Remember The Dark Side, With Nat X ? It was one of Chris Rock's few successes in his short stint on SNL, where he played a talk show host that had a virulent hatred of 'The Man'... You know, The Man - who invented White-Out, that tricky white substance that only erases black letters...... who made the black jelly beans the worst tasting ones in the bag..... who teaches us that if you squeeze a black piece of coal long enough, it turns into a shiny, white diamond.... and who only made his show 15 minutes, because if it were any longer, they'd consider it welfare.....
Well, we heard a comment earlier this week that makes us wonder if there are people who will ever see balck candidates who are 'black enough'. I'm listening to 1010 WINS newsradio here in New York, and they're talking about Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker, who was up for re-election on Tuesday. For those who don't know, Newark is a black city for the most part, so the question isn't will a black candidate win, but which black candidate. One of Booker's detractors slammed him for 'just making Newark safe for the white people to come to town', and that he didn't really have an interest in African-Americans. Finally, the reporter asked if she was basically saying that Booker 'wasn't black enough' - and she said yeah...
Hmmm..... Do we see ANY reason why Booker wouldn't be considered 'Black Enough'?
Translation? To her, Booker is an Uncle Tom... is this the first time I've heard this? Of course not, but by now, you'd think that kind of attitude would go away. It's a lot like the RINO - Real Republican argument, just racially and politically the opposite. We're all searching for purity of whatever we think is pure and right. Is this correct? I suppose, because people can like whatever they want in a candidate, but judging in pure racial terms shouldn't qualify as right. I hope no one actually buys this, but I'm sure some still do...... and you don't have to look far.
I'll address that lady's concerns. Should Newark stay a black city? Absolutely, but guess what? They DO need help from the Non-African American community to get out of the hole they're in. The opposite is true as well - we're interdependent. They have a poor tax and income base, and getting people from the 'Burbs to see a concert (which friends of mine have done) or go shopping will get them there. No, racially, it won't be like a Mountain Spring, but should it really matter when no one there has a job. I'd rather be Prince of a Castle than the King of Shit - but that could be the motivation...
So, why am I, a white guy, stepping on this landmine of a topic from 700 miles away? Well, because I'm 700 miles away...... No, just kidding. It's because I grew up in a town where it was equal parts White, Black and Hispanic. No one dominated, so we HAD to get along and work together. Also, this parallels Downtown Florence to a T.... We could have made progress in developing the downtown area, despite the recession, but we have a bad seed or two who see everything in the wrong light - and in black and white. No one wants to kick out the minority-owned businesses in Florence, but without everyone working on this, it will never happen. You'll see some more examples of downtown revitalization that places here did - because they had to, or they would die. Food for thought....
The good news is that Booker did get re-elected Tuesday, but it's a shame that he has to deal with people who think that way still... Florence has the same trouble with a perosn who's name rhymes with Shmred Shmrobinson - but we're ALL working on it. As Nat X would say, 'Mike Reino, sit yo' White Ass down !!!!!'
www.hulu.com/watch/19311/saturday-night-live-the-dark-side-with-nat-x
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