What is Blackness?
This is a question that has been posed in the MEDIA concerning Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, and as a Black Urban Professional, I find it to be offensive. I would like the media to show me the unanimous checklist that black America has given to them to use as a judge of one’s blackness. I would bet that it differs based on class level and not just across race.
The only qualification that I use to judge a black politician is how far he will go to sell his soul. The question that I ask is, "will he lose sight of what I believe is his original plan?” To maintain or better the life of his constituents. Or, "Is there evidence that he has ever planned to help his constituents to maintain or better their lifestyle?" The question of his "blackness" only comes into play when I think about whether he has taken measures to improve the black community. I don't believe that a politician needs to or should give favoritism to a particular group simply because he is in it. However, if he feels like he will get further in the political realm by playing to the stronger influences in his term which are probably older white men, in a way that ignores the needs of the black constituency, and is strictly for his political benefit, than I have a problem.
There is a good example of "black enough gone wrong" in the media right now. Detroit's mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was deemed the Hip Hop mayor because he was young and "hip". However, having the qualities of what could be considered” "a real black men” by society’s standard have proven to be disastrous in the political world. I won't go into details but I'll direct you to the rap videos on 106th and Park.
Although, I want my candidate to still have his hand on the pulse of the black community, I expect that he has a certain level of education. He has to actually have learned the various aspects of the government, including, the economy, international relations, legal ethics, and management skills in order to be successful at the job. So while, its nice to think that anyone with street cred can step out onto the scene and work as a politician while keeping one foot in the hood, it’s not practical. As many Black Urban Professionals know, with education and exposure to other cultures comes a certain refinement in many cases. We as black people would be doing ourselves a great disservice if we asked our politicians to be less than stellar in those areas in order to play to a certain demographic. Instead we just need to make sure that our politicians have our needs in mind and continue to work toward their goal to maintain or better the life of his constituents. He should only be questioned when he strays from that fundamental goal.
This is a question that has been posed in the MEDIA concerning Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, and as a Black Urban Professional, I find it to be offensive. I would like the media to show me the unanimous checklist that black America has given to them to use as a judge of one’s blackness. I would bet that it differs based on class level and not just across race.
The only qualification that I use to judge a black politician is how far he will go to sell his soul. The question that I ask is, "will he lose sight of what I believe is his original plan?” To maintain or better the life of his constituents. Or, "Is there evidence that he has ever planned to help his constituents to maintain or better their lifestyle?" The question of his "blackness" only comes into play when I think about whether he has taken measures to improve the black community. I don't believe that a politician needs to or should give favoritism to a particular group simply because he is in it. However, if he feels like he will get further in the political realm by playing to the stronger influences in his term which are probably older white men, in a way that ignores the needs of the black constituency, and is strictly for his political benefit, than I have a problem.
There is a good example of "black enough gone wrong" in the media right now. Detroit's mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was deemed the Hip Hop mayor because he was young and "hip". However, having the qualities of what could be considered” "a real black men” by society’s standard have proven to be disastrous in the political world. I won't go into details but I'll direct you to the rap videos on 106th and Park.
Although, I want my candidate to still have his hand on the pulse of the black community, I expect that he has a certain level of education. He has to actually have learned the various aspects of the government, including, the economy, international relations, legal ethics, and management skills in order to be successful at the job. So while, its nice to think that anyone with street cred can step out onto the scene and work as a politician while keeping one foot in the hood, it’s not practical. As many Black Urban Professionals know, with education and exposure to other cultures comes a certain refinement in many cases. We as black people would be doing ourselves a great disservice if we asked our politicians to be less than stellar in those areas in order to play to a certain demographic. Instead we just need to make sure that our politicians have our needs in mind and continue to work toward their goal to maintain or better the life of his constituents. He should only be questioned when he strays from that fundamental goal.