!!!!, I HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT POLITICS, SO WHEN WE ARE IGNORANT IN A CERTAIN FIELD, WE GO ON APPEARANCE AND I THINK ALOT OF BLACK PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LET DOWN BY POLITICIANS FOR SO LONG AND WE DON’T FEEL THEY REPRESENT US, WE DON’T INVOLVE OURSELVES OR OBTAIN THE KNOWLEDGE ON POLITICS, SO I FEEL HE LOOKS LIKE US, HE SOUNDS LIKE US, HIS CHILDREN LOOK LIKE MY CHILDREN, VOTE FOR HIM, NOW THE QUESTION AFTER THAT IS, WILL HE DO A BETTER JOB, WILL HE HELP AMERICA, WILL HE HELP HIS BLACK PEOPLE… I HAVE NO CLUE, BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW THESE PEOPLE, ALOT OF GARBAGE IS DISPLAYED IN THE MEDIA ON THEIR CHARACTER, SO YOU DON’T KNOW IF IT IS TRUE OR NOT. BUT BASICALLY I PROBABLY SOUND SERIOUSLY IGNORANT AND RETARDED, BUT I ALWAYS ANSWER WITH MY HEART AND HOW I FEEL ON THE SPOT, AND THEN THINK ABOUT WHAT I JUST SAID LATER ON, BUT I BELIEVE ALOT OF US HAVE MY SAME FRAME OF THINKING.
MS. NAY
I don’t think you sound ignorant and or retarded Ms. Nay. I think you’re being totally honest. And the fact that you acknowledged that politics have only let people down is another large obvious point that most people in life are willing to look over. You can liken it to “taking back the abusive boyfriend that keeps promising he’ll ‘change’”. Don’t all the politicians always promise change? When have you ever heard people say, “Things are great!! We don’t need to change anything!” From the beginning of time, every human kingdom (which is another word for government) has failed. Beginning with Babylonian Empire, Medo-Persian Empire, Roman Empire, Greecian Empire, and all the way down. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said, and I quote, “Every civilization that has ever existed has ultimately collapsed.” In other words, every human government under the sun that was strong and mighty at one point has failed and/or dissolved into nothing. Putting your faith in anything they may say or claim has historically proved to be futile. So how can anyone blame you for saying “I vote for Barak Obama because he’s black”? Out of all of the rhetoric, campaign hype, and the government’s historical track record, him being black is the ONLY thing you can identify with and verify to be true. The rest is just “empty promises from that ‘old boyfriend’ trying to regain your trust after letting you down.” Food for thought….. How much faith and trust are you putting in the “old boyfriend”?
OKAY, SEE I FEEL ALOT OF PEOPLE WILL SUGAR COAT HOW THEY REALLY FEEL….SO IT’S GOOD TO KNOW SOMEONE ELSE IS ON THE SAME PAGE
MS. NAY
In response to your question, it’s my contention that 90% of the Black Americans are voting for Obama because of race. Many of us feel some weird sense of obligation for a man we really don’t know anything about. This is unfortunate because once again, many of us are throwing our lot with yet another very liberal Democrat. Is this smart….what do you know about him other than his HOPE, YES WE CAN speech? Since he won his senate seat, he has been running for President. He has no executive experience. What national bills has he passed? NONE, because he has not taken the time to be a senator; nevertheless, we can say the following:
1. He believes abortion is a right for every woman and girl.
2. He believes corporations are at the root of all our problems (hope you don’t work for a large corporation).
3. He believes that the so-called rich can afford to have their taxes increased to pay for people that have made bad choices in their lives (my husband and I had to pay over $5,000 on April 15th, will we have to pay more…when did we become rich?)
4. If he thinks Katrina was so bad, why would he want the government to take over our health care system? Can you say DMV?
5. He believes that you should not have a choice to send your children to a private school, even though the public schools are barely graduating young people.
6. He doesn’t believe in drilling for oil in our own country or installing a refinery plant to process the oil, yet he wants to blame Bush for gas prices.
7. He believes in giving illegal aliens driver’s license
8. He wants to bring the illegal aliens out of the shadows, even though they’ve stolen your ID and ruined your credit!
Just think about all the major cities, they are run by Democrats and most of them are bordering on bankruptcy. They spend more that they take in….all those programs. As any program ever helped you????? I could go on; however, it useless to think that Blacks would ever vote for someone other than a Democrats. Well, it really doesn’t matter because John McCain isn’t really a Republican,.
Signed….
No one to vote for!
So having said that LakerJam, what is the next step for our country? We have a Democratic society so we have to vote in new leadership and honestly our prior leadership has not placed us in a better position. With the money that has been spent and continuing to fund The War on Iraq (we were supposed to be looking for Osama), jobs being shipped away everytime we turn on the news and gas as high as giraffe…you know what im saying, what do we have to lose? I do agree with you about our social programs and actually that is a topic that I have on deck for discussion. I personally feel social programs are ruining us low to middle class folks. But today Americans are dealing with what’s on the menu and although Obama has not spent time being a Senator (you are right about that!) I am willing to let him handle the wheel.
TAKING HIS LACK OF EXPERIANCE INTO CONSIDERATION . MAYBE WE ARE ! OR MAYBE , LIKE ME , PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF 20+ YEARS OF BUSH’S AND CLINTONS . EVEN THOU ” I DIDN’T HAVE SEXUAL RELATION WITH THAT WOMEN ” RAN THE HELL OUT OF THIS COUNTRY . OBAMA , WOULD REPESENT A NEW START . WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK WE NEED ! SHIT ! HE CAN’T DO ANY WORST …… CAN HE ?