It's been a giddy and euphoric 100 days indeed for most of you Negroes in A-murder-ca. Just knowing that the first family is black has been enough to have most of you (excuse the Jim Jones reference) popping champagne since January 20th. Most of you. Because there are still black folks in A-murder-ca who aren't impressed. Some of you are firmly under that small republican tent so you weren't going to be impressed no matter what. Some of you are just sceptical of the "One", and you think he is nothing but a fraud; a smooth talking brother who is still controlled by the "Man", and who won't be better for black folks, but worse.
Still, most of you probably feel like Paul Shepard who wrote the following:
"No doubt, some of us viewed the election of President Barack Obama as Christmas, New Year's and Juneteenth all rolled into one. And in light of all the hell black people have caught, and continue to catch in America, it's not without reason.
But 100 days into his administration, some black pundits and political observers are taking Obama to task for not pushing a more radical pro-black agenda. ...
'Why didn't Obama come out when that black man was killed by the white policeman in Oakland?'" one writer asks. 'Why isn't Obama talking about white racism?' asks another.
'Why isn't Obama pushing for more investment in urban America?' asks another blogger.
I'll add one 'why' to the list. Why are some of us so impatient and so simple?
This is not to say that Obama's first 100 days have been a total delight. The horrible vetting process of his Cabinet nominees has been an embarrassment that I still can't wrap my mind around. His nominations lead me to wonder if anyone in D.C. pays their taxes on time -- or at all.
And Obama has yet to offer a real answer I can swallow on how he's going to raise the revenue needed to pay for the stimulus package, cut taxes for all but the richest of us and avoid massive budget deficits down the road.
But as far as criticizing him for not being black enough during his first 100 days in office, come on now. Even if Obama were to run down Pennsylvania Avenue draped in kente cloth, these critics would not be satisfied.
Silly.
A couple points for Obama's critics on race. First is that Obama isn't a black leader. Obama is a leader who is black. There is a big difference. A true president doesn't have a constituency he can play to. He is supposed to be leader of us all."
The title of Mr. Shepard's article was "A Stealth Campaign For Black People." Now I wouldn't go that far, but I will say what I have continued to say since the day his O ness won this bad boy and forced me to have to run "au naturale" down Broad Street: If Ron Paul had won he would have been better than what we have had for the past eight years. The fact that his O ness is obviously a great communicator and so far seems to be a competent administrator gets him a pass from the field. Do I have some issues with him? Sure I do. But they pale in comparison to the amount of issues I had with a certain frat boy. Throw in the historical significance of it all and it's all good.
Just 1360 days to go. Obamaholics can you stand it?
