^^^^^^^^
As we search out and hunt down Trayvon Martin we ignore the growing reality of Adam Lanza.
As we search out reasons to belittle the ultimate representative of Black America (Obama) we create even more reasons to hunt out Trayvon Martin.
Cabinet choices?
?? President Obama has literally lead a redefinition of diversity which is clear in all levels of society. Still he is under attack for being worthless....much as Clinton, known as the first Black president, was during his administration.
Since the final compromise of 1787, our bloodiest war, and the fact that the geographical core of opposition to Roosevelt's Socialist vision is from the old south, Race has been a driving force in American politics. And as proven by the Jews of 1930's Europe, who were known to be rich AND smart, at any time a forceful minority can come and kill our children be they named Trayvon Martin or Anne Frank. A minority that can be as crazy as Adam Lanza, The Brown Shirts or The Tea Party.
Django, and perhaps Quarentino himself, shows how violent...our bloodiest war can truly be.
Perhaps there is more to discuss.
I'm sorry I don't see Obama as the ultimate representative of black America. I think we have got to stop giving Obama a pass on a lot of things. On one hand we say that he is the ultimate representative, the heir of MLK and the fulfillment of The Dream. Then many of these same people will slap down any criticism on Obama's record on black unemployment, education rates, mass incarceration, his aversion to racial issues, by saying he's the president of 'all America' and he's not a 'black' president. Or that he's just a politician. Which is it going to be? Is he MLK Junior Jr. or is he just another politician?
I could personally care less about this cabinet issue because what's the difference between having a black person towing the same line as a white one would in his administration. Sure it adds some color, but it doesn't change policy in any fundamental way. Like, Condi being Secretary of State. Sure, it was great for the history books, but beyond that, what did it really mean or do? How much influence did she really have?
However I do think critics shouldn't be dismissed because Cabinet appointments have long been a way to reward the coalitions that put you in office and to symbolize racial, gender progress. It is telling that many of the major decision-making roles in the Obama White House are run by white men, when the multiracial, multi-gender coalition that put him in office is not being reflected in the power positions. So, his Cabinet is starting to look like the cabinet of Bush II and Clinton, a reversion, not a step forward.
To me, Obama is a largely conventional politician who is acting in conventional ways. It's just his skin color and his charisma, and his great ability to describe, if not always bring forth, the better angels of our nature, that have so many black folks and progressives hearts fluttering.
I don't think Obama's elevation has led to a redefinition in any fundamental way. He is one 'exceptional Negro' who has become president, and one of the prices of doing so is to be quiet about racial issues, to go along to get along. Sure, in a surface way it is a big diversity point, but when it comes to the black masses, how much of their lives have fundamentally changed under Obama and for the better? I just refuse to believe the hype until I see the results from the supposed Great Dreamer II.
Further I don't think it's hard to find reasons to disagree with the President or to criticism him. Similar to the other Presidents, you look at what he said he's going to do and what he's done and see the discrepancies and then try to figure out why that's so. Was it outside opposition, a lack of will or vision, change in priorities, deception, or what have you, that is the cause?
