HooRaaaaaay For Obama!!!!

@Rozie37 (15499)
Turkmenistan
July 15, 2008 12:54am CST
I just want to go on record and say that I totally agree with Barack Obama's speech for the NAACP. Bill Cosby said some of the same things recently and people came out and attacked him. Well I am an African American woman and I am proud of them for having enough guts to come out and speak the truth. We all do good to listen up. My people are still trying to use the "white man," as an excuse to stay down. Now I am not saying that we were not treated unfairly in the past, nor and I saying that we are treated as complete equals now. Racism is very much still alive in American. But what I am saying is that that excuse will no longer work. An African American can be just about anything that they want to be now. If they tried and somebody said no, they would have no problems filing a lawsuit claiming discrimination. I will repeat some of what he said. Turn off the television and video games, it doesn't make any sense for these young children to be sitting around wasting time and their lives in front of a t.v. set. Speaking of t.v., I remember on an episode of Roseanne where she was telling her son, "You got to develop your brain first, before you rot it out." That is all television is doing. Filling their heads with a bunch of filth and useless mess. People pay over $100.00 a month for cable every month, when they can go down to the library and check out a book for free. It doesn't make any sense. Then we have the teens running around with the cell phones, Ipods, most expensive clothes and shoes in the store and driving the best cars and they don't have no job. But when the police stop them and question them, they get an attitude. I am especially annoyed by the welfare mother's who look like the just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Then you see their children and it looks like their hair hasn't been combed in weeks, their clothes are dirty, they don't have lotion on their legs, and you wonder how they are keeping those holy shoes on their feet. I know you know what I am talking about. These women don't have a job, the least they can do is have enough pride to send their children to school looking decent. Stop sitting on your butt every day watching Judge Judy and Soap Operas. Those people have jobs. Get up and go to school and make something of yourself, while the government is handing you money. No one should have to make it mandatory, you should want to do it. Since when did having a child become a permanent. I remember this one African American lady who worked here(in the mental institution where they have me). She would come in here talking loud with her cut off shirts on. Sometime when she sat down, you could see her underwear. Her relatives would drive by and yell at her through the window and she would yell back at them. She was just very unprofessional in so many ways. She was a grandmother and at least in her forties, so she should have known better. I was so embarrassed that I would do things to try to help her and make her look good. Then one day she told me, You got mental issues, no one is going to listen to you. I got so mad, I told her, you know what, you are a disgrace to my race. Needless to say she is no longer here. I said to myself, she has raised children and is helping raise her grandchildren, will she ever get it? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080715/ap_on_el_pr/obama_blacks
1 person likes this
3 responses
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
15 Jul 08
Rozie, so much of what you are saying applies to all races. Kids today have cell phones, cars, digital cameras, ipods, notebook computers and everything else except a job. They see these things not as privileges but as entitlements. When they are handed so much as kids with out working, they expect it as adults. As a result they see a child as their ticket to stay home. Please don't say these things as if they are limited to African-Americans since they are not. This is every race. Some people don't get it. They are not smart enough. As for having a mental illness, it does not affect the quality of person you are. I work with a man who is the hardest worker that i know, no matter what you ask him, he will try and do it. He will give you the food off of his plate if you can't him. He will wait as long as he needs too. He gets hits and punched and has his food stolen, yet he doesn't retailiate. He is the sweetest man I know. BTW He is autistic and retarded. He can not speak but communicates with his eyes and his actions.
2 people like this
@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
15 Jul 08
The difference between some African Americans and most races is that the things that they have acquired were not handed to them from rich parent. They were obtained by illegal means. I am not putting down African Americans or the menatally ill. As I said, I fall into both those catagories. However, my mental illness affects my emotions and not my intelligence. This post was not done for debate, although I gladly welcome it. I was not speaking about any other races accept African Americans, because this is what Barack Obama was addressing and I agreed with him 100%. Now if you know of any other race that is accusing the "white man," of keeping them down, let me know and will take that up in another discussion. But that is not what this one is about.
2 people like this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
15 Jul 08
There was certainly a lot of truth to what he said and the message may be good. The problem is, that when he directs this type of speech specifically to black Americans, it looks like he's talking down to them. In many ways it sounds as if he thinks this is a bigger problem with black Americans than it is with the rest of the country, and that it's a problem he's immune to since he's somehow superior to the black Americans he's preaching to. Now I haven't looked at the statistics, so I'm not sure if it is or is not a bigger problem in the black community. I just know that when I hear someone make a speech about what "Whites" need to do, it offends me to be lumped in with people who I have no relation to, that may have done certain things in the past. I have to wonder what responsible black fathers feel like when they hear themselves lumped in with the thugs whose only interest is in impregnating women before moving on.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
16 Jul 08
Well, Obama was speaking before the NAACP. I don't take it as him talking down to anyone. Don't tell me you're with Jesse Jackson on this? I'm not offended when someone talks about various things "whites" do or should do if I know I don't fit into whatever mold they're talking about and hopefully responsible black fathers feel the same way about what Obama has had to say about those who aren't responsible. Anyway, I think Rozie, as an African American, can speak better for people of her race than you or I can. I don't mean THAT in a condescending way, either...lol! Annie
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
16 Jul 08
Annie, Jesse Jackson is an a$$. That's about the kindest thing I can say about him. In case you haven't seen my more detailed opinions on him and what he promotes, feel free to read that thread I started right after hearing about his desire to castrate Obama. More than anything I'm pointing out that what is overall a good message, could easily be lost on people who may be offended by the way he's choosing to target and deliver that message. Everyone knows how that worked out for Bill Cosby.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
15 Jul 08
Rozie, I'm so sorry I didn't see this post and respond to it sooner. I'm also very disappointed that I didn't get to see or hear Obama's speech to the NAACP on TV, but I read part of what he had to say and heard bits and pieces on various news shows when they were discussing it. Rozie, I'm very proud to say you're my friend and I'm glad I have an African American friend that I can speak (or write) to honestly without being afraid of not being PC enough. I have to say there are plenty of white women who fit the descriptions you gave of mothers who have their hair done perfectly and are wearing expensive clothes but don't even keep their children clean or their hair combed. I've seen a lot of that, especially in my years of delivering mail and it's not limited to any particular race or ethnicity, believe me! I agree totally with what you say about teenagers, too; I go to sporting events with my daughter and grandkids and it's unbelievable, I swear if I saw a high school kid without a cell phone at his or her ear I'd think they'd had an amputation! The high school parking lot is full of brand new cars driven by the students. They've had everything handed to them from birth and they've never learned to appreciate a thing and they've certainly never learned to work to EARN what they have. Rozie, I have to say, you've said you have "mental issues" but Hon, it sure hasn't affected your intelligence or your common sense. I applaud you for your honesty and your belief in people being responsible and working to improve themselves. Racism is alive and well here in America and it makes me sick and ashamed to be white sometimes because that's something I've never understood and never will. I also totally understand how some African Americans as well as some other minorities may have an "attitude" at times because I've never been discriminated against because of something I had not control over and neither were my parents or grandparents but I can just imagine how that would hurt, or maybe I CAN'T fully imagine or appreciate the feeling. Great post! I'm sorry nobody else has responded so far but I'm sure they will. Annie
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
16 Jul 08
I sure can't see any reason for anyone to attack you one this, Rozie. It's very well written and thoughtful. Of course, there are those who will attack anyone who has anything positive to say about Obama, so I guess you do have a point there. Annie
1 person likes this