Who
Sounded the Black Ideological Retreat?
by
Mel Reeves
“Obama guards his grill by accepting white
standards of what is acceptable among Black faith systems.”
A
comparison of the 1968 Kerner Commission Report and the Institute for
Policy Studies report, State
of the Dream 2008
indicate that, 40 years after the passing of Dr. Martin Luther King,
blacks continue to loose ground economically, socially and
politically. In what academics call the post-Civil Rights era,
African Americans have been in retreat for a very long time, with our
eyes wide open.
We
have watched with slack jawed amazement as Barack Obama has
back-peddled time and time again in fear of being too closely
identified with Blacks in general and “militant” Blacks in
particular. Obama has distanced himself from his own Chicago pastor,
from his Islamic paternal roots, “denounced” and
“rejected” Louis Farrakhan, caste doubt on Palestinians’ right
to exist; and hid the fact that he likes chicken. I am joking about
the chicken and just a little about the Palestinians, but Obama bows
to white sensibilities much too easily. His lack of principled
backbone allows us to be put on the defensive by people who wish us
no good.
There
should have been a lot more outrage from our community when Obama
disinvited Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright from the candidate’s official
presidential declaration. Rev. Wright’s liberation theology was
fine with Obama when he was a state senator representing Chicago’s
mostly Black South Side. But once he’s running in a white dominated
environment, Rev. Wright becomes a liability. Let’s not risk making
any
white folks uncomfortable, even if it means severing long-time
personal and spiritual times with Blacks.
“Obama bows to white sensibilities much too
easily.”
Obama
is no longer prepared to be associated with a clergyman who preaches
from a very political and unashamedly “Black” perspective – a
liberation-motivated worldview that requires criticism of white
American political culture and encourages resistance to white
supremacy. Rev. Wright’s church covenant celebrates positive values
and the uplift of the black community – both of which require
pro-Black advocacy and support for activism – positions that are
generally seen as suspect by tens of millions of white Americans.
Obama used to believe – or pretended to believe – that a religion
that focuses on “your own house” is not exclusionary, its good
common sense.
He
and his church have the right to focus on the needs of black folk
first and foremost, since blacks are still victimized and oppressed
in this country. And they should not have to apologize for a church
covenant that celebrates positive values and the uplift of the black
community. To focus on your own house is not exclusionary, its good
common sense. All religions are based on specific, historical points
of origin: Palestine for the Jews, Mecca and Medina for Muslims, Rome
for Roman Catholics, the United States for those Protestant
denominations that were begun or transformed in America, Salt Lake
City for Mormons, India for Hindus, etc. Black American Protestantism
is derived from U.S, racist exclusion of Blacks in all arenas of
life, including white churches. There is a “liberation” component
in all Black-created denominations, not just the Nation of Islam. Yet
whites reserve the right to decide what Black faith is “kosher,”
i.e., acceptable to them.
Mitt
Romney was definitely backed by the Church of Latter Day Saints and
nobody put pressure on Mitt Romney to denounce his religion, the
Church of Latter Day Saints, with its history of doctrinal black
inferiority and exclusion.
“Whites who presume to have the right to dictate
what are acceptable associations among African Americans, are
attempting to imposing their own ‘black list’ within Black
America.”
Liberality
and ecumenicalism
in all things religious have come to be accepted as standards in U.S.
political discourse – except for Black Muslims and Black Protestant
liberation theologians. In practice, Obama guards his grill by
accepting white standards of what is acceptable among Black faith
systems. Blacks apparently can’t exercise their rights to
self-determination in the religious arena – without paying a price.
Barack Obama, through his conduct towards his pastor and Min. Louis
Farrakhan, demonstrates his willingness to bend and bow to the
peculiar mores of ethnic-race-based white belief systems, while
scrupulously avoiding even a whiff of criticism of Mormons and
(white) Southern Baptists, whose denominations are steeped in race
supremacy. Farrakhan and Rev. Wright, however, are fair game.
Hillary
Clinton has been denounced for “bullying” Obama, demanding that
he “denounce and reject” Farrakhan, the man. The truth is, she
didn’t need to “bully” Obama. He immediately caved in to
Clinton’s arrogant demands, even laughing while bowing to her
wishes in a transparent attempt make his opponent appear to be silly
or unreasonably picky. But the problem was not Hillary’s hectoring,
forcing Obama to use her preferred words of denunciation. It was that
Obama did not himself denounce Clinton and all other whites who
presume to have the right to dictate what are acceptable associations
among African Americans, thereby imposing their own “black list”
within Black America.
When
did it become a crime to be a Muslim in this country? Some have
directly accused the Senator of being Muslim, as if that were a
heinous offense against civilization. Who said that support for the
oppressed Palestinians is paramount to anti-Semitism? Who gave
Zionists or anybody else the right to dictate Black people’s
political behavior, in general? Who? Obama did, when he abdicated his
responsibility to defend Black people’s right to choose their own
faith and their own leadership.
Obama’s
abject surrender to white bias – and the failure of African
Americans to criticism him
for his craven behavior, instead limiting their anger to Clinton,
alone – further demonstrates that Blacks are retreating in the
ideological fight for racial justice. The evidence is everywhere.
Whites
are becoming more and more comfortable in saying, “racism doesn’t
exist, blacks are just whining,” or that Blacks are playing a
so-called “race card.” And more and more blacks tend to agree.
“Who said that support for the oppressed
Palestinians is paramount to anti-Semitism?”
Racism
does exist and if any people ever used a so-called “race card, it
would be white folks who it as a trump card to either hold us back,
or jump ahead. The “Black” race card does not exist, so can we
please stop talking about it?
And
let’s stop agreeing with our enemies about how we or others should
be able to overcome the obstacle of racism. Elimination of racism is
dependent on the people that profit from race privilege, not the
victims. All the victims can do is resist this white supremacist
phenomenon. Only whites can ultimately solved the problem, which is
at root a white problem.
We
must also cut out the moralizing crap. The point is that the racial
obstacle shouldn’t be there in the first place, and not how good
you are at hurdling artificially created adversity. Denied
opportunity opens the door for all kinds of failure, moral and
otherwise.
And
since when did legitimate complaints about being done wrong, become
“whining?” When rich white folks are wronged, they don’t mess
around, they sic their lawyers on you and no one dares say, “aw
just let it go, drop the suit and quit your whining.
Some
folks even naively proclaim that we have transcended race. Almost as
frightening, is the fact that more and more, black folks mouth this
foolishness – especially since the rise of Barack Obama.
“Some folks even naively proclaim that we have
transcended race
Several
years ago comedian Chris Rock popularized the idea that, there were
two kinds of black folks: “niggers” and the rest of us. I knew it
was going to come back to haunt us. I was having an intelligent
conversation with a white person about why some of our people
struggle more than others and he sent me a copy of Chris Rock’s
joke. I was reading someone’s introduction of themselves on an
internet site and they said they “love black people but hate
niggers.” Enough said! The obvious problem is that so many white
folks hate us and limit our progress at every opportunity, and don’t
really bother to distinguish which one is the “nigger” and which
one is the “nigga.”
It
still is true that a house divided against itself, can not stand.
Today you may be patted on the back for being a good “one”
(Negro) and tomorrow you may have to go, just because you are “one.”
(Negro). I don’t know who sounded the retreat, but if we keep
backing up and failing to stand up to these attacks, it will become
even more difficult than it already is for us to go forward.
Mel
Reeves is an activist based in Miami. He can be contacted at
[email protected].