I just wanted to post up a different picture of Barack and Michelle Obama for once...they're stylin' hard, aren't they?
NOTE: This commentary rambles a bit...
Throughout the past few months, the presidential contest here in the United States of Democratic Party candidate Senator Barack Obama has struck a chord amongst the long time established Powers That Be groups and cliques.
Although Barack's racial and ethnic background has not be taken seriously as a liability to the United States' image and role in the world at large (openly) due to to the present "Black Man Who Is Not Too Racial" National Image Strategy, it is obvious that said imagery scares a hell of a lot of folks.
Through reading a huge amount of articles via magazines, the Internet and newspapers as well as listening to various folks on the TV in the past few months, the issue with a Barack Obama candidacy has not so much about his straight up political stances and viewpoints (as of yet) is but the fact that in a Political System of interchangable mouthpieces of all ethnic backgrounds that:
1. His merely talking about and being adamant about change scares the hell out of those used to said system.
Let's face it - there are people who make a living - sometimes rather huge - from the suffering of others.
Any possible shift from that status quo - no matter how little - is still a change of the current system of (pay)checks and (im)balances that many folks are used to and too damned lazy/ignorant/scared to move in conjunction and motion with such a possibility.
Your friendly neighborhood television commentators who are extreme "Left" and "Right" wing folks (though they are all attached to the same overall political system) may be out of a gig due to mainstream America becoming tired of the same old thing and wanting a balance.
Civil Rights Fakes, Jakes and Hucksters who are Talking Heads (and who the hell decided that anyway) may find out that hey, they do NOT represent all People Of Color and may have to let others speak and/or actually get up off of their collective backsides to get out of a tired cyclic pattern of protest, march, speak loudly while carrying no sticks, sit down and repeat that's been in effect for the past 25 - 30 years.
It's obvious why Obama's opponent for the Democratic Party nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton, is attacking him for this talk of change - it puts her platform of going back to the era of her husband, President Bill Clinton (which wasn't the greatest to begin with - but hell, almost anything politically in the past 8 years looks like sunshine and sprinkles on ice cream compared to the current regime), look off key to say the least.
While Senator Clinton talks a good game, all she is really going for is a family regime changeover platform which really won't change a damned thing (Bush To Clinton To Bush To Clinton = Not The Business).
The relative goodwill for Hillary amongst the youth, the poor/middle class U.S. populations and People of Color has diminished greatly amongst those who supported her husband's political legacy not only due to Mr. Obama and his staff running a successful campaign.
The Clinton camp's collectively acting up with her husband talking sideways (he's seeing the Vice Presidency and an extra government pension check to live off of slipping away), siccing N***a Proxies like ex-BET Bob Johnson and whatnot on people and having folks on her campaign staff going all out with bitter pickiness and ranting (lines in speeches even the other politician doesn't give a s*** about, Geraldine Ferraro letting the looniness out, etc.) as shown the stereotypical side of what lots of People of Color look at white politicians being underneath all of the nice speeches:
Salty and Racist.
And mind you, this is supposed to be the political party that is supposed to look out for everyone who's not rich, supposedly.
Hm.
Commentator Keith Olberman of MSNBC put it together pretty well in this video clip (and here's the transcript to check out):
The White Woman vs. The (Scary Because It's True) Black Man Grand Theft Election Card has not been played in full yet (we still have until the Democratic Convention in April), but it would not surprise me to see a New Age Swift Boat action go down either with these Superdelegate folks or some other crazy sneakiness.
The idea of Republican Party folks going against Barack is a given and a big yawn since they've been bring the same thing to the table since forever and a day with Old White Fellows running for office (and some of those cats are hating more on their own than Obama for not totally falling for the "conservative" path - po' McCain for having THESE folks in the background like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh - ick).
2. Mr. Obama is the mystery chess piece that no one knows how it is really going to move - that frustrates a lot of heads who thought they knew The Rules of The Game.
Barack Obama gets the love/hate complex that persists in modern American Culture - he's the young dude (in Presidential Politics of this caliber, this is especially true) who has it going on - good gig, solid family, folks and pay attention to his words and actions, etc.
And we know in the U.S. of A., if you have that plus the fact of being an ethnicity/racial background that is looked down upon in most realms except Sports and Entertainment (and you'll get a hard time then too, trust, especially if you get "out of pocket"), there is going to be a BIG problem.
He gets folks excited and curious about things they may not have dealt with before in the realm of politics and government, more than some people have been all of their lives (the good effect of "Obama-mania"). And as in #1, lot of folks don't want that.
Is an Obama Presidency really going to change things? Who really knows?
Since seriously, let's be real - Obama is obviously a part of the mainstream U.S. Political System, period.
If he didn't know how to play the game, he wouldn't be in the race for President like that or taken as a serious hope and/or threat (infiltrating the system by learning it to manipulate for folks' betterment or to go the same way things always are) - for better or worse.
The thing that gets under the skin of those used to a certain status quo is the obliteration of stereotypes of how things are and supposed to be.
"Black People are Only Supposed To Get So Far (Without Our Permission And Be Damned Grateful For It) And Do It Our Way" is one of the (usually silent) Rules Of The Game in the United States Political Discourse and for some people, in general.
To even look like that box is not going to constrict you - much less as a Black Male - in itself shatters easy to define stereotypes and messes up a status quo of hostile neutrality.
It is a damned shame that a Person of Color with thier own self-image and concepts in 2008 is still looked at as strange, bizzare and/or needs to be controlled immediately.
Therein lies Barack Obama.
Barack puts out the perception out that he knows who he is and how he wants to reach his goals, period - whoever likes it or not. Lots of people of all ethnic backgrounds seem to like this, hence the string of wins and lead in delegates he's been getting in the Democratic Primaries from Idaho (over 90% something white populace) to Mississippi (high Black population).
He wants to be President of the United States of America and not VP (much less on some pseudo-benevolent Massa and Mistress Hand-Me-Down action, which was weird due to folks offering stuff they dont' have, but anyway).
Here's Senator Obama making it mighty clear for the world to see that he wants to be that dude in charge:
Barack has also not been that dude to reinforce the mainstream image of the stereotypical "Black Man" that's put out there as either:
Heathcliff Huxtable-type
or
Thugged Out/Street/Physically Dangerous Minstrel type
or
The Brother You See On The Maury Povich Show Not Trying To Take On Family Responsiblities Type (see the best looking First Lady Candidate in the game PERIOD and their young children)
or
Angry/Scary Black Man (though heads are trying hard to get him to snap on TV)
Not being able to do that (again, yet), makes it hard as hell for folks used to utilizing such racially based attack tactics to get things in their corner and at worse, makes them look silly or find other ways to make folks seem like they won't be able to hande things (such as the recent "3 A.M. Ad" from the Clinton Campaign).
Barack's also not going full speed to assimilate himself on the Clarence Thomas/Michelle Malkin/Armstrong Williams diet of trying to get as close to the seemingly accepted Salty and Racist vibe to be liked by all I'm sure isn't helping either:
The lesson folks are going to get from Obama's attempt as a Black Person to take the best of mainstream U.S. society (the equal opportunity and justice for all citizens are supposed to have) to advance and yet having his own self-identity as a Black Man in this country not trying to become a mirror copy of said society (while getting people seemingly on your side to do this) is going to be an interesting one - regardless of what happens in April and if he gets to the next level in the Presidential Race.
0 comments:
Post a Comment