The morning of April 25, 2008 was one that should have awakened the senses of America – in particular the products of Hip Hop culture. The similarities of this day and April 29th 1992 should draw instant comparisons – if it wasn’t for our lack of memory. Back in 1992, the acquittal of four police officers who were caught on video beating down Rodney King incited a community into acts of rage and violence. The cops were caught red handed and the evidence seemed to make this an open and shut case. But once our wonderful judicial system inserted their influence, those four boys in blue walked away. The aftermath would go down in infamy as one of the most disturbing scenes in recent memory. Although I don’t condone violence, I understand the civil unrest and ire birthed from this.
Fast forward nearly sixteen years to the day. This time, three officers (out of five involved) were acquitted of all charges after firing 50 shots at Sean Bell as he left a strip club a day before his wedding back on November 26th 2006. The cops thought he had a gun, which somehow justifies 50 shots being fired at one person. One cop fired 31 shots himself – which takes 12.3 seconds and 1 reload to get the job done. It takes one bullet to incapacitate a man. 50 bullets would be easily described as overkill – no matter how “in the wrong” an individual is. Did I mention that Bell was unarmed and approached by plain clothes officers? Two of which were black but I digress…
Surely, upon hearing that these three cops were “not guilty” the community would be outraged. Not to say they weren’t, but this pales in comparison to the scene back in 1992. Rodney King got beatdown, Sean Bell got murdered. “Who’s going to speak on our behalf,” I questioned as I scanned the news to find one black face. And there he is…
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Barack Hussein Obama Jr
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As I stare at my television, I wait for Obama to say something profound about the Sean Bell case while he is in the midst of delivering yet another round of gas/war/food rhetoric to the public. Someone finally asks about the Sean Bell case. You know what that is kids?
Catch 22: Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
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I’ll explain later.
Obama stammers a bit before being as vague as humanly possible in regards to how he feels when cops who shower an unarmed man with 50 bullets are acquitted of all charges. He basically sums it up to “taking precautionary measures to ensure these things don’t happen again,” followed by something to the effect that we must “respect that judgment and not react.” What the hell does that mean?
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See, I’m not questioning Barack Obama’s blackness. I’m not likening him to any black man who cares more about the mighty dollar than our community. I’m questioning what Barack Obama can and can’t actually do in the oval office. He’s a politician and has to play the game of a politician. When situations like this arise, I would love to see Obama with eyes of fire. I would love to see him make a joke out of our flawed judicial system. I would be elated to see him articulate the black struggle to the American people in a manner that is not as threatening as it is educational. I would love to see a black man who genuinely is hurt by how society treats minorities, stand up on national television and in so many words say “fuck that shit! That shit ain’t right!” (devoid of the curse words but filled with the same passion of course).
Obama can’t and will never ever be able to do that as president of this country. But I will still vote for him with the understanding that his contributions during his first four years are more inspirational to minorities than tangible.
So, what can’t Obama do for me? Well, he can’t do anything about the Sean Bell case. There are a number of factors that go into this case that prove today’s America to be desensitized and constantly conditioned by media.
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For one, how many individuals know who Sean Bell was – prior to Friday’s ruling of course? If you didn’t, I’m not upset as much as I am disappointed with our culture and the media outlets that project it. If it isn’t in a rap song, you don’t know about it. The news will give it maybe 2 minutes of its precious time before moving on to Miley Cirus’ “too hot for TV” pictures or the latest American Idol reject. And although we have the power of the internet at our fingertips, most of us don’t spend our days looking to see what’s happening in our community. Rather, we mill around to find out what Jennifer Lopez’ babies look like or what Lil Wayne said about sizzurp.
Even outlets like HipHopDX aren’t devoid of the blame, but we still try to give you news on Jena 6, the political campaign and Sean Bell. The fact is: nobody is reading it. We have been desensitized to care about what goes on in our society outside of what celebrity is dating who and if the new Game track leaked to the net.
Which brings me back to Barack Obama.
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This particular election isn’t about who you want to become president, it’s about who you don’t want to become president. I’ve argued with many people how I don’t think Obama will make that much of a difference, he has to play the game the way it was meant to be played. I obviously don’t want to see Clinton or McCain in office but I really don’t think Obama can make that much of a difference on our community.
I don’t see the conviction in Obama when it comes to minority issues. Not that he doesn’t have those convictions but he has yet to (or simply cannot) speak to items in depth such as the prison industrial complex or the failed war on drugs. If you ask the average African American why they are voting for Obama, the answer is simple: because he is black. But ask him or her what he stands for and see what they say then.
Political education is a non-factor when it comes to voting for president this time around. White woman, black man, sea monkey, horse, fence, shoehorn or a water bottle would all be an improvement after what George Bush has done to this country during his tenure. Not to take away from Clinton or Obama, but there is no better opportunity for change than now.
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So what can he do?
He can make small, non-threatening steps in improving our country. The war is universal. Gas prices are universal. The economy is universal. Food prices are universal. Education (on the surface) is universal.
The plight of African American men and women is not.
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You see what happened when he was merely associated with Rev Jeremiah Wright’s comments (which aren’t too farfetched in my opinion). As neutral and un-confrontational as Obama has tried to be – while making the most realistic run at the big seat since…well…ever – his character has been spun out of control by the mere thought of race or being “un-American.” He’s walking on razorblades with the media dousing him in a bottle of alcohol.
Even without the Sean Bell case, Obama is at risk (in my opinion) of having the opportunity to run for president stolen from him by means of media slander and slick posturing by the Clinton campaign (superdelegates anyone?). You mean to tell me that the man that won 10+ states in a row during primaries and seemed to be sweeping Hillary under the rug as a mere formality has now turned into a semi-competitive race (and waste of campaign money)? Hillary Clinton knows something that we don’t.
And here’s the scary thing about this ordeal. Barack becoming president can almost be as bad as him not becoming president. Emphasis on “almost.”
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How?
Say, that after four years there has been no substantial improvement to America in the economic department, war or gas prices (a base desire anyone could use as a platform to run for president). It’s not like Bush made this mess an easy one to clean up. Regardless, those that are campaigning for 2012 will surely use that as a platform to unseat Obama – whether they really believe he could have made a difference or not.
Conservatives will have a field day with this. The inevitable “race card” of a black man becoming president will be shredded away and the old farts will be hard at work to say “See, we gave blacks a chance, he didn’t do much so shut up and give the house back to us.” The super radicals that have not backed Obama to begin with will say “See, I told you that he wasn’t going to do shit.” And the urgency to put him in the second term will not be the same as the first. The second term is the true challenge. Once America gets over their “put a monkey in instead of Bush” notions, we will really see how America feels about Obama.
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But you must first put the man in office to see what he is made of. I just won’t allow myself to be convinced that society’s ills can be fixed by one man – no matter who he is.
What do I say? Get out there and vote for Obama. What can it hurt? It’s definitely a better option than having another war monger or Bill and Hillary running around the White House again. But don’t be led to believe that things are going to change drastically with one black man at the top. If he does somehow make it in, it would be monumental for our children to see that we can become president. But if he doesn’t – and somehow we are swindled into Clinton Vs McCain – I won’t ask for an LA riot but at least throw a chair or something. Complacency will never change how this country is ran. Neither will one Barack Obama.
“It takes a Nation of Millions…” to quote the legendary Public Enemy. But I’m just a critic…Who The Hell Am I?
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