5 Minute Thought on "The Uppercut"

As a society, our thought patterns and overall cultural values and norms are constantly evolving. It appears that as  time goes on though, that we just want to combat every standard set forth until there are no more standards. We seem to play devils' advocate when it comes to all the wrong issues. Some things are just not broken and just don't need fixing.

This is all bothering me because of the Cleveland bus driver who punched the girl in the face. This was an instance where both people CLEARLY are at fault in some way. The girl should have never laid her hands on the driver or invaded his personal space. The driver should have never uppercutted the girl. TWO wrongs. But, many people are under the notion that the driver was right and only the girl was wrong O_o. In our culture, it is standard that males do not physically induce harm on females, due to the fact that men, in general and by nature, possess more physical strength than us females. This is a standard that for some UNKNOWN, IDIOTIC reason has been challenged by society. This notion that lesbians who wear mens clothing and females who hit you first DESERVE and SHOULD be hit by their male counterpart is now acceptable. A male SHOULD NEVER hit a female. Now any female is wrong for hitting a male--- so now that that has been acknowledged, can we get one party in the situation to act righteously?? We know the female is wrong if she's provoking you or hitting you!! The man is then left to be the bigger person-- He can walk away, restrain her, or CALL 911!!! If any of these options make you feel like less of a man, and hitting a female somehow makes you feel like more of a man, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A PERSONAL PROBLEM.

This is not a right & wrong situation. Just 2 wrongs. Neither act is righteous or justified. And that is all.

PEACE

Why Blacks Should Support President Obama

So the first presidential debate was last night. I don't really want to talk about what was said and who won etc etc. As I was watching the debate, I was preoccupied with the candidates body language, the tones of their voices, word choice etc. Romney was indirectly and sooo subtly patronizing our President. This has been happening for the past 4 years though so it's nothing new---- the level of disrespect shown to our President by other elected officials and on public national news programs has been ridiculous.But every Black person in America has been faced with these same attitudes at some point.

I know there are so many people that say we should stop categorizing him as a Black president and Blacks should not just support Obama because he is Black. Why???? As Blacks, we need to take the time to empathize with this man for a second....He is the FIRST Black President in a society that institutionalizes racism. Just think about the prejudice attitudes of his colleagues. He has to work with conservative people who WE ALL KNOW dislike Black people, hence the outrageous lack of cooperation he has received from the House and Congress. He has to walk into his job everyday, as the LEADER of this great nation, and listen to sneers, be patronized, compared to a monkey, ridiculed and probably belittled on a daily basis, directly and indirectly. I KNOW he has to deal with this because I deal with it, you deal with it, Black people deal with this!!!!

We walk into our college classrooms as the only Black face...this is something our White counterparts can't even comprehend or relate to. We walk into stores and managers follow us. We get profiled when we drive, walk down the street. WE get treated like shit at our own jobs!! Barack ain't no different. There are things that happen to us as Black people in the US that deter us mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally that our White counterparts do not fully understand because they have never walked in a Black person's shoes. I know the feelings of discouragement, disbelief, disgust, self-ridicule, discomfort etc. Now this is what Obama has to deal with on an extremely exclusive and LARGE scale, with people from a less accepting generation. What is he supposed to do though?? Get on TV and whine and complain that his colleagues don't like him and life is not fair lol. Is he supposed to just go off on everyone and quit his job? C'mon son.

Additionally, people say that Obama isn't really fighting for Black people or poor people. He has perpetuated the wars and his foreign policy is garbage. Now honestly, I couldn't break down all these statistical facts and happenings that have occurred over the past 4 years because politics isn't one of my great passions, but I would beg to differ. But first, we need to come to grips with some things: (1) Obama is a politician. Politicians are not saints, clergy, prophets etc. They are politicians-- sneaky, corrupt, power hungry figures. Of course some are worse than others and motives differ but we need to acknowledge the fact that politics is a dirty game but somebody has to play the game and Obama decided years ago its a game he's good at, he likes, and he wants to play to win...Just like any other job. (2) Obama is not obligated to Black people just because he is Black. (3) Our system of government is capitalism. That's what we do. It works for some and for others not so much. Some people are satisfied with this system but think it needs improvements and some people want a new system altogether. Most people have no idea what this means or why its relevant. But Obama has never expressed any discontent with capitalism...It's worked for him.

Ok now that that's clear, in my opinion, I have seen Obama pushing domestic policies that would benefit the poor, which includes many people of color and the elderly. Issues such as healthcare, education, green energy, job creation have all been addressed and sought to be improved upon. Flaws in healthcare, education and clean energy have effected people of color disproportionately tremendously and these are things he's addressing! At a time when others are blaming the poor for everything and ready to do away with us (YEAH YOU TOO; WE'RE ALL POOR IF YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED BY NOW), I can say he's trying. His success rate ...eh not so great however, there are many dynamics that have to be taken into account (uncompromising colleagues, prior economic conditions etc). We can't be expecting ANY politician to SAVE us anyways and I get the drift a lot of y'all are searching for a savior...sounds like a personal problem.

From a social standpoint, Black people need to realize the symbol that he represents to young Black girls and boys who have no knowledge of the political system. They see a family that looks just like them running the country. This image within itself can change millions of lives!!!! Just as we are bombarded with negative images of our race and acknowledge those effects and seek reform, we need to in turn, embrace the positive images as well.

With that being said, I believe Obama has THE HARDEST JOB in America right now. He's not perfect and everyone has room for improvement! At this point, if you don't plan on starting a revolution before November 6th, then you should be supporting Obama because otherwise, Romney will win and we'll be on plantations by the following Monday. This is voting for the lesser of two evils but thats what we have to do at this point. Otherwise you're wasting breath by just complaining how bad Obama & Romney are because complaints aint ever changed a damn thing.