TAP DANCING FOR THE KLAN

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

TAP DANCING FOR THE KLAN
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I'm not here to defend President Obama, because as I pointed out in previous articles, I have an issue or two with some of his policies myself, just like I've had with EVERY White president. But I think we owe this brother the benefit of the doubt. He's plagued with enough problems in having to deal with world affairs and our domestic crisis, while at the same time, having to fight off racist Republicans and envious, self-serving turncoats like Tavis Smiley and Cornel West. So we shouldn't add yet another problem to his plate by forcing him to have to worry about whether he has the support of his own people.
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To be quit frank, I think there are only two kinds of people in this world - good people, and bad people. In addition, I believe the battle over race was a part of the last war. Those who are enlightened recognize that the current battle is over class, because the current powers that be don’t care any more about poor and middle-class White folks than they do Black people. Most White people recognize that fact. That's why Obama is president.  So while I often write about what’s in the best interest of the Black community as a whole, I rarely make race a part of my personal political calculations.
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But I consider the presidency of Barack Obama a unique situation, and what we’ve been watching with respect to many Black Obama critics should be regarded as a teaching moment, because it represents a cultural dysfunction that’s been played out thousands of times over the past four hundred years. Many of us have heard stories about Black self-hatred all of our lives, but due to President Obama’s high profile we now have the opportunity, as an entire culture, to see it being played out in all of its ugliness for the very first time.
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But of course, there are going to be a few of Obama's critics who are going to ask, "What are you saying, that Obama should be above criticism just because he’s Black?" Of course not, and the people who pose such a ridiculous question know that’s not what I’m saying before they even ask it. But just asking such a disingenuous question should also serve as a teaching moment - it shows the extraordinary lengths that such people will go to mask their "bligotry."
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Questioning President Obama’s policies is not the problem - it’s the mean-spirited way in which it’s being done. In fact, Black haters are not merely questioning Obama’s policies at all. More often than not these people are simply using policy differences as a pretext for making slanderous assertions about the president’s character as a whole - he’s a "war criminal," "a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats," "a Rockefeller Republican in Blackface," and even, "He has a certain rootlessness, a deracination" [WHAT!!!?].  Notice that three out of the four slanders are racial in nature, and these quotes are from just one man - Cornel West.
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None of the criticisms above were legitimate attempts to address the president’s public policies. They were racial slanders, clear and simple. That clearly demonstrates that many Black Obama-haters are not nearly as interested in addressing public policy as they are in attacking the man himself. These slanders also demonstrate the fallacious allegation that people who object to their criticism are merely Obama cheerleaders. That's simply not true - what we’re against is what we’ve always been against - racist attacks.
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But even those haters who have the good sense to refrain from blatant, racist attacks often make themselves known by going over the top in their allegations regarding policy. They’ll often say things like, "Obama is a part of the machine." But since we’re not privy to the information that Obama is basing his decisions upon, nor his motives for making any given decision, any allegation being made about his being a part of any "machine" are wholly without supporting substantiation at best. Critics who suggest this are merely commenting on what things LOOK like to their jaundiced eye - or what they're trying to convince you to think they look like - without having a shred of evidence to support their views. Their allegations have no more basis in fact than that of the birthers.
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The reality is, being the first Black President of the United States, Obama can’t approach the nation’s problems in the same way that they were approached by his White predecessors. In many cases he has to take a circuitous approach to addressing issues in order to prevent the GOP from mischaracterizing his efforts with their very special kind of malevolent spin. Thus, the way that things may look, may not always be what they seem. So anyone who would lend comfort to the most steadfast enemies of the Black community by helping to drag this Black man through the mud is on what my good friend, Playthell Benjamin, would call, a fool’s errand. 
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There were people in the Tea Party who were consistently calling Obama a terrorist sympathizer, right up until he brought Osama Bin Laden’s head home in a bag. Bush spent nearly eight years and close to a trillion dollars trying to pull that off with no success, but Obama did it with three helicopters and a handful of courageous men without busting a sweat bubble - and he did it while America thought he was just kickin’ it.
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So this brother ain’t no punk, and he’s not the kind of person we should second guess without very good cause.  So yes, I think everyone in the Black community should get behind this brother - period. If we have a comment on policy, we should voice our concern, but we should do it politely, and very respectfully. Because while Obama is, and should be, the president of ALL of America, he is also the most high profile representative of the Black community in the entire world. So to be disrespectful of him, is to be disrespectful of us; and his success, is our success. 
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With regard to Cornel West, I can only say this - any Black man who tries to publicly engage in the Dozens against the first Black President of the United States cannot be regarded as a serious intellectual. He deserves very close scrutiny, because his behavior is not only disrespectful of the president, but it betrays a gross disdain for the Black community as a whole. So he can say whatever he likes about his motives, but his behavior lends comfort to the most dedicated enemies of the Black community. Thus, the issue is not even debatable - the stupidity he’s engaged in amounts to tap dancing for the Klan.

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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com

Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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Black Critics Need to Recognize That There Are Some Things That Obama Just Can’t Do - or is That Really the Problem?

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

Black  Critics Need to Recognize That There Are Some Things That Obama Just Can’t Do - or is That Really the Problem?

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I'm not here to defend President Obama, because I don’t agree with everything he does, or fails to do, myself. But there are those in the Black community who need to come to terms with the fact that there are some things that even the president can’t do - and signing a bill abolishing ignorance is at the very top of that list. That's what it would take to accomplish some of the objectives that they're trying to force upon him. That’s also what lets me know that much of the ranting and raving of some of these so-called Black intellectuals are disingenuous at best, and blatant intraracial bigotry at worst.
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The president can’t just wave a magic wand and instantly make everyone upwardly mobile.  It doesn’t work that way. There’s an educational process that goes along with upward mobility, and that goes for whether the person is Black, or White. While there are many in the Black community who have the skills to hit the ground running, there are others who need to be trained, motivated, and refocused in order to simply maintain a job that pays wages high enough to lift them out of poverty, even if it was given to them.
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So if these educators, intellectuals, and pundits were serious about their concern for the poor, instead of holding televised seminars and book signings, they’d be in the community with their sleeves up, helping to upgrade the skill sets of those who need it. That’s what Barack Obama did. As the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review, when Obama graduated from law school he could have gone to work as a law clerk for the Supreme Court, or pursued wealth by going into any one of the top law firms in the country. He could have also tried to make a name for himself by running all over the country selling books, doing lectures, and trying to sound profound. But he didn't do that. Instead, he quietly went back into the community and went to work helping people to get their heaters fixed. That's the way to show that you care. Words are meaningless. It's deeds that count.
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So for that reason - and yes, because he's a lone Black man struggling to carve out a new chapter in our history - I'll always give him the benefit of the doubt over lesser men who criticize him. No, he's not perfect, but neither am I - and neither was Washington, Jefferson, or Lincoln - but why does a Black man have to be perfect to be accepted as a man worthy of respect?

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Many of the very same Black "intellectuals" who can barely contain themselves today, just sat back and allowed Ronald Reagan, both Bushs, and the GOP in general, to cut our throats for the past 30 years with nothing more than a whimper in most cases, and a profound silence in others.
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So why do they now try to hold Barack Obama to a different standard than they hold other men?  The sad truth is, America has conditioned them to view this Black man with a jaundiced eye. Their attitudes and motivations are exactly the same as with White racists - whenever a Black man demonstrates exceptional excellence, they see it as diminishing their own accomplishments. So the fact is, the very existence of Barack Obama represents an assault on their self-esteem, and it's killing them. He represents a pie in the face of their delusions of grandeur.  I suspect President Obama knows this, but he's precluded from saying it, so I am. 

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These critics didn’t lift a finger in the 2000 election when the Black community, and others, were literally disenfranchised to elect George W. Bush, and they were all but mute in the last election while, once again, the GOP passed laws all over the country in an attempt  to obstruct the Black vote. Yet, after enduring all of that, just like their White racist counterparts, the mere idea of having a Black man living in the White House seems to be just more than they can stomach. From the way some of these people are screaming, you’d think someone appointed the Grand Dragon of the Klan to head the NAACP.  No other group of people in the world suffers from that kind of stupidity, and that’s a much more serious problem in the Black community than anything that President Obama can possibly address.
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Surely these "intellectuals" have enough education to know that the United States Constitution states that the House of Representatives controls ALL spending, and they also know that the House of Representatives is controlled by the Republican Party. So exactly what do they expect President Obama to do other than what he is - trying to hold together a fragile coalition of Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, gays, women, the young, the old, etc., and design policies that are broad enough to help ALL of these groups in order to put enough pressure on congress to loosen the purse strings? These “public intellectuals” know that. Nevertheless, they continue to rant, rave, and insist that Obama attempt to play poker at a blackjack table.
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They should also know enough about history to remember what brought down the  Civil Rights Movement. Many people don’t realize it, but Republican, Richard Nixon, helped to promote and signed important parts of Affirmation Action into effect - but he had his tongue firmly implanted in cheek as he was signing the memorandum. You see, he knew that many of the White folks who supported the civil rights movement and marched with Martin Luther King would have a change of heart once Black people started taking their jobs and replacing their children in college admissions across the country - and that’s exactly what happened.
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We made a huge mistake while formulating affirmative action legislation. We should have insisted that it be based on need rather than race.  That way, Black people would have still been at the head of the line, but we wouldn’t have given the GOP the leverage to convince poor and middle-class White people that it was an assault on their rights.
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So shortly after it went into effect, White people started to protest, and hordes of formerly moderate White people raced over to the Republican Party. That ushered in the Ronald Reagan era, with his “trickle-down economics,” the assault on Fair Labor Standards Act, and the abolishment of the Fairness Doctrine. That , in turn, led directly to the rise of Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, the policies that led to the Wall Street collapse, and directly to the dire straits that we find ourselves in today.
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Yet, once again, many of these Black “intellectuals” are criticizing President Obama for having the good sense not to repeat history by refusing to throw his fist in the air. While they say it’s all about advocating against poverty, just like with White demagogues, they’re conflating the term “poverty” with race, in spite of the fact that they know full well that even the scent of racial politics is grist for the Republican mill. That's exactly why Obama has to avoid the issue, because the Republicans can use it to drum up support to block anything he tries to do for the people at all.
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So if these "intellectuals" were actually concerned about the best interest of the Black community, while President Obama is trying to navigate the Republican minefield they’d be in the community organizing, educating, and discussing what we can do to improve our own condition in the meantime.  But of course, that's too much like real work.
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These people should be educating Black people to understand that more money passes through the Black community than through most countries, so we could create our own jobs.  But we don't, and I’ll tell you why - because Black people are the product of the very same racist environment as White people, so we’re just as reluctant to patronize Black businesses as any Hillbilly. Unlike any other community in the world, we’d rather take our money and patronize other people - ANY other people - as long as they aren’t Black. That’s a hard pill to swallow, but it is, what it is.
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So our bigoted attitude towards other Black people is the primary reason why we’re lingering at the very bottom of the social and economic ladder - and it’s that very same bigotry that’s being reflected in the attitudes of Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, and others of their ilk, towards President Obama.  Essentially, all they’re saying is, “Obama ain’t nobody - he’s just another nigga, just like you.”
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Think about it. Think about the kind of respect that these people afforded Bush and Cheney, and those two were trying to cut our throats - in fact, they did!  But in spite of that, many of these Black critics limited their criticism to mumbling under their breath. But now, with Obama, they've pulled out their bullhorns. And Cornel West, in his typically attention-seeking  fashion, has even resorted to playing the dozens - with THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!! That's not only highly disrespectful of the president, but in my opinion, speaks volumes regarding his lack of respect, and his arrogant disdain, for the Black community as a whole. But doesn't West love his people?  Sure he does, just like a pimp loves his whoes.
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So it’s time for Black people to come to terms with our racist attitudes toward one another. If we’re going to hold a seminar on poverty, the major topic of discussion shouldn’t be Barack Obama, but why we’re so willing to pass by hundreds of Black businesses in the community to take our money to Walmart. Now, I’d be a hypocrite to say never shop at Walmart.  I realize that sometimes our finances force us to deal with the Devil, but we should, at the very least, balance our spending.  Because, until we come to terms with what is essentially a boycott of Black businesses, whining about high unemployment is silly.
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So, again, one of the many things that President Obama can’t do, is to sign a bill bestowing common sense upon the people. Learning to love and respect other Black people, and acting with common sense, are two things that no one else can give us.
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Related Articles

An Open Letter to Cornel West

http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/12/beneath-spin-eric-l_8.html

Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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An Open Letter to Cornel West

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

An Open Letter to Cornel West

"Brother" West,
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Your explanation for your comment that President Obama is a "Rockefeller Republican in blackface" is as lame and disingenuous a cop out as I've ever heard. You claimed that your critics are trivializing your comment by not getting to the core of your assertion, which was President Obama is a "Rockefeller Republican." Then YOU tried to trivialize the significance of the addendum, "in blackface," as though it was meaningless, by saying, "I have a black face, you have a black face, my mother has a black face," etc.

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Well, if you know that the phrase "in blackface" is going to distract from the core issue, why don't you stick to the core issue and stop adding such racially offensive language? Could it be for the publicity? I think it is, and your cavalier attitude in this matter speaks volumes. Obviously, your passionate craving for publicity and need to promote the Smiley/West Corporation takes precedence over whether or not you offend the Black community.  So it seems that your infamous "love for your people" stops at your pocketbook.

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You’re not a complete idiot, so you knew full well that the addendum to your comment was drenched in racial innuendo, and you've become a serial offender in that regard. You know very well that the phrase, "in blackface," conjures up images of White minstrels portraying Black people by painting their faces jet black, with huge oversized white lips, and then running across the stage shouting, "mammy!" So the subtext of your comment was clear - you think President Obama is a White clown beneath a painted blackface. That’s a grossly racist and disrespectful statement to be directed at anyone, and particularly the President of the United States. Who do you think you are!!?
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Then just as bad, and just as disrespectful - this time, however, directed at the entire Black community - you have the unmitigated gall to now come on this show, and in your most self-righteous and condescending tone, try to tell Black people who took issue with your comment that they’re just being silly for objecting to your blatantly racist statement. In other words, we’re too stupid to know a racist comment when we hear one.
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Cornel, you’re indulging in the exact same kind of racist act of conflation as any vicious, petty, and unrepentant bigot. You know the kind - the ones who go on Fox News and talk about "Welfare Queens," when everybody in the world knows they’re actually talking about black women in general; or say, "We’ve got to do something about crime," when they actually mean, it’s time to start brutalizing and killing more Black men. Then when they’re confronted with it, just like you, they say, "Ooooh, where did you find that race card? That wasn’t what I meant at all!"
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So "brother," you ain’t foolin’ nobody. The depth of your self-serving racist behavior would make Jesse Helms blush.
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And regarding this so-called "Poverty Summit" at the White House that you and Tavis are calling for - I assume you and Smiley expect to attend to advocate on behalf of "the people." Well, I have one question - what people? No one elected you and Tavis to represent the Black community, and we don't need you to speak for us.
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The Black community is communicating with the White House on a daily basis through thousands of letters, emails, phone calls, and our ELECTED officials. In addition, we just touched base with the president through the polls in the last election. So the president undoubtedly knows more about what's on the mind of the Black community than you do - that's how he knows you're irrevelant.
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So is this so-call summit that you two are calling for designed to help the poor and Black community - after all, you've never done anything for us before - or is it actually about shining a national spotlight on a group of nonproductive, loudmouth, egomaniacs who crave national attention? If your history is any indication, I'd say the latter. So here's a news flash. Your time has passed, and the Black community is sick to death of you. So, please, go away and let us handle our business.
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FOLLOWUP COMMUNICATION

Cornel,
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Once again you’re trying to defend the indefensible. And once again, you’re trying to blame your critics for your failure to communicate effectively. When you make a comment, it is up to YOU to keep your message focused and uncluttered enough to communicate your ideas effectively, not the listener.
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In addition, when a listener listens to a speaker, he or she is not simply listening to the content of the speaker’s message, he’s also assessing the messenger himself for any subtleties or nuances that might suggest a hidden agenda, reckless and inefficient thinking, or any other shortcomings that might mitigate the weight that he should assign to the speaker’s message. Thus, when you added “in blackface” to your comment, considering it’s racist connotation, you should have known that it would overwhelm what you insist was the “core” of your statement. So the mere fact that you now, in my opinion, feign that the uproar caught you by complete surprise, speaks volumes about either your judgment, or your veracity.
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West, I used to be a huge fan of both you and Smiley’s. But your tendency to engage in reckless, irresponsible, and unsubstantiated statements like the one currently under discussion led me to start researching who you really are nearly five years ago, and what I’ve found is literally embarrassing. Now, with this latest controversy, you’re merely reinforcing what I already know - if you were even close to the “powerful intellectual” that your 35 years of hype has suggested, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. And brother, that’s comin’ from a common hood rat.
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http://smileyandwest.ning.com/forum/topics/take-em-to-task-blackface-comments

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Black  Critics Need to Recognize That There Are Some Things That Obama Just Can’t Do - or is That Really the Problem?

http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/12/beneath-spin-eric-l_10.html

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Does Cornel West Harbor Racist Attitudes Towards Black People?

(http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/12/cornel-wests-attack-on-jay-z-prime.html)
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Black  Critics Need to Recognize That There Are Some Things That Obama Just Can’t Do - or is That Really the Problem?
http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/12/beneath-spin-eric-l_10.html
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Tavis, West, and Malcolm
http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/11/tavis-west-and-malcolm.html
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It’s Time to Boycott Tavis,West, and All Black-on-Black Racists
http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/09/its-time-to-boycott-tavis-west-and-all.html

Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com

Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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