Have you ever tried to get a friend to be honest with you about something? You say, “Stop playing, and tell me for real. I mean, for real, for real.” That’s what I want from you today. The media has spun this whole Clinton vs. Obama so many ways that even we’re getting it twisted. We’re fighting and feuding, cussing and fussing when, in the end, it comes down to a decision that only we ourselves can make.
The media likes to and needs to keep mess going. In fact, I’ve been accused of it myself.
An article in yesterday’s Dallas Morning News stated that blacks are getting peer pressure to vote for Obama. It quotes black Democrats who claim if they had publicly supported their candidate, Hillary, at their caucus, “ No telling what might have happened.”
The article also pointed to instances where black politicians Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston and Diane Watson of California have been booed, and, in Watson’s case, received death threats.
I believe that some blacks who don’t support Barack are afraid to admit it to people like me who believe that African-Americans should proudly do what they can to make sure this well-qualified candidate becomes the first black president. I believe there are people I know and love who don’t want me to know they’re Clinton supporters.
Let me first say, I believe supporting Obama if you’re black is -- aside from being a very sound decision -- a demonstration of racial pride. But I will never put a person’s “blackness” in question because he or she doesn’t support Barack Obama. I said yesterday that I don’t know how a black person could NOT vote for Obama. But I never said if you don’t vote for him, you aren’t “black enough.”
I got upset when, early on, some African-Americans wondered whether Barack was black enough. I got just as upset when some of you called in and said John Lewis, when he was supporting Hillary, had “sold out.” In fact, I think John Lewis is a perfect example of a person who is using his head and his heart in the election, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Here’s a politician who was a Clinton ally and had pledged his support to her early on because it was the right thing for him to do politically. But his heart told him do something else. In case you didn’t know, John Lewis was civil rights pioneer who, as a Freedom Rider, almost lost his life trying to make sure black folks were able to exercise their right to vote. And now, he has a chance to use his vote to put a black man in office. How could he NOT?
A lot of black people have their reasons for supporting Clinton publicly. But I just believe in my heart of hearts, that when they get in the voting booth, they won’t be able to do anything other than cast a vote for Obama.
If I’m wrong, tell me I’m wrong. Here’s your chance to speak out and tell me what you might not tell your boss, your co-workers or people living in your own house. Who are you going to vote for in November for real, for real? Do you believe THAT strongly in your candidate? Has Hillary really shown you that she can be that much better than Obama if elected? Are you with her until the end, or can I do anything to persuade you to change your vote to Obama? No threats, no intimidation. I just want to know why a regular black person is voting for Mrs. Clinton, especially if you’re voting in the Pennsylvania primary tomorrow.
I’ll tell you one thing, if Barack doesn’t win in Pennsylvania, I hope it isn’t because he didn’t get the brotherly love he needs from Philly. If he does win, most predict that it will be all over for Hillary. If that’s the case we can take all this time, energy, heat and passion and use it to beat John McCain. Remember him?
