I'M REALLY WAITNG FOR AN MC THAT DOESNT HAVE A PROBLEM MACKING MUSIC ABOUT HIS REAL LIFE !!!!! TRUST ME THERE ARE ENOUGH OF US OUT THERE THAT WILL BUY YOUR RECORD WITH YOU HAVING TO LIE ABOUT BEING A DRUG KINGPIN. IT SHOULDNT MATTER IF RICK ROSS WAS A CORRECTIONAL OFFICER ONCE UPON A TIME, BUT IN TODAYS WARPED WORLD OF HIP HOP IT MAKES ALL THE DIFFRENCE IN THE WORLD. TRUELY SAD.
JULY 28–We don’t mean to pile on the beleaguered gangster rapper (and former prison guard) Rick Ross, but a Freedom of Information request has turned up additional documents chronicling the performer’s penal career. As we previously reported, despite vehement denials from Ross (real name: William Leonard Roberts), Florida Department of Corrections (DoC) records show that the 32-year-old hip-hop star worked as a correctional officer for 18 months, until he resigned his $25,794.34 post in June 1997. In response to a TSG request, DoC officials released Ross’s 86-page personnel file, excerpts of which you’ll find on the following pages. The documents include Ross’s employment application (below), which notes that he was a 1994 graduate of Miami’s Carol City Senior High School and spent a year at Georgia’s Albany State College, where he studied Criminal Justice. On a personal history form, he identifies Tommie Ann Roberts as his mother and Tawanda Roberts as his sister. Both women are prominently thanked in the liner notes to Ross’s 2008 album “Trilla.”
Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
SLY FAUX!!!!!!
NAS REPS AND SHOWS WHY FOX IS NEWS IS THE WORST!!!!!!
BY THE WAY CONGRATS GOES OUT TO NAS FOR HAVING THE #1 ALBUM IN AMERICA!!!!
BY THE WAY CONGRATS GOES OUT TO NAS FOR HAVING THE #1 ALBUM IN AMERICA!!!!
DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!!!!!
July 24: Barack Obama spoke in front of more than 200,000 people in Berlin, Germany, calling himself a “citizen of the world,” and the McCain camp isn’t happy about it.-
Of course they aren't happy about it. they aren't happy about it because the McCain camp could never pull off such a tremendous task abroad or at home. John McCain has taken the role of lonely little step sister in this campaign. The sad thing about it is that playing that role could possibly work for him. Nobody likes a show off, and if McCain can paint Obama as a show off then he could pull the all important " little guy" vote. We have seen this before. In the Pennsylvania primary senator Hillary Clinton called Barak Obama an "Elitist" which would served as a devastating blow to Obama's chances of wining the state. She played the "lil guy" role. The person that's " a normal American" just like you. the person that "Shares you values", the one "you would like to drink a beer with".
The truth is none of these things matter. What really matters is if our new president can represent the United States of America on a global front. I would have to say that Mr Obama has proven that. Speaking in front of 200,000 people in Berlin shows that he is not only capable of leading this nation, but leading the world also. That's something that our current president could not do in the past 8 years. This is something that I honestly don't think that John McCain is capable of. Not on the scale that senator Obama can. We need a president that will restore our global integrity. Not a president that will go to church with us on Sunday. Not a president that will watch the packers game with you. Not a president that will get your boy out of jail! Not a president that is cool, tough, or funny. We need a president that can get the job done, plain and simple.
So people I beg you,don't believe the hype. going to Berlin and speaking in front of 200,000 people is not showing off. This is simply the first of many important steps for our country and this world to begin healing . We have to heal because we have been damaged by the last 8 years of useless policies that have had a grave effect on us all. The world has shown us who they want want. Now it is up to us to make history! So when November comes around, remember the day Barack Obama went over seas and energized the world like no one else has done in the past 20 years. Ask yourself can I make a difference, can I change the world, can I help make history? Trust me the ansewer is very simple, YES WE CAN!!!!
Of course they aren't happy about it. they aren't happy about it because the McCain camp could never pull off such a tremendous task abroad or at home. John McCain has taken the role of lonely little step sister in this campaign. The sad thing about it is that playing that role could possibly work for him. Nobody likes a show off, and if McCain can paint Obama as a show off then he could pull the all important " little guy" vote. We have seen this before. In the Pennsylvania primary senator Hillary Clinton called Barak Obama an "Elitist" which would served as a devastating blow to Obama's chances of wining the state. She played the "lil guy" role. The person that's " a normal American" just like you. the person that "Shares you values", the one "you would like to drink a beer with".
The truth is none of these things matter. What really matters is if our new president can represent the United States of America on a global front. I would have to say that Mr Obama has proven that. Speaking in front of 200,000 people in Berlin shows that he is not only capable of leading this nation, but leading the world also. That's something that our current president could not do in the past 8 years. This is something that I honestly don't think that John McCain is capable of. Not on the scale that senator Obama can. We need a president that will restore our global integrity. Not a president that will go to church with us on Sunday. Not a president that will watch the packers game with you. Not a president that will get your boy out of jail! Not a president that is cool, tough, or funny. We need a president that can get the job done, plain and simple.
So people I beg you,don't believe the hype. going to Berlin and speaking in front of 200,000 people is not showing off. This is simply the first of many important steps for our country and this world to begin healing . We have to heal because we have been damaged by the last 8 years of useless policies that have had a grave effect on us all. The world has shown us who they want want. Now it is up to us to make history! So when November comes around, remember the day Barack Obama went over seas and energized the world like no one else has done in the past 20 years. Ask yourself can I make a difference, can I change the world, can I help make history? Trust me the ansewer is very simple, YES WE CAN!!!!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
I think this article is very interesting. check out how this guy gave an endorsment to senator Barack Obama right before he was executed! freedom of speach at its finest
CNN) — Support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama extend to death row Wednesday.
According to The Jackson Clarion Ledger, a Mississippi newspaper, death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop's final words before being executed Wednesday night included an appeal to Americans to vote for the Illinois senator.
"For those who oppose the death penalty and want to see it end, our best bet is to vote for Barack Obama because his supporters have been working behind the scenes to end this practice," Bishop said, according to the paper.
Bishop was convicted in 2000 of participating in the murder of a man who was beaten to death with a claw hammer two years earlier. Bishop himself did not deliver the fatal blow and, not including contract killings, is only the eighth person executed who did not directly kill his victim since the death penalty was reinstated 32 years ago, according to the paper.
Obama himself is not explicitly against the death penalty, saying it should be reserved for "only the most heinous crimes." He also said he disagreed with a Supreme Court decision last month that struck down the death penalty for child rape.
"I have said repeatedly that I think that the death penalty should be applied in very narrow circumstances for the most egregious of crimes," Obama said then. "I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime and if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances the death penalty is at least potentially applicable that that does not violate our Constitution."
He's also said he would support the death penalty for Osama bin Laden.
CNN) — Support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama extend to death row Wednesday.
According to The Jackson Clarion Ledger, a Mississippi newspaper, death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop's final words before being executed Wednesday night included an appeal to Americans to vote for the Illinois senator.
"For those who oppose the death penalty and want to see it end, our best bet is to vote for Barack Obama because his supporters have been working behind the scenes to end this practice," Bishop said, according to the paper.
Bishop was convicted in 2000 of participating in the murder of a man who was beaten to death with a claw hammer two years earlier. Bishop himself did not deliver the fatal blow and, not including contract killings, is only the eighth person executed who did not directly kill his victim since the death penalty was reinstated 32 years ago, according to the paper.
Obama himself is not explicitly against the death penalty, saying it should be reserved for "only the most heinous crimes." He also said he disagreed with a Supreme Court decision last month that struck down the death penalty for child rape.
"I have said repeatedly that I think that the death penalty should be applied in very narrow circumstances for the most egregious of crimes," Obama said then. "I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime and if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances the death penalty is at least potentially applicable that that does not violate our Constitution."
He's also said he would support the death penalty for Osama bin Laden.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
What a savage!!!!!
As a radio host I understand how soemtimes you have to be careful what you say. I also understadn how things can get blown out of proportion. However this has to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard! radio talk show host Micheal Savage has an interesting opinon on autism.
check it out
article taken from mediamatters.org
Savage on autism: "A fraud, a racket. ... In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out"
Summary: On his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket. ... I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' "
On the July 16 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket." Savage went on to say, "I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' " Savage concluded, "[I]f I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, 'Don't behave like a fool.' The worst thing he said -- 'Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry.' That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have."
Savage also stated: "[W]hy was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I'll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], 'When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], "I don't know, the dust got me." ' See, everyone had asthma from the minority community."
Talk Radio Network, which syndicates The Savage Nation, claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.
From the July 16 edition of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:
SAVAGE: Now, you want me to tell you my opinion on autism, since I'm not talking about autism? A fraud, a racket. For a long while, we were hearing that every minority child had asthma. Why did they sudden -- why was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I'll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], "When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], 'I don't know, the dust got me.' " See, everyone had asthma from the minority community. That was number one.
Now, the illness du jour is autism. You know what autism is? I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is.
What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, "Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot."
Autism -- everybody has an illness. If I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, "Don't behave like a fool." The worst thing he said -- "Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry." That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have.
—Z.A.
Zachary Aronow is an intern at Media Matters for America
check it out
article taken from mediamatters.org
Savage on autism: "A fraud, a racket. ... In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out"
Summary: On his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket. ... I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' "
On the July 16 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket." Savage went on to say, "I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' " Savage concluded, "[I]f I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, 'Don't behave like a fool.' The worst thing he said -- 'Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry.' That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have."
Savage also stated: "[W]hy was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I'll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], 'When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], "I don't know, the dust got me." ' See, everyone had asthma from the minority community."
Talk Radio Network, which syndicates The Savage Nation, claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.
From the July 16 edition of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:
SAVAGE: Now, you want me to tell you my opinion on autism, since I'm not talking about autism? A fraud, a racket. For a long while, we were hearing that every minority child had asthma. Why did they sudden -- why was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I'll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], "When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], 'I don't know, the dust got me.' " See, everyone had asthma from the minority community. That was number one.
Now, the illness du jour is autism. You know what autism is? I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is.
What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, "Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot."
Autism -- everybody has an illness. If I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, "Don't behave like a fool." The worst thing he said -- "Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry." That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have.
—Z.A.
Zachary Aronow is an intern at Media Matters for America
Interesting story on CNN.COM
Could an Obama presidency hurt black Americans?
Story Highlights
A Barack Obama presidential victory could hurt race relations, some say
Conservative writer: Some driven by "white guilt" not change to vote for Obama
Obama is glowing example of America's move to "post-racial" society, observers say
Spokesman: Obama believes America has made tremendous progress
By John Blake
CNN
(CNN) -- "We had a dream. Now it's a reality."
That's the slogan on a popular T-shirt linking Sen. Barack Obama's presidential run to the Rev. Martin Luther King's dream of racial equality. It's one of several T-shirts -- including "Barack is my homeboy"-- that reflect African-American's euphoria over Obama's White House bid.
But there are others who warn that an Obama presidency could hurt African-Americans. They say that an Obama victory could cause white Americans to ignore entrenched racial divisions while claiming that America has reached the racial Promised Land.
Paul Street, author of the forthcoming book, "Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics," says Obama risks becoming an Oval Office version of talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. She and former Secretary of State Colin Powell are African-American figures whose popularity allows some white Americans to congratulate themselves for not being racist, he says
"They're cited as proof that racism is no longer a significant barrier to black advancement and interracial equality," says Street.
"This isn't new. Go to the 19th century and Southern aristocrats would point to a certain African-American landowner who was doing well to prove that whites are not racist."
Nick Shapiro, an Obama spokesperson, says that Obama believes that America has made tremendous progress in the past 50 years. iReport.com: Biggest challenges for black America
"However, the suggestion that somehow Senator Obama's campaign represents an easy shortcut is not realistic," Shapiro said in an e-mailed statement. "Senator Obama believes that we still have a lot of work to do, and that's not just true for the issues facing blacks or Latinos, but for women and other communities struggling to secure the basic necessities in life like jobs, housing, health care and quality education."
Are we a post-racial society?
Any suggestion that an Obama presidential victory could set back race relations may seem odd or even inappropriate. His presidential campaign has been framed by many observers as a glowing example of America's move to a "post-racial" society.
"Racial polarization used to be a dominating force in our politics, but we're now a different, and better, country," Paul Krugman, a New York Times columnist wrote last month about Obama's political rise.
The reaction in the African-American community to Obama's success has also been celebrated with joy.
When Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in June, many African-Americans cried because they said they never thought they would live to see such a day. Vendors soon started selling T-shirts of Obama's portrait pasted alongside King in Walgreens stores and at online stores.
Yet there are a few political commentators who warn African-Americans that an Obama victory could be twisted to suppress the push for racial equality. Most of these commentators are African-American but they also include white, Latino and conservative pundits.
These commentators say that there is a subliminal appeal to Obama's presidential candidacy that has been ignored. Obama doesn't just represent change -- he represents atonement for America's ugly racial past for others, they say.
Steve Sailer, a columnist for The American Conservative magazine, wrote last year that some whites who support Obama aren't driven primarily by a desire for change.
They want something else Obama offers them -- "White Guilt Repellent," he wrote.
"So many whites want to be able to say, 'I'm not one of them, those bad whites. ... Hey, I voted for a black guy for president,' " Sailer wrote.
Sailer cited another reason why many whites want Obama as president:
"They hope that when a black finally moves into the White House, it will prove to African-Americans, once and for all, that white animus isn't the cause of their troubles. All blacks have to do is to act like President Obama - and their problems will be over."
Glen Ford, executive editor of the online journal blackagendareport.com, offered some white Americans a free solution to the race problem: "Millions of whites came to believe Obama could solve the 'race problem' by his mere presence, at no cost to their own notions of skin privilege," Ford wrote in an essay in January.
Other African-American commentators say the "post-racial" tag attached to Obama could be used to dismiss legitimate black grievances.
Andra Gillespie, an assistant professor at Emory University's political science department, says Obama's success doesn't mean America has become a post-racial society. She says it may signal the decline of individual racism but not another form of discrimination: systemic racism.
"It doesn't mean that there aren't prejudiced people anymore," she says.
Systemic racism is a form of racism that's entrenched in institutions. Some argue that it's the primary cause for intractable problems in the African-American community that range from substandard public schools to disproportionate rates of imprisonment, she says.
Electing a black president does not mean that America is ready to take on systemic racism, Gillespie says.
"A rising tide doesn't lift all boats," Gillespie says. "Just because he [Obama] gets elected doesn't mean the lives of poor black people are automatically going to improve."
It could actually get worse for poor African-Americans, she says.
"People could say if Barack [Obama] can succeed and someone can't get off of the stoops in the hood, it's their fault and it has nothing to do with systemic racism," Gillespie says.
D. Yobachi Boswell, a blogger for Black Perspective.net, wrote in January that the prospect of Obama victory was making African-Americans politically passive.
He wrote that too many African-Americans were "doping ourselves up on the euphoric opium" of a black president while forgetting "we need fundamental change, not just Negroes in high places."
Boswell says he's concerned that an Obama presidency would discourage African-Americans from keeping leaders accountable.
"We can't give him [Obama] a pass because he's black," Boswell says. "We just can't have a black face in a high place. We have to have people fighting for policies that actually help us."
Obama has responded to such criticisms before. In his "A More Perfect Union" speech in March, he dismissed claims that his candidacy was fueled by the desire "to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap."
He acknowledged that racial disparities in education and wealth continued to exist and were linked to the legacy of Jim Crow and slavery.
"I have never been so naive as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy -- particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own," Obama said during that speech.
A black backlash against Obama?
Despite what Obama has said, his presidency could provoke a black backlash because the expectations are so high, others say.
African-Americans who would expect a President Obama to be a vigorous advocate for their cause -- may be disappointed by Obama's approach to race if he becomes president, some say.
Paul Street, author of the forthcoming book on Obama, says Obama may be a symbol of bold racial change but he is personally cautious about race. A President Obama won't want to appear to favor blacks because he might lose political support if he appears as the "angry black man" in the White House.
Street says Obama understands that risk and has run as a "race-neutral" candidate who talks about racial oppression as something largely confined to the past.
"Barack plays a very active role in damping down race consciousness," Street says. "Race neutrality is one of the great characteristics of his campaign."
African-Americans may also be disappointed by an Obama presidency because they may have forgotten what Obama is -- a politician, says David Sirota, author of "The Uprising, "a book that examines how populist movements in America shape public policy changes.
"He's like any politician. He's cautious," Sirota says. "He's a potential vehicle for change, and I think he is a good vehicle, but he is just a vehicle."
His presidency may represent fundamental change but that doesn't mean he will initiate such sweeping changes if he's elected.
"Politicians, even the best-intentioned ones, are weather vanes," says Sirota. "If the wind isn't blowing in the right direction, they will perpetuate the status quo," he says.
It will take more than a presidential candidate to change the status quo -- it'll take a movement, Sirota says.
"My concern is that people will think that by simply electing Obama, change will come, whether it's on race or economic justice issues," he says.
"If people believe that, then real change will not happen."
Story Highlights
A Barack Obama presidential victory could hurt race relations, some say
Conservative writer: Some driven by "white guilt" not change to vote for Obama
Obama is glowing example of America's move to "post-racial" society, observers say
Spokesman: Obama believes America has made tremendous progress
By John Blake
CNN
(CNN) -- "We had a dream. Now it's a reality."
That's the slogan on a popular T-shirt linking Sen. Barack Obama's presidential run to the Rev. Martin Luther King's dream of racial equality. It's one of several T-shirts -- including "Barack is my homeboy"-- that reflect African-American's euphoria over Obama's White House bid.
But there are others who warn that an Obama presidency could hurt African-Americans. They say that an Obama victory could cause white Americans to ignore entrenched racial divisions while claiming that America has reached the racial Promised Land.
Paul Street, author of the forthcoming book, "Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics," says Obama risks becoming an Oval Office version of talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. She and former Secretary of State Colin Powell are African-American figures whose popularity allows some white Americans to congratulate themselves for not being racist, he says
"They're cited as proof that racism is no longer a significant barrier to black advancement and interracial equality," says Street.
"This isn't new. Go to the 19th century and Southern aristocrats would point to a certain African-American landowner who was doing well to prove that whites are not racist."
Nick Shapiro, an Obama spokesperson, says that Obama believes that America has made tremendous progress in the past 50 years. iReport.com: Biggest challenges for black America
"However, the suggestion that somehow Senator Obama's campaign represents an easy shortcut is not realistic," Shapiro said in an e-mailed statement. "Senator Obama believes that we still have a lot of work to do, and that's not just true for the issues facing blacks or Latinos, but for women and other communities struggling to secure the basic necessities in life like jobs, housing, health care and quality education."
Are we a post-racial society?
Any suggestion that an Obama presidential victory could set back race relations may seem odd or even inappropriate. His presidential campaign has been framed by many observers as a glowing example of America's move to a "post-racial" society.
"Racial polarization used to be a dominating force in our politics, but we're now a different, and better, country," Paul Krugman, a New York Times columnist wrote last month about Obama's political rise.
The reaction in the African-American community to Obama's success has also been celebrated with joy.
When Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in June, many African-Americans cried because they said they never thought they would live to see such a day. Vendors soon started selling T-shirts of Obama's portrait pasted alongside King in Walgreens stores and at online stores.
Yet there are a few political commentators who warn African-Americans that an Obama victory could be twisted to suppress the push for racial equality. Most of these commentators are African-American but they also include white, Latino and conservative pundits.
These commentators say that there is a subliminal appeal to Obama's presidential candidacy that has been ignored. Obama doesn't just represent change -- he represents atonement for America's ugly racial past for others, they say.
Steve Sailer, a columnist for The American Conservative magazine, wrote last year that some whites who support Obama aren't driven primarily by a desire for change.
They want something else Obama offers them -- "White Guilt Repellent," he wrote.
"So many whites want to be able to say, 'I'm not one of them, those bad whites. ... Hey, I voted for a black guy for president,' " Sailer wrote.
Sailer cited another reason why many whites want Obama as president:
"They hope that when a black finally moves into the White House, it will prove to African-Americans, once and for all, that white animus isn't the cause of their troubles. All blacks have to do is to act like President Obama - and their problems will be over."
Glen Ford, executive editor of the online journal blackagendareport.com, offered some white Americans a free solution to the race problem: "Millions of whites came to believe Obama could solve the 'race problem' by his mere presence, at no cost to their own notions of skin privilege," Ford wrote in an essay in January.
Other African-American commentators say the "post-racial" tag attached to Obama could be used to dismiss legitimate black grievances.
Andra Gillespie, an assistant professor at Emory University's political science department, says Obama's success doesn't mean America has become a post-racial society. She says it may signal the decline of individual racism but not another form of discrimination: systemic racism.
"It doesn't mean that there aren't prejudiced people anymore," she says.
Systemic racism is a form of racism that's entrenched in institutions. Some argue that it's the primary cause for intractable problems in the African-American community that range from substandard public schools to disproportionate rates of imprisonment, she says.
Electing a black president does not mean that America is ready to take on systemic racism, Gillespie says.
"A rising tide doesn't lift all boats," Gillespie says. "Just because he [Obama] gets elected doesn't mean the lives of poor black people are automatically going to improve."
It could actually get worse for poor African-Americans, she says.
"People could say if Barack [Obama] can succeed and someone can't get off of the stoops in the hood, it's their fault and it has nothing to do with systemic racism," Gillespie says.
D. Yobachi Boswell, a blogger for Black Perspective.net, wrote in January that the prospect of Obama victory was making African-Americans politically passive.
He wrote that too many African-Americans were "doping ourselves up on the euphoric opium" of a black president while forgetting "we need fundamental change, not just Negroes in high places."
Boswell says he's concerned that an Obama presidency would discourage African-Americans from keeping leaders accountable.
"We can't give him [Obama] a pass because he's black," Boswell says. "We just can't have a black face in a high place. We have to have people fighting for policies that actually help us."
Obama has responded to such criticisms before. In his "A More Perfect Union" speech in March, he dismissed claims that his candidacy was fueled by the desire "to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap."
He acknowledged that racial disparities in education and wealth continued to exist and were linked to the legacy of Jim Crow and slavery.
"I have never been so naive as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy -- particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own," Obama said during that speech.
A black backlash against Obama?
Despite what Obama has said, his presidency could provoke a black backlash because the expectations are so high, others say.
African-Americans who would expect a President Obama to be a vigorous advocate for their cause -- may be disappointed by Obama's approach to race if he becomes president, some say.
Paul Street, author of the forthcoming book on Obama, says Obama may be a symbol of bold racial change but he is personally cautious about race. A President Obama won't want to appear to favor blacks because he might lose political support if he appears as the "angry black man" in the White House.
Street says Obama understands that risk and has run as a "race-neutral" candidate who talks about racial oppression as something largely confined to the past.
"Barack plays a very active role in damping down race consciousness," Street says. "Race neutrality is one of the great characteristics of his campaign."
African-Americans may also be disappointed by an Obama presidency because they may have forgotten what Obama is -- a politician, says David Sirota, author of "The Uprising, "a book that examines how populist movements in America shape public policy changes.
"He's like any politician. He's cautious," Sirota says. "He's a potential vehicle for change, and I think he is a good vehicle, but he is just a vehicle."
His presidency may represent fundamental change but that doesn't mean he will initiate such sweeping changes if he's elected.
"Politicians, even the best-intentioned ones, are weather vanes," says Sirota. "If the wind isn't blowing in the right direction, they will perpetuate the status quo," he says.
It will take more than a presidential candidate to change the status quo -- it'll take a movement, Sirota says.
"My concern is that people will think that by simply electing Obama, change will come, whether it's on race or economic justice issues," he says.
"If people believe that, then real change will not happen."
Allow me to re-introduce my self MY NAME IS....
Adam...lol
Yes I've finally done it. I've finally joined the wonderful and very strange world of blogging! Some of you may know me as the co-host of Mindstream Radio which airs each and every Wednesday from 8 to 10 pm on WWW.IM4RADIODC.COM. If you have heard the show before then you know that I HAVE A BIG MOUTH AND AN EVEN BIGGER OPINION ON WORLD AND SOCIAL EVENTS!. So be full warned I will hold nothing back!. So with that being said lets have some fun and learn something new in the process.
oh yea theres only one rule in my world...
NO SENSITIVE PEOPLE ALLOWED!!!!!
Yes I've finally done it. I've finally joined the wonderful and very strange world of blogging! Some of you may know me as the co-host of Mindstream Radio which airs each and every Wednesday from 8 to 10 pm on WWW.IM4RADIODC.COM. If you have heard the show before then you know that I HAVE A BIG MOUTH AND AN EVEN BIGGER OPINION ON WORLD AND SOCIAL EVENTS!. So be full warned I will hold nothing back!. So with that being said lets have some fun and learn something new in the process.
oh yea theres only one rule in my world...
NO SENSITIVE PEOPLE ALLOWED!!!!!
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