Jackson Free Press

This election brought the best ... and worst this country has to offer.

By the time you read this column, the most pivotal election of our lifetime will be over. Whether your candidate won or not, understand one thing: The fight is only beginning.

So save the touchdown dances, balloons, confetti and cocktail parties. "We" the citizens, black or white, have not "won" anything. Black folks, we won't be sticking it in the face of white America. White folks, you won't be averting a terrorist takeover or saving the country from the second coming of Karl Marx. Gas prices won't magically fall. The minimum wage will still be the same. And as of this morning, a lot of us still won't have health care.

Wake up! This was not a sporting event or a WWE pay-per-view. In essence, you have chosen a leader who will be taking over a country in pretty bad shape. Truth is, no one, Democrat or Republican, is ever "ready" to take on such a daunting task. So now is not the time to hide, sulk, or as some white folks said we would do, riot! (Hilarious.)

It's time to realize that the commander-in-chief is but a man, not a savior. In four years, we may have to replace him ... again.

It was disgusting, yet not surprising, to see the depths that our society fell to in the last year. The Band-aid was ripped off, and the racial sores that festered for decades in this country flared up once again. The prospect of having our first black president was too much for the undercover bigots to bear.

Statements like, "The country as we know it will cease to exist," or, "If Obama wins, the blacks will take over," or "Obama's a Muslim," or my personal favorite, "It's the White House, stupid. It's for whites only," weren't callous jokes made in some smoke-filled back room. These were statements made either on TV or the Web, unfiltered and uncensored. This was a startling reality for those who accused the Obama camp of playing the race card.

Message to the pundits: Some white folks—a large percentage of them—didn't vote for Obama because he was black. Point blank. Many probably lied and changed their votes once inside the comfort of the voting booth.

But to be fair, a large percentage of black folks voted for Obama "because" he was black. That was equally ignorant. I ran into too many anxious voters who had no idea what Obama stood for, not one platform issue. All they knew is that he was black and a vote for him was some symbolic affirmation of all the pain and suffering we've experienced as black men and women in this country. Message to those pundits: We showed that some black folk aren't prepared to push past race, either.

We've got a long way to go, folks, despite our obvious strides.

The bottom line is, this afternoon, whether you think ACORN cheated for Obama or the "white establishment" rigged another election so that McCain could win, you're no better off than you were yesterday. Unless, of course, you decided today to get up off your backside and "do" something. It's not a Republican or Democrat that's going to destroy this country, it's the apathy of good men and women like you and me.

The election is over. We have a new president. The question is, what do we do now?

And that's the truth ... sho-nuff.

Previous Comments

ID

140343

Comment

Did some black folks really vote for Obama with no idea of what he stood for? Maybe so, but I'm not convinced of this since so many people act and react toward another or others based on how that person makes them feel. Obama made most black people, and many whites and others believe he was more interested and capable of helping them than McCain. I certainly understand why few if any black folks beleived the McCain we saw in this election, coupled with Palin and the enmity she stirred, would help them in any noticeable way. As a black person watching and evaluating the four candidates for president and vice-president not much detail beyond television about their individual platforms were necessary. This is especially true when you know the personal histories of both parties of the last one or two decades. Moreover, the reputation and intentions of the republican party are known to anyone with a thread of sense. Besides what wrong with black folks voting for Obama because he was black and gigted and greatly qualified to be president. You can't take away Obama's great gifts then extrapolate that black folks would have voted for him if he wasn't qulaified and gifted. How do you know a large percentage of black folks voted for Obama just because he's black? What do you base this on? Kaze this is another strange column! Where is the jubilation of the moment and where have you been the whole election on the Obama and McCain tip? This is a very interesting column though and I can't wait to debate it.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-11-05T18:18:09-06:00

ID

140345

Comment

What's wrong with a symbolic affirmation of all the pain and suffering we've suffered. How is this a bad reason to hope or believe in hope or to vote for someone?

Author

Walt

Date

2008-11-05T18:22:51-06:00