Blacks at Odds Over Scrutiny of President

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

Jeff Johnson knows how to make his audiences squirm. The young, black radio and TV political commentator waits for the discussion to turn to the topic being talked about ceaselessly, incessantly, ad nauseam: the meaning of the barrier-breaking election of Barack Obama.

Then, in his laid-back style, he says, "The real issue for me is that history is not enough." That's when the mood becomes tense.

"Black folks, in particular, get irritated," says Johnson, who travels the lecture circuit, hosts a half-hour show on Black Entertainment Television and has a weekly spot for social criticism on a radio program popular with black listeners. Get past "Obama the personality" and see "Obama the president," he says. "Otherwise all you're being is a political-celebrity groupie instead of a citizen. . . . It starts with acknowledging he's my president, and not my homie."

As the nation's first black president settles into the office, a division is deepening between two groups of African Americans: those who want to continue to praise Obama and his historic ascendancy, and those who want to examine him more critically now that the election is over.

Johnson is one of a growing number of black academics, commentators and authors determined to press Obama on issues such as the elimination of racial profiling and the double-digit unemployment rate among blacks.

But doing so has put them at odds with others in the black community. Love for the Obamas is thick among African Americans -- 91 percent of whom view the president favorably, compared with 59 percent of the total population, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted last month -- and as a result, the African American punditry finds itself navigating new ground.

They are learning to negotiate what talk show host and author Tavis Smiley calls an "unfamiliar dance." If you push too forcefully, he says he has learned, you risk your credibility in the community.

That's what happened to Smiley last year, when he was the one in the commentator's chair that Jeff Johnson now sits in on Tom Joyner's syndicated morning radio program. During the heated Democratic primary, Smiley questioned Obama's decision not to attend his annual State of the Black Union conference and said he hoped Obama would make it through the campaign "with his soul intact."

The push-back was "brutal," Smiley recalls. Angry listeners called him a "sellout," an "Obama hater" and "Uncle Tom." Surprised and hurt, Smiley left Joyner's show but now uses the rough patch to make the case for a new book he co-wrote, "Accountable: Making America as Good as Its Promise."

The book, Smiley's third about issues facing black Americans, has a picture of Obama on the cover and outlines the president's promises during the campaign to elevate the status of his fellow African Americans. Smiley wants readers to use the book as a tool to measure the new administration.

"If President Obama succeeds, there is the chance that we will have another person of color as president. If he succeeds, there is the chance that we will at some point have a woman as president. But if he fails . . . it may be another 400 years before we get another African American president," Smiley says, arguing that tough questions will make Obama a better leader.

"I know what I'm up against," he continues, because he is still accused of "casting aspersion on Barack Obama or having some issue with Barack Obama."

What he is up against are people like Leutisha Stills, a regular blogger on the African American opinion site Jack and Jill Politics. She dismisses anything Smiley has to say about Obama because he is "always going negative."

"I cannot be on the Haterade fest," Stills says. "It appears that whatever Mr. Obama tends to do, no matter what, somebody is going to put a negative spin on it. Whether I agree with his policies or not, from appearances' sake he's trying to do what he promised in his campaign."

Patricia Wilson-Smith also thinks Obama is deserving only of praise at this point.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/05/AR2009040501894.html?hpid=topnews

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Stills' quote is pretty much spot on.

Good for them.

And thankfully, most of American seems to agree with them.

[terisan]

2. Every president must be held accountable, else we have dictatorship not democracy, nt

[Wapsie B]

3. Funny how the last one escaped accountability.

[terisan]

10. We Democrats had 2 full years to hold Bush accountable. Our representatives chose not to.

We still have opportunity but so far all I am seeing is a few strategically released official documents that are not coming close to reaching Bush.

I think if he is held accountable, current and future presidents will be also.

[Wapsie B]

11. That is correct.

I don't have a good feeling about ever getting to * or Cheney.

[Connie_Corleone]

4. Why didn't someone tell me about this divide among us?

I'll have to let my friends and family members know that we're supposed to be divided over Obama.

[Uzybone]

8. I know, I havent seen any deep division either

but the media says there is a deep divide so there must be

:eyes:

[EffieBlack]

15. Well - if Jeff Johnson and Marc Morial and E. Faye Anderson and Tavis Smiley aren't in complete

agreement on something, there is clearly a deep divide amongst us . . .

Funny thing - the media pretty much ignores these insightful, interesting, knowledgeable African Americans in their regular coverage. But they beat a path to their doors and can't wait to quote them if it's for a "BLACK PEOPLE ARE AT ODDS!" story.

[AyanEva]

39. LOL I haven't seen it either

Not even a tiny hint, tbh.

[BeFree]

5. Like night and day

The difference between us and the pubbies: Night and day.

The pubbies dared not question their president and he ran off wildly on a path of death and destruction. They enabled Bushco by their silence.

Dems are questioning every move their man makes.

[Kahuna]

6. I don't think this is a phenom only with black Dems and progressives..

I think that a lot of white commentators will also find there is little patience for unfair criticism, or constant nagging from the left of the president.

[BlooInBloo]

7. ZOMG!!!!!! You mean black folks don't all agree with each other????

:rofl:

The things we white folks find newsworthy...

:rofl:

[Bucky]

30. On the upside, the writer is to be commended for never using the word "Negro"

When you brain is 50 years behind reality, it's hard to keep backsliding.

[BlooInBloo]

36. Indeed - I really need to appreciate the upside a bit more.

[Thrill]

9. Nothing wrong with Black people,Hispanics, liberals, etc...to push Obama on certain things

Nothing wrong with that.

But lets also remember, he is taking over in times worst than any other President. So we can't treat him like he's coming in without a ton of out of the normal problems going on.

[EffieBlack]

12. I'm looking forward to the second in the series: "Whites at Odds Over Scrutiny of the President"

Featuring quotes from two or three white radio hosts.

[Kaylee]

13. I hate when the Wash Post does articles like this....

As if African Americans are a monolith of idiots who think only via emotion. And for them to hold up Tavis Smiley and BET's Johnson, as examples of the "rational" Black is laughable. As if Smiley didn't have a beef with Obama's popularity from day one, and Johnson wasn't an ardent critic of Obama in an attempt to prop up Hillary Clinton.

If you read their comment section any time they do one of these "Let's examine what wrong with Blacks" stories, it quickly fills up with racism, hate and bigotry.

[Cha]

33. I see we're on the

same page..check out post #32:)

[Mass]

14. Had Hillary been elected, the title would have been: Women at Odds Over Scrutiny of President

Why is it that when Bush was president, nobody titled "white men at odds over scrutiny of president".

[EffieBlack]

16. Because black people are "the blacks" but white people are "the people"

[Uzybone]

17. Sad, but true

[Captain Hilts]

19. No, because blacks vote in a bloc far more frequently. No woman has had 91% approval of women. nt

[EffieBlack]

24. You need to check your facts. You're dead wrong . . .

Perhaps "no woman has had 91% approval of women," but time after time after time more than 91% of white voters have voted AGAINST black candidates. And it is still difficult to identify black candidates who have gotten more than a majority of white votes. Even Obama didn't get it.

There is absolutely no evidence supporting your claim - in fact the evidence proves just the opposite. The truth is that blacks historically have NOT voted in racial blocs while, on the other hand, whites have almost always done so. Black voters have always shown a willingness to vote for white candidates, even when a black candidate is in the race. Yet white voters have almost always voted in blocs AGAINST black candidates, except in rare instances, such as 2008.

Case in point - 2004.

When Al Sharpton was running in the Democratic primary, white voters overwhelmingly voted against him, giving more than 98% of their votes to the white candidates in the race. On the other hand, more than 80% of black voters voted for white candidates - they did not vote for Sharpton - hardly an example of "bloc voting." Interestingly, whenever one of the white candidates dropped out of the race, white voters then shifted their votes to other white candidates - they did not give Sharpton a proportional share of those votes, further proving the existence of racial bloc voting by white voters.

Throughout voting history, black voters have voted for white candidates over black candidates. Occasionally, larger numbers of black voters voted for a black candidate (Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama, the rare examples). However, the established pattern of voting for white candidates over black candidate is proof positive that, as a group, black voters are not inclined to vote for candidates just because they are black (or else Sharpton, Wilder, Keyes, Moseley-Braun, etc. would have garnered a far larger share of the black vote) but vote their issues and their interests and will gladly vote for white candidates if they believe that candidate will better represent them.

This example is not an aberration. It represents a consistent pattern - and is one of the reasons that the Voting Rights Act is still in force.

On the other hand, white voters almost NEVER vote in any significant numbers for black candidates when white white candidates are in the race. Fortunately, they changed their pattern in 2008 and voted in large numbers for Barack Obama. But a majority of white voters - 55% - STILL voted against Obama and for the white candidate.

So before repeating the lie that "black voters vote in a bloc," please check your facts. It's just flat out not true.

[Bucky]

31. We don't know that. Let's wait till we have a woman president who totally kicks ass.

Otherwise the situation is not quite comparable.

[Captain Hilts]

18. No, because women do not vote as a bloc. Nearly half voted for Bush in '04. nt

[EffieBlack]

25. Black voters don't vote in racial blocs - white voters, however, do

Please see my post above.

[MellowDem]

37. They don't vote according to race

but they do vote according to party as a group more than any other racial group. That doesn't excuse the idea in the mainstream that there is such a thing as one monolithic black culture, opinion, etc. etc. that all black subscribe to. But that is often what is pushed in the media. The media likes to compartmentalize races, including whites, Asians, Hispanics. It makes it nice and neat if not totally idiotic.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

20. As a black woman, I struggle with this, too. I have been very disappointed in many of Obama's

decisions and appointments, particularly Geithner, Summers, Duncan, and yes, Hillary Clinton for SoS (though she is starting to grow on me). I have been very disheartened by some of his decisions, namely not being aggressive with the Bush administration as far as pursuing investigations regarding torture, illegal wiretapping, etc. And I must say that as time goes on and I'm seeing some disturbing things about Geithner and Summers, proteges of former Secretary Rubin, ties to Wall Street cronies, deregulatory actions, etc., my heart continues to break.

But all in all, I still support Obama and want him to succeed. We cannot afford for him to fail.

My biggest fear is that if he fails, there will never be another black president EVER! It's not fair to him, but like it or not, that's life. Any black politician who comes along will be compared to Obama, whether that comparison is warranted or not.

My discussions with other blacks reveal that they are feeling the same way. If he fails, America's race relations will be set back for decades to come.

[empyreanisles]

28. This is exactly how I feel, though I am not as dissapointed in Obama as you are.

Specifically, I loved the Hillary pick and am neutral on Summers/Geithner (we need more time to see this through).

I'll admit, that sometimes I am a bit too sensitive when Obama is criticized, especially from the left. It feels like they are trying to steal away the historic thunder of his presidency by not giving him his proper "honeymoon".


P.S. - I am a black male.

[Karenina]

38. Job ONE for the M$M and their handlers

is to KEEP HIM IN LINE. Would that Amis had the sensibilities of the Venezuelans who protected Chavez from a CIA coup.
I've fallen back in love with Hill. There's an old picture of her and Obama talking that communicated such a potentially positive relationship to me, I do so want them to realise my fantasy. So sue me. ;-)

The Geithner/GS boyz all has to do with central banks, generations-long family histories and EVERYBODY needs to be hip to what President Andrew Jackson viewed as his GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT.

Forget the "honeymoon." Those were the days, my friend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5pkkAhETYg

A lot of live people employed on this one, eh?

[empyreanisles]

34. This is exactly how I feel, though I am not as dissapointed in Obama as you are.

Specifically, I loved the Hillary pick and am neutral on Summers/Geithner (we need more time to see this through).

I'll admit, that sometimes I am a bit too sensitive when Obama is criticized, especially from the left. It feels like they are trying to steal away the historic thunder of his presidency by not giving him his proper "honeymoon".


P.S. - I am a black male.

[genna]

21. I don't particularly like the Stills commentary. Jack and Jill blogger?

As in the Jack and Jill buppy society for teens and the adults they later become?


At some point, everyone has to be subject to criticism even while we love them. I didn't like the attacks on Tavis Smiley last year because they had no connection to the career he has had, the sacrifices he made, or the territory he chartered. I don't think he merited extraordinary deference if you disagree, but the clamor to out him as an Uncle Tom was delusional at best. I think Tavis needed to toughen up in the way that most biblical figures have to toughen up (I mean this in the literary sense, not in the prophet sense). You can love the people you serve, but never confuse that with the people you serve loving or even appreciating your service.


I think Obama gets a tremendous amount of praise to offset the amount of unwarranted criticism he gets from Republicans. I think African Americans have been giving this kind of unrivaled praise for centuries because we were not going to get it from anyone else. The question is how do you love someone enough to tell them when they are dead wrong.

[marimour]

23. No, not like Jack and Jill the organization.

Its a blog called jack and jill politics that just uses the reference. There are not affiliated with the organization. Its actually a really good blog. http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/

I will defend Jeff because he seems well intentioned and not out to just oppose all things Obama. Opposing certain of his actions is normal and we can do that while still supporting him as President.

Tavis Smiley I will never defend. He's certainly not an Uncle Tom but he is an opportunist with an overinflated sense of importance. (this was my opinion of him even b4 the primaries) Maybe its because I have met him in person and he was extremely arrogant.

[EffieBlack]

26. People forget that the "attacks" on Smiley weren't because he criticized or failed to support Obama,

but because he attacked him viciously because he didn't go to Smiley's event, as if Smiley was the gateway to Black America and Obama's failure to kiss his ring was a slap in the face of an entire community. He was being enormously petty and childish and people resented it and he was called out for it.

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

27. What did he say?

[marimour]

35. exactly. Tavis' whinefest had nothing to do with the issues

It was about him and getting more exposure for his event, which although a very interesting watch, is also filled with Tavis constantly pushing his books and his corporate sponsors.

[FrenchieCat]

22. Like with every other group of people, you have your realists

willing to give this President a chance with the hill of shit that he was handed, and you have the cynics, which...as read in my sig line, analyze every move prematurely with distrust and distress.

In the end, the overwhelming majority of Black Folks are realists....because they have had to be that in order to get through with patience and grace in what they have had to go through and wait for throughout history.

If Bill Clinton could maintain a substained large approval rating from many African-Americans, even as he rode through moral adultery scandals and reforming Welfare...him and his Sista Soulja moment, then Barack Obama will surpass him in maintaining strong support from his own community even more easily than that.

Of course, your contrarian Smiley types will always be around, but they are small in numbers, and even smaller in virtue.

[Bucky]

29. The headline seems to suggest it's amazing that 30 million blacks disagree about something

Be careful with those feathers, you might knock me over.

Seriously, beyond the final head count, was the white community any different about Bush?

[Cha]

32. Don't be worrying about my Prez' soul,

tavis..freaking demoguery.

It's all about you.