I know I have been on this issue quite a bit these past few days, but I think it is an important one. I just found this article written by Debra Dickerson that spells out what I addressed a few days ago on how both the media and commentators are trying to spin this story. Here is an excerpt of what she had to say:
“Watching the growing pains of a black polity trying to grow itself up in this brave new post-civil-rights world is wrenching, but it proves the truth in the cliché: no pain, no gain. This juvenile, malicious and cowardly attack on Sharpton more than proves the point that managing their newfound political relevance is a tightrope walk that blacks have not yet mastered. Since blacks aren’t going to stop being a crucial voting bloc anytime soon, it’s crucial for them to ignore the slings and arrows of white derision and black group-think while they gain their footing and keep their eyes on the prize (to mix a few metaphors). The trouble, though, is in identifying exactly what the prize is: blacks elected to high office? black power-brokering and election of their preferred candidates irrespective of race? black cohesion regardless of individual preference or conscience? or how about the maturation of black intellectual, political and moral authority?”
[...]
I have no doubt that Sharpton is jealous of Obama. Hell, I’m jealous of him. It’s doubtful that there’s anyone who spent decades crawling up the political ladder whose admiration isn’t mixed with at least a soupçon of “What’s so great about him?” Indeed, I argued that mainline civil rights leaders like Sharpton and Jackson need Obama to pay obeisance and show them public respect, if only to take the sting out of his leaving them in the dust. But much more important, Obama needs to respect blacks in general by explaining himself to us, answering our questions, and bloody well winning our vote.
When i read the article I mentioned found in Spiegel this morning, I was reminded how many folks are missing the point of the civil rights movement. The person interviewing Sharpton seemed to be almost dumbfounded that a Black person was not folding under the tent of Obama. Check out this question:
“But Obama represents an historical opportunity for blacks in America to have one of your own in the White House. Would it not be better for you to throw your weight behind him?” (source)
This question to me is a direct slap in the face of Blacks everywhere in this country because the assumption here is clear–the political intellect of Black folks goes only skin deep. And with no known voiced criticism to this question by those who hunt for racist acts from Whites towards Blacks, the subtext of this statement must be true to an extent.
Martin Luther King Jr. summed up the goal of the civil rights movement beautifully in his “I have a dream” speech by stating that he wanted to live in a country where he was not judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. This also includes electing an individual based on color and not platform as suggested by Spiegel. The civil rights movement broke the “permanent seating” system of opportunity and gave us a fair chance to sit there based on our own merits. To simply fold just because “he’s one of us” underscores the assumption in MSM that politics in the Black community isn’t as deep and sophisticated as it claims to be.
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