Birther Fiasco = Attempted Political Genocide

Here we are, well into President Obama’s term in office, and this rumor that actually surfaced during the primaries some years ago seem to have built steam and come back to life – with help of Donald Trump.  The ‘Birthers’ are a group of people
who question the legitimacy of President Obama based on whether or not he was born in the U.S.

This irritates me for a couple of reasons, no, correction, for several reasons. I am amazed at how many ‘Born in the USA’ – Americans were not paying attention in Social Studies and/or Political Science, when we learned the requirements AND procedure to become a legitimate candidate for president. There are some prerequisites and a lot of paperwork to fill out,
which has to be submitted and approved long before a name can make it to the ballot.

So, as I watch all of the people who jump on this board with this theory, I know that they were sticking gum on someone’s chair while this was being covered in school. Ok, so let me be a little bit lenient about it, lets not talk about those struggling puberty years when paying attention was hard because of all of the important stuff that was going on socially, but what about now when most everyone has internet and google in their home, on their job, or maybe in hand due to a smartphone. With today’s access to information, anyone who didn’t know the qualifications to run for political office could
still find out whether or not this kind of issue was worthy of a second of mental energy.

But the truth is that most Americans are mentally lazy and want someone to do the thinking and the speaking up for them. Most Americans function with the herd mentality. Why is it so unthinkable to think and discover the truth for one’s self?  There are people who are declaring that ‘Americans need to take their country back’, but what I want to know is take it back from whom, and where was it taken to by who ever took it?  What are they really saying?

Seriously, if President Obama was not qualified to be the leader of this country, wouldn’t someone have put a stop to his candidacy long before well into his term as president? If there were some scandal that would have discredited his candidacy, wouldn’t they have made sure that information made its way to every news outlet long before now? So what is the investment for Donald Trump or anyone else bringing this ‘birther’ issue up now?  It is obviously because the campaigning is about to begin for the next election and this was an attempt to get President Obama out of office before the end of his term, or at best destroy his potential to be elected for a second term.

So why would I call this genocide? Simply because genocide is an attempt to erase not only an individual but an entire ethnic group. If President Obama could successfully be thrown out of office, it would not only require that his presidency be erased from history, but it would also set the stage to discredit any and every future non-WASP seeking the high office of president.

It wasn’t so long ago that a similar methodology took place in the US, so that one who crossed the boundaries would have to become the example that would let all others know that this would be your fate, if you too get out of line, manifested by an ‘I cant stop you, so I need to destroy you’ mentality. And all though, many want to act like lynchings didn’t take place in this country, they did. And although there are many who have never heard of Emmett Till, it did happen. Sadly there are plenty whose names and faces didn’t make the history books as their lives were taken because of the mentality of those who held true to act upon the sentiments of their heart toward the destruction of others, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen.

So when I see our current president being subjected to challenges of his legitimacy to stand as our president, I have to wonder, what are they really saying, other than they don’t like his policies or what he has done since he has been in office? This is definitely more than an attempt to out campaign the incumbent. This is an attack to discredit his right to lead this country by declaring that he is not American enough to lead America. 

What would make President Obama American enough in their eyes?

What could be changed about President Obama to make him the man that they would proudly accept him as president?

Now that the long form of his birth certificate has been presented, not only to the press, but available online, now what? 

What will be the next attempt to demand that he not go down in history as our first African AND American
------President? 

Isnt it ironic that with so many Africans brought to this country by force that the president would actually be the child of an African who came to this country of his own free will? It is certain that the sentiments of many regarding certain blends of heritage are present in what is said and what goes unsaid. How do Mitt Romney’s remarks really sound to us?

Lastly, if Donald Trump truly had intentions of becoming our next president or even someone with respect in political circles, why isn’t his energy going towards dealing with his tycoon buddies over in the oil industry, convincing them to help this struggling economy by lowering gas prices at the pump and therefore allowing for more cash flow in the overall economy, which would create economic stability across industries for more than those at the very top?  If Donald Trump or any candidate for that matter, really wants me to take him seriously as a candidate for president, he will have to cut his hair into a normal and reasonable style, and he will have to show that his love for this country is about the lives and economic survival of all Americans.

My Own Audacity

I cant help but to see something bigger and more significant to me in this years Presidential Candidate and Potential First Lady. Don’t get me wrong, the thought of having this country’s first president who is truly African and American, is beyond huge in its significance to me and to history.

But I cant help but to take a more narcissistic thought process to task when it comes to Barack and Michelle Obama. There is something more happening than the political. It is on such a large scale the world’s first glimpse into Black Love.. This Bonny and Clyde dedication to sharing a life together that brings about an affinity towards each other that can be, not only seen, but felt just from looking at a picture of them standing together.

Sure we have seen Beyonce and Jay-z, as the one’s who brought this Bonny and Clyde concept to modern popular culture to express their thoughts towards each other…. and there are other African American couples that have endured the test of time, such as Bill and Camille Cosby, whose brand of endurance is not as outspoken – or viewed as publicly. That is my point, popular culture has been a louder voice, and especially in the African American Community than that of the well educated who are also a part of this ethnic identity and story of American potential.

The Obamas’ represent the other side of African American culture and family life that is not often shared with the mainstream of society. The other thing is that this kind of dedication toward each other seems to have become an image from another generation, but now I am able to see that covenant relationship is possible for my generation. “True Devotion” is not a thing of the past, it is possible in the here and now.

This is why I now have the audacity to find more hope for my own life. For so many years I have felt like I had traded becoming educated for the possibility to have a life long companion. In the African American community it seems quite hard to make those two things a match. (I can only speak from my perspective, it might be the same amongst other cultural backgrounds and ethnicities too, I just cant speak to their experience). The more academic and career oriented a woman is, the less likely she is to be in a long term committed relationship. And most of the women who are, got into the relationship before they really went full force into their ambition. Michelle Obama’s story lets me know the two (career and love) can co-exist.

The next element is that the more progress a woman makes, the less often she comes into contact with a man of similar interest and lifestyle, just because they are not present that often in the same circles. So a lot of factors come into play, proximity being high on the list, as to why my hopes dimmed over the years, but now, if no more than vicariously, I find hope for my own situation in looking at the example being set by Barack and Michelle Obama.

Positive Black Love Still Exist!!!!!!!!!!!

I am glad to know that my theory had been wrong. Because she even made more money than him, and that didn’t keep her from standing by her man and supporting and encouraging him to be the best of his own potential. When you look at them, you can see not only the obvious aspects of their success, but an ability to survive the untold dilemmas that those outside of this ethnic group don’t completely comprehend as part of the African American story.

Regardless to the outcome of this election –the Obama’s have left with me the courage to continue to have “the audacity to hope”.