When, a few months ago, I asked “Is Barack Obama a Contemporary Don Quixote?” (BC 1/31/08) it was based essentially on my sense that what painted as his vision for America was an impossible dream. While strongly supporting his candidacy I would be disingenuous to suggest that I believed that he would be victorious. Clearly his victory surprised me. Like many others who where a part of the sixties, I also wept when it was announced that he had become “President Barack Hussein Obama.” Don Quixote would now continue his travels with Sancho at his side!

As a political realist I knew that he/we had not “reached the unreachable star” and that the fight to beat “the unbeatable foe” would continue. Many are the “wrongs” that must still be “righted.” Yet, perhaps naively, - no, Quixotic, I somehow hoped that the vision he espoused, that which, by the number of those who voted, seemed to suggest an agreement of the American people, that we, as a nation, would be able to move the “ball” further down the field and closer to the goal line. Since that historic moment I have been rudely returned to reality.

Now, the anti-Obama rumbling that surreptitiously surfaced during the campaign, in spite of his election by a large majority of the American people, once a murmur, is, in my view, evolving into a not too subtle maelstrom. The land in which we live seems to be slowly cracking and giving way to the continued growth of venomous political plants, rooted in the American past, that are desperately struggling to regain sunlight and strangle the visions for America of this Contemporary Quixote before they can bear fruit.

I am concerned! I know that President Obama is no Messiah; no Superman, or even Mandrake the Magician a comic relic from my generation. However, as I think about it he could well be a newer version of Mandrake who was a master of illusions. There are those who would suggest that the President’s vision is also only an illusion. If indeed it is then be aware that there may be legions of political Cimmerian creatures who believe that President Obama’s illusions threaten their power and their kingdom of hate and are “laying in the cut” for him.”

Consider the recent cartoon that appeared in the NY Post of 2/18/09 in which two NY policemen are pictured slaying a chimp. The caption read: “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus package”. Now, it is possible for some people to see this as simply another manifestation of the systemic racism that continues from time to time to raise its ugly head. To do so, in my view, would be mistaken. For me, it is a much deeper malady than that. Obviously, it is racist. No question! However, I argue that it is much more dangerous … that is sending signals … putting plans into motion. Just a guess mind you!

From my perspective the fact that the cartoonist connects the slaying of the chimp to the “stimulus package” which, in spite of the debate over whether it will solve the economic crisis, and the massive debt that results there from, - the real issue, the crux of the battle, centers more, on the challenge to American capitalism emerging form the present crisis. It is a struggle between the ideological proponents of an activist government in economic affairs and those who are advocates for laissez faire and smaller government. Essentially, the future economic direction of the nation is at stake.

As I “feel” it, the cartoon is not simply another racist attack against Blacks, with Obama as the prime focus, but rather with, “malice and forethought,” it is an outright political and deadly salvo aimed against two of the major fears of those who historically have held the reigns of power in the nation: the fear of Black people and the fear of loss of economic control.

Obviously, there will be those who will disagree with that assessment. Still, I would ask that they consider the following. During the last major depression FDR was attacked as “socialistically” inclined - a fellow traveler-- if not a “Socialist’-- a man who was bent on destroying the “American economic way.” Across the country Blacks were being lynched, as large numbers of whites watched and the laws protected the killers. FDR’s popularity, and the fear that he could win another term, forced those who were terrified of the possibility of a “Socialist” president to quickly move to enact the 22nd amendment which precluded a third term. In the person of President Obama there is a marriage - a confluence of both these fears - race and the possible advent of socialism.

The symbol of the dead chimp and the wording in the cartoon could be interpreted, as I have, as a call for the “lynching” of a Black man who, in their view, is a leftist and whose views, challenges their continued control of America. Thus, in getting rid of Obama, it also retards the possibility of them loosing control of the reigns of power and surrendering it to those whose vision of America is “socialistic. It’s a “two-fer!

Consider also that like FDR, President Obama is, for now, immensely popular hence the ongoing awe of his ability to motivate. True, FDR was not assassinated, but they knew that he was ill and could no longer lead the country.. Also, let us not forget the often expressed reaction to Obama’s remarks during the campaign regarding the need for the “redistribution of the wealth”. “He is a leftist/socialist ….He is against the American way” they fumed

In spite of this simmering furor “nationalization” has reentered the political discourse as a possible solution to the present economic crisis. It is difficult to believe that even Alan Greenspan, former head of the Federal Reserve has said that it may be necessary to consider a temporary - hear this, “nationalization” of some banks. Before him, Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed political astonishment that the concept of nationalization was now part of the conceptual consideration. Hers was tantamount to “who would of ‘thunk’ it.”

The truth is that President Obama is no “Socialist.” I am not certain whether he is center-left or simply center. Few people, perhaps Michelle, know his true political leanings. What is true is that he is not an ideologue, nor doctrinaire. He appears to be pragmatic, shrewd, and as Bob Herbert of the N.Y. Times called him, a “great political chess player” And while some Blacks may question his “Blackness” and some “progressives” his politics, it is undeniable that he has been able to capture the imagination of this generation of Americans - both Black and white.

Having done this, I am not certain if he is aware that he has placed himself on a political path to a new Golgotha. As I say this I am reminded that there are those who suggest that Jesus was essentially a “socialist” who challenged the money changers and the rich people of his time; for this, he earned their undying hatred. Again, let me repeat, Obama is no Messiah, no Jesus, far from it, but he has been the point person in advocating a kind of political vision not heard in quite some time; it is this view that has captured and, so far, motivated the masses.

Yes, for some, myself included, it is clear that the changes he advocates, will not take us to “mountain top” but, the road to the mountain has been made much clearer for many. I would argue that this may well be one of the major reasons, if not the major reason, why today’s political Pharisees want him crucified.

The thought is already in the “universe” the cartoon is but another indication. I have read where, as President elect, the Secret Service received more threats against his life than any other “president elect” in history. I believe that there are those who are considering his early demise. Now too, our own “Judases” are surfing with equal venom. Alan Keyes foams that Obama is a “radical communist and must be stopped if America is to survive”

I sincerely hope that I have not misquoted him.

We cannot-- using another biblical image, be Simon of Cyrene and simply help him on his way to Golgotha by treating what we are hearing as “just another act of racism.” That is not enough! Those who wish to do him/us harm will not simply go away. Therefore, I believe that it is imperative that we do everything to give him/us the opportunity to continue being the newest drum major in the ongoing battle over those issues that so gravely confront us all.

We cannot continue to allow those who believe that the debate will be terminated and victory theirs were they to silence his voice. That view cannot go unchallenged! Thus, we - those who voted for him, went to the rallies, said they shared the vision of “hope” and need for “change,” stayed at home and silently prayed that hope and change would indeed prevail, must begin, from now, to make it clear to the harbingers of death and destruction that if they continue to sow their seeds in the winds of hate and mayhem disregarding the rights of others then they may well reap the whirlwind. The nation must hear their voices!

The adherence of some to the ways of wanton death and destruction and the denial of the rights of others, as their way of life, must not be permitted to prevail. Those who continue to plot against the rights of others for shelter, food, employment and clothing; of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” must be, by the collective revulsion of the nation, be made to understand that the struggle against them will not end, that others will rise from the ashes of this contemporary Quixote.

The banner of freedom and justice must be held high and afloat until the tenets of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights of this nation becomes a functional reality not only in this country but worldwide.. Those who say that they oppose the values and views reflected in the NY Post cartoon must find their voices. These voices must begin, from now, to be heard… loud and clear as a roaring storm.

Let us be heeded by the words of Frederick Douglass who said “The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

It is not Obama’s fight, it is our fight!. We have to build a protective political and practical life saving wall around him. Yes. he will make mistakes, he will say things and do things with which we vehemently may disagree, but, as of now, his voice is being listened to, not only by those who must and will enjoy the riches of the universe, but by those who oppose that view and desire to keep the riches unto themselves.

Carlos E. Russell, PhD is Professor Emeritus C.U.N.Y. - Brooklyn College. In the sixties, he served as an Associate Editor of the Liberator magazine. As such, he was one of the first to interview Malcolm X after he left the Nation. He is best remembered as the founder of Black Solidarity Day in New York in 1969 and as the Chair of the Black Caucus of the Conference on New Politics in 1967. In addition, he was a consultant to Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. during the planning for the Poor Peoples March. Excerpts of his participation can be seen in Citizen King and Eyes on the Prize (PBS Mini Series Boxed Set) . Born in the Republic of Panama he has served as that country’s representative to the U.N and the O.A.S. with the rank of Ambassador. He has also served as the nightly host of “Thinking it Through” a talk show that was aired on WLIB in New York. He is a playwright and poet as well. Click here to contact Dr. Russell.