OUR BLACK INTELLIGENTSIA

Beneath the Spin: The reason why Black People hate Tavis and Cornell

September 3, 2013 by EurPublisher 88 Comments

*Why is it that most Tavis Smiley and Cornell West supporters always jump to the unwarranted conclusion that the only reason that Black people dislike Smiley and West is because they’re criticizing President Obama?

That’s an extremely presumptuous point of view, and it’s not true. The majority of Black people aren’t hostile toward Tavis and West BECAUSE they criticize Obama, but for the WAY they criticize Obama.

The reason we become angry every time they criticize Obama is because Tavis and West are arrogant, petty, self-serving, condescending, and disrespectful, and those flawed character traits come to the forefront whenever the subject of President Obama comes up. In addition, they’re criticisms never come coupled with constructive solutions, so it’s obvious to the Black community that they’re not actually interested in the issues; they’re merely USING the issues as a pretext to attack the man – and Cornel’s repeated racial slanders clearly validates that perception.

Black people clearly understand that ALL politicians’ feet should be kept to the fire, and that includes Obama’s. I’ve written several articles criticizing President Obama, and I’ve also written articles explaining WHY it’s important to hold his feet to the fire (http://wattree.blogspot.com/2011/01/obama-supporters-vs-cheerleaders.html), but when I criticize Obama I make sure that my criticisms are respectful, issue-specific, constructive, I ALWAYS come armed with solutions - and I send them to him. A case in point is an article I wrote in November 2009 entitled, "Could Obama Fall Victim to a Change We Can’t Believe In," where I said the following:

"The President needs to recognize that there is nothing he can do that's going to make him acceptable to the GOP - that is, unless he agrees to appoint a Republican vice president, then resign. By now it should be clear that even while he's asleep, the GOP is trying to hatch plans to destroy him. So by spending more time thinking about them than he is his base, he's playing right into their hands.

"I mentioned power as one of the reasons that Cheney's trying to rush the president into Afghanistan. I wonder if the president has considered the fact that Cheney just might be trying to get him to make the same kind of mistake in Afghanistan that the Bush Administration made in Iraq in order to take the Iraq issue off the table for the 2012 election? If during the 2012 campaign America is bogged down in Afghanistan with the useless death of thousands of U.S. troops, all of a sudden, Bush, Cheney, and the GOP won't look all that bad. The president should think about that possibility, since the machinations of Dick Cheney make Machiavelli look like a trainee.

"On the other hand, if the president would have the CIA go after Osama Bin Laden (through the use of intelligence, instead of blindly shooting at rocks), then pull out of Afghanistan, and then make an agreement with the government of Pakistan to help them protect their nuclear arsenal, he'll be looking pretty good in 2012, and he won't have the deaths of thousands of U.S. troops to have to justify."

Thus, Black people are way out in front of Tavis and West on MOST issues, so the repeated suggestion by Tavis and West that Black people are blindly working on "Obama’s plantation" is a slap in the face of the Black community. They’re saying the very same thing that White racists are saying - that Black people are just a bunch of stupid zombies - "Dem niggas ain’t got sense like we do, boss."

That attitude is not lost on the Black community for a minute. They don’t like it at all, and as a direct result, they don’t like them at all. The Black community looks upon them in the very same way as they do any other slanderous bigot.

(This article first appeared at Wattree.)

Eric L. Wattree is also a writer, poet, and musician. Additionally, he is the author of “A Message From the Hood.” Contact him at Ewattree@Gmail.com