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Advice from a father: "Cast your first vote for Barack Obama, my son"
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by Mikel Kwaku Osei Holt
The Chinese say “may you live in exciting times.’
My son, you are indeed fortunate.
Think about it, this is your first opportunity to vote, and that unique prospect coincides with a historic election.
In less than two weeks, you will engage in our country’s most important civic responsibility. And the icing on the cake is that your vote could be the deciding factor in electing the nation’s first Black president (assuming you discount historical theories that designate John Hanson as the first Black chief of state, or that two or three presidents had more than an ounce of Black blood).
This historic event is something you can tell your grandchildren about: Your first election and you helped to take a large brick out of the wall of apartheid. Your vote will set into motion a political tsunami that will introduce America to a new sociocultural paradigm.
Maybe by the time your grandchildren are old enough to understand the relevancy of your actions, they will view this election as a political curiosity. Hopefully, by the time your grandchildren are old enough to vote, race will not be the defining factor it is today. (Maybe by then all children will be light skinned, with slanted eyes and rhythm, a possibility if the races continue to mix and America embraces what I call the “Tiger Woods integration solution.”)
But don’t count on it. Don’t expect racism to go the way of 16-year-old virgins by 2048. Sadly, I predict bigotry will always be with us; that’s the nature of mankind, and the entrenched American socialization process. It’s bred in us like sexism, homophobia and oily skin.
But a Barack Obama presidency will hopefully start America down a different path. Obama’s presidency will signal to those who enjoy the benefits of White privilege--those who have erected glass and concrete ceilings, who constructed roadblocks to inclusion--that it will not be business as usual. I assume Obama will do all in his power to guarantee his two girls will not have to go through what we have experienced, and the country will benefit from his efforts.
Obviously, no one man can clean the slate, or equalize the playing field. But he can cast a concerting eye upon the field, and referee with an unbiased rulebook. He can also appoint judges who are committed to the system of blind justice, instead of “J.U.S.T.U.S.” And he can clean the glasses of those who view us through tinted prisms.
Having observed me your entire life, my dear son, I guess you assume I’m suggesting you vote for Barack Obama merely because he is Black. Since I’ve indoctrinated you into my basic philosophy of Black Nationalism, you probably think that my promotion of Black people in circumstances where all other factors are equal would suggest I would advocate Obama’s election solely because he is Black.
In truth, I could stand by that position, and would have no problem with it.
As a people we have been locked out of America’s mainstream since the day Plymouth Rock “landed on us” in 1613. In the best of circumstances we were second-class citizens. Most of our ancestors endured the most inhuman form of slavery known to mankind (that’s probably the only paradigm Obama does not share with us, since he is the offspring of an African and a White woman). The constitution of this country proclaimed that we were but 3/5ths of a man. We were considered animals, cattle to be brought and sold, abused and misused. Our male ancestors were tortured and striped of their human dignity. Our women and girls were raped and denigrated.
Clean it up any way you want, but the reality is under the banner of manifest destiny they stole from us our dignity, our culture, our language and religion.
We emerged from that status to face 100 years of apartheid. Thousands of us were lynched. We were relegated to second-class facilities, not even allowed to drink water from their “public” bubblers. We were segregated and separated. We were given the worse of everything, from inferior schools to substandard living conditions.
Your grandparents were not allowed to live north of Center Street. They were not allowed to eat at downtown establishments or cross the viaduct. Even world-renowned Black entertainers and athletes were not allowed to stay at downtown hotels.
Things have improved over the years but our status. In many respects, we remain victimized by apartheid. Half of us live in poverty. Milwaukee hosts the second highest Black unemployment rate in the country, and that we have the largest unemployment gap between Black and White Milwaukeeans in the nation. Black unemployment for men between 18-50 is nearly 60%. By design, Black women head 70% of all households. Wisconsin has the highest Black male incarceration rate in the country and the Black high school drop out rate is somewhere between 40 and 60%, depending on which research survey you believe.
We can’t attribute those abysmal statistics to apathy, or blame them on Black culture, laziness or too much pork in our diets. Lenard Wells’ recent survey reveals that it is more likely that a White felon will get a job than a Black college grad with a clean record. The most recent city comptroller’s report revealed that it is easier for a White high school drop out to secure a mortgage loan than it is for a Black man with a doctorate.
Nope my son, racism, is alive and well in America. And Milwaukee is a microcosm of America.
Black people have been locked out, locked up and locked down. A Black president can reverse 300 years of apartheid. He could be our reparation. He could kick those doors in, and if necessary, tear down the house that surrounds it. He could finally give us our “40 acres and a mule.” A Black president will...
Sorry about that, my son. I was daydreaming for a moment. Years of pent up frustration got to me. Call it post traumatic stress syndrome.
Barack Obama isn’t Malcolm. He’s a brother, but he’s also a well-educated politician with a vision whose moral character will guide him.
Nonetheless, yeah, I can vote for Barack Obama because he is Black, but I really don’t have images of painting the White House red, green and Black. Or taking property and wealth from White America and giving to us (even though I’ll send his treasury secretary my bank account number, just in case.)
I can support a Black man for president for the same reason I can support the nomination of a Black judge to the county or federal bench. I can support Obama for the same reason I support more Black police, firefighters, teachers and bus drivers. It’s about equal opportunity, affirmative action and diversity.
The basic principles of Black Nationalism dictate that we support our own, just like women, gays, and Whites in general support their own over others of like qualifications.
If it isn’t racist for them to support their own, why is it any different for us?
Let me put it to you another way, it’s about survival and growth. Thus, I can support Barack for the same reason I hold accounts at the two Black banks, have my teeth cleaned by a Black dentist, have a Black female physician perform a procto exam on me (and that takes a lot of self confidence, nerve and personal self esteem, if you get my drift). Only through support of our own will we reach parity and strengthen our community.
Yeah, I have no problem supporting Obama just because he’s Black. But this is a case where Black Nationalism takes a back seat to political expediency, and correctness.
I’m encouraging you to vote for Barack Obama not just because he’s Black, but because he is the better candidate, He is best for Black America, but also best for America.
There is no comparison between Obama and John McCain. One is about the future, the other is about the past; a past that has resulted in an unjust war and over 4,000 needless deaths.
A past that has resulted in a two trillion dollar debt, record unemployment, an economic collapse and a world that views us with disdain, and in some cases, hostility and hatred.
McCain would continue policies that have crippled our country, taken us into bankruptcy and put millions out of work. President George Bush doesn’t have a clue, and McCain wants to walk in his shoes. McCain is “Bush Light.” And that means less taste and less filling.
Obama shows an empathy and unique sense of understanding for the plight of the downtrodden, the middle class and the have-nots. He’s not only seen the suffering, he’s lived it.
He will spearhead a political shift that will focus on equalizing the playing field. Whether it is a new Marshall Plan that will rebuild America’s infrastructure by employing the unemployed, or programs that will provide us with the bootstraps to enable us to compete, Obama offers hope where there is none, and empowerment to replace impotence.
He can clean up the Bush mess, close the gap between the haves and the have nots, and equally important, restore our national dignity.
He promises to do so not by giving out handouts, but a hand up. He will cast a discerning eye on those who contribute to their own negative social conditions, and will stand at the vanguard of a cultural revolution.
I have no doubt Obama will say what most ‘Black’ leaders are afraid to say, that the culture we have adopted has worsened our condition. He is a liberal, but he is also born of an African culture that is grounded in values and mores that are rooted in tenets mandated by God.
That is not to say Barack Obama is a miracle worker; that he can cure all of America’s ills.
It is foolish to assume he can end poverty, erase the national debt or bring peace to the Middle East. That ain’t gonna’ happen.
In fact, there are some elements of Obama’s platform that suggests he is caught up in the political partisanship that is more about placating than production.
And you should never forget that Obama is a product of the system, a two party system that always hides in the closet or comes up with excuses when the subject of true Black empowerment is on the table (that’s why I continue to advocate for a Black independent political party that puts our interests above all else).
Unfortunately, like most good willed politicians, Obama believes he is forced to play by established rules he did not create. Thus, in many cases he will do what is politically expedient, versus what is right and just. He will settle for compromise, instead of correctness.
His educational platform attests to that reality. It is obviously influenced by special interests that apparently offer his campaign more than Black people can.
And those special interests have a vested interest in maintaining as much of the failing status quo as possible, even if it dooms another generation of poor and Black children to second-class education.
In other words, Obama will tinker around the edges and throw rocks at the walls of educational apartheid instead of aiming cannons.
The end result will mean policies that hold the promise of a slightly better future for some, but don’t expect to see the achievement gap closed or the Black drop out rate greatly reduced.
(In fact, some Black pundits suggest those special interests will convince Obama to spearhead a retreat from reforms of the last few years, thus forcing leaders of the new civil rights army to forget Obama’s a brother.)
No, my son, Barack Obama will not end poverty, put every American to work, restore the nuclear family or end crime. The truth of the matter is he is going to try to play the game by the established rules.
But we will fare far better under Obama than we will under anyone else on the ballot. And his election provides the added benefit of bringing Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream closer to reality. Obama will prove that there is hope, and that intelligence; talent and fortitude can trump apartheid.
Moreover, an Obama presidency will mean we finally have someone in the White House who may listen if we shout loud enough. We just have to make sure our voices are not drown out by special interests and partisan politics.
So cast your vote for Barack Obama, my son. Establish your place in history. Do your part to start America down a course that will enable us to collect on some of the unkempt promises.
You are indeed fortunate to live in exciting times. Maybe the most important time of your life.
Hotep.
