(FinalCall.com) - It is fundamentally implausible that a Black man could ever be President of the United States. And yet, a Black man, a first-term U.S. senator from Illinois with a name from Kenyan descent, has electrified the country and captured international attention with his bid to become the Democratic Party’s 2008 White House nominee.
In this presidential campaign, Sen. Obama “has been groomed, and wisely so, to be seen more as a unifier, rather than one who speaks only for the hurt of Black people. In this, he has tapped the dissatisfaction of many Whites, Blacks, Hispanics and Asians across the spectrum, because who cares what color you are if you can save them from the mess that they find themselves in,” observed the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in a recent interview with The Final Call.
Still, as Sen. Obama has talked about “One America,” “the United States of America,” the country’s reality is sadly different. America still suffers from segregation in housing patterns and schools. Blacks and Latinos still lag behind when it comes to income, education, jobs and healthcare. Racial profiling remains a problem and poverty continues to grind away at the lives of those stuck in the ghettos, barrios and trailer parks of America.
In a trade-off for his change and unity message, Sen. Obama has run a race neutral campaign in a year with increased racial violence and high-profile cases of Blacks targeted by law enforcement. That says something about the reality of America.
Even a man who inspires millions and who is described as transcending from an individual into a movement must tread lightly, or not at all, when it comes to matters of race and justice. The pain, the problem, the strife is too deeply rooted in 400 years of the American experience to simply be uprooted by a single political campaign or a lone presidential candidate.
It is in fact up to Black thinkers, leaders, activists and all of us to remind the presidential candidates, senatorial candidates, congressional candidates, gubernatorial candidates, and state legislative candidates, and even mayoral and city council candidates of the need to address the long-unsolved problems in this country.
We must not let down our guard because of a friendly face, or even a face that looks like us that may reside in the White House. We must press our cause and our issues, just as others put forward issues candidates should address. We must forge a Black United Front, organize and galvanize support for our cause and do all that we can to help ourselves.
We must also remember these insightful words from Min. Farrakhan: “There are forces which Sen. Obama may see, or may not see, and these are the forces that kill U.S. presidents when the presidents don’t act as they think the president should act to further their ends; thus the killing of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.
“The forces of racism in this country are still very strong. Even though there is strong mass appeal, if the racist elements in this country thinks that Barack Obama really will be our next president, they may come out of the woodwork if they can’t bend him, and hurt our Brother, and therefore show the country though the masses may say, ‘We like him,’ the forces may say ‘He is not one of us.’”
Our hope is that America will take the best of the Obama message, commit herself to and begin the long and arduous journey to reverse her present course, which cannot be done without justice for the children of her ex-slaves and all who still yearn to breathe free.
Read the full FinalCall.com Editorial at: http://www.finalcall.com/absolutenl/t.aspx?n=131&l=173
RELATED ARTICLES:
1. “Senator Barack Obama’s Big Win: Is America changing her attitude? (FCN, 01-14-2008)
2. “Exclusive Yeard-End Interview with Minister Louis Farrakhan
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