1. Do Not Run Away From Blackness Mr. Obama, realize that it is o.k. to be Black. Some people like to define you as "biracial."- You may define yourself as biracial or make race a non-issue in this campaign. You are Black because America defines you as Black. Consider what your life would be if you were not recognized as a presidential candidate. More than likely, you would earn less than a white man with a comparable job, you would be followed going into department stores, you would be questioned regarding why you were in a certain neighborhood, you would be stopped more on the highway if you have a nice, high-end car, and that some White women may cringe when you are on an elevator with them, even if you are dressed for business. These are the daily experiences of Black men and you would experience these realities more frequently if you were not Barack Obama. However Mr. Obama, you do have a special brand of racism hurled at you. Explore the code words and phrases Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin uses: "I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way that you and I see America," Answer this Mr. Obama: who are the "you"- and "I" in this statement? The answer is easy: Palin and other racists. She is making you the Black man in the elevator! You are O.J. Simpson! You are Willie Horton, a man that killed a White woman while out on a prison work release program in Massachusetts, the same Willie Horton that President George H.W. Bush used to scare White people into voting for him in 1988. Also, realize that if you won the election White people would feel that they did not harbor racist feelings and that your presidency would only enhance the myth that Black people "have arrived."- Playing down the issue of race could make things worse for Black and other non-White people.
2. Be Mindful of How You Handle the Corporate Bailout and Implement Your Economic Plans
The corporate bailout plan is of utmost importance. In addition to helping out the corporate sector you must add provisions to help all Americans. This plan, like a government budget, is a moral document. The driving principles for the plan are defined in the Liberation Theology you try to avoid. These trying economic times demand that principles are articulated. This means that, as a Christian or moral person, you must remind corporate America of its obligations to people, not just the bottom line. You must remind the corporate sector that unnecessary corporate meetings, vacations, and inflated salaries and bonuses based on how many people can be cut from their job are immoral activities. However, do not bash corporations over the head with their failings but remind them that existing laws monitoring their business practices will be strictly enforced.
To help guide you with the bailout or any of your economic plans, explore your Christianity. Using a biblical perspective, consider the issues in Luke's Gospel. Luke was educated and that most institutions of higher learning were in urban areas, so we may conclude that Luke spent a significant amount of his life in urban areas and saw the poverty in and around those areas. In short, he was cosmopolitan and is directing his gospel to the elite. This is extremely important because as Luke addresses issues of wealth and poverty he begins to spread the message that there is redemption in meeting the needs of the poor. As in America's current situation, Luke's time could also be described as chaotic. To say the least, the world as Luke knew it was in flux because Jews and Gentiles alike were suffering under Roman rule. Luke, in having this knowledge, writes and organizes the stories in this gospel around several fundamental questions or issues including: who may enter the kingdom of God, is salvation and redemption available to all, and defining the cost of salvation, redemption, and following Jesus. Inherent in these issues are the relationships between the rich, the poor, and the outcast. In short, Luke makes commentary on the "haves"- and "have-nots."- This reveals interesting elements: he tells people to prepare for the kingdom of God, meet the needs of those living in poverty or facing challenging economic times, and that rich people can and should interact with and serve the poor because it is a means of salvation. One way to meet the needs of the poor (and the middle class) is for rich people and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. Those taxes could be used to create jobs to fix such things as the nation's infrastructure (roads, buildings, bridges, schools, families) so America can work through these economic times. Remember, the best economic development plan is a job.
3. Beware the Democratic Leadership Conference (DLC) Mr. Obama, you must stay away from the DLC because it will encourage you to further straddle an ideological fence.
What is the DLC? Founded in 1985, the DLC "leads the New Democrat movement, a national network of elected officials and community leaders whose innovative ideas are modernizing progressive politics for the 21st Century"- (http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ka.cfm?kaid=86). Specifically, the DLC's "New Democrats"- could be described as a "new type of moderate Democrat"- that believes "the big-government, high-spending policies of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party did not appeal to most voters"- (http://encarta.msn.com/text_761564341___0/Bill_Clinton.html).
To trick the American public into believing it is a progressive organization, the DLC also describes itself as an "-idea center, catalyst, and national voice for a reform movement that is reshaping American politics by moving it beyond the old left-right debate. Under the leadership of founder and CEO Al From, the DLC seeks to define and galvanize popular support for a new public philosophy built on progressive ideals, mainstream values, and innovative, non bureaucratic, market-based solutions (http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=85&contentid=893). Let us examine the DLC and its self-definition. The DLC uses fascinating language like "mainstream values"- and "market-based solutions." These terms could be interpreted as nods to the various White constituencies that usually vote Republican: conservative, rural, Protestant White people living in the significantly White "Heartland"- (America's plains states such as Iowa, Kansas, etc.) and fiscal conservatives. Like the DLC reaching out to Middle America you, Mr. Obama, uses allude to your grandparents' Kansas roots in defining your "mainstream values."- Like the DLC you, Mr. Obama, have embraced the "market-based solutions"- with your support of the corporate bailout bill. Mr. Obama, you are almost using the DLC game plan play-by-play. This is not good. Granted, you have avoided the DLC national conference earlier in the year but if your ideology is the same as theirs, you might as well have attended it.
4. Be Mindful of the Words You Use in Foreign Policy Matters
Mr. Obama, you have been described as lacking foreign relations skills. To address this you must learn two languages: the language of the military and the language of diplomacy. To get war hawks to embrace you, you must speak of America in militaristic terms. However, you must temper talk about military action and send the message that America is not a colonizer. The colonization of Iraq to claim its oil has been the goal of the Bush-Cheney regime from the beginning. Diplomacy must be more important than flexing military muscle. You must clearly define "The War on Terror."- This "war" is more about keeping America as safe as possible from international and domestic acts of violence. Mr. Obama, you must define real terror: it is the family losing its home, it is the seniors choosing between medicine and food, and it is when health care seems more like a privilege than a right. Well, Mr. Obama I hope you become more aware of your noose. Sometimes, it may feel like you are not wearing a noose. And that is the scary part: you are always wearing a noose. The question is whether you will fight to free yourself from the noose or will you hang yourself with that noose. Reverend Reynard N. Blake, Jr., M. S. is an ordained Baptist minister living in East Lansing, Michigan with his wife Karen Kelly-Blake, Ph.D. (Anthropology). He is the president and founder of Community Development Associates, a business focusing on Research, Grant Writing, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Marketing, Leadership & Environmental Awareness Training and Conference Planning. He earned his Master of Science degrees in Community Development-Urban Studies from Michigan State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the College of Charleston (SC). He has co-authored several articles on faith-based community development and is also a poet and hip-hop cultural analyst. He is working on a book of political parodies and essays and he could use some help in the publishing process.
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