Dr Boyce Watkins: Michael Pfleger, Black People, Barack Obama

As I prepare for my road trip to several states for various meetings and speaking engagements, I wanted to leave people with a question of the day. These are the things that sit on my mind as a black man at 1:18 in the morning. So, in spite of the belief that all black men are out figuring out ways to be bad fathers or stealing from little children, this black man is at home thinking. I think a lot and that's the benefit of living by yourself. In spite of my presence in the world, you would be surprised at how much time I get to spend with internal dialogue. Personally, I think this is an important part of finding out who you really are and rising above all the crap in our society.

Here is my question:

Have you noticed that most people who agree with Senator Obama's critiques of the black community are the people who are not affected by the critique? Women agree that black men need to stop being deadbeats. Good fathers agree that bad fathers need to stop being bad fathers. Middle class black people agree that the poor need to have better morals. My follow-up question is: how would these individuals respond to Obama's critiques if they were leveled at THEM? What if he were to say that black women need to be kinder to men so they won't leave their relationships? What if he were to criticize middle class African Americans for forgetting about their responsibility to those they left behind in the inner city? What if he were to criticize black academics for spending too much time in petty ivory tower politics and too little time engaged in meaningful intellectual leadership?

I don't agree with any of the critiques I've mentioned above, although I've heard people state them. I personally believe that all cultures are heterogeneous, with good people and bad. No group is worthy of being cast aside as solely demonic. I used these examples because I noticed that it's easier for all of us to accept a critique when it is directed at someone else. It is much harder to accept criticism when it is directed at us.

While many in White America enjoyed hearing Obama criticize black men for needing an upgrade in personal responsibility, they did not respond similarly when Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Pfleger criticized White America for an irresponsible commitment to racial inequality.

It's funny how people behave when the tables are turned. I would not, like Rev. Jackson, say that I want to remove Obama's testicles for his unwillingness to critique White America. Based on the fear he is showing in this election, it appears that they may have already been removed. Impress me Barack: "Tell it like it is" to someone else. Unless, of course, black people are the only group in America with something wrong with them, or perhaps you're just afraid to do so.

Barack Obama Advice: Just Denounce All of Black America- That Might Work

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

Barack Obama is a nice guy, and I really want to see him have the chance to become president. After all, it appears that we’ve decided that having the first African American integrated into the highest office in the land is more significant than anything we must sacrifice in order to make that happen. It’s up to us (as a good friend of mine explained to me) to prove that we can “make it in the big leagues” (since it’s clear from History Class that we haven’t accomplished much of anything to this point). So, we must be willing to do whatever it takes to get elected, no matter how degrading. We should denounce any leader, group or institution in the African American community that does not meet the approval of the broader white American majority. After all, if it weren’t for our willingness to play in the “big leagues”, we would still have to deal with that trifling, pesky Negro League that was fortunately destroyed when we were integrated into Major League Baseball. Also, were it not for complete integration and assimilation, we wouldn’t have access to the excellent inner city school systems across America.

For just a minute, I am going to ignore reports of US racism, such as the recent report by Human Rights Watch showing clearly that the United States is a country mentally ill with racial discrimination. I am going to be a team player from this point on. We don’t want to give the Republicans (and Democrats) anymore ammunition by forcing Senator Obama into the embarrassing position of having to denounce yet another black person or group who doesn’t meet the approval of the rest of America.



So, I put together a list of suggested denunciations that can keep Senator Obama out of trouble in this campaign. He’s already denounced several black religious leaders and abandoned his church of the last 20 years, so he might as well get rid of anything else that might keep him from having a chance to receive complete validation from America. Black children should learn a lesson from all this: give up whatever you must in order to become successful. You are not quite good enough by being who you are, so disowning all threatening aspects of your culture is a necessity for “mainstream” acceptance.

Suggested denunciations for Senator Barack Obama:

1) Medgar Evers – Evers was defended by Father Michael Pfleger, and we all know that Father Michael Pfleger can’t be trusted. Spending your entire life helping black youth in the South Side of Chicago gives you no right to speak about the black experience or racial injustice. God forbid Father Pfleger try to speak the truth in the house of God, that seems to be the last place the truth belongs.


2) Martin Luther King – We have to get rid of Dr. King too, just to be safe. This trouble maker agreed with many of the points being made by Father Michael Pfleger and Medgar Evers. We can’t have Barack Obama agreeing with someone who agrees with someone he’s supposed to disagree with. That wouldn’t make any sense in such a rational election environment. Obama already understands where I’m coming from on this, since he missed the 40th anniversary marking Dr. King’s assassination. Good job!

3) The other black “rabble rousers” - While we’re at it, we should also denounce Malcolm X (of course), Marcus Garvey, the Nation of Islam, Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Julianne Malveaux and anyone else who brings up this stupid racism thing which we all know doesn’t exist. We can get Ward Connerly for the denunciation press conference. He’s got black skin, so he’ll do.

4) Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass - Tubman and Douglass are shoe-ins, since they contrast with the great American slave owners George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. You obviously can’t have our president supporting the ideas of someone who conflicts with our country’s greatest American heroes. The president should be 100% patriotic, and patriotism obviously mandates unconditional acceptance of your nation and its leaders, both past and present. Michelle Obama learned of the necessity of unconditional acceptance with her snotty little “proud of my country for the first time” comments. We also know that Jeremiah Wright wasn’t patriotic. Pastor Wright’s little stint in the Marines was nothing more than a publicity stunt, and it’s a myth that Trinity United was one of the most respected black churches in America. If it was so well-respected, then why did Oprah leave after only 8 years?

5) Fried chicken or any other kind of soul food - This unhealthy African-American habit should not be embraced by our nation’s president. We can’t have our president endorsing the idea of high cholesterol. Obama should try eating whatever it is they eat on Seinfeld; that might work.


6) Hip Hop music and culture - I am not sure how any sitting president can support the vile, disgusting behavior of those hippity-hoppers. Barack: if they ask you about 50 Cent or Kanye West, deny even knowing who they are. You might also want to add a cherry on top by stating that “George Bush REALLY DOES care about black people”. That will really make em feel good!

7) The electric slide, step shows or any other form of African-American dance….wait a second. It’s ok for black people to sing and dance. We’re licensed for that one. In fact, it’s a requirement. Scratch that one from the list.

Every African American Studies department in America – After all, African American studies departments speak out about racism with all their “hate speech”, and we just can’t have that kind of talk in a fair, integrated society. In fact, an excellent campaign promise would be to get rid of these “racist” departments as soon as Obama is elected. Yeah, that one would really go over with Hillary’s self-proclaimed “Hard working white” supporters. While you’re at it, you might also want to denounce any and all forms of Affirmative Action. Sure, whites have inherited all corporate capital and nearly every good job in America for 400 years, but we can’t have this kind of reverse racism putting unqualified black people into jobs that others truly deserve.

After all of the appropriate denunciations and when the dirty nature of black culture has been sufficiently cleansed, Barack Obama might just be pure enough to be president. He’s already (according to Joe Biden) “the first African American candidate to be so articulate and bright and clean”. Perhaps I should take more showers, since 12 years of post secondary education still hasn’t made me clean cut enough for the world in which I live.

Barack Obama may just want to denounce every black person in America, or at least get rid of the millions who had the audacity to cheer when Father Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright were preaching. He should also denounce the millions of women who cheered when Michelle Obama made her statement about finally being proud of her country. It seems that being silent about the atrocities of the past 400 years is the requirement to get into the White House. I wonder if Jews would be willing to remain silent about the Nazi holocaust in order to have a Jewish president? Probably not, since they seem to actually respect their ancestors by being proud of who they are. How pathetic is that?

Barack Obama Denouncing Again, Quick thoughts

I woke up this morning to gobs of email from the lovers and haters of the piece I wrote supporting Father Michael Pfleger in the latest of Barack Obama's racial problems. I also read this morning that Senator Obama has denounced the Trinity United Church of Christ and all the individuals in that church who have supported him all these years. This reminds me of the superstar athlete who is told to leave "the hood" and not associate with friends and relatives who supported him when he was just a scrub. It was the love and support of the people of Illinois that got Obama's career going, I am not sure how I feel about his denunciation of his church home.

That led to some quick thoughts I have on the matter.

1) Why hasn't Hillary Clinton been asked to denounce any of her friends who speak strongly about race? In fact, didn't Condoleeza Rice say something racially controversial recently? Perhaps President Bush should be asked to start denouncing also. It seems to me that America simply wants to make sure that Barack Obama is not "too black to be President." This appears to be a social clensing, the same that many of us go through in middle class Black America.



2) Why doesn't Senator Obama just cut to the chase and denounce all of us? I think that might make things easier, since there are hundreds of thousands of African-Americans who agree wholeheartedly with Pastor Jeremiah Wright. It might seem that simply getting rid of the entire black community would give him fewer headaches. Black people are just too much damn trouble.

3) How would the Jews feel if America refused to acknowledge the holocaust? What if America had no desire to protect or support Israel from hostile forces in the middle east, claiming that anti-semitism is "just a myth" that they made up? I don't believe, for one second, that anti-semitism is a myth, but perhaps that puts things into context when understanding why African-Americans are so livid over America's lack of willingness to be honest about racism. America has not even apologized for the 400 year holocaust on black families, and they get angry when we bring it up. If this were done to the Jewish community, they would be outraged.

Those are my thoughts. I still stand by Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger and Senator Barack Obama. They are my brothers in truth, and unlike the McCarthyists on the other side, they will end up on the right side of history.

Video below: Dr. Boyce speaks on Barack Obama leaving Trinity

Father Michael Pfleger: Walking the Walk of Jesus

Father Michael Pfleger called me on my cell phone a couple of weeks ago. I was busy, in the middle of something. But when he called, I stopped what I was doing to talk to him. I am not religious, but I know a true man of God when I see one. Michael Pfleger catches heat for being so direct, but I respect him a great deal. He stands tall and strong in the name of God and while there might be those who want to see Pfleger gone, the reality is that there is tremendous truth in what he says.

Anyone who sees Father Michael Pfleger's bio knows that he is serious about seeking fairness and justice in America. He not only pursues racial justice, he pursues AMERICAN justice. If Jesus were in the flesh today, he would be doing similar things. Again, this is a man who walks the walk and will go down in history as one of the greatest pastors ever.



Those who claim that Pfleger preaches hate don't know a damn thing about what hate really is. If they want to see hate, they only need to look at what their parents, grandparents and great grandparents have done to African Americans since our country was founded. The idea that fighting historical oppression is equivalent to maintaining oppression (i.e. Sean Hannity is the same as Jeremiah Wright) is not only silly, but it is quite revealing of how little racial education an individual has. A daughter who files a lawsuit against the family of the man who raped her mother and stole her belongings is not a thief and rapist herself. As Father Pfleger points out clearly, this government has benefitted from stealing from our ancestors, that is why black people have nothing: we don't own media, we don't own corporations, we don't own universities. That didn't happen overnight. It happened because of racism, and we are forced to deal with these effects every single day.

For those with open minds, I encourage you to listen to Father Pfleger. For those who don't want to listen, just continue bathing yourself in the ignorance inherited from your forefathers who also taught you to ignore the obvious about racism. God bless you Father Pfleger, you are truly my brother. Martin Luther King is smiling from beyond.