Rally for Obama

So with the time difference, I did not stay up to watch the Iowa caucus. I figured the results would be the same when I wake up in the morning. Funny, it was not the first thing on my mind when I woke up. But eventually the morning ritual of leaving the television running while I dress for work lent an opportunity for me to hear about the surprising revelations.

As surprised as I was to hear about Obama´s victory, I think I was more surprised to hear about Huckabee´s. Still I would like to see the likes of John McCain with a real shot at the presidency. Unlike most, McCain is not shy about trying more than once. Hell he has run so many times I thought he was president at one time. Still you have to admire a man who is not one to quit. Still I see his role is to keep the Republican candidates honest. He kind of slacked off the job when Bush was elected but he is only human.

But Obama in Iowa. Oh my freaking goodness...do you know what this means? Does this mean that America is ready to have a black president? Is it really so important for a president to be black or a woman? Some people might say that it is not. they might say only if they are able to do the job. But how much do we know of the job and how a person can handle it once they have it. It´s not so easy to just quit like you work the 3-11 shift at your local 7-11. My belief is not necessarily the person and what challenges they may face and how they react but more so the cabinet, staff and confidants they might surround themselves with. Still we have yet to see who Hillary, Obama and Huckabee will surround themselves with, but we know who bush has surrounded himself with.

So back to this whole idea of Obama having a real shot at the Democratic nomination, let alone the presidency. What does that mean to me? Actually I can only rant on this as a African American male, so bear with me. There are a lot of social issues that come with being a Black American within the borders of America. I am sure there are issues to being white, poor, tall, fat, dyslexic, etc. but I am just blabbing about how I feel in these day and times. So read on, shall we.

I am torn on Obama. Not that I do not like his platform or anything like that. I actually admire the man. I admire anyone who puts their life and reputation on the line for the history books. That goes for any candidate for any office. But still, I would suspect as with some other African Americans, there is a sinking feeling of fear of failure in this country. coupled with that feeling is the fear of repairing the fabric that is called American society. We are a country of "freedom" and "equality" but most African Americans rarely felt hat way. Ther eis a quiet and hidden feeling amongst all Americans that is peppered with back room jokes and hidden racism. We all feel it and subscribe to it. Take an average white person and let them be within earshot of a group of African Americans who sprinkle a few "nigga" references and watch this Caucasian change a few shades of red. Still, not being White, most African Americans wonder if he feels at home throwing the word around with his family and friends.

I tried a little experiment one year and sent out 20 resumes. All on great resume stock paper and matching envelopes, proofread by my professor because even with spell check I am a moron at spelling. 10 had Spencer and 10 had Demond as the first name. I got 4 call backs...all for Spencer. The goal was to see if there was some kind of response difference based on my name, Spencer being a "white" name and not common for an African American and Demond as being somewhat ethnic, but not necessarily Black. I got 4 calls for Spencer. Is this a fair scientific experiment? Of course not but it was as close as I was going to get to taking my own gallop poll.

So is American ready to take on a leader to affect our nation for the next 4 years? More importantly am I ready? I am glad I do not live within earshot of the American media. As I am guilty of this also, I can just hear the late night monologues as they try to joke about the president and dodge race jokes and issues all together. I mean I even joked about there being rodeos on the White House lawn when Bush came to town. Would it not be fair game to say that Obamo will have a fish fry and pig roast? there is a McDonalds a block away from the White House. Oh I can just hear it now. We all know how well White media does when it has to address Black figures in the news (Don Imus).

Still on the other hand I am looking forward to the possibility. I think it is time that America looks in the mirror. In the 60´s, America was a powder keg and the melting pot finally boiled over. The civil rights movement somehow began it´s momentum. A young lady was arrested because she was not giving up her seat to a white man. Was this the first time this even happened in a southern city on a bus line? No. But if she was not a secretary or volunteer for the local NAACP chapter, would this event have sparked a movement? Every bit of hope of equality was silenced by an assassin´s bullet. Now a new voice is emerging. No, I do not look at hims as the savior to our people but rather the mender of all Americans. we will now be forced to look within our country, open dialogues and hearts and stop forgetting those haunting photos of lynching, affirmative action (I hate the concept but would we need it if there was no hidden racism, sexism, classism, etc.?)

Still Iowa, with a 95% White population has initiated another discussion about that 500lbs gorilla we have all ignored most of our desegregated lives. Shall we all sit down and talk and get things off our chest?