Back on Nov. 4, when thousands of Chicagoans filled Grant Park to celebrate the astounding and historic election win of Barack Obama, the city’s pride spouted forth in greater abundance than the waters of Buckingham Fountain.
Back on Nov. 4, when thousands of Chicagoans filled Grant Park to celebrate the astounding and historic election win of Barack Obama, the city’s pride spouted forth in greater abundance than the waters of Buckingham Fountain.
We were proud that a Chicagoan was going to be the most powerful man in the world. We were proud that the election of this African-American to that position was a sharp rebuke to those who felt that America would never ever overcome its racist history and elect anyone other than a white male president of the United States.
But while we felt pride here in Chicago, that night marked the beginning of the end. In fact, the end was trumpeted months earlier, when Obama triumphed in the Iowa Caucuses. That was when it became clear that America might be ready to vote for a Black man. Those results announced that not just Black voters were behind Obama. That was when the possibility of Obama being president of all of the United States, not just the blue ones or the Black ones, became real.
Some folks, however, did not get the memo. Those are the people who are criticizing Obama for not spending time trying to rectify the conditions in Roseland or other Black neighborhoods, or for eschewing his community organizer roots and not putting forth a serious “urban agenda.” It sounds like those who first criticized Obama for not being “Black enough.”
______
To read the rest of this article, subscribe to our digital or paper edition. For previous editions, contact us for details.
Copyright 2009 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.