Barack Obama: New Day Dawning?
Published by admin on Tagged UncategorizedIt’s been a long, long time coming…but I know…a change is gonna come.”
- Sam Cooke, 1965
I’ll be honest here folks. Until the Iowa caucuses a few days ago, I didn’t think Senator Barack Obama had the proverbial snowball’s chance in Hell of winning the White House in 2009.
Like many, I’ve been following Senator Obama for a while now; from the publication of his aptly-titled “The Audacity of Hope,” to the earliest rumors of a potential run at the Oval Office. And, despite my middle-aged cynicism, how could I not be intrigued? Just the title of his latest book is compelling, and at the same time ironically insightful. In this age of alarming sub-prime rates and a questionable Middle East war that has no real end in sight, who among us could be audacious enough to have hope where none seems to exist?
Despite all of this, I never seriously considered casting a vote Senator Obama’s way until now. Being of a certain age, the concept of noteworthy African Americans throwing their hats into the Presidential ring is hardly novel at this point. After all, starting with the early 1970s, Representative Shirley Chisholm, Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. and, most recently, Reverend Al Sharpton have all made serious bids for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Intelligent, honorable public servants without question, yet no one (not even Black folk) took them very seriously. I was in that crowd.
Then, there’s the generational thing. William Jefferson Clinton was my generation’s JFK, and 1992-2000 our collective Camelot. He hit the scene touting his Bible-belt roots, playing the Saxophone on “Arsenio,” and openly reveling in Toni Morrison’s designation as “America’s first Black president.” So, based on the “Slick Willie” love factor, many folks in my age group were prepared to vote old Bill back in by proxy, via Hillary. Having lived through eight years of unprecedented financial prosperity and social progress, conventional wisdom seemed to say, how could you not cast a vote for the Senator from New York?
Current events certainly don’t help. Noose stories popping up in the news almost every day. New Jersey becoming the first northern state to formally apologize for slavery, some 142 years after Abraham Lincoln “freed” my people. Don Imus referring to ambitious African American female college athletes as “nappy-headed hos.” And this is a Nation ready to elect a Black President? I’m not so sure. But, Senator Obama may still get my vote.
Then, there are all those issues that political pundits seem to tip-toe around. The very same issues that fuel Barbershop conversations in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Compton, Harlem, Watts and other African American enclaves across the Nation. For starters, how well-received will Senator Obama be in the so-called “Red States,” that massive segment of Americana that carried George W. Bush to victories in the 2000 and 2004 general elections? Moreover, how will Mr. Obama’s “mixed race” heritage play in those same states? And finally, if Senator Obama actually does capture the Oval Office this year, will he live to finish his first term? It’s a scary thought, one that almost everyone seems to tap-dance around, but it’s a valid query nonetheless. Just think about other famous politicians (i.e., JFK and RFK) who floated the “audacity of hope” nearly 50 years ago — and who also sought to unify this fractured country — and remember how their respective stories ended.
I suppose no one knows for sure just how this will turn out. What is clear, however, is the mounting panic and frustration evidenced by Camp Clinton. The pre-Iowa civility which had previously characterized this particular presidential campaign is now tinged with equal parts desperation and unction. Still, Senator Obama’s staunchest detractors must tread the fine line of “political correctness,” lest any severe criticism of the current Democratic front-runner seem like race-baiting. So, Senator John Edwards is reduced to laughable claims that Mr. Obama is “too nice” to lead the Nation and Senator Clinton must resort to snide assertions that “some people believe hope can lead to change.” I’m certain the level of vitriol will escalate and become even more creative with subsequent Obama primary victories.
In the meantime, I’ll be studying Senator Obama’s positions and plans with pitched intensity and waiting to see who 2008’s ultimate Democratic nominee turns out to be. I might even be audacious enough to hope that it’s someone who can lead this Nation back to greatness.
Elias Vaughn
Cosby’s Views Still Fail to Resonate, Radical Solutions Needed
Published by admin on Tagged UncategorizedThe release of Dr. William H. Cosby’s latest book (”Come on People”) represents yet another excursion into pedantic, condescending rhetoric that will do little, if anything, to solve the social problems plaguing the African American community. This is not to say that Dr. Cosby’s observations are without merit. Rather, his viewpoints are emphatically anarchronistic, lacking the type of radical, forward-thinking gravitas needed to propel African Americans briskly and confidently into the next century.
If anything, critics can easily accuse Dr. Cosby (and his co-author, frequent collaborator Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint) of the same “blaming the victim” mentality assigned to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan to when his then-ground breaking “The Negro Family: A Case for National Action” was published over 40 years ago. It is to our national shame and disgrace that few of the socio-economic indicators discussed in the colloquially-termed “Moynihan Report” have changed little between 1965 and today. Then, as now, the majority of African American families were headed by females as the sole parental figures. Four decades ago, just as today, young Black males seldom benefitted from the guidance of readily accessible fathers. These problems, similar to many others troubling the African American community, need no further analysis, they’re all too well-defined.
What Dr. Cosby and Dr. Poussaint fail to explore however, is that the decline in two-parent households and adequate parenting skills is no longer just a Black phenomenon. Tragic, high-profile events such as Columbine denote the proliferation of dysfunctional, non-Black families. Typically, these Caucasian families reside not in “crime and drug-ridden” urban centers (see Compton or Detroit) but rather in cities, such as Jefferson County, Colorado, that some consider “America’s Heartland.” On a far less serious note, we certainly can’t blame the pathetic parenting skills of Dina Lohan and Britney Spears on their African American ancestry, now can we? Here’s a friendly challenge for you, gentle readers. In your next two or three trips to a major retail outlet, say a K-Mart or Wal-Mart, take note of those families, single parent or otherwise, with small children. Then, take note of the ethnicities of those children presenting the most eggregious public behavior. I guarantee, the results of your informal surveys will surprise you.
Many of the solutions espoused by Drs. Cosby and Poussaint are shallow at best, anachronistic at worst. Increased church attendance, they tell us, can remedy the anti-social behaviors that so many African American males demonstrate. Let us put aside, at least for the moment, that for most demoninations throughout the Black community, attending a place of worship is an event that takes place once weekly, usually on a Sunday. It is probably more helpful (and realistic) to note the substantial role that many Black churches already play in supporting the societal infrastructure. Throughout this nation, scores of African American churches sponsor social service projects including food pantries, head start centers, domestic violence shelters and vocational training programs. Once you add these efforts to their ecumenical responsibilities, it becomes difficult to imagine how these faith-based organizations could do anything more to uplift the Black community.
It’s probably appropriate at this point to express my respect for both Dr. Cosby and Dr. Poussaint, individuals responsible for getting “The Cosby Show” and “A Different World” on our televisions screens during the late 80s and early 90s. Besides almost single-handedly reviving the moribund sitcom format (and catapulting NBC from first to last place in the Nielsen ratings), “The Cosby Show” was responsible for presenting an image of African American families never seen before (or since). Set in the fictictious Hillman College, “A Different World” has been widely credited for starting a resurgence in Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the country. It probably wasn’t easy for Dr. Cosby to get his vision of Black America aired in the nation’s living rooms. Would you believe that the executives at NBC initially bristled at the name “Heathcliff Huxtable” for Cosby’s character, saying that it sounded “too uppity.” Hmm… where have we heard that sentiment before?
Without question, we clearly owe Dr. Cosby and his collaborators a debt of thanks. However, the “Cos” who frequently “calls out” the Black community on Oprah and Meet the Press in certainly not the same congenial fellow who sold us Jello Pudding Pops in the 80s. This iteration of Bill Cosby seems angry, accusational, disdainful, and not particularly in touch with the constituency that he left behind in the Philadelphia Housing Projects almost five decades ago. Yes, as he and Dr. Poussaint accurately point out, young African American males wear baggy pants as almost a homage to their peers and relatives in prison. We get that, we really do. However, what the African American community could better benefit from right now is a contemporary, cogent and realistic plan for decreasing the number of incarerated peers that these young Black men have to emulate.
Here’s where Dr. Cosby, Dr. Poussaint and myself all agree. It all comes down to parenting. However, where we probably all differ is where the solution can be found. And in my opinion, the answer isn’t solely found in the Black church, or in government-funded mentoring programs for young African American males. This may sound shocking coming from a Libertarian such as myself, but I truly believe that government must play a substantial role in solving the lack of parenting skills among Americans of all races. The solution is simple. Make courses in parenting and child-rearing skills a compulsory component of the public educational process. All twelfth grade students should be required to complete two semesters of these classes in order to graduate. And I’m not talking about a “taking an egg home and caring for it for two weeks” type of curriculum, either. What I’m referring to is a comprehensive curriculum including family planning, strategies for pre, post and peri-natal care, early childhood education and effective discipline skills. Young people who drop-out of school before graduation should be required to complete these courses at a local church or social service organization as part of the tasking of obtaining a high school equivalency diploma. Every young person completing these courses would receive a parenting skills certificate that should (subliminally at least) re-inforce in their minds the serious obligation that parenting represents.
Granted, based upon their burgeoning educational and career demands, many Americans are becoming parents later in life. So, to ensure that parenting skills and child-rearing strategies are fresh in the minds of all prospective mothers and fathers, all parents 25 years of age and older would be required to complete a two-week “refresher” course during the mother’s first or second trimester of pregnancy. This service would be provided by a hospital or health care center and paid for by the expectant parent’s medical insurance. If the expectant parent has no medical insurance, then this cost would be absorbed by the government. This is a potentially expensive strategy to be sure, but our government has almost certainly spent a whole lot more money on failed programs lacking one-tenth the social upside as what I’m proposing.
By requiring that every American obtain some kind of certification before becoming a parent, we attach to this process the same type of importance assigned to other aspects of life. After all, in most counties, you need a license or permit to drive a car, hunt or fish don’t you?
With these types of preventive, proactive measures enacted, perhaps we can give semi-retired comedians something better to do than constantly berating us about our lack of parenting skills.
Elias Vaughn
