Monday, December 1, 2008

An Open Letter to African Americans

One hundred and forty years ago, your ancestors were slaves. Fifty years ago, your parents and grandparents were sectioned off from the rest of society, and treated like lesser people. Today, your brother was elected President. Congratulations; you have come so far.

Barack Obama succeeded in his candidacy by touting himself as an agent of change. What he is actually capable of changing, we shall see over the next 4 years, but I know for sure that his inauguration as president will bring at least some change, and it will be major.

Upon his inauguration in January, your current status in this nation will change. A man of African descent has elevated himself, by will of the people, to the highest office in the nation. By the very definition of that achievement, you no longer have the excuse that you’ve had for almost two centuries to explain away the horrible behavior that is rampant in your culture and society. “The man” is no longer holding you back, because “the man” is one of you. As a result of this, I have a list of suggestions, bordering on mandates, for your and yours to consider over the next several months:

1.) You no longer need Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton to tell you how downtrodden and abused you are. A black man is President, meaning that it is obvious that this country has risen above that. If you continue to be abused or downtrodden, do not run to Jesse or Al, but take a second to look at yourself for the cause. In a country that has moved beyond race, you, and your negative actions, may be the source of the abuse, not your race.

2.) You no longer have an excuse to not succeed. If a black man can be elected president, then you most certainly can get a job anyplace for which you see fit to try. You no longer get to excuse your criminal behavior by saying that you can’t get a job because “the man” won’t give you one. Remember, “the man” is black now.

3.) In a country that has moved beyond race, if you find yourself in the penal system, you no longer get to blame your plight on racism. The country has moved beyond race. We’ve elected a black president, which means that if you find yourself in jail, IT IS BECAUSE YOU BROKE THE LAW, not because you are being racially oppressed.

4.) You now have responsibilities. Well, actually, you had them all along, but now you do not have an excuse to shirk them. Our country has moved beyond race, which means that if you live in a shit hole tenement, scrape by on welfare and food stamps, and are surrounded by 13 children with no father, it is not because the country has kept you there through racism; it is because you have chosen your path in life, because you’ve always had an excuse and a crutch to fall back on when you didn’t succeed.

You don’t get that crutch anymore. As hard as it may seem, you are now the same as the rest of us, just like you’ve been fighting for all of these years. Your destiny is in your hands now, and if you fail to fulfill your dreams, you don’t get to sleep well at night, knowing in your heart that it was someone else’s fault. It was not. In a country that has moved beyond race, you only have yourself to blame.

12 comments:

Goober said...

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, directly after the election results came in, but didn't post it out of fear of people misunderstanding. This was not written out of racist ire, but more out of a desire to cheer a community of people that have seen (and caused) a lot of trouble, for their success.

With this success comes responsibility. If the community fails to take that responsibility, I fear for them, because they will have proven the racists were right all along.

Anonymous said...

Good thoughts Goober. But, Obama was raised by white grandparents and not in the ghetto, so he doesn't really count as the "black oppressed". (I already heard that expressed by one of Obama's "brothers").

Anonymous said...

Sheeet brutha, dis id de time we goin REALLY take it awl frum de whitey.

Shooot man. Barrak goin take care o me. I kaint go jain no mo. Derz blood in da Whitey House. I goin out and boost me a fiffy inch off sum hunky 2nite
sfp
yawsuh!

Anonymous said...

Hey whackjob, you lumped a whole race into one big monolithic entity.

My whole life I've seen the most privileged class of people -white males- whine when everything doesn't go their way. Just look at how you whine about losing the election and that the media is against you, that you can't get a fair shake in the media. AWWWWW.

I can't tell you how many times a white male who didn't get a job blames it on the hiring of women or minorities. I mean, how could it have been them? White males have a sense of entitlement that surpasses anything seen among any other group. When you've alwaysa been on top it's hard to share the top with anybody else.

And you have the arrogance to lecture a group that has faced discrimination, far above anything you've ever experienced. Oh but that's because Obama proves that blacks have made it.

In a way it does. But Obama faced obstacles to winning that white guys don't. He was judged far more harshly and had to overcome far more than did the old, cranky albino.

I'll bet Goober thinks blacks make up 50% of the population. That's usally what race-obsessed white males think. It's only 14%. That's why people like Goober believe that 99% of the tax they pay goes to poor blacks on welfare.

It's pathetic and stupid, like most things that come from Goober.

Anonymous said...

HLF:

How did you do in poker the other night?

Anonymous said...

"Hey whackjob, you lumped a whole race into one big monolithic entity.

My whole life I've seen the most privileged class of people -white males- whine when everything doesn't go their way."

Did you not just do the same thing? or somehow this is different?

Anonymous said...

Obama be half a honkey, so by Goobs analysis whitey still be responsible for half of the black mans ills

Anonymous said...

What a crock of horse hockey! You pretend to understand what others go through. What arrogance. What stupidity. What a joke!

Anonymous said...

HLF:

I did no such thing. And by the way, doesn't it seem sort of hypocritical to you that you accused me of lumping blacks together in one lump, and then you go and do the same thing to white males?

Besides, who says I am white? I never made that claim. Is it possible that there is someone else on here that is over-generalizing, and is blaming it on me?

As far as your statements about percentages of representation in the population, I don't have any argument. However, doesn't it seem odd that a 14% minority somehow represents a majority in so many aspects of America?

For instance, representation in the penal system?

To deny that there are issues within the community that need to be addressed is to be blinded to truth. I think that the election of one of their brothers is a big step forward towards fixing the problems, but only if the community at large buys into the idea and works together to get there.

This is a message of hope, not hate, but I think you are so twisted with your ideologies that you cannot see that.

Anonymous said...

Dear Freak,

You said, and I quote:
...you lumped a whole race into one big monolithic entity.

Hmm. I guess I was under the mistaken impression that we were all part of the HUMAN race. Last I checked, we were all pink on the inside.
Except for smokers. They're more of a gray.

You also stated:
White males have a sense of entitlement that surpasses anything seen among any other group.

Pardon me all to hell, but I have worked darn hard for what I have, and you don't hear me crying to Uncle Sam for a bailout or more free cheese. Do I feel "entitled"? You're darn skippy I do.
I feel entitled to what I have, because I busted my @$$ for it.
I feel entitled NOT to have to support anybody but my family unless I so choose, just because they won't get off their sorry keisters and do for themselves.
I feel entitled not to be called "racist" or "discriminatory" for holding an opinion more in line with mainstream America than some want to admit.
I also feel entitled to go eat lunch now.
And so I will.

Schteveo said...

I have the "answer" to this...


"...yeah, but he's half WHITE."

Anonymous said...

Yea, but he still half black and dat be enuff fo me gits out dee hoss wip and waam upinz da tar and pluk sum chikkins fo de fedderz.

AH haw, haw, haw.