General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Any thoughts why Cornel West always finds it necessary to refer to the color of the Presidents skin [View all]Wella
(1,827 posts)I think he thought that, finally, African Americans were going to get a break and that this White House would really help the situation. Instead, Obama seems to be focused on building up Homeland Security, militarizing the police (I know this started under Bush, but Obama is building on Dubya's foundation), and cutting budgets for education, the one thing that can lift people out of a life of poverty. (The states are also drastically cutting budgets.) When Obama does focus on economic or social justice, it tends to be about GLBT, abortion, or immigration issues.
All issues deserve some recognition, of course, but there is no way to compare the physical dangers of poverty and out-of-hand policing that the African American community deals with every day to any of the other causes Obama is espousing. An African American president with African Americans at heart would be working on certain key issues that are at the heart of the community. Off the top of my head, here are some that I think are crucial:
1. Poverty: figuring out how to bring economic empowerment to the African American community. These means lots of money poured into job training, mentoring entrepreneurs, teaching important business skills like accounting.
2. Education: African American neighborhoods have some of the worst schools in the nation. The current focus on test scores (a la Michelle Rhee) does nothing to help--it actually makes it worse. There are real educators out there who know how to help all kids learn how to read, do math, and explore the arts (which actually accelerates learning.)
3. Drug Rehab: One of the first thing Newt Gingrich did in 1994 was pull away money for drug rehab. This greatly affected many neighborhoods (including one where a minister friend of mine was working) and left many children at the mercy of drug addicted parents and caregivers. The War on Drugs criminalizes a medical problem: remember, many of these addictive drugs (like heroin) were produced in pharmaceutical labs (Bayer for heroin) and dumped on the street. The community did not invent these itself. African Americans are the nexus of the drug war: having the drug trade infest the streets and having the cops dumping everyone in jail to feed the prison industrial complex. A president on the side of Black America would be certainly addressing this. If low level drug offenders were given rehab instead of prison (and with as much as prison costs, rehab could be funded on some of that money), this would cut off the prison employment pipeline.
4. AIDS: PBS Frontline had a great program on AIDS in the African American community, one of the few places where AIDS is growing in the US. This has to be addressed immediately because AIDS will decimate the community eventually. AIDS meds are extremely expensive and many folks don't even get AIDS tested.
I am sure you can think of many other crucial issues.
This president, sadly, only seems to give lip service to major issues is Black America. His policies seem to keep enriching Wall Street while militarizing the police at home. That's just my take.
I think Cornell West feels the same way. He feels betrayed by the original promise of Obama. He and Tavis Smiley (whom I respect very much) did their best to point out just how poor Black America is, and they were right. There is also spreading poverty among working class Whites as well. And here is one place where color doesn't seem to matter: no one in government seems to truly care about the poor, no matter what color they are. They give a lot of lip service, especially in election years, but they don't seem to really take it seriously. As long as they have their Wall Street investments and their million-dollar homes, they don't notice that the rest of the nation is slipping into a grinding quicksand of poverty.
I understand that Cornell West's language is offensive, but I think he has seen enough and I believe he is just thoroughly shaken by the betrayal.