Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: President Obama and the Michael Brown case [View all]BumRushDaShow
(128,535 posts)52. "at the time, seeking the democratic nomination for the presidency."
That I know but I left the rest unsaid regarding what happened afterwards with him that added to the painful year of 1968.
I think that too many want to equate him with his predecessors when, based on the way he has been disrespected in an unprecedented manner, he is a living, breathing example of what is going on in Ferguson and elsewhere in the U.S., and what is inherently wrong with this society. But he also represents what the nation is capable of doing, despite that adversity.
You have 2 famous authors who wrote about such dichotomy - Frantz Fanon "Black Skin, White Masks" and W.E.B. Dubois "The Souls of Black Folk", with a famous observation from that book -
It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at ones self through the eyes of others, of measuring ones soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He does not wish to Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He wouldn't bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face.
The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He does not wish to Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He wouldn't bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face.
I think the President is trying to navigate what was described by Dubois over 100 years ago. And the concept is difficult to elucidate in a speech without alot of eyerolling from the majority population.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
71 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
How about when photojournalists (like the photographer for Getty Images just now) are
VanGoghRocks
Aug 2014
#11
So the President doesn't have a role when journalists are being arrested for
VanGoghRocks
Aug 2014
#23
Well, I'd expect a president to direct the DoJ to ensure that no journalist is
VanGoghRocks
Aug 2014
#31
Do you support the arrest and incarceration of journalists plying their trade? Yay
VanGoghRocks
Aug 2014
#36
By my count, last night, 4 journalists were arrested and held (photographer
VanGoghRocks
Aug 2014
#49
I've sort of lost sight by now of what this whole kerfluffle was about. Seems to me it was about
VanGoghRocks
Aug 2014
#59
I think there's a sometimes a gulf between what he can and should say and the effect of that
bigtree
Aug 2014
#61
i agree but i think there is more also, he got a lot of negative attacks for just talking
JI7
Aug 2014
#14
"Some wanted him to act like Robert F. Kennedy after assassination of Martin Luther King Jr."
BumRushDaShow
Aug 2014
#37
The issue is not about him speaking out on every case--he can't do that, obviously;
Jackpine Radical
Aug 2014
#57
I've developed zero tolerance for those who post just to pick on my nerves and insult me
bigtree
Aug 2014
#48