I really thought the election of the first Black president would be a giant step forward for us Black folks and American racial politics. The future however, may remember the Obama administration as being a giant step backwards for Black America during a period of alienation, anger and despair, in America’s dark ghettos. Not since the 60’s, when Black neighborhoods were demoralized by one riot after another, have Black folks faced such deadly conditions: high expectations and hopes, going up against the reality of no jobs, increased racial tension, dwindling budgets, and broken leadership. If we don’t have an unlikely change in our economic condition, we probably will soon face a new period of explosive anger and even violence, and eventually Black folks could fall prey to a new kind of despair, as hope dies on one Ghetto Street after another. Either way, the mainstream media’s fading drunkenness with the Obama administration has led it to miss the urban crisis now stalking Black America. Many white Americans will be shocked at the urban crisis that quietly took shape while the main stream media sang about the hope and the change that was coming our way. Our new Black folk crisis has four points: a still-deepening recession, competition for jobs, resources, and power between Blacks and mostly Spanish speaking immigrants; the increased disintegration of Black political leadership; and the contrast between the high hopes of election night 2008, and the grim truths that have unfolded. Tension between Blacks and Hispanics is a way of life in some cities, and fights over a shrinking pie are nastier than fights over a growing one. Hum? It doesn’t matter who controls Washington and most state capitals, spending at all levels is going to shrink, leaving Blacks and immigrants in a scramble for the crumbs that are left over. Meanwhile, as I have stated many times in my posts, Black political leadership today is divided and poorly equipped to lead. This is partly for reasons I discussed in my recent posts on the decline of our race; while many poor Blacks still live in a race-dominated world, talented and educated Blacks have options today that their parents and grandparents lacked. Black baseball players were once forced to play for the Negro Leagues; when Major League Baseball opened the doors to Black players, the Negro Leagues lost their best talent, and their fan base.1947 was the year when Black hero Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball; fifteen years later both Negro Leagues were gone. The same thing is happening right now to some race-oriented civic groups and political movements; Black politicians who can break out of the race market get to be governors, senators and President; those who identify as race politicians get to be local council members, or at most members of the House of
Representatives. Do you know what I mean? This means that these politicians must focus less on issues like racial equality and urban poverty, and address issues of more, general interest. This is the approach President Obama took as both a candidate and as President. Candidate Obama talked more about the war in Iraq than about Hurricane Katrina, and as President he has avoided any sense of special support for us Blacks. Now that Blacks have more opportunities to succeed in the general economy, less of our top Black talent goes to work for Black businesses or organizations, leaving a big brain gap in Black communities. Just look at the recent gigantic cheating scandal in Atlanta, teachers and school administrators have one set of priorities; Black parents have another. Black parents want better schools; teachers (some of them, anyway) want better contracts. We need to build a coalition between those who think they have it made and those who need government services, and that wedge is driving Black politics into a dead end. Most times Black politicians end up fighting to get more money for poorly run organizations, then add in the back door dealing, and Black politicians lose the moral authority and dignity that would make true advocacy for poor Blacks more effective. New look Black politicians like President Obama cuddle with liberal good government whites, and push our specific Black demands off to one side, while old school Black politicians voice the emotions and aspirations of their constituents but are never able to deliver the schools, investment, and health care their districts need. Black America, never philosophically solid, is divided in complicated and evolving ways, and many of the traditional civil rights organizations and Black community groups are not equipped to cope with this changing America. These same problems also reflect the state of our Black media; the same trends making life difficult for historic white newspapers are also present in the Black media, where some media were already going broke! At the same time, the pull of main stream media is starting to attract the best of the best Black writers and thinkers away from historically Black media. Below all of this is a dangerous deepening frustration on the street, and a growing alienation between low income, less educated Blacks and the well integrated, well heeled and cosmopolitan elite Blacks. The election of the first Black President was not just a triumph for Black America; it also reflected a deepening crisis of Black politics and Black leadership. As I look at the Black community as a whole, I see that the right-wing forces reshaping American life are also affecting Black folks. The top Blacks are doing pretty well and becoming increasingly cosmopolitan elite not only in white America but in the world as a whole. The bottom end of Black life is facing much bleaker prospects with falling income and disappearing opportunities. The Black middle class is stressed out, divided between those on assistance and those in the private sector, as many Black families face the loss of middle class status and income as the recession grinds on. It’s really unsettling, as the educated, intellectual, and politically elite Blacks are out of touch with the realities, values, and emotions of the poor, lower and middle class Blacks. The institutions that have traditionally helped to bridge that divide (churches, and historically Black colleges) are under stress,
and in most cases have lower caliber leadership than in the past. It’s a fact we constantly ignore! When I talk to the youngsters in the “hoods”, and all I hear is escalating frustration about the failure of “hope and change”, we are starting to have an explosive mix. Conditions are bad, leadership struggles to rise to the times, and hope has soured into disillusion. Now it continues to look like the recovery will continue to move like a turtle, especially for us Blacks. Remember this; “I am saying this in this post, out of frustration and economic need, our internal Black politics will start to slowly shift away from establishment liberalism, going more left wing or initiating Black Nationalist options, as whites continue moving toward the right. If that’s where are headed, then President Obama’s election will prove that ordinary politics can’t, won’t, and didn’t change our lives! Those old established Black leaders who always urge us to keep calm and be patient will not have our confidence or trust anymore. Worst case scenario; some very hot times could loom not too far ahead
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