Without divulging my exact age, let’s say that I have an awareness of the 80’s. For kids we had Transformers, 4-in GI Joes, He-man & his twin sister She-ra. For teenagers, we had break dancing & Michael Jackson’s “moonwalk.” For those into politics, we look back at this decade as the pinnacle of American wealth & global influence. Russia was the big enemy but we were safe enough at home to usher in the age of the Material Girl & a “trickle down economics” system that made the 80’s the “Me Decade.” And when it came to marketing, it was all Miami Vice, fast cars, & hot girls. For the longest time, it was socially acceptable & even fashionable to say, “Sex Sells.” And then one day, we weren’t allowed to think such a thing much less say it aloud. In today’s social climate, I’ve probably violated enough sensitivities in this opening paragraph to earn myself a lifetime ban from social media!
So, assuming I haven’t been LOCKED OUT of my account yet, let’s move to the next step. Hopefully I’ve established what used to sell. But what is it that sells now? And once we figure out what sells now, we can progress to the why behind it.
Sex used to sell. Now, it’s banned–at least, on the surface anyway. But, to stay on topic, I won’t delve into those particulars. What sells now is RACE.
Now, WAIT! Before you bombard me with innumerable insults & make assumptions about what I look like, how I vote, how many guns I own, what kind of flag I fly, what my education level is, & how rusted up the pickup truck is that must be parked in my yard is–know this. I’m a minority. I’m NOT white. Although I was born in the American southeast & have never lived in any other country, I endured constant reminders of how different I looked from the typical American boy. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve been asked, “Hey–where are you from?” Or, in less polite encounters, “What ARE you? Go back to wherever it is you came from!” Many of these questions persisted past adolescence & into adulthood. Know this: I endured my transition from a boy into a man before “Yes we CAN!” I earned my stripes without the protection of mainstream media policing every social interaction & stigmatizing any instance of potential racism. But then came November 2008 and American finally had its first Black President. Instantly, it was finally warranted to be proud to be American. I’m not exaggerating–there were actual public figures who made statements like this. As though we were finally worthwhile because we had elected a black president–an act that ushered in “a new color-blind society” & better America. And admittedly, the election of Barrack Hussein Obama was a landmark event. In our nation’s most visible leadership role we had a bi-racial man who proudly exuded overt African American features who could have indeed brought about civil harmony. But, the way I see it, the Democrat party & the main stream cable news networks that were so enamored with him never transitioned away from the victory lap phase of their triumph to the mending fences phase. In almost every sport, you’re taught to go after your opponent with all the savage energy you can muster within the rules. Great winners like Earvin ”Magic” Johnson commented on numerous occasions that you could be friends after the season but during the NBA finals, you had to hate your opponent if you wanted to win. Then when it’s over, we can accept the outcome, shake hands, & be friends again. In fact, growing up, I remember hearing an unflattering term for competitors who failed to do so. They called such people “sore losers.” Many coaches, commentators, & athletes pushed the idea that losing is bad but acting like a sore loser is even worse. Well, in the case of the Democratic Party & cable news apparatus–from this point forward to be referenced here as “the Left”–they acted like sore winners. They never stopped gloating; never bothered making an attempt to shake hands with their opponent once the outcome was decided. I don’t even blame Obama, but I do blame the Left for how poorly they mismanaged his victories in two consecutive presidential terms. Anytime Congress didn’t go along with a Presidential objective, it was because they were racist. We’d see numerous interviews with Democratic congressman along with cable news talking heads laugh off any disagreement with Obama as sore loser syndrome. I even remember MSNBC interviewing a handful of congressman who said, “Well, the truth is–we have a black president. And that’s a hard truth to swallow for many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle.” Yeah—that’s the reason.
Looking back, I wish that Obama’s two terms could have brought about the healing that the Left proclaimed it had. But the truth is, they never made an attempt to re-unite the country. It was as though they thought–“Well, we just elected a black president! To hell with those losers we didn’t vote for him. We’re taking this country into the future with or without their approval. We have a black president–we don’t need our idiot neighbors anymore!” Before you label me racist, remember that these observations are coming from a man who had been asked “Hey, what ARE you?” numerous times in the most hateful tones. But it comes down to this: the Left kept proclaiming we were a color blind nation and that it was so true, they didn’t have to remind us anymore. However, every time there was a disagreement or the Democrats didn’t get their way, they made it about black vs white. So much for color blind. Have you heard that phrase that you can’t have it both ways? You can’t advocate a color blind utopia while constantly crying race every time things don’t go your way. It’s as if Americans can’t be motivated by anything else other than race—and if that’s the ONLY consideration that matters. But I thought we were moving away from rendering wholesale judgments based exclusively on the single trait of race. Isn’t that, by denotation–racism?
What bothers me the most about the Left’s posturing as the champion of racial equality is that they define racism so narrowly. It’s essentially the negative or unfair treatment of black Americans. I’ve had liberals laugh in my face when I relayed instances of racism that I’ve endured. You think it hurts me any less because I’m brown, not black? Is my suffering worth so much less because, although I’m not white, my skin isn’t dark enough to really count as racism?
In recent years, the Left has moved to the catchphrase of diversity to put a new face on an old concept. Just last year, an Asian American woman won a regional election in Michigan as a member of the Democratic party. A few national headlines appeared citing dissatisfaction within the Democratic party for having chosen a candidate who “was not diverse enough.”
I know I’ve angered enough people already so I’m going to wrap this up. You never have to vote Republican for all I care. I’m not telling you how to vote much less how to think because that’s the one thing that infuriates me the most about progressive overreach. But I will ask something of you. If your resigned to voting Democrat solely for the status as the anti-racist party, just take a moment to re-examine how well they’ve lived up to that mantra. Consider what I, a full blooded minority who has been told by white Americans to “go back where I came from,” am about to say.
Obama was a bi-racial candidate. In 2008, it was socially acceptable to say he was “half-black,” which means he was also “half-white.” In theory, he really could have fulfilled MSNBC’s prophecy of ushering in America’s Pax Romana for race relations. After all, what better way to signify the perfect union of the great United States in the modern era but through a handsome, athletic, likeable man who was both black & white? Obama should have been a symbol for what was possible for all Americans. We could have christened him the President for all people, as he was black, white, & everything in between. No matter what we looked like or what insults we had suffered, he could relate to all of us. We were so close to a societal breakthrough. But instead, the Left used him as a mascot for their superiority. They had the moral high ground–Republican American, racist America, be damned. If you disagreed, media personalities openly ridiculed you, welcoming you to leave the country if you didn’t like its leadership. Doesn’t that sound almost as hateful as “Go back to where you came from?” A distinctly remember a journalist from MSNBC grinning arrogantly as she challenged citizens who weren’t happy with Obama to “go ahead & succeed & try to fight your civil war. If you remember, it didn’t work that well for you last time you did that! Ha-ha!”
Does that statement sounds like the sentiments of a party whose goal it is to unite? And since this speaker was a member of the press, do these sound like the words of an unbiased free press?
When Trump won the presidency in 2016, these same media pundits called him the “Divider-in-Chief.” But this minority thinks that the way the Left used Obama like a mascot for their ultimate triumph over the Right did way more to divide us than Trump did. Obama was a politician who was equally black & white; but the Left chose to celebrate him exclusively for his blackness while ignoring the inconvenient truth of his whiteness. They divided Obama into the quality they could use to hang over everyone’s head. And maybe–just maybe, they’re doing the same thing to divide us. Why? Because a divided population is easier to control because it’s easier to distract.
You don’t have to vote Republican. You don’t have to reject the Democrats. You don’t have to like me. I’m not going to tell you what to do but I will humbly ask this of you. From a man who has been through “the struggle” himself–maybe not the same struggle that black American has struggled against but a struggle nonetheless & one that’s worth mentioning even if neither party can benefit from it . . .
When you go to the polls this November & you cast your vote, please ask yourself why you’re voting for that particular party. Have they really made things better for us? Do they really embody your core values? When I cast my vote, I’ll be absolutely resolved as to what drives me to do so. And if you think it’s because I’m racist than you’re just willfully ignorant. Recognize, as I have, that politics has less to do with race & more to do with selling us someone else’s version of reality. We just constantly hear about race these days because–well, because that’s what sells these days.
But this minority—this survivor of life before Obama, cautions you—BUYER BEWARE!
impure thoughts 