They talk change, but they really mean hold fast to the past and cling to hopelessness. Be sure and blame the white man.
Wouldn’t it be something if Michelle Obama, not the Rev. Jeremiah Wright or John McCain, were the reason Barrack Obama looses the presidency? Instead of “change,” the First Lady-in-waiting is sticking with old hurts held closely by certain black communities.
They are those who relish the pain suffered by their slave forefathers and mothers. They revisit, over and over, what was; hurts, carefully protected and harbored as badges of honor.
None of us on this land are responsible for what happened to their kin, but they don’t care. They marinate in crippling history.
Why?
The reasons reek of the psychology of it all. As long as struggle is someone else’s fault, change is not a consideration.
Very few pioneers, who wove the early foundations of this country, missed out on suffering caused by prejudice. Either they were the wrong culture, sex, skill or religion. None, however, endured the evil suffered by the Native American.
Surely, every one of us, who cannot claim Native American blood, should leave this land forever, if justice is to be granted a wounded race. When that is done, let the next victims speak their claims against a nation so grand that during the past century it astoundingly righted major civil wrongs.
Where will it end?
Time for healing is long passed. Resentments and victimhood are now simply an excuse.
Despite her education, Michelle doesn’t seem to compute the reality of the struggle of all humanity, everywhere. Behind the scenes, I imagine the Obama campaign handlers are choking on their pizza.
“They just keep raising the bar on Barrack,” Michelle complained.
And, we all know what that means. If it’s hard to be elected president, it’s about discrimination. No mention of black Americans who’ve broken the attitude chains of helplessness.
There are a good number among the black community who call on their citizens to stop sniveling, to reach forward, not back. They urge them to gather their families, mothers and fathers, and teach children values and the privileges of hard work. But, the other voices seem to dominate. Many are religious leaders, such as Wright, the Obama family guru for 20 years. They capitalize on a transparent time warp. They talk change, but they really mean hold fast to the past and cling to hopelessness. Be sure and blame the white man.
Sometime ago (March/April 1995), Psychology Today quoted British psychiatrist Anthony Daniels (pen name Theodore Dalrymple) in an article called “The Uses of Resentment:” “If the world is unjustly stacked against us … it absolves us from the painful necessity to change. We can remain exactly the same while calling down anathema on a cruel world.”
And then he drives it home: “There is one further advantage of believing oneself to be the victim of circumstance. Our supposed victimhood assures us of our own importance.”
No one can ignore the evils of slavery. Like Auschwitz, it’ll always be with us. But, even if black Americans cannot find it in their hearts or religions to forgive, they can at least consider the power of letting go for the sake for their children’s futures.
The oddness of Michelle’s tack is this: she and her husband have proven the laws of hard work. Still, she resorts to political dirty tricks with snarly references to prejudice. Michelle’s seeking to capitalize on white guilt, but what she risks is the backlash of those who have grown weary of the gimmick.
Her husband’s right. It’s time for change. A great place to start is in those black American communities, which cling to cultural resentment.