The way Rev. Al Sharpton's treating Senator Barack Obama reminds me of something that happened to me in Oakland. When I worked for the City of Oakland, and then-Mayor Jerry Brown, fresh from his election victory, was moving into City Hall, I was to be transfered over from my office in the Mayor's Office, to ...somewhere.
City Manager Robert Bobb personally asked me to talk with then-Economic Development Director Bill Claggett, with whom I did not entirely get along with. But I did have lunch with him and he told me that he thought I talked like I knew everything. To which I said it wasn't that I did, but many people -- himself included -- were not used to hearing someone Black speak well.
At that point, I didn't want to go over to Economic Development
When I told Robert Robb what happened, his reaction was that he expected Glaggett to say that. "Oakland," he said, "Is a crabbarrel town. You know what I mean? You? Bright. Young. Articulate. Black. They can't stand that. They want to pull you down."
Because Bobb said that, I went to Economic Development -- simply because he knew what the problem was and how stupid some of the people were being. The same can be said for Reverend Al -- well the stupid part that is.
One big reason we as African Americans have been slow to overcome the chains of the past is that people like Reverend Al won't let us take them off. And for every one of us who does, like Barack Obama, there's someone like Reverend Al, right there to put them back on again -- or at least try to. According to an article in the New York Post , Sharpton doens't like Obama and is jealous of his success.
Now Sharpton knows that if anyone can help him achieve his agenda, it's Barack Obama, but the possibility of success is not desirable to him as long as he has to deal with someone who's able to be something that Sharpton doesn't see himself as: bright, smart, and attractive. So, Sharpton says he's "not Black" knowing all the time that slavery is not a measure of Blackness and never was. There were "free" Blacks even during Slavery. He also knows that many of us have some measure of White blood. Big deal. It's how society regards us, and everyone sees Barack Obama as Black, including himself.
I've gotten the same slings and arrows from not just Blacks, but people like Bill Claggett, who's White, that Barack Obama's getting today. Fortunately, America's waking-up to the stupidity of people like Claggett and Sharpton, and in such a way that Sharpton's childish attitude could wind up hurting his friend and presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton.
But such an outcome is of no matter to a Crabbarel like Reverend Al. As long as Blacks remain second class citizens and there's room for his "victimization" approach, and he's on top, that's all. It's all about Reverend Al, no matter how much it hurts other Blacks like me or Senator Obama.
He's just trying to pull us down.
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