In a private conversation reported in a new book, Reid described Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign as a "light-skinned" African-American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
I have to be honest that I am always a bit skeptical when white folks feel compelled to step up and defend black folks from other white folks. I am even more cynical when it is white Republicans doing the defending. This would be the same Republican party who has since the 60's run on the southern strategy, whose conventions look more like all-white country clubs, and who have from his election sought to de-legitimize this President. Now we are to believe that they are so concerned with the delicate psyche of African-Americans that Senator Reid's remarks rises to the level of Trent Lott?
For those who don't remember Trent Lott was the Republican majority leader who stated that the country would have been better off if unrepentant segregationist Strom Thurmond had won the presidency in 1948.
For years, many blacks have just come to accept that integration was the path to success in America. Blacks who have been able to have deftly navigated the integration maze either through employment, education, or athletic achievement. And once reaching the pinnacle of their success they have chosen to leave their neighborhoods, friends, and communities to relocate into white America where they take on mythical status as being more than black. To whites they become not like those other blacks and therefore become more acceptable to their white sensibilities. And in some cases blacks believe they have some mythical characteristics that separate them from other blacks. In their wake they leave behind a community that is devoid of role models and success stories. They leave behind a community that is becoming more financially and morally bankrupt.
Why is it that in America we always look for the easy and the convenient. We always want everything to fit into a nice neat box. That's right, no contemplative thought, no analyzing, just give it to me in a form that will not require a lot of work or thought on my part. It is a simple task to chalk up the Reverend Jeremiah Wright as some angry black lunatic who is going to single handedly destroy the Obamania tour. It is amazing to me how so many people blogging will write all these prose and essays extolling the virtues of the American electorate and how badly they want policy white papers and how hungry they are for detailed plans. When the truth of the matter, as the fall-out from Reverend Wright has once again displayed, is that the majority of voters could care less about timetables and figures. Not when there is some juicy story floating around about some crazy black man and his relationship to the leading Democratic Presidential contender.
Joseph McNeil (from left), Franklin in McCain, Billy Smith and Clarence Henderson sit in protest at the whites-only lunch counter at Woolworth during the second day of peaceful protest,
February 2, 1960.Corbis
French Novelist, Alphonse Karr offered, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." 'Tis too true. Beginning in the month of February 1976, Americans were given an opportunity to realize how profound the axiom is. For four short winter weeks, citizens of this country contemplate what was. We, as a nation honor Black History. For a moment, countrymen set aside the preeminent prejudices that govern many practices and policies. As a nation, we ponder how much African-Americans have contributed to this country.
Tales are told; triumphs recounted. Perhaps one of most significant heartfelt stories shared was aired on February 1, 2008. All Things Considered producers gave the listeners much to contemplate. Newscaster, Michele Norris introduced an unassuming activist whose personal anecdote brought tears to the eyes of many in the National Public Radio audience. The Woolworth Sit-In That Launched a Movement, as narrated by one of the Greensboro Four, Franklin McCain reminds us of how often the past is found in the present.
"Black Annie" is the name of an oldtime tune the origins of which I do not know. The name was taken for a woman in childhood to protect both hers and my ongoing anonymity to whatever degree that is possible in these times. So many people contribute to the care and education of all us when we are children. Black Annie was one such woman in my childhood. Her story reflects the human rights abuses that were prevalent in our society only a few short years ago. Follow down the trail, around the curve, and over the hill for another of the Possum's tales.
It has been fifty years since America sought to integrate its schools. It was September 25, 1957. The Little Rock Nine, a group of young Black pupils, crossed the threshold into history. Three years earlier, the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled educational institutions could no longer remain separate and unequal. Unity in our schools was sanctioned in 1954. Brown versus Board of Education was the catalyst for change. However, even after the judgment was handed down, in actuality, few Districts altered enrollment. Assimilation was slow and frequently forced.
The mantra may be "teach tolerance." Yet, we teach our children intolerance. In America, we see Historic Reversals, [and] Accelerating Resegregation, so says a report released in August 2007. This study, conducted by Gary Orfield and Chungmei Lee, of the Civil Rights Project, University of California, Los Angeles documents what is evident throughout the country; racism is alive and well in America. Indeed, racial discrimination grows stronger each and every day. The most recent Supreme Court decision, handed down in June 2007, endorsed further racial divides. Parents Involved in Community Schools versus Seattle School District Number 1 et al, sanctions school segregation. For the most part, parents and the population at-large embrace this ruling.
Today, I was reminded of how deeply divided this nation is. I read School Diversity Based on Income Segregates Some. I discovered in an attempt to offer equal opportunities, indeed, schools discovered discrimination remained a dominant force. School Boards, Administrators, and the community-at-large concluded educational institutions would be more diverse if learners were assigned to schools based on family incomes. A plan was introduced and implemented. The outcome was mixed; however, the pupil populations were less so. Some races, colors, and creeds were abundant within a given institution; others were not well represented.
It is official Brown versus Board of Education has been reversed. Providing equal education opportunities to all children, regardless of race, color, or creed is no longer a priority. The 1954 Court decision that invalidated the principle of 'separate but equal' was overturned on June 28, 2007. This day will live in infamy. In another of the many recent 5 to 4 split decisions, the neoconservative Supreme Court canceled the promise made to students of color.
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