black…MYstory

The big question, of late, has been whether or not Americans will go to the polls and vote for a black man. I have heard people everywhere claiming that they would and, for a second, I’ll dismiss my cynicism and take them at their word. However, there is another notion that I am glad to see someone addressing. I believe many would think that America’s problem with racism would go away if Barack Obama were to be elected president. I don’t believe that for a second and neither does Earl Ofari Hutchinson.

He breaks it down lovely when he writes the following:

An Obama presidency would be a racial step forward in the sense that it shows that enough whites can and will look past race to make a black, especially an exceptional black, their leader. It would not show that they are willing to do the same for the millions of blacks that cram America’s jails and prisons, suffer housing and job discrimination, are trapped in failing public schools in America’s poor, crime ridden inner cities.

Their plight and how they are viewed and treated will remain the same after Obama takes office as it did before. A President Obama won’t change that.

Yes, I also agree…it is a step forward but, the solution to this issue is much deeper than just giving one guy a job. It’s about consitently creating the opportunity for any similarly-situated person of any color, gender, orientation, religious belief, etc. to take advantage of this same opportunity and not have any of the above be what determines whether or not they can get the job.

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