B*tch A$$ N*ggas - Part II: A Vote Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

Editor’s Note: This post contains mild profanity

and a variation of the “N word.” We hope no one is offended; it is not our intent. But to paraphrase former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, “Sometimes nothing says it better than a well-placed cuss word.”

B*tch A$$ N*ggas - Part II:
A Vote Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

Read Part I - Thinking Black, Living American

The other night I was in a bit of a retrospective mood. Among my many recollections were thoughts surrounding events and colorful characters that have impacted my life and crossed my path. Even though my thoughts were coming and going at a rapid pace I could not help but to pause and ponder the comments of three very different people. At first I could not connect the dots but after an hour or two I begin to see the parallels.

As I stated in my first installment, I don’t know if the term “bitch ass nigga” was introduced to me by The Boondocks or Katt Williams but the term is appropriate when taking a critical look at African-American’s reactions to certain events. Now, I am not trying to position myself as “holier than thou”, in fact I am sure that I have acted like a bitch ass nigga regarding an issue to which I held some self imposed allegiance, and more importantly, felt like I was justified so I paraded my ego trippin’ ass around stating an infinite number of platitudes and conjuring up as much benign philosophical bullshit as I could.

As I said before, the comments that I thought about varied just as much as the individuals themselves. The first was by my Big Mama – is it me or have you noticed that Big Mama’s are becoming extinct? I won’t go there, that’s a discussion for another installment – who I fondly remember from my younger days saying, “I tell you Black folks have been heading straight to Hell ever since they stopped drinking RC and started drinking Coca-Cola.” I never could understand her rationale for coming to this conclusion but for those of you who have had a Big Mama then you know that she draws her wisdom from an entirely different and undeterminable source.

You see in Big Mama’s eyes RC Cola (or Royal Crown Cola) was just a refreshing beverage but Coke was different. It was a drug passing itself off as a refreshing soft drink. She firmly believed that Coke, with its traces of cocaine and reported miracle healing effects, was making Negroes act out of character and no self-respecting Negro could desire such a thing. As I got older, and a little wiser, I began to understand that my Big Mama’s disdain had nothing to do with her personal preference for one soft drink over the other; rather, her concern was that Negroes were simulating white people with little or no regard for the consequences of their actions. Big Mama never progressed to the point of saying “African American”. I believe she viewed that as the ultimate sign of surrender to her fear.

The second comment was by an older gentleman that had befriended me while working at a summer job during my college years. Clem introduced me to horse racing and would take me to Delta Downs in Vinton, LA every Thursday night. On one occasion Clem brought one of his many girlfriends along – although he claimed to have many girls, Faye was the only one I ever met, but this too is a story for a later post at which time we’ll look at the topic of Real Playas.

At the beginning of each race the horses are brought into the gallery for viewing. A beautiful chestnut-brown colt with a striking muscular build was brought out and Faye immediately said she was going to place her bet on him. I remember Clem’s response to her, “Baby girl, never bet on a show horse when you’re racing thoroughbreds. A show horse doesn’t like to get dirty and in a thoroughbred race even the winner gets dirty.” Clem was right in that regard, the horse finished next to last and Faye lost… and though I hate to admit it, I did too!

Looking back, I know that Clem was giving me some expert advice about horse racing but in reality his advice was more profound and struck at the very heart of how we have become accustomed to thinking. In fact, Clem’s comment was akin to Dr. King’s futuristic view of America when he said we would not be “judged by the color of our skin but by content of our character.” While we may love to recite this quote, we fail to realize Dr. King’s presupposition that first we are to have character; likewise we do not recognize his directive that we develop the kind of character that can withstand scrutiny and stand strong in the face of challenges and adversity.

The final comment was made by my oldest daughter. My daughter is a college junior and shares many of the same idealistic views of the world as her peers, as well as their frustration with parents who once painted this “it’s all about you” picture and are now trying to flip the script. She is excited about voting in her first Presidential Election and the fact that Senator Obama is running a stellar campaign has done more to add to her jubilation. The other night we were watching the latest developments in the Democratic Race and the topic of Hillary getting the nomination came up. At the conclusion of the segment my daughter said, “That ain’t right! If that happens I’m not going to waste my time voting because it doesn’t matter. `Cuz they’re going to do what they want to anyway.”

Her comment is not unique and if we uncover the details regarding highly contested elections in the past, we can assume that her sentiments, which is shared by many others, are not without basis. I cherish my obligation and privilege to vote and I have tried to instill that principle in her as well. Political pundits say that the young vote is unreliable because the majority of them do not consider it as pertinent to their lives. Additionally, I have heard many Blacks state that if Senator Obama is denied the nomination by the Democratic Party then they too will not vote.

These comments led me to think about African American’s current political capital. First, we still have not apprehended the full value of our voting capacity. Not casting a vote ultimately does not show your dissent. Now I am not promoting a vote for John McCain, who is already struggling to firm up his base. I know this sounds real crazy but if we want to show our dissent then we should use our vote to make a contender out of a candidate who had no possibility of winning. To not vote would send a message that we were pouting and would not endear any candidate to include our concerns in their platform. However, if we made a real contender out of a candidate then he or she would be indebted to us for our support and it would send a message to future candidates that we can indeed be king makers. As I explained to my daughter, to not vote because you are disgruntled is the true sign of a Bitch Ass Nigga!

Secondly, African Americans must begin to come down off of this Obama high and realize that while we are in the midst of potentially making history, we must not forget the history that we are already living. By this I mean, an Obama presidency will not have near the impact on your daily living as much as the person who enforces public safety in your area or the one who determines how development dollars are spent in your area or the people who control your children’s education. I know the Obama-rama! has been exhilarating but it cannot replace the hell you are catching because of continued driver profiling, questionable and manipulative jurisprudence by law enforcement and the district attorney, and the continued disparity in the quality of educational services offered at predominately minority low-income schools and those within predominately white middle-income/high-income areas.

Finally, with all the excitement and optimism that is enveloping African Americans with the likely nomination of Obama and the possibility that he could ascend to the White House, I have a few questions of my brothers and sisters. Chief among them is what are we expecting from him? And, what are we expecting to change for us? I ask this because during the mayoral candidacy of Lee P. Brown I witnessed local African Americans response prior to and immediately afterwards. I could not help but notice a major deflation of their expectation bubble and their shock at facing the reality that nothing had really changed. This experience was not unique to Houston, for it has been played out in most major U.S. cities with the exception of Atlanta (the late Maynard Jackson), Detroit (Coleman Young) and a few others.

This has happened not only with our mayors but with most of our Black elected officials because while our vote may have secured their place in office, it was the money in their campaign coffers that kept their attention and the high-dollar contributors that they truly answered to. Now, I am not saying that all Black politicians are selling their votes to the highest bidder but I am encouraging African Americans to increase their participation in the political process beyond the act of voting. We must become creative in using our monies to establish platform agendas, such as developing PACs (Political Action Committees) and creating 527 organizations to provide external support to candidates who further our agendas. Using Clem’s analogy, we must no longer continue to get caught up in this perception of becoming enamored with the “show horse” and learn the art of “the race”.

Please do not misconstrue my statement as labeling Obama to be a “show horse”. I am simply saying we can ill afford to provide undying support to any candidate without conditions. As Minister Farrakhan once said when asked during the 2000 primary season if he would support General Colin Powell in a bid for president, “A Black man in the White House is nothing more than a Black face on a White reality.” The sooner we understand that we cannot bring a beauty pageant mentality to the political process then we will learn to use our vote much wisely.

In conclusion, I am definitely filled with pride regarding Obama’s run at the presidency and I am sure that my current feelings will be vastly overshadowed if he were to win in November. And if that happens, I know unprecedented numbers of African Americans will be in Washington, DC on January 20, 2009, and that Inauguration will be more festive than any have ever seen because you know we love a good party. We will look like debutantes and the couple on top of a wedding cake. Black women will be divine and Black men will be debonair as we waltz across the ballroom floor. But as Big Mama warned, don’t drink the Coke because on January 21, 2009, we will return to our normal lives.

Joe Biden breaks out his Kanye West impression... Sort of!

I don’t know about you, but every now and then I like to see evidence that our elected officials have a backbone and can speak in the language of hard working Americans, Black Americans, who have dealt with a tyrannous government whose wealth was subsidized by the cheap labor of Negroes, Asians and Indians.

My hat goes off to Senator Joe Biden (D – Delaware) who acted like a true angry Black man when asked what he thought about George Bush’s appeasement statement in his address to the Israeli Knesset. Senator Biden responded the same way African Americans have regarding supposed major issues about Barrack Obama, “This is some Bull$h**!” I could not agree with you more Senator Biden! Forget John McCain, this is the definition of the Straight Talk Express! When you speak in a definitive term such as this you send a signal that the gloves are coming off and you are prepared to fight.

I only have two regrets regarding Senator Biden’s comment. The first being why has it taken so long for someone in the Democratic Party to speak up? I already know the answer to that question but just thought I would raise it so as to let everyone know that African Americans are not stuck on stupid. My second issue is that just as soon as Senator Biden made that profound remark, he returned to his usual vanilla, politically correct nature by saying, “This is malarkey!”

On a final note, when George Bush drew an analogy from an historic event in September 1939 about a United States Senator sympathizing with Adolf Hitler by saying, “We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history,” he was referring to former Senator William Edgar Borah from Idaho… a REPUBLICAN!!

You can call it malarkey but I say... This is just plain old Bull$h**!

B*tch A** N*ggas

Editor’s note: This post contains mild profanity and a variation of the “N word.” We hope no one is offended; it is not our intent. But to paraphrase former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, “Sometimes nothing says it better than a well-placed cuss word.”

Part 1 of a Series

PART 1:
THINKING BLACK,
LIVING AMERICAN

With Barack Obama closing in on the Democratic Presidential nomination, I’m reminded of a principle that every child in my neighborhood was taught and expected to live by. That was to protect home, neighborhood and community. I don’t recall anyone having to remind us of this belief because it was an inherent component of our upbringing. Foundational to this rule was the understanding that it was acceptable to have disagreements with a sibling, a friend, or associate, but you rallied to their defense when it came to external attacks. This creed informed us that an attack against the least was an attack against all. In other words they were telling us, like the youth of today say, to not be no Bitch Ass Niggas!

I don’t know if I first heard this term on The Boondocks or from Katt Williams, but I have to admit that its meaning did not sink in until recently. After witnessing a series of events – most notably Pastor Jeremiah Wright’s speech before the National Press Club and the response; Tavis Smiley’s public “criticism” of presidential candidate Barack Obama; and the Black community’s response to his open diatribes, resulting in his refusal to renew his contract on Tom Joyner’s morning radio show after 13 years – I began to wonder if African Americans were experiencing some sort of epidemic causing many of us to act like Bitch Ass Niggas!

I talked to a few minister friends after the Rev. Wright saga to get their response. Dr. Roscoe D. Cooper, pastor of the Metropolitan African American Baptist Church (MAABC), who is also a good friend of Rev. Wright and grew up with him in Philly, made a profound statement. Dr. Cooper said, “… [F]or a people who have always had to struggle to make a way, we have now become a complacent people who wants to have it both ways.” In other words, we want to maintain an afro-centric pedagogy and socio-cultural system, however, we desire acceptance into, and identification with a system that has consistently resisted our total acceptance in any form. To paraphrase Pastor Cooper, the price for an American education and employment in an American economy is total allegiance to an American way.

Although most Blacks nodded in approval when Obama talked about his candidacy transcending race, they knew that he was either naïve or simply making a politically correct statement. We even came to his defense when Smiley decided to take as a personal slight his decline to attend the State of The Black Union. Then Rev. Wright spoke at the National Press Club and brought all the combustible material he could muster to enrage a fire that had been simmering. Even though most of us agreed with a majority of what Pastor Wright said, we accepted the fact that Obama had to denounce him and sever any identifiable relationship with him. In many other circles we would have considered this to be a bitch ass move and Senator Obama to be a Bitch Ass Nigga. Yet it seems that since the stakes are so high, we must allow him the latitude to approach this without the weight of appearing as though he is catering to Blacks.

Furthermore, for all of his attempts to transcend race, the media has effectively painted (no pun intended) him as the Black candidate, while making non-college educated Whites this year’s key voting bloc. In fact, it has been stated in so many words that this bloc represents the very definition of America. This means that the die has been cast and in order to contend, Obama must identify himself with this group to garner their votes. In additon to trying to win this group over the unspoken message is that he must disassociate himself from any pro-Black person and/or causes.

America in general and African Americans specifically, will have accomplished a pivotal milestone when Senator Obama becomes the Democratic Party’s nominee. This poses a conundrum for African Americans regarding the expectations of an Obama presidency. For African Americans who came through the Civil Rights Era, it represents an accomplishment in a hard fought battle, but it is not the golden ring. For young Blacks, like my college age daughter, it represents a positive proof that they can compete effectively on a national stage if given an opportunity. And while the views of my daughter and her peers are admirable, they do come at a high price and further alienates all of us from our foundational principles.

For many of us "in denial bourgeois" Negroes, we have already made the choice and justified the reasons. We said that progress and success would not change us while we moved to the surburbs all in the name of providing our families with a better life than we had.

Making us all, in that respect, some Bitch Ass Niggas.

Is There A Difference Between Choosing Badly and Making Bad Choices?

By any stretch of the imagination, the 2008 Presidential race will be the most historic race since America elected George Washington as its first president. This race has already accomplished many firsts – an African-American or a female will become a major party’s candidate – not to mention it has catapulted race, this nation’s biggest social dilemma, to the forefront of the national discussion.

Senator Obama’s speech in Philadelphia is definitely the highlight of this arduous campaign season, and has been well received by many in both parties. In fact, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice weighed in on the subject recently. Many have regarded it as the “I Have A Dream” for this generation. While we have yet to see the resulting impact of the speech, it has surely caused many African-Americans to take a more critical look at the current crop of Black leaders on the local and national front.

An interesting thought came to me while watching the NCAA basketball tournament the other day. Little known Davidson upset the mighty Georgetown Hoyas and to show that it was not a fluke, they backed it up by beating Wisconsin. While these upsets were monumental, what makes it even more astonishing is the fact that Georgetown and Wisconsin were both ranked #1 at one point during the season. Analysts attributed Davidson’s success to many factors but they all agreed that their success was due to the fact that Davidson made their opponents play bad basketball. By comparison Davidson was no match for either team on paper. The players for Georgetown and Wisconsin were all highly recruited and could easily be a standout on most teams. So how is it that a highly skilled team loses to a team, that by all counts they were supposed to defeat soundly?

By the same token the current crop of elected officials is considered to be highly successful according to contemporary standards. Then why are African-Americans feeling an even bigger disconnect with those who we have chosen to represent us? Carrying the basketball analogy further, I began to ponder whether or not our Black elected officials are playing badly or are we electing the wrong “leaders”.

In 1903 W.E.B DuBois introduced the idea that Blacks needed to develop a Talented Tenth – a group of Black Americans who would acquire the skills and/or education that would enable us to succeed in the larger society; and who would eventually “come home” and use their tools and talents to build a bridge between the Black “haves” and the Black “have-nots.” However DuBois warned against making the objective of this group’s development anything other than being responsible for, and accountable to their communities. DuBois says,

“If we make money the object of man-training, we shall develop money-makers but not necessarily men; if we make technical skill the object of education, we may possess artisans but not, in nature, men.”

So in that respect I don’t have a problem with Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), Magic Johnson, Bob Johnson or Andrew Young supporting Hillary Clinton for president. However, I do have a problem with these individuals making a choice not to speak up against the divisive racial tactics that the Clinton camp has engaged in with reckless disregard. I do have a problem with these individuals making a choice to turn a blind eye to these tactics because they hold their personal gains above those who have supported them, especially when they had been rejected by the wider community. I do have a problem with these individuals making a choice to validate the idea that their Super Delegate status gives them free will to act autonomous and without regard to their constituents.

I am reminded of a part of the Declaration of Independence which says,

“… [G]overnments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”

In other words, if the government (representative) that the people have chosen has become ineffective to the people then it is the right of the people to replace it (the individual) with one that will protect the rights of the people.

We should not and cannot abandon our duty to participate in the electoral process… that would be a bad choice. Voting for the Republican, John McCain just to spite the Democratic Party because Obama isn’t the candidate is also a bad choice.

And re-electing these individuals when their terms expire is, most definitely, a very bad choice.