Race Relations in America under an African American President

Race Relations in America under an African American President
By Carlos T Mock, MD
October 12, 2009


The election of the first African American to the highest office in our country was supposed to help race relations in the nation. However, after Obama’s first nine months in office I don’t think it is going well for race relations in The U. S . A.

Lets look at white/ black relations: they are in shambles.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., a Harvard scholar, was arrested after police responded to a report of a possible break-in at his home in Cambridge. They found no burglars, but Sgt. James Crowley took Gates into custody, accusing him of disorderly conduct in his protesting of police behavior. The charge was soon dropped. Then Obama inflamed matters by saying the police had "acted stupidly," though he conceded he didn't know all the facts about the case and was a little biased anyway because Gates was a friend. Once the story began pushing all other news to the margins, Obama acknowledged he could have chosen his words better. And he invited both men for a beer.

We have prominent T. V. and radio personalities disrespecting the office of the President of the United States and accusing him of being “racist.” We have politicians publicly disrespecting the office of the presidency and getting rewarded for it.

On July 28, 2009, Fox and Friends, Fox host Glenn Beck accused President Obama of being "a racist." The group was discussing the recent Gates controversy, and Beck exclaimed that Obama has "over and over again" exposed himself as "a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture. I don't know what it is..."

Rush Limbaugh has called Obama a ‘halfrican American’ and has said that Obama was not black but Arab because Kenya is an Arab region, even though Arabs are less than one percent of Kenya’s population. Since mainstream America has become more accepting of African-Americans, Limbaugh has decided to play against its new racial fears, Arabs and Muslims. Despite the fact Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law school, Limbaugh has called him an ‘affirmative action candidate.’ Limbaugh even has repeatedly played a song on his radio show ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ using an antiquated Jim Crow era term for a black man who many Americans support as our president. Way to go Rush!

And the cream of the crop: When Congressman Joe Wilson yelled at President Obama during a joint session of Congress: “You lie boy!”, was Wilson being a racist? Or was he just being an incredible jerk? Me, I thought he was just being an incredible jerk. But the people of South Carolina rewarded him with a million dollars in campaign contributions and are using him as the bigotry poster child against our President.

There is a sense that the Republican party is determined to make Obama fail at whatever the cost. It is as if their goal is to teach that black boy that he should have never left the plantation to govern our nation. He needs to be shown what his place in society should be. They want to send him back to Chicago and make sure he never leaves that city again!!!

To my surprise, black on black relations are no better. The election of the first African American was supposed to end black on black hostility. It was supposed to teach young African American children that if you work hard, there is nothing you can’t achieve. It was supposed to make them safer.

Instead, the fallout from the Derrion Albert case proves one painful truth: African Americans are killing each other. They have to acknowledge and take ownership of black-on-black crime if they ever hope to find real, lasting solutions.

Ned L. McCray, retired principal of Simeon High School, Tinley Park said: “Why are the media, law enforcement, politicians, ministers and activists so reluctant to identify gangs, leaders, members, turf, meeting sites and operations? When are we going to stop reacting to the violence with anguish, tears, protests and calls of ‘stop the violence’ with a more proactive war against the gangs? Calls for parents to control their kids won't help either, because the parents of gang-bangers lost control of their kids long ago.”

Bill Walley, from Homewood said: “As a minister in the community, I have said the same thing, but, of course, I am usually preaching to the ‘choir.’ I do urge our members to remember that these acts are often done by sons, daughters, nephews etc. of people we know. And to stop supporting them in any way (even accepting excuses, or laughing at or sympathizing with any aspect of this).”

And Laura Washington, an African American columnist from the Chicago Sun Times said: “We are loath to admit our failings outside the race, and black-on-black crime is a big one. We fear that by acknowledging or exposing our flaws, shortcomings and challenges, we aid and abet ‘the enemy.’ The real enemy is us.”

Dr. Mock has published four books with Floricanto Press, Berklety, CA. His articles have appeared on publications like The Chicago Tribune and several gay and lesbian newspapers. He was inducted in The Chicago GLBT Hall of Fame in 2007. He can be reached at: www.carlostmock.com