Barak Obama??
My brothas and sistas. This is one of them times where its nice to know what another black person thinks. Now I ain't shy so don't yall be. But I got a question that I don't fully understand and I don't think alot of other black people fully understand it either. But my question is this...Why should black people vote for Barak Obama? I really don't understand why. Don't get me wrong its nice to vote for somebody black but.......this raises two questions in my mind. The first is How do you know when you are "black". I ask this because technically Barak Obama is not "all black". What makes you "black"? Is being half black "good enough"? The second question is what do we really know about Barak Obama? Im not saying all black people are clueless and imautre but sometimes thats how we act. Some just see a dark skinned man and decide to vote for him. So what do we know about him really? What are his political views? What does he plan to do in office? I don't know do you? If we really don't know anything about Barak Obama why should we vote for him? Tell me what you think.
You know just as much about Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as you do all of the other candidates, past and present, from what you've either been told or heard from the candidates themselves. On the other hand, there are several ways to keep track of Obama, as well as others in the world of politics, utilize various search engines to research out information on all candidates, listen to the news more, become an avid watcher of CSPAN in order to bone up on issues being discussed/debated by the House and Senate, and pay attention to the "trends" and policies set by others, past and present. It's not an easy process to endure, but it will enlighten one.
As for whether Obama is "black enough," let's be real here - It's all about how one appears from the outside in the overall scheme of things. And for that matter, a lot of us are in the realm of not being "all black." But I digress...
Nonetheless, look at the patterns set during the (Bill) Clinton reign and then analyze that of President George W. Bush's. Anyway, I wouldn't suggest to vote for any candidate merely based on his/her ethnicity or religious affiliation, but I would advise folks to "pay attention" to their local laws as well as those established in their respective states - One might be very surprised at some of the legislation that has been passed right under their nose without them ever realizing such policies exist or were even discussed.
As for one's race being a sole factor in gaining another's vote, be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. (And that works regardless of a discriminating vote based on a particular candidate's race/ethnicity.)
Here's to the issues!
Jane L. Wilson