I would first like to give a BIG Thank You to all Veterans and say Happy Veterans' Day.
Also, Congratulations to President Barack Obama on his recent re-election! Speaking of, the President's win has seen the emergence of a plethora of negative, racist comments and vile bigotry. I was recently in a conversation on Facebook with an old friend and one of the things he asked me was why did I vote for President Barack Obama?
I told him I voted for him because one, I am a Democrat, and two, because he is Black. He took exception and says it is not fair for me to vote for someone because of the color of their skin. My friend is Caucasian and he is not alone in his opinion. As a matter of fact, there are some Blacks that feel the same way; voters should look beyond the color of a man's skin and look deeper at his politics and what he stands for. Here is my take...
"Blacks are mentally inferior, by nature subservient, and cowards in the face of danger. They are therefore unfit for combat."
- 1925 US Army War College Study
"There isn't a scout, personnel manager, or coach who will tell you African-Americans are too dumb to read a defense--as they would have in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s."
- Bleacher Report (March 5, 2012)
"Quarterback has long been the position in football that has eluded the Black athlete. For one reason: the deep-seated stereotype that Black people aren't smart enough to learn the complex offense, defensive schemes and that they lack the ability to discern variations in blitzes..."
- SBPDL (December 10, 2011)
I am inching closer to 35 and up until around four years ago, the term "Black President" was a punchline, a myth, urban legend, a rap lyric that likened itself to being a ghost or non-existent. We would tell our children that they could be anything they wanted to be in the world but in the back of our minds there were some exceptions. One of them being the President of the United States.
For as long as I can remember, Blacks have continued to break down barriers and be the "First" to do something, even in 2012. This past Summer Olympics, Gabby Douglas became the FIRST African-American woman, as well as the first woman of color of any nationality, to win the Gold Medal in the Individual All-Around in Gymnastics.
I like using sports as an example for a lot of things because sports is probably the one place where color does not and should not matter. As you can see by the aforementioned quotes, Blacks were not "smart enough" or "too dumb" to play the position of quarterback, arguably the most important position on the football field. I have seen firsthand Black quarterbacks play the position all of their lives, even through college, and then get to the NFL and get converted to another position like wide receiver or running back.
Another place where color should not matter is in the military. Do Blacks and Whites shoot machine guns differently? I do not think so but 87 years ago a War College Study said Blacks were unfit for combat; that we were inferior and cowardly. Ironically, today the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Services is Black!!
Have I been told I could not be something, do something, have something because I was Black? More times than you would care to know. Am I alone, am I the only Black person who has ever been told that they could not because of they were Black? Not even close!
Four years ago, a man named Barack Obama (he was not the President yet so bear with me) rose through the ranks and came onto the radar of millions who probably never heard of Mr. Obama, and became the Democratic Presidential Nominee. Here is a man that has a beautiful family, a gorgeous wife (whom he has never cheated on), two pretty daughters, plays basketball, drinks beer, and has an addiction to cigarettes. Outside of the cigarettes, this is a guy that I can aspire to want to be like; this is a guy I can sit down and feel like I can invite into my living room to have a beer; this is a guy I feel like I can go play ball with and he can ACTUALLY play. Here is a guy who grew up in the type of neighborhoods I grew up in and it is likely he has had to face the same racist, bigoted hatred I have had to face.
His politics did not really matter to me because Barack Obama represented something more than just becoming the President of the United States. And I am not downplaying that position in any way but Barack was about to transcend and change history; he was about to change the way Blacks were seen to the world. Understand, up until 2008, there was never anyone of color who had a real chance of becoming President. A win would change perceptions and stereotypes, at least that was the hope. Barack would change the thought that Blacks were unfit or not smart enough...because you have to be pretty darn fit and intelligent to be President despite popular opinion. He would change the image of the Black family; no longer would it be a single mother and multiple children with no father in the picture. Barack would show the world that a Black man could get married, have children, stay with the mother and raise the kids. He showed, is showing, that this is possible! Barack will allow me to honestly tell my children that they can be ANYTHING they want to be in the world and there are NO exceptions. He will show our children that it is okay and cool to be smart, wear your pants at your waist, and not have to rely on sports to change your situation but to use education to help create change. Barack was not just becoming the President, he was changing history, he was creating hope, and he was restoring faith.
As a grown man I see a lot of attributes in President Obama that I aspire to have or obtain that he exhibits everyday. He demonstrates leadership, poise, calmness, restraint, intelligence, integrity, and transparency. I emphasize restraint because I have never seen a sitting President so disrespected more in my life than I have seen with President Obama. From the time the Congressman yelled out "liar" during a speech to the lady pointing her finger in his face when he was about to get on the plane to the multitude of nasty names he is called daily out in the open. At one point he was called "N*gger" so often I thought that it was his middle name. But you hear people say that racism has disappeared because we elected a Black President. I can't tell!
So yes, in 2008 I proudly voted for President Obama because he was Black. And yes, in 2012, I voted for President Obama again. Does this mean that I agree with everything that he did or did not do the last four years. HECK NO!!! President Obama could do a better job working with the Republicans. I went to a post-election analysis with Charlie Cook and Stu Rothenberg and they stated that out of the 140+ golf games President Obama played in the last four years, he only played with 2 other Congressman. Out of the 40+ basketball games President Obama had at the White House, maybe 10 other Congressman participated. President Obama is not "playing" well with others and he needs to do a better job in that area.
President Obama is not perfect and neither am I but at the end of the day, I voted for the man that I felt I had the most in common. I voted for the man that I knew would help create more hope and faith for our youth. I voted for a man that I felt deep down he would do his best to create a better America and for that I do not apologize.
