Please -- Don't Make Him Look Bad

Not to take anything away from the masterful campaign President-elect Barack Obama's team ran, but it has to be acknowledged that Bush and his cohorts made a Democratic victory so very easy by pushing the country to the brink of ruination -- financially and in regards to our reputation worldwide. As president, Obama and his cabinet will have their hands full as they attempt to right the Ship of State. Issues like the economy, the war, foreclosures, and healthcare will dominate all of the new administration’s time and energy. However, this leaves plenty for the rest of us to do.

Voting for Obama was the easy part; helping him resolve some of the long-standing and persistent social problems of the nation will prove a bit harder -- he'll desperately need our help. In his election-night speech, the president-elect pointedly mentioned personal responsibility. That's where you and I come in.

If, two years from now, the crime rates in America’s inner-cities are at the same levels as they are today, if high school graduation rates haven’t moved upward, if the unemployment rate among minority youth remain alarmingly high, the enemies of the progressive movement the new president represents — the spiteful triumvirate of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly — will have a field day declaring the Obama Administration a total, abject failure. Of course they’ll probably find fault no matter how well he carries out the duties of the office, but let’s try to not give them any real ammunition.

As president, Barack Obama can move to fix the economy — but he can’t move to take back our streets from the “thugocracy” that now dominates them… we’ll have to do that for ourselves. We have to form neighborhoods groups and block watch organizations, but most importantly we have to get out into the streets and let our young lost people know that we, the upstanding residents, own them and we’re not going to tolerate their bad behaviors anymore. In my neighborhood of Hough we’ve recently formed a group named “Community Voices,” and, in the words of abolitionist Horace Greeley, “We WILL be heard!” Our mission is to impact every aspect of community life in Hough. We plan to tell our misdirected youth that their criminal behaviors will make the new president look bad, and we, quite simply, are going to do everything in our power to not allow that.

As president, Barack Obama can move to allocate more funding for public schools, but he can’t be in every dysfunctional household, making sure that someone is getting children up, feeding them a healthy breakfast, and then assuring that the student is in their seat ready to learn when the first bell rings … we have to find a way to assist these families. The Cleveland school system needs to utilize retirees and others to establish mentoring and tutoring programs that actually go into the home and instill the values — like being on time — that are requisites for success later in life. A child has to first learn to be on time if he wants to one day grow up to be president — and if the parent didn’t learn this from their parents, then how can we expect them to teach it to their children? Continually failing children will make Present Obama Look bad … and we don’t want that.

As president, Barack Obama can call for justice reform, but he can’t be in every squad car assuring that police are not engaging in selective enforcement, and then in every prosecutor’s office to assure that Blacks and Whites are not being charged differently for the same crimes. Also, he can’t tell every judge to quit worrying about posturing for the electorate by handing down unjust sentences so they can appear “tough on crime” and thus insure their reelection. If they truly believe in democracy they would begin telling prosecutors to quit bringing these types of cases into their courtrooms, and would move to support alternatives to incarceration — especially in low-level drug cases. Likewise, the criminal defense bar has to quit being mere accomplices in this charade and become more vigorous in their defense of clients of color. If money is their only goal, they should practice corporate law. A Black man in a White House means little if justice is not meted out in a fair and evenhanded manner by our criminal courts around the country.

As president, Barack Obama can call for fair hiring practices and equal pay for equal work, but he can’t be in every union hall to assure that the same trade unions that proudly displayed Obama/Biden banners during the election don’t continue to find clever ways to deny Blacks membership. Likewise, White progressive business owners who flocked to the polls to cast a vote for a Black man can no longer — in good conscious — refuse to hire Black employees. The next time you’re in a downtown restaurant, just look around and see how many (or more appropriately, how few) people of color work “in the front of the house.” Busboys don’t count. And that’s just the visible tip of a dirty iceberg: There are dozens — if not hundreds — of companies in Greater Cleveland that have never hired a minority, and see nothing wrong with their discriminatory behavior. When Obama spoke of “spreading the wealth” I think what he really meant was “give everyone a shot — an equal opportunity.”

Let’s not become confused: Barack Obama is not the Messiah, and America didn’t suddenly change on Nov. 4. He simply opened a door for us… a door that leads to the opportunity, to change — change that many of us have been demanding for years. But now the timing is right … the door is open … it’s up to us — all of us who hoped, prayed and worked so hard for this grand opportunity — to step through it. America is finally set to live up to the ideals set forth by our Founding Fathers …the question is, are we ready to do it? In the words of Gandhi, “We have to become the change we want to see.”

I have only one request: Please, let’s not make the new president look bad.

Mayor Jackson and Political Courage

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson demonstrated political courage rarely seen in an elected official: In the face of perhaps strong opposition from some of his advisors, he changed a drug policy that was unfair, ineffective — and some would say was racist. Most elected officials know that we can’t “win” the so-called “War on Drugs” (which really is a war on people) by simply locking people up, but few of them possess enough heart to publicly admit this fact and then do the right thing … most simply pander to the electorate because they are afraid of losing votes.

The situation — in a nutshell — is this: People caught with drug residue in a crack pipe in one of the suburbs are charged with misdemeanors; people caught with the exact same dirty drug paraphernalia in Cleveland are charged with a felony. Why? Many believe it’s because Cleveland cops can make overtime by going to court on the felony … and therefore have fought tooth and nail to keep giving mainly Black youths felonies for possession of dirty crack pipes. Of course, when the same cops catch a White youth with a dirty crack pipe in Cleveland they can always throw it away and tell the youth to “be a good boy now, and go on home.” Hey, who’s to know?

Is Frank Jackson going to catch pure hell from some quarters for this bold and fair move which changes the rules of engagement? You bet your sweet ass he is … but it still was the right thing to do, no matter what the Neanderthal knuckle draggers say. Way to go Frank, we got your back ‘cause you got ours.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com
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