those in the American diaspora know how the shoe fits. I leave it up
to them to supply some of the first hand details about the things that
they feel close to in their diaspora/ American hearts.
For example you get a glimpse into the reward system from here:
http://www.thelocal.se/search.php?keywordSearch=Matthew+Barzun&search=Go&type=news
After the euphoria had somewhat abated, one of my African-American
mentors ( Harvey Cropper) told me " Don't forget that he's an
American president – a president of Am-erica – not Africa."
There are those who see him as the president of the world ( the globe)
This is how I see it: that it's not merely a question of uncle
tomfoolery or suffering from a "White complex" and all that jazz - or
merely about fulfilling a quota system for Blacks and other relatively
disadvantaged minorities
Very generally speaking, it is understandable, and to be expected
that for people with a background in African ethnic politics in which
colour, tribe and tribal loyalty is the dominant factor which goes
hand in glove with nepotism, Brother Obama could be something of a
disappointment.
But American democracy, American politics is at another level.
However even though America is not yet a post-racial society, it is a
remarkable achievement in the annals of American history, that Barack
Obama was elected as the first Black President by a majority of
Americans and hopefully not against God's will, Brother Obama is
therefore president of all of the great United States of America
On the one hand the Democrat party is well organised with executive
committees at many levels from the county level up – and
of course, there are quite a few Black Republicans:
http://www.google.com/search?q=BLack+Republicans
But in the past few presidential elections, 84% of the eligible Black
electorate have traditionally voted for the Democrat's presidential
candidate, irrespective of his colour – although this time around
perhaps more than 90 of the Black vote went to Brother Obama and many
of the Black people who voted for Brother Obama hope that they did
not vote in vain – now that he is president – and of course some are
standing in line , wanting to and waiting to be rewarded. ( How about
a ministerial position ( media & communication) for Sister Oprah
Winfrey - lets put our hands together to give her another round of
applause!!!!! Yeah!)
Among the rationalists, the statistically minded are aware that Black
people constitute approximately 13% of the US population and would
like to see this proportionality reflected in the Black
representatives appointed to high office by the administration that's
being led by America's first Black President.
But is this how it plays out or is meant to play out even in a post-
racial society which at it's ideal best could still be something of a
fiction ? ( In one of his last interviews, the last White President of
South Africa F.W. De Klerk was asked how he felt about being the last
White South African president and he cheerfully replied ( and with
what I thought was unabated/ naïve optimism)that since South Africa
was then entering a post racial stage in which the colour of a man's
skin was no longer the most important factor, it was quite possible
that in the future there will be White president of South Africa
despite the great majority of the voters being Black. In thinking that
de Klerk's optimism was mere wishful thinking I was being pragmatic
not racist – and when Barack Obama was elected, many who witnessed
the miracle, such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, shed a tear or two - and
perhaps Andrew Young who had previously expressed doubts about
whether now was the time – to seize the time now - and that Barack
should at best go for the presidency of the United States of America
in about 8 to 15 years time --- perhaps he too has shed a tear or two
– of hope and disbelief, with or without mixed emotions.
On the night before the presidential election our Abdul Bangura
( he's here to verify) had posted on the Leonenet forum his prophecy
that Brother Obama would wake to reality the day after the election
( when the election results would be announced) as a very sad and
disappointed man – so certain was he about the so called "Bradley
effect" - and the extent of "White Power" and unfortunately by then
he had thrown his full weight behind his old man, the veteran war hero
John McCain.
Here's a little opinion meant to expand the horizons of the discussion
at hand:
http://forums.skadi.net/showthread.php?t=113856
On Jul 21, 3:24 pm, Abdul Karim Bangura <th...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Ha, ha, ha, haaaaaaaa....He, he, he, heeeeeeee.....---:) When I, a member of the Democratic Party Executive Committee, predicted all this in 2008, I was called all sorts of unsavory monikers on this forum: "Sell Out," "Closet McCain-Nut," "Uncle Tom," etc. Let's face it, Obama is failing Afrikans on the Motherland and in the Diaspora. His token appointment of Eric Holder in his cabinet for an agency that had lost most of its bureaus and power when Homeland Security was launched is a slap in the face of our Afrikan ancestors. The guy even prefers nominating gays to national positions and take the heat than to appoint Afrikans. And as we say in America, "I told you so."-----Original Message-----
> From: Mobolaji ALUKO
> Sent: Jul 21, 2010 2:51 AM
> To: USAAfrica Dialogue , NaijaPolitics e-Group , NIDOA , naijaintellects , OmoOdua
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Racism' Video That Led To Firing USDA Official Shirley Sherrod Lacked Critical Context
>
>
>
> Dear All:
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>
>
> This is ridiculous.
>
>
>
> Obama might give her her job back, but Ms. Shirley Sherrod should not take it back, tut rather should sue the Obama administration for wrongful dismissal. How can a feeling she expressed 24 years ago as a non-government employee be manipulated by wicked conservative media against her today to force her out of a job? The rush to judgment without the context was trigger-happy and completely un-professional, and shows an administration too jumpy about race in this case and too ready to please the budding racists in the country, probably with an eye to the November mid-term elections.
>
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> It is bitterly disappointing.
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> Bolaji Aluko
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> ---------------------
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> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/20/shirley-sherrod-agricultu_n_653329.html
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> 'Racism' Video That Led To Firing USDA Official Shirley Sherrod Lacked Critical Context
>
> BEN EVANS and MARY CLARE JALONICK| 07/20/10 09:42 PM |
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> Shirley Sherrod Resigns From USDA Post After Racism Controversy
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> WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is standing by its quick decision to oust a black Agriculture Department employee over racially tinged remarks at an NAACP banquet in Georgia, despite evidence that her remarks were misconstrued and growing calls for USDA to reconsider.
>
> Shirley Sherrod, who until Tuesday was the Agriculture Department's director of rural development in Georgia, says the administration caved to political pressure by pushing her to resign for saying that she didn't give a white farmer as much help as she could have 24 years ago when she worked for a nonprofit group.
>
> Sherrod says her remarks, delivered in March at a local NAACP banquet in Georgia, were part of a story about racial reconciliation, not racism. The white farming family that was the subject of the story stood by Sherrod and said she should keep her job.
>
> "We probably wouldn't have (our farm) today if it hadn't been for her leading us in the right direction," said Eloise Spooner, the wife of farmer Roger Spooner of Iron City, Ga. "I wish she could get her job back because she was good to us, I tell you."
>
> The NAACP, which initially condemned Sherrod's remarks and supported Sherrod's ouster, joined the calls for her to keep her job. The civil rights group said it and millions of others were duped by the conservative website that posted partial video of her speech on Monday.
>
> "We have come to the conclusion we were snookered ... into believing she had harmed white farmers because of racial bias," said the statement from NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous.
>
> A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said President Barack Obama was briefed on the matter after Sherrod's resignation and stands by the Agriculture Department's handling of it.
>
> The website,biggovernment.com, gained fame last year after airing video of workers at the community group ACORN counseling actors posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend. It posted the Sherrod video as evidence that the NAACP, which recently passed a resolution condemning what it calls racist elements of the Tea Party, condones racism of its own.
>
> Sherrod said she was on the road Monday when USDA deputy undersecretary Cheryl Cook called her and told her the White House wanted her to resign because her comments were generating a cable news controversy.
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> "They called me twice," she told The Associated Press in an interview. "The last time they asked me to pull over to the side of the road and submit my resignation on my Blackberry, and that's what I did."
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> Sherrod said administration officials weren't interested in hearing her explanation. "It hurts me that they didn't even try to attempt to see what is happening here, they didn't care," she said. "I'm not a racist ... Anyone who knows me knows that I'm for fairness."
>
> The administration gave a different version of events.
>
> Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack – not the White House – made the decision to ask Sherrod to resign, said USDA spokeswoman Chris Mather. She said Sherrod willingly resigned when asked.
>
> In a statement, Vilsack said the controversy surrounding Sherrod's comments could, rightly or wrongly, cause people to question her decisions as a federal employee and lead to lingering doubts about civil rights at the agency, which has a troubled history of discrimination.
>
> "There is zero tolerance for discrimination at USDA," Vilsack said. "We have a duty to ensure that when we provide services to the American people we do so in an equitable manner."
>
> USDA is sensitive to the issue because the agency has for decades faced charges of discrimination against black farmers who said they could not get aid that routinely went to whites. The department agreed to a final $1.25 billion settlement earlier this year in a class-action suit that has been pending for more than a decade. The payout of that settlement is pending in Congress, and Vilsack has made fixing past wrongs over civil rights a top priority.
>
> The current controversy began Monday whenbiggovernment.composted a two-minute, 38-second video clip in which Sherrod describes the first time a white farmer came to her for help. It was 1986, and she worked for a nonprofit rural farm aid group. She said the farmer came in acting "superior" to her and that she debated how much help to give him.
>
> "I was struggling with the fact that so many black people had lost their farmland, and here I was faced with helping a white person save their land," Sherrod said.
>
> Initially, she said, "I didn't give him the full force of what I could do" and only gave him enough help to keep his case progressing. Eventually, she said, his situation "opened my eyes" that whites were struggling just like blacks, and helping farmers wasn't so much about race but was "about the poor versus those who have."
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> Sherrod said Tuesday the incomplete video appears to intentionally twist her message. She says she became close friends with the farmer and helped him for two years.
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> In the full 43-minute video of her speech released by the NAACP Tuesday evening, Sherrod tells the story of her father's death in 1965, saying he was killed by white men who were never charged. She says she made a commitment to stay in the South the night of her father's death, despite the dreams she had always had of leaving her rural town.
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> "When I made that commitment I was making that commitment to black people and to black people only," she said. "But you know God will show you things and he'll put things in your path so that you realize that the struggle is really about poor people."
>
> Sherrod said in the speech that working with Spooner, who...
>
> read more »
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