The question was asked in the link attached to this post: Do White Voters Really Like Obama Because 'He's Not Really Black?
Honestly, I thought about that and after being in office for over a year, I've come to my own conclusion.
When I voted in the election for our nations president, I truly felt I put my vote on the best candidate. I did not vote for him because he was a man of color--I thought he represented America's future and that was my initial reason for supporting his candidacy.
Obama won. I watched people cheer for him around the world. I took it all in...
He inherited a mess from the Bush Administration and then the economic fallout hit right in the beginning of his first term. He was put on the defensive by many white conservative pundits and there was no counter from anyone in the Black community or Black press. He distanced himself from the Congressional Black Caucus and makes a concerted effort not to be seen as a Black Power president.
Issue after issue, he was dodging jabs like Muhammad Ali against Joe Frazier.
However, as just a regular American, the honest view of Obama is really very simple: he's a COWARD .
When he made his cabinet selections, Obama appointed many people that worked for Bill Clinton--most of whom were white. Was this some kickback for beating Hillary in the election--to appease the man, some misguided Black folks coined as the nations first "Black President" back in the day. I despised this term then and now. Clinton showed his true colors when it became apparent that Barack was going to win didn't he.
What an irony.
What I see in Obama is an intellectual trying to lead--not a leader who makes bold decisions and uses his intelligence with the precision and sharpness of a Japanese Katakana sword.
He tries to please the " right people " too much. Or should I just come out and say what I really mean: He tries to please WHITE PEOPLE too much. He positions himself with the right (white)people so that he can attract the right (white) approval, but he's dismissive and seemingly incapable of taking a bold stand on any issue which might cause him to be accused of being a BLACK man standing up for Black people in the eyes of white folks. That's too costly and cuts through his race friendly image, and being biracial gives him the latitude to walk the fence. He does not want to offend his white supporters, even though many of them have abandoned him and some have had no problem joining the Tea Party.
Yet, Black folks sit in silence and watch all of this shit for fear of outing him and thus, giving the conservatives what they really want--infighting amongst us. Some don't want to be labeled as race baiters but in my honest opinion, the one thing that you're trying to avoid could perhaps be the very thing that liberates you.
However, we know what Obama's problem is, right? He's nothing more than a racial buffer. A poser. But his actions reflect those of someone who truly represents those in power and who are the enemy of Black people. Yes! White Supremacy rules the White House.
This country is still racist. And we all know this.
I found this comment in an article from Don Terry, who is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune: "Obama, the sandy-colored, half-white, half-black, Hawaii-born, Harvard-trained, civil rights lawyer with the magnetic smile, "is the literal embodiment of our cultural hybridity," says Salim Muwakkil, a senior editor at In These Times magazine. "He's mastered the cultural jargon of the Ivy League. That makes him less threatening, more soothing to white sensibilities. One of Barack's great strengths is his complexity."
Basically, what he is saying is that for whites, Barack doesn't fit the image "they have" of African Americans and he's "almost" one of them.
How does one rationalize this?
Remember when Senator Harry Reid basically exposed this sentiment when he said that Obama appealed to whites mainly because he was an articulate, light-skinned Black man who didn't sound too Black. I'm paraphrasing, by you understand the point.
Right now, I'm entertaining thoughts of whether I'm going to vote for him in 2012. I'm just not happy with what I see and deep down, I feel that he's weak--whites around him know it and they are controlling him--not the other way around. It is a weekly side show of just how much they aren't afraid of attacking him and ridiculing him...yet, Barack chides that he is the President of "all Americans." Right.
Whatever...
I want a strong leader who makes not only bold decisions but provokes respect--even amongst those who do not agree with him.
Why doesn't Barack Obama seem to get this? Or then again... maybe he does.
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