Hi, how are you. Seems you just lost an election, badly, I know you probably don't want to hear from me because I didn't vote for your side. Thing is there is a reason I didn't vote for your side, but I am getting ahead of myself I should do an Introduction.
I'm Tommy, a 37(soon to be 38) year old black male. I was born in this country(in the north east to be exact, pretty much right in the path of Hurricane Sandy), and have lived here the entirety of my life. In that life I have gone to school, worked a few jobs, graduated, gotten a drivers license, registered to vote, and voted in 4 presidential elections. I don't always hit the mid terms, but thanks to 2010 yeah I will be paying more attention to them too.
A few things you don't see in that list:Dropping out of high school, getting on to welfare, having a million out of wed lock kids, racing for unemployment or BEGGING for hand outs. I have had a job off and on since I was around 12 or 13 years old and for a very simple reason. If I wanted something I wanted to be able to buy it without having to beg my parents and face the possibility of hearing the word "No." I fully respect having to sacrifice to get what you want, oh I am not claiming that I always spent my money well, nope while I was never overly fond of jewelry or flashy clothes I did have a thing for electronics(and extended play pornography but that's not really important). Yup I would go out and buy video game systems, radios, walk men, cassette tapes(hey I already admitted to being in my 30's pick the jaws up off the ground) because it was what I wanted, and as long as it was my money I could do with it as I wish.
There is a problem though, most times if I mention FIRST that I am black to someone who subscribes to your ideology, then I tell them I am a democrat(liberal in most areas, progressive in some others, but with ideas that probably do not agree with others who are registered Democrats) the first thing I am going to hear out of their mouths 9 times out of 10 is "if you weren't so lazy," "If you would stop asking for a hand out from the government," "if you would get off the public dole," "too bad you aren't intelligent or you would understand...." I find the last one especially funny because I actually take the time to listen to people so I can understand. And when I realize you have no clue what you are talking about I get annoyed, because I can not get the time I just wasted listening to you back.
But yeah to the broader note: the idea your ideology has of who I must be, how I must be living, and where I have to be (I often laugh when I am having midnight conversations with people who swear I am talking to the from JAIL) basically makes it so that you have to work 10 times harder for me to take you seriously. Yeah, yeah I may make facetious jokes about conservatives, right wing fringe, neo conservatives and some caucasians who appear to wear their ignorance like a badge of honor(I have my twitter attached to my blog look them up, I won't hide from what I say). I still listen to them until they prove themselves to have no grasp on the subject to which we are having our dialogue about. That annoys me, I am of the firm belief that in life you can either lose time or you can lose money and that you should always choose to lose money. Money you can make back, time once spent is gone forever.
To make matters worse, half the time I understand that which they are talking about, from their side, better than they do. Because if I am curious about something I will read up on it. That is just how I am. So for somebody to badly explain to me somebody else's position, on something they don't understand, but that my mind is supposed to explode about. You say you got something to show me you better have it. And better be a credible choice. Unless your cousins, uncles, brothers, 4th groomsman at the wedding is like Dan Rather or something don't show me a blog he wrote and expect me to give it the same weight as people who tend to be a little more fair and dedicated to fact. I said a little more, they can be liberal or conservative in nature, ideology or leaning but if what they say appears to be pie in the sky I am going to call it out as such and move along to someone else.
Oh and by the way, there is a NEW thought process on why folks voted for Barrack Obama, which is hilarious. I'm black, my mother is black, so is my father and both of my brothers. In 2007, my registered Democrat keister was pulled for John Edwards. You know the North Carolina senator who was later disgraced because he cheated on his cancer stricken wife. My mother, also a registered Democrat, was pulling for Hillary Clinton. Hell most of the black people I talked to seemed to be pulling for Hillary, and most of them because they figured Bill's people would end up back in office and we would be flying high. Barrack Obama, the guy with the weird name pffft come on now how a black dude with a funny name gonna become president of the united states.
Then he started winning, he started showing that he wasn't just running to up his public profile. He was out there with ideas that weren't just "oh black people need this, this and this, what are white folks gonna do about it," he was talking about America, and what America needed. You see what most conservatives don't understand is that WE, you know black people, while not in any way shape or form monolithic are AMERICANS first. We want what is best for America(the entire country not just the white part or the black part IJS), yes we wish that the circumstances for ourselves personally or maybe our families are better but most of us are willing to work towards those goals. Conservatives could learn from Obama, yes tell us what you think we should do but then listen. If you screw up, own up to it and then come back and show you actually learned your lesson.
I mean to be honest Obama won because he DIDN'T suck up to black people, he did what we all do:He was the best person he could be, who happened to be black and let his words, actions and character draw people to him. Now I understand there are members in the conservative base who require their politicians to talk down to minorities, but understand something:Whether you do it or not they are still gonna vote for you. On the black blogosphere(not here but other places, yall can send requests here for me to talk about it but as of yet I haven't) as well as in black social media as to WHO on the conservative side of the aisle we would vote for. Hell I know some black conservatives, the problem is MOST of them are in hiding. It's like they showing their conservative colors later so that they don't have to deal with the questions:how can you side with a party who disrespects you and your family, how can you vote for a party they only prances you around when they have to defend the male whiteness of their party, how can you side with people who APPEAR to have quotas as to how many of you can be vocally represented.
Now to be fair, some of it may not be due to the conservatives. Just like some black men or women who swear off their own kind for past indiscretions, crimes, or slights possibly some of them could be expressing political vitriol that they have from bad experiences with folks who look like them. I mean I have family members who get on my nerves, I have friends who I think need a kick in the butt sometimes so I can see where yeah a rant could slip out of someone's mouth. Just don't second that rant, if you wouldn't like it said about you head them off sometimes. And if you need something ignorant said about a minority don't cart out somebody of their race, sexuality, gender, or religion say it yourself. I have that issue with everybody though, you don't like something don't trot out somebody who looks like the person you are about to insult just do it. Do it and be ready to explain you displeasure and position THAT would actually lead to some understanding.
Yeah this is becoming an extra long rant, so let me summarize: Get to know people, actual people don't just accept a story from somebody you kinda know about how folks you don't know are. And if somebody says something ignorant, have the balls to actually stop them and say "We are better than this." Oh and by the way if you want to tell a racist joke, make sure regardless of the race in question the JOKE is funny on it's own merits not just because you are making fun of some minority that is possibly not to popular with your current peer group.
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