"Great GoogaMooga, can't you hear me talking to you?"
-- The Temptations
A friend thought I had switched. Along with Father's Day wishes I got a 'so you're with Obama now". The answer is a simple no. But that fact doesn't preclude me from making some interesting and complex observations.
There is a certain irony, one that is not delicious, in picking the black guy so that a whole lot of black existential issues get resolved once and for all. Certainly as a conservative I would like little more than to be able to have Obama erase the race card, but I know that won't happen. Not because I don't think he can't or won't win, but that his win would change anything on that score. If you already have a true black hero, then you're not accepting excuses today. Secondly if you have no need for a black hero, then you're not accepting excuses. Therefore there only seems to be one reason to vote for Obama as the black guy which is that you hope that his success is a proxy for you - in other words, you hope that because there is a black President, people are going to treat black people better. That seems to me to be the very definition of aiming low, and low self-esteem - not to mention a level of racialism that borders on paranoia. Then again, this is a prescription for those who would desire or need such a thing as an Afrocentric church, and clearly Obama has that base covered.
So I don't really buy that America changes culturally if Obama gets elected. America has already changed, and Obama is evidence of that change. The person of Obama is not the question, the politics of Obama is.
I hear that some black conservatives are having some difficulties with the possibilities that Obama presents, but I think that the biggest attraction in that regard is not the 'historic opportunity'. I mean, whenever the first African American gets elected President it will be historic. But if history itself is any guide, the first is rarely the best. Surely the first black quarterback in the NFL was not the best. Surely the first black player in major league baseball wasn't the best. They were certainly good, more than good enough. Sometimes the first is nothing more than the first. Bryant Gumbel better than Bernard Shaw? Nope. If you're holding out for a hero, which is a dubious idea, you ought to hold out for one with whom you are absolutely sure about.
In this regard I've always looked at TV and the movies, because to the extent there is any cultural significance at all in how blackfolks are viewed (for whatever that's worth) drama is where it is supposed to happen and it has happened most. It's a long way from Amos and Andy to Denzel Washington. Can you give up the movies in the interim? Or do you accept what's given as good as it gets? There's certainly a line of stars, from the likes of Poitier to John Amos to Richard Roundtree to Roscoe Lee Browne. The more you look, the more you find. The more you know, the less you care. Everybody can find a black hero somewhere - so why has it taken until now for Obama to 'fix' America? I say there is no fixing to be done culturally at all. The fix is in.
So, as I said before as regards the social implications of Obama's election, if you need to love Obama, it's because you still have your own personal demons. It's tiring but topical for me as an African American conservative to voice my simple no. I vote Republican because I think conservatively. Nothing special at all in that. So duh, no, I don't vote for the black guy. He's a Democrat.
All that said, a lot of people don't seem to remember that part of being Old School is politicking for change in the Republican Party. I'm part of the Republican Leadership Council's way of thinking. And I am convinced that a McCain presidency gathers more power for these moderate conservatives in particular. It is part of the same positive trend I have seen in the downfall of Tom DeLay and Trent Lott and the ascent of Arnold here in California. None of that is going to change, and so I really don't have a great deal to think about between now and November. The lines are drawn and the Rezko conviction will not derail Obama (that was the only remaining question mark in my mind). So it's McCain vs Obama. Well for me the choice is obvious and simple.
One more thing. I've been thinking about the lyrics to an old Temptations song called 'Ball of Confusion'. Remember this?
People moving out, people moving in. Why, because of the color of their skin.
Run, run, run but you sure can't hide. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Vote for me and I'll set you free. Rap on, brother, rap on.Well, the only person talking about love thy brother is the...(preacher.)
And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the...(teacher.)
Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration, Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation.
Ball of confusion. Oh yeah, that's what the world is today. Woo, hey, hey.
The sale of pills are at an all time high.
Young folks walking round with their heads in the sky.
The cities ablaze in the summer time.
And oh, the beat goes on.
Evolution, revolution, gun control, sound of soul.
Shooting rockets to the moon, kids growing up too soon.
Politicians say more taxes will solve everything.
And the band played on.
So, round and around and around we go.
Where the world's headed, nobody knows.
It has been a long time since I was that confused.
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