Michelle Obama is Now a Baby's Mama? Fox Should Be Ashamed

Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com
www.YourBlackWorld.com

I am not sure if I am the only one offended by this, but Michelle Obama was recently referred to as Barack Obama’s “baby mama” on Fox News.

Here are my questions about this:

1) At what point is it clearly concluded that Fox News is a racist network?

2) What does this say about our country that we have many Americans who will continue to support a network that says things like this about black people? Is this to lead us to believe that we have become equal and respected partners in the American family?

3) Would they say the same thing about Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, Cindy McCain or Hillary Clinton?

Here is a link to the story and video.

If you want to see a great video about Fox News Racism, click here.

I have other thoughts as well:
1) When Martin Luther King had a dream that individuals would be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, did he take into consideration who would be judging the individual’s character? – Jeremiah Wright, in my opinion, has remarkable character, yet his character was considered racist, flawed and unpatriotic by many Americans. I think this implies that even when we get past skin color, we have yet to get to the point that black culture (i.e. the tradition of the black church for example) is respected and accepted by all of America. While many black Americans may not agree with Jeremiah Wright’s position and tactics, many of us have tremendous respect for him and The Trinity United Church of Christ….I am not comfortable with that church being reduced to a “racist cult”, for they were fighting for black people long before it became fashionable to do so.


2) Even when we get past racism, we still have to deal with racial inequality. Racial inequality is what you have in a society after 400 years of social, political and economic exclusion of a group of people. As a result, years later, nearly every major institution: academic, corporate, the media, etc. is controlled by White America. So, this implies that even if we are not disdained for being black, we are still subjected to the cultural domination and harrassment that comes from:

Media that feels comfortable destroying and humiliating Black American heroes and institutions.

Universities that tell you that black scholarly work done in the black community is worthless.

Jails and prisons filled with black men who have inadequate legal counsel and get longer sentences for the same crimes because (as in the case I just reviewed in Alabama) the DA goes to church with the prosecutor and judge.

Corporations that have very few African American middle and upper level managers.

Most of the financial capital in America controlled by people who are not black, with much of that capital inherited and initially stolen from African Americans.

The NCAA, which earns a billion dollars each year from black athletes, but refuses to hire black coaches (and behaves as if it is a crime when the athlete earns extra money from his/her labor).



The list goes on and on. It doesn’t matter if the dominant culture is deliberately racist. All that matters is that the dominant culture is DOMINANT. Racial inequality becomes the weapon of choice, as the perpetuation of institutions and ideals built on an undeniably racist foundation leads to the dominance of one set of cultural norms over another. The question is not whether Barack Obama is "black enough" for the White House. The question now being asked is whether he is "too black" for the White House. Michelle Obama, Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan and others are the scales being used to measure Obama's blackness, and this has little to do with the color of his skin.

Bottom line: if we feel that America as a country can spend 400 years treating black people as the underbelly of our society and then suddenly flip the script in 25 years, we’re out of our minds. Racial inequality is the toxic social mess created by 400 years of blatant racial terrorism and exclusion. It doesn’t go away just because we’ve stopped being racist or stopped noticing skin color. Rather, a proactive, deliberate effort must be made to clean up the mess that has been created. Until we have racial reconciliation and rehabilitation, we will never have racial harmony. We must also make things right. If I apologize to my employee for the fact that my dead father built my company by raping, murdering and robbing his mother, I can’t simply expect that holding hands and singing “We shall overcome” is going to make everything right. That’s just a fundamental fact. It also doesn't help if I call him a "whining hate monger" every time he brings up the conditions necessary for us to rebuild our friendship on a foundation of mutual respect that recognizes his parents' contribution to building the company that fills my bank account.

Bill Cosby (who I respectfully disagree with on some issues – but I don’t consider him to be another Juan Williams) says you are behaving as a victim if you speak out against oppression. I don’t consider Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King to be victims. My assertion is that you become a VICTOR when you progressively challenge our nation to live up to the liberties for which it claims to stand. If a people have become accustomed to getting abused, then sitting there and taking it is not, in my opinion, the way to make things better. You must become educated, inspired and empowered to command your self-respect.

While I encourage Senator Obama to keep running his excellent campaign, I also encourage all of us to be clear about just how much we are willing to denounce or let slide in order to get to the White House. If a woman sleeps with every man she meets because she is desperately seeking love, she may find disrespect waiting for her instead. Rather, I encourage that woman to love herself and draw clear parameters for acceptable behavior, for then any man who enters her life will be forced to love her for who she is. This example is not meant to sound sexist, for men have many issues of their own. It is only to remind Barack Obama that we must be careful about meeting every unreasonable demand of a country that is sick with racism just because we are seeking their love and approval. I will love black people and Barack Obama just as much if we don’t win this election. Giving up too much in exchange for something you feel you really need is what we in economics call “the winner’s curse”. Let’s not curse ourselves by giving up everything we hold sacred just so we can have a black man in the White House. Parameters of self-respect must be drawn, and we must learn to love ourselves. That is when we become respected partners in the American family.

Be educated, be strong, be liberated. Life is too short to be afraid.