Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Submariner said...

Thanks anon. I think it's a symptom of deeper ailment when black people could denigrate other black people for gratuitous and well-intentioned enthusiasm for an unprecedented achievement. I expect some whites to make spurious and derisive comparisons to the Million Man March and Freaknic. But for seemingly intelligent black people to succumb to this is quite disconcerting and tells me how far we have fallen and the arduous task ahead.

Some of the statements that I've read here sound exactly like they could've been written during Reconstruction as educated and usually Northern blacks looked with scorn upon their recently manumitted Southern kin. And for the self-professed "blackest man on the planet" to perpetuate this tells me that he is unimmune to Cadillac Flambe.
This is a singular achievement. A black man endured the most rigorous and highly selective competition ever: imagine the NBA Finals, Super Bowl, PGA Championship, and Wimbledon rolled into one. Black people as a whole had a critical role in President Obama's success. This is a proud moment for all of us. Permit black people our freedom of expression. If DV's favorite rapper can adorn excessive jewelry, be covered in tattoos from head to toe, and wear saggy pants 365 days a year, then black people of diverse classes, backgrounds, and regional tastes and accents can get together and participate fully for the first time in our national regeneration without our own folks tearing into us and putting us on blast because of hairstyles, gear, or type of car we drive. Don't worry. Plenty of white boys like byrdeye will take take potshots and attempt to clown us. Most assuredly, the news media will find an eccentric brother or sister to give comments for the record.

But the readers of this blog should know and act better. You don't need to love all black people. You don't need to chill with all black people. But you should respect all black people. It's time. For once, let's give each other a break.

Denmark Vesey said ...
OK. Sub. I can see that. Not the intent, but I can see that. Point taken.

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