Note:
This commentary is in place of Mr. Cortez�s �Sharp n' Blunt�
column.
Barack
Obama, growing up as a somewhat-rare and unusual Inter-Continental
Negro of the later 20th century, abroad, in the
South Pacific, South Asia, never South Central LA. nor South
Chicago . . . it wouldn�t be unthinkable for his philosophical
base, his �home� not to be identical to that of mainstream
Black America.
Yeah,
that can be good . . .� and that can be bad.
America�s
First Black President� was raised, not by big momma,
aunt Earlene, aunt Johnnie-Mae nor the Huxtables - but by
White folks . . . now apparently �good� white folks, but
nonetheless White. And yes� that matters more then anyone
wants to confess - especially in America, an empire constructed
under racial apartheid.
There�s
a loud n� clear call for Obama to �come home,� back to his
base, his roots. Will he come home?� But deeper yet - where
is home for this President? I�d submit it�s where his
heart lay.
Here�s
our dilemma friends . . . and enemies; was the President�s
attendance at Reverend Jeremiah Wright�s permanent mega-tent
revival authentic, from the heart?. Alas, was his platinum-membership
a reflection of his righteously Black heart, of his home.
If
we understand where his home is, we might better understand
what will bring him back.
Is
this man �down� with what Wright was laying-down
every Sunday?� Is the Black Panther Party�s 10 point
program woven into this President�s genuine religious/political/economic
foundation, or only a front? �Talented Tenth� camouflage?
�Sho� n� tellin�� the little folk what they need� to hear
and see?� Pandering to his �always enraged� political base
- Chi-Town�s alleged quasi-militant Black establishment.�
Or,
is this President�s beliefs based on his unique and unusual
globe-trotting, upper middle-class in-life experiences
. . . implying the President�s perspective regarding
who n� what America is, differs with that of enlightened
Afro-Americans.
Can
Obama�s brainiac/beach-bum heart be in the same place as
most Black folks? People raised in the Big Apple,
LA, Land of body bag, wanna die - wear the wrong color rag.
Detroit; the abandoned,� betrayed, gutted-out and stripped
Motor-less City, East St. Louis (requires no nickname)�
the city of un-brotherly love - Philly, or perhaps� Philadelphia
Mississippi, where the Tea Party's iconic Great White Father
began the redneck revolution we�re facing-down now?�
Or
perhaps the President is little-more than a �entrepre-negro�
who for whatever the reasons, finds himself miraculously
a-top the world. Can it be . . . he doesn't really have
anything he�s willing to die for, so he has not too much
he�s willing to stand-up for, which would at least begin
to decipher his �Let�s Make Deal� mentality. He�s a Black/White
cat in a multi-colored world - he�s just always sought to
get-along with everyone, empathise/sympathise with
everyone, including Black Americans - of which he�s no parts
of.
Problem
is, following this rule,� tending� to go-along with
people and ideals one really� doesn't� believe in . . .
can get your ass in hot-water, plain n� simple.
Obama
can accommodate and assimilate like a dipped-in chocolate/vanilla
pretzel and that still won�t satisfy the angry White people
in America. The rage we see for this man begins and ends
for most of his foes with an historical truth; don�t no
White man, nor too many White women want to answer to a
Black man. Boss, astronaut, next-door neighbor, brother-in-law
. . .� President.
Let�s
not delude ourselves; most of White America is over-whelmed
with this �progress.� There political pronouncements graphically
illustrate the polarized black n� white state of America.
The
question is . . . does Obama get that? It seems not.
I�m
not one to dilly-dally; that�s the fear - that�s why you
see these smoke signals coming off mountain peaks and mesa�s
of the Black Forrest - this President�s views, historically
speaking, are closer to that of a House Negro, as
opposed to a field nigger. While most Black folks see themselves
as out in the field, especially we Fredrick Douglass
Progressives.
If
there�s no struggle, there�s no progress.
You
know the whole point of the difference between house and
fields niggers was . . . nothing. Mainstream White
America, even today deems us all merely Niggers -
and the sub-par� treatment� of this President is a testament
to that harsh yet lingering historical sentiment. But yet
again - does BO get that?
All
these questions leave your head spinnin�, I�d venture to
say President Obama�s� �home�, and most Black folks homes
. . . are two different places.�
As
Malcolm stated, when master�s big-house was on fire, the
house-negro worked damn-near harder then the master to get
that fire out
If
the master was sick� . . .�We sick boss�. . . .? We sick!!
Now
see, I don�t view the President in such light . . . however
multitudes do. Attribute it to 3 years of� negotiating/compromising
and conceding-away FDR, LBJ and MLK�s hard work - to an
inflamed opposition hell-bent on destroying the nation to,
dig this, �get their country back.�
Here�s
what million and millions of Black folks, including myself
wanted Obama to do,� just to set-the-tone to his tenure
in the newly redecorated Black House; Recall Sidney Poitier
in the 60�s� classic �In the Heat of the Night� - �the
scene where the county�s richest White man is in his greenhouse
and backhands Poitier�s uppity character,� Detective
Tibbs� - who instantly, I�m talkin�� a milla�-second backhands
his pompous ass right-back.
I
guarantee you that scene still today elicits smiles
on the faces of millions, countless Black, Brown, Red and
Yellow� folks when ever they see it. Why? Because we all
know, once you survey the� story of America . . . you realize
what really happened. History 101 explains White
America�s justifiable paranoia n� fear.
Historians
will be baffled by Black Americans lack-of ill-will and
contempt held towards our oppressors, i.e., the righteous
desire to turn on James Brown�s Payback and play
it all summer long - but we haven't. Instead we�ve
stood tall n� loyal to a country where . . . everyday, every
god-damn day� �we wonder how our country feels about
us . . . and how we feel about our country.�
Black
America hoped� Obama would strut into the White House,�
ala Denzel/George Jefferson, and on day-one,� portrait in
the Oval office . . . confront Big George W. n� Little Dick
Cheney as they were packin� their Samsonites,� tell them
what t-i-m-e it really is . . . bitch-slap both in one swift,
graceful Ali-like strike.�
The
man failed,� in miserable hi-fashion to do this. . . .�
for it was never his intent. No legal prosecutions for two
punks who can hardly� leave the country due to alleged war
crimes You gotta wonder; does his personal soundtrack� include
the JB�s 60�s Black Anthem �Say It Loud . . I�m
Black n� Proud!�
Verbal
fisticuffs,� as
justified as it may well be isn't Obama�s style. This cat
wants to stay above the fray, not get his hands too
dirty - while� Black America, along with the aging Haight/Ashberry
liberal Hippies and the wilting Flower Children hoped for
a slug-fest; there was a coast-to-coast yearning� for� this
man to walk-in, stat takin� names, and whuppin� serious
ass.
However,
that ain�t this man. I think he�s a �We are the World� kinda
guy.
Here,
let�s roll n� stroll a little; best case scenario -
Obama is engaged in a calculated three-tier chess match,�
not the shallow barbershop checkers game most of us everyday
people play, and surely not barbaric boxing.� We�ve no real-idea
what� kind of� �political games� are played on� these different
levels.
What
we all may need to do is - sit down n� shut-the-hell up,
let this gifted man do what he do. . .
Peep
this, yet another scenario; in the identical manner you�ve
got guys like Donny Walhberg, Frank Sinatra, Timberlake,
Burt Reynolds, coaches like Bill Parcells, Pat� Riley,�
Rex �XXXL�� Ryan -� these men are considered to be , dig
this, �Negro Whisperers� possessing� the ever-elusive
Dr. Doolittle gift. . . they can talk to the human
animals . .� they can hang-with, communicate-with Black
folks at some deeper level then the everyday Fred n� Barny.
Obama,
on the flip-side, believes he speaks and understands� �their��
forked tongue language . . . .
Might
Obama, noting his damn-near global upbringing, rooted in
Eastern culture, his growing-up behind �enemy lines�, in
the enemy's house . . . armed with an elite
education, seasoned by his hi-falutin� occupation behind
Ivy League walls and in the hallowed hall�s of congress
- the street credentials of� �community organizer from the
Windy City - might he� honestly believe all the king�s
men are nude, butt-naked, he can see straight through
them?
The
man believes� he can converse with well-dressed cave men
(OK, Neanderthals at best) on the Right,
perhaps he believes he can beat them at their own shell-game
of words?
Is
this it?� President Obama has the audacity to believe he
can out-smart Archie Bunker, out-think the half-mad
fat-cats in the GOP?� Behind closed doors, Obama prides
himself, as many of us do, on his ability to play
�Battleship� against well-dressed but quit angry Rednecks
across the isle.
He
believes he can orchestrate a bloodless revolution?
The
question in most Black Americans hearts;� are White folks,
speaking-in-general� - capable, able, willing or
wanting to treat Americans-of-color with common decency
and mutual respect? Recent history �screams� hell no.
Nevertheless I don�t know if Obama, a man raised almost
solely by his White mother, and her parents has these same
concerns.
Has
he been disarmed? Convinced of an humanity in White America
. . .� I just don�t see, and I got on �Coke bottle-bottom�
glasses.
Go
watch a 1950�s western, when the �Injune boy� is raised
by White settlers . . . he always thinks his adopted community
will accept his people,� come-around and sing Kumbaya,
(Black Feet Indians) but it never plays-out like that.
The towns-folk slaughter the entire Indian village.
Despite
Obama�s comments about his grandmother harboring some of
the �typical racism� White folks tend to have, I think he
believes, at the end-of-the-day most White Americans are
willing and able to hold-hands and sing �this little
light of mine . . . �
I
don�t.
So,
since I don�t think like this man . . . I don�t know what,
if anything could bring President Obama �home� -� not even
our present-day reality; �the Republican Tea Party
is about to strategically shut-down the government, deliberately�
manipulate America into chaos and disorder of the highest
magnitude and the lowest depths.
Isolated
n� insulated White America is� talking ballots or bullets,
and please note; ammo n� gun sales are off-the-charts .
. . so Black folks, actually all Americans-of-color, had
better gather �round the ol� campfire and be� discussin�
ballots and bullets likewise . . . and passports - hey,
giving these people what they desperately want - an lily-White
America - that�s a valid option.
I
love Tobago.
So
my fellow Black people . . . if we�re waiting on this cool-cat
in the Oval office� to transform into Fredrick Douglass,
or Stokley Carmichael, which I am - disappointment is
our inevitable fate.
To move Obama to the Left, we need a democratic contender
to push the debate further then this man wants and his �cabinet�
want to take it.
I nominate Bobby Seale, Co-fonder of the Black Panther
Party and one-time candidate for Mayor of Oaktown.�
Julianne Malveaux would surely liven up the VP debates,
yes? Professor Ludwig Von Michael Eric Dyson in the VP slot
. . . I�d pay to hear that battle-of-words.
Obama needs� to be pushed n� prodded by �hi n�� mighty� influential
Black grand pooh-pahs from all our institutions and organizations,
who need to call on this President, pow-wow with him, break-bread,
let their legit concern be heard - the Black American
Empire is crumbling . . .� and afterwards they can all
approach the podium and explain to CNN what common ground
and goals have been hammered out - at least valid, visible�
expectations of his commitment to Black America.�
We
ebony word-smiths across the land - we need to sing the
same simple-ass song . . . Obama don�t do us wrong, don�t
sell us down the river.
He
must be enlightened to the fact - a second-term requires
the chocolate masses be motivated n� mobilized - so if he
continues to behave like a man who�s got no backbone, with
only a midget�s handful of convictions he�s willing to stand
tall n� be convicted of . . . even the lesser-of-two-evils
gets old at some point.
I
just want the� brother to pull me aside and Dr West next
time we�re all� together and give us the George and Johnathan
Soledad Brothers secret� handshake, utter Angela
Davis�s 1967 phone # . . . just give me a sign you�re still
in the �Organization.�
As
a nation within nation, Black folk are confronted with an
entrenched conservative establishment� which plans to not
merely �turn back the hands of time,� progress, �they
want to �rip the clock right-off the wall,� return to yesteryear
. . . we�d better, as a people with an inherent �shared
bond,� seriously examine our options.
Stay
n� fight? for what, a unavoidable hundred year blood-bath?
Your children . . . and their children in an US of A which
resembles the worst of the Middle East . . . What? You think
not? Recall South Africa; 5% million Whites, willing to
oppress via tactical genocide - and you think the millions
of angry White folks who secretly fly the Confederate flag
here aren�t willing to at least try to exterminate 20 or
30 million Black folks.
What
about flight? Black Americans should be making sure their
passports are in-order; �Back to Africa, the Caribbean,
Canada . . . ���
It
would seem only a murderous event, an failed-attempt on
this Presidents life, or that of his loved ones might awaken
him to the fact he�s got to stop singin� . . . n� start
swinging, bring this home, fight for the basic rights of
Americans-of-color, women and workers, do battle against
our foes -� racism, sexism n� classism.
But
he�s already receiving �die-Nigger-die� luv letters by the
boatload, nonetheless he�s still asleep at the helm.
I�ve
got to get back to the lab, with my pen n� pad, so in a
nutshell here�s our nightmare,� we Black� folks who still
believe our children are young, gifted n� black, that
Black is beautiful and those of us who still believe
in Black Power - our collective and individual� fear
is this President is �Plastic Man.�� He thinks like one
of my brothers-in-law, life ain�t nutin� but pussycats and
plastic cards, all that glitters . . .� is titanium, and
�God is money, money is god.�
Can
Obama harbor no real progressive ideology, despite being
a college law professor? He�s willing to cut-a-deal with
the devil, without realizing the historical accomplishments
he�s erasing?� A step forward may not always be progress
- it could be over-the-cliff or into a barn-size oven. .
. .
I�m
banking this ain't what the brother is; my bat-senses
tell me otherwise, I�ve still got his back.�
And
between you n� I, I like to believe . .� . both the President�
and Dr. West are smart enough to realize he needed an enemy
from the Far-Left to do endless battle with - as to counter
any charges of pandering to his alleged Huey P. base - who
better then the Black Wizard, Dr. West? This is all going
according to Melvin Van Peeples script.
We
know Mr Limbaugh better then he knows himself. We had to,
how do you think we got here?
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BlackCommentator.com Columnist Desi Cortez was hatched
in the heart of Dixie, circa 1961, at the dawning of the
age of Aquarius, the by-product of four dynamic individuals,
Raised in South-Central LA, the 213, at age 14 transplanted
to the base of the Rocky's, Denver. Still a Mile-Hi.
Sat
at the feet of scholars for many, many moons, emerging with
a desire and direction . . . if not a sheep-skin. Meandered
thru life; gone a-lot places, done a-lot of things, raised
a man-cub into a good, strong man, produced a beautiful
baby-girl with my lover/woman/soul-mate . . . aired my mind
on the airwaves and wrote some stuff along the way. Click here to
contact Mr. Cortez.
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