Clarence McKee
BlakPac Nation Blogger
President Obama and much of the black political and civil rights
leadership have become pretty adept at expressing selective sorrow,
outrage, and expressing condolences to victims of gun violence.
But it all depends on who pulls the trigger.
Last week in a tweet, Obama called a 15-year-old black football player
shot to death in Knoxville, Tenn., shielding three girls from gunshots a
“hero.”
In an obvious reference to gun control, he asked: “What’s our excuse for not acting?”
He sent representatives to the funerals of Michael Brown in Ferguson and
Freddie Gray in Baltimore — both killed by white police.
And, last month in a Facebook post, he said he was “deeply disturbed” by
a police video showing a white Chicago police officer shooting and
killing a black teenager.
The above expressions could be considered commendable. But, given the
nature of the violence and shooting gallery atmosphere in many of our
cities, the concern is a bit selective.
As I have often written in this space, neither Obama nor most black
civil rights and political leaders express the same feelings over the
black against black genocide occurring daily in our major cities.
Blacks in Chicago are to be commended for taking their protests over the
latest police shooting and alleged cover-up to the white business
district instead of, as in Ferguson and Baltimore, looting and burning
their own communities.
There were no such protests urging the mayor and president to take
action to stop the thousands of black on black gang killings that make
many Chicago black neighborhoods killing fields; and, no demands for the
resignations of key city officials for the lack of city response to the
litany of black on black murders.
A good example is Reverend Jesse Jackson. In one interview he complained
about Chicago’s 25 percent overall and 50 percent youth black and brown
unemployment rates, the closing of grocery stores, drug stores, and 50
schools.
Not much said about the killings. Obama's remedy: a “White House policy on violence and urban reconstruction.”
In a similar vein, in a recent Time magazine article referring to gun
violence in black communities as a “massive problem,” six time NBA
champion, league Most Valuable Player, and author, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar
asks, “Where’s the outrage? The demand for substantive action? The
address from the Oval Office?”
He went on to say, “An announcement from the Oval Office that we’re
intensifying our attacks on poverty to save lives, strengthen the
economy and give hope to other Americans who need it now would be
welcomed.” He makes good points but he should not hold his breath.
The question is: why has he, Jackson, the NAACP and so many others
prominent in black advocacy, including the Congressional Black Caucus,
been so reluctant to demand action by the first black president to
address the issues of urban violence and black on black crime?
It is really embarrassing.
So what has Obama done on the issue of urban violence and the problems plaguing black America? Not much.
Six years into his presidency — six years — he announced two
initiatives: a Task Force on 21st Century Policing in response to events
in Ferguson, and other cities with the goal of instituting new steps to
strengthen the relationships between local police and the communities;
and, the My Brother’s Keeper Imitative to help break down barriers,
“clear pathways to opportunity, and reverse troubling trends” for boys
and young men of color.
Too little too late.
No major legislative initiatives dealing with problems facing urban
America even when he had a Democratic Congress. Meanwhile, he moved with
“warp speed” to address issues related to same sex marriage, protecting
children of illegal immigrants, and being an advocate for the
abortionist lobby, and Planned Parenthood.
Any “black agenda” was in the back of the first black president’s
priority bus. Why were urban issues not on his agenda? As he and
defenders said, he was president of all America, not of black America.
The same “blinders on” attitude also applies to Hillary Clinton. She
can talk all she wants to about “Black Lives Matter,” racism and
injustice regarding law enforcement, but, I note that she, like Bernie
Sanders and Martin O’Malley, rarely, if ever, call for an outright
attack on joblessness, urban poverty, and black on black violence in
our major cities — all controlled by their own Democrats.
What are worse, black Democrats and civil rights leaders don’t even attempt to demand answers and accountability.
That’s one reason why blacks are so disrespected politically — they and
their leaders engage in selective outrage. They are so quick to say
that Republicans and conservatives are insensitive to the needs of
blacks and urban America, while giving their Democrats, including Obama,
a huge pass on poverty, unemployment, and the gamut of ills affecting
urban America.
The sad truth is that they have been a day late and a dollar short when
it comes to holding Obama and Democrats responsible for seven years of
neglect of millions of black American families trapped in violence
plagued ghettos.
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