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America is at a crossroads.
Yes, yes, I know. That line is about as original as, “It was a dark and stormy night…”. I realize that. Still, it is no less true. In fact, it is especially applicable for a particular segment of the American populace: blacks.
So, if I may be so bold, let me reiterate: America is at a crossroads today. A crucial one.
In November 2008, American political history was made and along with it, innumerable promises toward the betterment of the lives of many Americans. Some of the promises were overt; others not so much. For black Americans, ironically, it has been the pledges of the nation’s “first black President,” Barack Hussein Obama, which have left a very tangible and, unfortunately, adverse impact on black Americans despite the fact that a reported 93 percent of black voters supported him in 2012 (and an even higher percentage in 2008.)
But, promises go only so far.
Or, do they?
At what point, if any, do black voters begin to hold President Obama, and other black Democrat leaders who volitionally engage in propagating his failed economic policies, accountable for the words that comprise the promises he makes and has made? Words which, until now anyway, have proven empty; serving only to engender an emotional and reactive response out of those who listen. (Well, that and votes.) Will there ever come a time when black voters grow tired of Obama’s “black Baptist preacher” routine – which he conveniently adopts whenever he is speaking before a predominantly black audience – cutting through the hyperbole and histrionics of his words to call him to account for what he has actually done (or not done) as President of the United States?
The policies of liberal Democrats like President Obama have been decimating to black families and communities for over five decades. And yet, the vast majority of black voters continue to elect and re-elect liberal Democrat politicians as if by rote.
And, let’s be honest here. That President Obama has failed black Americans is not entirely his fault. There is also an accountability to be had by the 90-plus percent of black voters who helped elect Obama to office – twice – many of whom, if they were totally honest, would have to admit that their primary motivation for doing so was because they wanted to “make history” solely on the grounds that Obama is black. And yet, they’re not to be deemed racist (so they say) for doing so.
But, I digress…
America has had a black president for five years now, and black Americans, in particular, are beginning to realize that having one’s melanin in common with Obama has absolutely nothing to do with how effectively he governs as president. In the 60 months since Obama took office the economic plight of black Americans has not improved. In fact, according to many key indicators, it has gotten worse. Which should be no surprise, really, given that the majority of Obama’s black supporters were more interested in “turning the White House black” than understanding Obama’s ideological bent. Under the Obama administration the black middle class continues to suffer. If these were the metrics of a Republican administration, I have no doubt that black liberal elitists like Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., Rev. Al Sharpton and Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, would be calling for someone’s head on a platter (a la John the Baptist.)
This mindset of “collectivist voting” among black Americans must come to an end. If not for ourselves, then, for the sake of subsequent generations. The best thing black Americans can do is become more selfish with one of their most treasured earthly possessions – their vote. Because, when a certain political party – the Democrat party – has so positioned itself as to sit back and cross its political legs, as it were, expecting more than nine out of every 10 voters of a particular demographic to support it, simply because it is the Democrat party and regardless of the negative impacts of its policies on them, then, something has to change.
Would you not agree?
The policies of liberal Democrats like President Obama have been decimating to black families and communities for over five decades. There is, perhaps, no better example of this than the city of Detroit, which has been under the leadership of Democrat mayors since January 1962. That’s 52 years – more than half a century! And yet, the vast majority of black voters continue to elect and re-elect liberal Democrat politicians as if by rote. Black voters don’t owe the Democrat party anything. Nothing. Whatever is owed is owed to ourselves and to our children and grandchildren; to do what’s best for us as individuals in this generation for the benefit of generations to follow, not as some collective “community” that is expected to think and vote alike simply because we are of a similar skin tone.
President Obama’s notion of “shared sacrifice” is horse manure! It’s simply a guilt-trippish way of imparting onto people the doctrine held by (and which Obama himself espouses) noted socialist Karl Marx who said, “From each according to his ability. To each according to his need.” The truth is, America is a selfish nation. Selfishness, that is, in the sense that America itself is the opportunity for the individual to better himself, is what has made American the most prosperous nation on earth. In other words, the life of the collective is made better as the individual first endeavors to make his or her life better.
The bottom line is, as black voters we must become more selfish with our vote. Otherwise, this decades-long cycle of economic decimation will continue. And we will have no one to blame but ourselves.
Think about it.
DBH