Before this begins, let me start by stating that any person of color or with middle to low income status who has faith in the government is a fool, but I can't help but note the parallels between the far rights reaction to Barack Obama and the White worlds reaction to Jack Johnson in the early 20th century. Just as much of white America was insecure at the thought of a Black man physically dominating them at the turn of the 20th century, I believe the election of Barack Obama has caused some sort of intellectual inferiority complex to arise in these stogy old Republicans. There is always going to be a stigma when it comes to being Black and successful in America, and the office of President is no different than any other realm. No elected official, even the village idiot that proceeded him in George W. Bush, has faced a backlash of this magnitude from mainstream and fantasy media (Fox News) and one can't help but believe race plays a factor. As a man who inherited a corrupt, financially crippled nation with a distraught and paranoid populace, the Whites and token Negroes who should be applauding his efforts at social reform are instead jumping down his throat. Much like the elitist run media of Jack Johnson's day, which used highly visible Whites to slander Jack Johnson's achievements (Glenn Beck= Jack London) so has the conservative media used their puppets to awaken fears in the largely White Tea Party and their supporters, that are frankly unfounded. I'm sorry White America, but if you make less than a few million dollars a year, you've already lost the country. And your support of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O' Reilly is only lining the coffers of the same people who are bleeding your nation dry. Again, I don't trust any politician, Black, White, Chinese, Hispanic, polka dotted or however, but when you allow aversive racism to destroy your reasoning, having your prejudices used to blind you to the facts, there's no hope for people of all racial or social backgrounds. White America, you as workers also earn 262 times less than the average CEO. White America, before the Obama Administration, BP failed numerous safety inspections under the Bush Administration without receiving penalties. White America, do not forget that the problems we face as a country did not pop up in a vacuum, they have been building ever since lobbyists took over Washington. Why are you setting your sights on the corrupted, when you need to be aiming your weapon at the corrupter; would you cut a weed out of your garden, or rip it out by the root? Don't be upset when the good fruits of country die because you let the weeds of deregulation choke America's lifeblood. Just as Jack Johnson won for being the better man, Barack Obama seemed to be the only politician with any real interaction with the people over his career, therefore he seemed most sensitive to problems facing ALL Americans.
Back on to this inferiority complex I spoke of earlier. One of the few things that made the old racists inciting all this mess (Rush) comfortable was security in the superiority of the White Male over Women and the Black/Brown huddled masses. Sure, Blacks can get jobs, even run for office, but on no condition should they be at the top of the political world, the forefront of America, representing a country that will soon be just as Black and Brown as it is White. I'm not saying there's an evil group of Republicans ringing their hands coming up with evil plots to destroy Black people (which Reagan did, crack anyone?) but when the reactions are things as foolish as questioning his citizenship, I have to wonder where does it come from? His middle name is Arabic, but he was raised by Christian White grandparents and a White mother. People in the media discard the facts in order to present pre 1970's White America's biggest fear, which is a militant Black male in any sort of power. How dare Jack Johnson so brutally beat every Great White H(y)ope that he faced? How DARE you think you can run our country Black man? You could've done anything else in the world and been a token, but instead you've decided to attempt to run the "Free" World. The fact that he presents his own ideas to innovate is what I think infuriates the right wing Republicans and even a few Democrats. He's not (apparently) under control of anything but an attempt to bring his own vision to politics, though I personally think his views have been compromised. So the Tea Party and the Republicans present the intellectually inferior (polite speak for stupid) marionettes like Michael Steele.
Much like the cowardly Black leaders who condemned Jack Johnson's domination of lighter hued opponents, these Republican puppets attack Barack Obama not with any real issues in mind, not offering any positive alternatives, just simply stating I don't agree. I have no problem with disagreeing, and as this isn't boxing, one can't argue the point of him being right/wrong with no gray area. There is gray area in politics. But when you have no alternative, please keep your mouth shut, you're bringing nothing but confusion to the health care and financial debate. Where were these people complaining about American resources when our funds were being allocated to slaughtering people in Iraq. Where were these people when Ronald Reagan deregulated the market, got the upper crust rich, and left the rest of America to fight for whatever was left over, essentially not even giving us scraps, just economic droppings. You didn't raise a fuss then. I'm not a Democrat, I'm just enraged that people are choosing a party that has always had only the elite in mind. Regardless of color, 99% of us aren't elites, and never will be. Get your head out of the sand America...
After he showed the world he could defeat any man despite his color, the racist vitriol of the day lead to a witch hunt of Jack Johnson, which resulted in him expatriating himself after a trial by public opinion. Will Barack Obama, the only recent President who's thrown a crust of the American Pie at the have nots, be ousted from office in similar fashion, getting Jimmy Carter'd out of history despite having the most active Congress in decades, despite seeking bipartisanship with the same people who want to ruin him as a person. Add that to dealing with comments about his wife and family that serve no political purpose, designed just to inflame America further. On November 4th, 2008 I had assumed that America was finally starting to grow beyond petty prejudice, and we could lead a fight to overthrow and change the corrupt ways of a system, with being American as the only bond. Now I see that we have a couple more decades to go before that can be a reality.
