In my last post, I wrote about why I didn’t think President Bush should speak to the NAACP, and why I don’t think black people are going to make it. I’ve had this conversation out in the real world as well and gotten some varied remarks and opinions from people. And some of the comments I received illustrated those same points. Well…
Let me address those issues. First and foremost, the NAACP does not equal black people. As a group, black people need to get over this bullshit notion that we are one…we aren’t. Period. Point blank. Granted, some positions that the NAACP has taken tend to be very reflective of the black community as a whole, however, we are not some monolithic group that all think and act one way. Evidenced by the fact that as soon as we make it, we tend to get the hell out of our “black” neighborhoods and head for the hills of, often times, white suburbia. We don’t continue to think of where we came from (not all of us, for those that are going to be offended by my generalizations…keep that in mind), or think of going back and fixing the problems we left behind. We take on that same attitude and thoughts that the rest of the successful American public takes on…do for self. We can’t be that unified if 70% of us are still broke and struggling and the other 30% is talking about how the rest of us are still broke and struggling…but from a distance.
And that’s what bothers me about people being offended by this. We act as if him not speaking to the NAACP, he is refusing to speak to black people as a whole. That isn’t the case. He is actually planning on speaking to the Urban League. What’s the difference you ask??? The NAACP tends to be more politically partisan AKA they’re all Democrats. The Urban League tends to be less political, making it more about speaking to the actual people and less pandering to partisan politics.
AND…if I ain’t mistaken, didn’t Julian Bond (president of NAACP) liken Bush and his choices for his cabinet level positions to the “Taliban wing of American politics?” And, said that the Bush Administration views American politics as basically flying the American flag next to the confederate swastika???? I’ve heard of mudslinging…but calling him a terrorist red-neck??? And we are offended he won’t come to speak to the NAACP??? Shit…would you???
I agree that Bush should be held accountable. He has some answering to do. Hopefully, we will show him this in November. But not just to black people, who might I remind you are running around acting like he isn’t our president anyway (don’t BS yourself, we have all said it at one point or another), he owes an explanation to the American people, of which we are a subset. A step in the positive direction for everybody is a step in the positive direction for black people. As a group, he doesn’t owe us shit…he owes America. He was elected (depending on how you look at that) to represent America.
The NAACP has made it clear that they pretty much all have a negative view of Bush, as have many Americans. He wasn’t invited to answer to any problems that black America has…he was invited to get blamed for everything, no matter what he said (short of offering reparations). That’s what Democrats do to Republicans and vice versa. And besides, the NAACP isn’t nearly what it used to be. It’s lost its focus. If something goes terribly wrong, they are there, but we are at a point where they just do not represent the views of all black people. Is it still a relevant and important organization?…more yes than no. However, there seems to be a lack of visibility in what they provide to the black community at this point. They are reactionary…they don’t go out and make change anymore. Some shit goes down…you can call the NAACP. In good times, we can forget they exist.
I just don’t get it. The things we get into an uproar about a lot of times seem to be very surface level. What does Bush not speaking to the NAACP really mean to black folks??? That he is a racist? He doesn’t care about the black voice? And if so, what does it say that he IS speaking to the Urban League? Nobody is mentioning that.
Like I said before, none of this has made me rethink my position on Bush, I still don’t care for him and would not vote for him to be the next President of America…but damn, I think our pissedoffedness at this situation proves we have some out of whack priorities. Anybody, of any race, put into this position would do the same thing. The NAACP blamed Bush for stealing the election, openly. Regardless of my personal opinion on this (as I’m trying to deal with the situation as it is), shit, how much do you really HAVE to take? It ain’t like there is a mutual respect…the NAACP hates this cat.
Okay…my bad for the two part rant and argument on this…but sometimes I just get confused and can’t understand why certain things piss us off and others don’t. Like the fact that black men don’t go to college, damn near period anymore. We say we are mad…but how many of us do something about that…and let’s be real, that ain’t Bush’s fault. Where are the mentors and tutors and people who are actually THERE instead of just sending a check. Money is very important…but hearing you are somebody goes a lot further.
On a more personal sad note, one of my good friends from high school past yesterday at age 26. We knew it was coming, but that still doesn’t change the fact that its never easy when somebody you know and care about passes on.
R.I.P. J. Jones, 1978-2004…You will be missed…