Obama’s Elephant…

Every politician has a closet of skeletons…I suppose Hilary’s closet has “that dress” in it, and every time that proverbial closet is opened, THE DRESS sits quietly snickering as if it knows something she doesn’t. The dress that knew where Bill was for those six days she was kicking it in the White House accordingto her newly released scheduling docs (still waiting to see where you stepped in as President, Hil!) If we look into McCain’s closet, it may very well be filled with reports cards with A’s in every subject except those F’s he most likely received in Economics (and Ben-gay). Spitzers elephant ran out this week naked and singing through a $4300 microphone. Obama’s elephant let himself out of the closet recently, and his name is Jeremiah Wright.

If you’ve ever been to Pastor Wright’s church, as we have, you’d be in awe of the pomp and circumstance of baby christenings akin to The Lion King, dashiki-clad choirs and affluent black people . The kind of black people that routinely show up in Jet Magazine. The Who’s who of Black America attend this church, but there are catches. You don’t necessarily need a bible to follow service in church, so much as you just need to be unashamedly black and unapologetically Christian. And, any given Sunday, you have to be willing to surrender to your anger at a racist society.

Any given Sunday, Pastor Wright approached subjects that mass media now consider ‘controversial’. For some reason, the rest of America didn’t know that this is the case with most pastors in African American churches. Although his language may be a little more bold, his thoughts generally align with those of his peers.

Obama’s elephant is not necessarily Pastor Wright. Obama’s elephant is something the nation has danced around since he hit the main stage. Obama is a black man. A black man who has been routinely mistaken as ‘the help’ at political functions. A man, who like every other black man, most likely has trouble catching a cab in Chicago and DC. The type of man his maternal grandmother once admitted to being afraid of when passing them in the street. We can’t ignore race in this country because this is a country who has bullied, enslaved and belittled people for its entire existence. When you’ve fallen victim to ANY kind of discrimination, whether it be because of height, weight or race, its hard to move past it. But finally, here is a leader who is ready to take on race head on.

I believe that the only way to move past the pain of our people is to address it. I do not think it the responsibility of our counterparts to apologize for what generations before us went through, nor do I believe reparations is the answer. I think our healing is in opening up our closets and letting our elephants out of the room with the same candor with which Governor Patterson and his wife let New Yorkers know out of the gate they both had affairs. The same candor with which Obama shared his drug use (O did that so hopefully y’all won’t have to go through that, LOL!). If that means letting your co-workers know not to touch your hair, go for it!

Should he disown the man who facilitated his marriage ceremony and baptised his kids? Of course not! That’s like asking all of America to shun all of our family members who make racially provocative statements, or that uncle who uses the N word like people use “um” or “you know”. Should Obama disown his grandmother for being a purse clutcher in an elevator, too?