First, you have to watch this video.
The “Birther” theory suggests that President Obama isn’t an American citizen. He’s lying. And, sense he wasn’t born in America, he isn’t supposed to be President. People on the Left-side of the ideological spectrum claim this is racist. People on the Right-side claim that it’s logistical. But it’s important to understand WHY the Birther theory is racist. Black people, especially Black men, have had to be extra careful all their lives. Getting pulled over is dangerous. Getting a job is more difficult. We’ve had to prove that we are not savage negros with insane libidos and an instinctual need to be violent and angry. We have had to constantly prove ourselves. You would think that a man that accomplished the greatest accomplishment a human can achieve wouldn’t have to worry about proving himself anymore. There is an old slave saying that my grandparents used to say to me. ”What more you want?” It goes back to slave times, when the slaves worked and worked and worked, but the day was never finished. There was always more work to do. A guy can graduate college, graduate from the best college in the country, get married to a beautiful woman and have wonderful kids, get elected to office and run for Senate and then run for President but then people are asking about his birth certificate.
“What more you want?”
This election is going to be nasty. All elections are. But, by making a birther joke, even a light hearted one that took five seconds to say, it sort of reminded me of all the “funny” bosses I’ve had over the years that have made racial jokes in my proximity and laughed and then, looking at me, saying, “Come on, man! You know I’m just joking!”
Yeah. I know you’re just joking. I just don’t think the joke is very funny.
The part that is the most absurd here is that even after his birth certificate is produced there are STILL questions for the president because he happens to be a black man with the funny “un-American” name. White people like Mitt are just symptoms of the greater disease of racism. These are white people who don’t want to acknowledge that racism is still at huge problem in this country, even as they benefit every day from being white – and even better, also a man.
We have a long way to go. And, honestly, not much time to get there.