Silence of the Obamas

A few days ago,  along with some friends,  we discussed the issue of race in America.  At the center of our conversation was the fact that prior to Obama's election, we'd not heard the words "racist" or "discrimination" within the context of our conversations in quite some time, yet now the word is bandied about frequently and freely.  Having come of age in the 1960s we clearly remember the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, the boycott in Alabama, the march to Selma.  In fact, the struggle of black Americans to achieve racial equality in all aspects of life is firmly imprinted in our minds.  Perhaps we've led sheltered lives not being in the inner city, but we have to say that racial relations in our childrens' generation is a far cry from what it was when we were children, and the changes have been for the betterment of black Americans. 

We don't deny that discrimination still exists.  It does for all races and creeds, and often in reverse form.  But the fact that much has been accomplished is indeed very real, and boundless opportunities are available for those willing to work hard to achieve their goals.  As they were growing up, through their high school and university years, our children had African American friends, roommates, fellow athletes, and co workers.  After their marriages, their friends often consisted of mixed race couples.  We'd advanced so far in achieving racial harmony, we scarcely gave it a thought.  This writer spent summers tutoring black basketball players so that the would still be scholastically NCAA eligible when they returned to school in the fall.  Their race was not an issue, if fact, it was nice to be called "Mama" by them as they became part of our extended family.

Why then, have we taken such backward steps in race relations in this country in the last two years?  Before Barack Obama's candidacy did we ever see baton carrying Black Panthers at the polling place?  Did Black entertainers turn out in droves in support of a candidate to turn out the vote, merely on the basis of race?  In his "I have a dream speech" Dr. King spoke to black Americans:

"But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force."

Where are the black American leaders to continue his tradition?  What we have instead are the Jesse Jacksons, the Al Sharptons stirring up racial tension any time trouble brews between blacks and whites.  They call themselves "reverends" but we never hear  words of healing, forgiveness, or spirituality from them.  Then there is Jeremiah Wright, Obama's one time spiritual advisor, preaching separatism of races.  Even worse, there is Louis Farrakhan and his Nation of Islam always searching for ways to blame "the white devils" for all ills that might befall the black  community. 

Why is it that only whites are supposed to listen and learn from Dr. King's speech?  Where is the black leadership today admonishing other blacks that violence is not the means by which to achieve equality?  Why is it that Barack Obama remains silent when a crime against a white person is committed yet rushes in with comments if the situation were reversed?  Witness, if you will, in the account below the Obamas' hypocrisy in maintaining their silence in the face of racial atrocity when the victim is white, then ask yourself, "Why?"
Two Sisters

The Obamas Silent in the Face of Race Atrocity

By Lauri B. Regan

For the average human being, it was not possible to watch the video of two black women beating the life out of a defenseless white woman at a McDonald's in Baltimore and not feel complete and total revulsion. Adding to the horror was the knowledge that the black employees -- one who only half-heartedly attempted to intervene, one who was filming the barbarism, and perhaps others not seen on the video -- did absolutely nothing to save the white woman from her assailants.

While police investigations are focusing on whether the attack was a racially motivated hate crime, the LGBT group is also suggesting that the assault was a hate crime due to the victim being a transgender woman, notwithstanding what appears to be a lack of evidence that the woman's sexual status was known by her assailants. In either case, it is clear from the video that the monsters beating their helpless prey were filled with animal blood lust that was completely inhuman.

One of the first thoughts that I had when trying to process this heinous assault that left the woman bleeding from her mouth and seizing violently on the ground was how it reminded me of the days of wilding, the Central Park jogger case in particular, and of all the other senseless hate crimes that occur in our cities.

But more importantly, I then thought about the fact that we have a black president who so far has remained silent about the crime. Barack Obama was vociferously outspoken when his black buddy Louis Gates was properly and justifiably arrested by white officers in Boston two years ago. However, when a white woman is brutally beaten to a pulp by two black women less than an hour from the White House, our POTUS has nothing to say on the subject.

And the reason that this is so offensive is two-fold: (i) Barack Hussein Obama was supposed to be our post-racial president bridging the racial divide and healing the country's wounds; and (ii) Michelle Obama has spent the better part of the past two and a half years as first lady dictating to America's youth what they should and should not be eating rather than helping them learn how they should and should not be acting.

With regard to our FLOTUS, where does one begin? While she gallivants across the globe on the taxpayer dime eating up delicious delicacies, she has chosen attacking the nation's childhood obesity problem as her raison d'être. And while childhood obesity may be a serious problem, I maintain that Michelle Obama is not the appropriate spokesperson for a multitude of reasons including her hypocrisy on the issue, her lavish lifestyle (that affords her the opportunity to eat as she desires and work it off the next day with her personal trainer), her lack of medical expertise, and her pathetic attempt to address the social and psychological issues underlying the problem.

Instead of telling people what they should order if they enter a McDonald's, the first lady should be teaching people how to act when they enter a McDonald's or any other public place. This is not a racist suggestion -- the suggestion is no different from Barack Obama telling young children that they can all fulfill their dreams since, as a minority, he was able to ascend to the highest office in the land.

Perhaps Michelle Obama has not watched the video clip of two black women beating the white woman to a pulp. If she has not, she should. And perhaps it will move her to stop talking about food and start talking about behavior, because with her fancy vacations, personal chef, elaborate parties, and other sundry benefits of the job comes responsibility.

And while I could go on for pages on Barack Obama's failures in office, what is relevant here is just how empty his rhetoric continues to be. For not only has he been an absentee president on multiple levels, but he has been the missing link in what was a real opportunity to bridge the racial divide that has been ailing our country.

In his famous "race speech" Obama stated:

"Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. ... And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.
What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow."

Well it is tomorrow and our absentee president is, well,
absent. Healing the country's wounds is tough business. One cannot have the audacity to hope but then remain silent in the face of atrocities like that which occurred at a McDonald's restaurant this week.

Obama has not hesitated to interject himself into a multitude of domestic issues including the Louis Gates arrest (in which he opined, "what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately"), the Ground Zero Mosque controversy (in which he discussed "[o]ur capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect to those who are different from us"), and the Wisconsin budget protests (in which he stated that Governor Walker's legislation was "an assault on unions").

In Obama's world, African-Americans, Muslims, and unions are victims who deserve presidential support. There will be no prosecuting New Black Panthers who terrorize white voters, there will be a worldwide reach out to Islamic terrorists, and union thugs will be given carte blanche to bully members and non-members alike. But white transgender women are on their own.

Obama went on in his infamous speech:


A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families -- a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods...all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.

Well yes they do continue to haunt us but blaming a lack of "economic opportunity" on the "cycle of violence" is disingenuous, lazy, and disgusting. It is disgusting because Obama seemingly justifies violence in the same manner that Palestinian apologists use to justify the murder of innocent Israeli civilians. Mr. President, violence is not a natural and acceptable consequence of economic strife in a civilized society.

In yet another Obama speech he stated the following:

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -- at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do -- it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we're talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.

Mr. President, it is time to stop talking. Perhaps instead of going to George Washington University to give a campaign speech justifying your abysmal economic policies, you should visit inner city schools and teach kids respect for human life and common decency. Take on the responsibilities of office which include immediately denouncing this act of violence and begin to address the cause full steam ahead. Move past your own resentments and anger about the travails of poor black Americans since the beginning of time and take proactive steps to help them learn to value life -- not government handouts and entitlements and certainly not violence.

I am not suggesting that what happened at the McDonald's in Baltimore is the Obamas' fault. But I am strongly advocating that they use their remaining time in office (God willing, only 19 more months) to the betterment of society. And what society needs desperately is a toning down of the anger, racism, and class warfare that the Obamas are fomenting.

Our country needs individuals in the White House who lead by example, who teach right from wrong, and who understand that no matter how much you share the wealth, there will always be people who remain devoid of morals and values until they are taught otherwise. The Ones who promised the country hope and change have done nothing to implement the promises they made to the black community or the country as a whole. It is time they owned up to their responsibilities to the people.


© American Thinker 2011

Warning the video is extremely violent.  Video

"King's New Dream" by Kevin Jackson

Martin Luther King, Jr. died on April 4, 1968 at the age of 39.  He was killed by an assassin's bullet in Memphis, Tennessee.  Just a few months later on June 6, 1968 another American involved in public life died.  Robert Kennedy had been mortally wounded by another assassin's bullet the previous day.  Thus ended this writer's senior year in college.  On June 8, 1968 I graduated college and the ensuing 42 years have been spent observing dramatic changes in the American way of life, particularly the evolution in the black community from common day workers denied of equal opportunities,  to well educated professionals, in all the academic disciplines. 

Yet in spite of the many success stories, we have not seen a leader like Dr. King, whose inspiring rhetoric and tireless efforts emboldened an entire people to break the chains of bondage and realize that "Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to choose between alternatives. He is distinguished from animals by his freedom to do evil or to do good and to walk the high road of beauty or tread the low road of ugly degeneracy. -- Martin Luther King, Jr., The Measures of Man, 1959.

A very large segment of our population only knows about the Civil Rights Movement from what they've learned in school or read in books.  As time goes by, less and less of those who lived through the times remain.  Many of those who write and speak about Martin Luther King, Jr., or Robert F. Kennedy, were not born, or were mere children at the time of their deaths.  Consider that Barack Hussein Obama, the current president of the United States was a mere eight years old at the time. 


There is a great deal of debate and speculation as to Dr. King's political affiliation.  He most likely was a Republican like his father, and like his friend Charlton Heston, who left the Democratic party during the Civil Rights movement.   Dr. King's non violent ideology, and his entire life have been put under a microscope since his death. Rumors  about him have appeared in print, most of which  cannot be verified. What is important today is to acknowledge that his legacy to the Civil Rights Movement  and black Americans transcends political affiliation. 


Could a black man have been elected to the presidency of the United States had it not been because of Dr. King's efforts to end discrimination and bring about a bond of friendship and brotherhood between the races?  This is where the debate lies today.  While researching facts for this article the following article was found:   Is MLK’s ‘Other America’ Still Relevant Today? written by  Anthony Jerrod for the Atlanta Post, Jerrod states the following, "To be sure, race relations have improved when benchmarked to March of 1968 when Dr. King gave this speech.  But, it is relatively safe to state that our nation is still reluctant to have candid recognition and discourse about the problem of racism.  To a large degree, I agree with Attorney General Holder’s relatively controversial assessment that we are a “nation of cowards” when it comes to the topic of race relations."

In order to illustrate his point Mr. Jerrod then proceeds to detail isolated incidents of bias, to malign The Tea Party Movement, Speaker Boehmer, and former Governor Sarah Palin.  To add insult to injury and biased reporting to his essay, he links the recent Tucson Tragedy to American intolerance,  After skewering the Republican party and conservatives in general, Mr. Jerrod, goes on to demonstrate his ignorance and cultural as well as media bias by concluding his article in this manner:   "On the whole, is Dr. King’s “Other America” still vibrant and relevant in our current time and space? Unfortunately, this metaphorical yet literal dualism still exists and will continue to persist until we move beyond partisan rancor, indifference and vitriolic words and move toward genuine recognition, repentance, love and unity, as President Obama eloquently discussed during the recent memorial service in Tuscon."

We ask ourselves the question, "What would Martin Luther King, Jr. think about the age of Obama.  Others have their own opinions, but we would think that he would have been proud that black Americans were able to go out and vote freely without fear of retribution.  However, we do not think that he would approve of the direction in which Obama has taken out country.  Dr. King was all about freedom, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.  He was all about unity, and brothers and sisters uniting hand in hand.  Instead, the Obama administration has set back race relations by decades.  The man who was to be the great unifier, has brought out the worst rancor and mistrust between the races in generations.

To better understand a different point of view from Anthony Jerrod's we offer an essay from Kevin Jackson, a black conservative whose view and opinion different greatly from the one previously presented.

January 17, 2011 http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/01/kings_new_dream.html
King's New Dream
By Kevin Jackson


MLK Day is today, and it got me to thinking about his legacy and the civility that everyone is now asking for in the wake of the Tucson shooting. MLK would be disgusted at how his legacy is being used: liberal blacks use him to establish a double standard, a sort of "have your cake and eat it, too," while liberal whites prostitute his dream.

When MLK fought for civil rights, there weren't a lot of black mega-millionaires or black industry moguls like Oprah Winfrey or Jay-Z. If BET existed at all, it would have been only because black people would not have been able to appear on "regular" TV.

Fourscore and three years later, the liberal black man in America is still a prisoner. Liberal blacks are no longer "sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination," as King wrote; instead, they have become prisoners of their own minds.

America has made good on that bounced check due to "insufficient funds," and black people were made whole and then some. The black man is no longer an exile in his own land, as King suggested in the '60s. When King spoke of the shameful condition of the black man, it was real and at the hands of white Democrats. Today however, if there is a shameful condition of the black man, it is a condition of the black man's own creation.

There can be no argument that black people have advanced to the highest possible levels in America, and black liberals know in their hearts that the sky is the limit as far as the potential for black achievement is concerned. No longer do black liberals need to feel disingenuous when encouraging their children that they could one day be president of the United States.

Despite all the overwhelming examples of achievement by blacks, however, liberal black people still complain more than any other culture about America -- calling America racist and saying that the black man is being kept down. They are right on the second point. But it is liberal blacks keeping liberal blacks down.

Black liberals are conditioned to complain, the same way a child does to get his way. Meanwhile, millions of illegal immigrants stream across our borders, happy to trade places with any American, and millions more line up legally to reach the same end. All over the world, the longest line of any embassy line is the line at the American embassy. MLK would smile at the fact that America remains the country that people all over the world still fight to get to.

MLK would have seen Obama's squandering of trillions of dollars as wasteful, wholly ineffective, and completely antithetical to his dream. King would recognize what Obama has done by pilfering the taxpayer as the purchase of the poverty industry and the writing of more checks destined to bounce.

If King were alive today, he would explain that we live in a time where America is losing jobs by the thousands every week, when one million people had their homes repossessed, and five million more have the same fate pending. King would know that Obama's promissory note is as good as Obama's word. The content of one's character.

King would have still have a dream today. He wouldn't want black people dependent on the government. As before, King would want black people to get a fair chance at the American dream as promised by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

America is a very different America today from what it was when Democrats were writing oppressive laws against black people. King would be overjoyed to see that in "Alabama[,] little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers." "For Whites Only" is a thing of the past, and King would rejoice that in America today, "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

King's legacy extends beyond the gains made by blacks today, gains that are being squandered in a mad money-grab by leftist politicians both black and white. King's legacy has manifested itself into a group hated by the left -- as much as blacks were hated by the left back in the '60s. King's dream today would undoubtedly be a vision of Tea Party movement.

King talked about the "fierce urgency of now." How true those words remain to this day. King recognized the tyrannical nature of the government, and he would be standing shoulder to shoulder with Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Herman Cain, Allen West, and many others in an attempt to free not only blacks this time, but the entire nation from the very same government that was oppressing blacks during King's lifetime.

King would recognize that the oppression of government had not ended, but only shifted in an attempt to seize the entire nation, morphing as a virus would in order to survive in its host.

King would recognize the disease that has us discussing America's racism in a time when America has a black president. King would understand that a government suing one of its states for protecting the American dream can only be a malady of the brain, or a blatant sign of a government intent on enslavement of its citizens.

As King said back then, "We cannot walk alone ... we cannot turn back."

Today, King would hear freedom's ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire, from the mighty mountains of New York, from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado, from the curvaceous slopes of California, from Stone Mountain of Georgia, from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee, and from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. Because the Tea Party people would be with him, shouting, "Let freedom ring."

Kevin Jackson is the author of the Amazon best-selling book The BIG Black Lie and The Black Sphere blog.