Too Black To Fail?

If you remember, AIG and some other financial institutions had to be bailed out because they were considered “too big to fail.” It was though that the consequences of allowing them to go under were great and horrible for it to be allowed to happen, and so the federal government bailed them out.

So…Is President Obama – America’s First Black President – protected by a similar set of fears. Is President Obama too Black to fail? Are the consequences of America’s First Black POTUS failing perceived as being so horrible that Blacks, Liberals and  the Mainstream Media (MSM) will refuse to say anything against President Obama no matter what he does or fails to do?

This isn’t an idle question. Even Wanda Sykes alluded to the phenomenon during what passed for her comedy routine at the recent 2009 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

This is amazing, the First Black President – I know you’re biracial – but the First Black President! You’re proud to be able to say that – The First Black President. That’s unless you screw up. Then it’s going to be,‘What’s up with the half-white guy, huh? Who voted for the mulatto, what the hell?’

Wanda Sykes
2009 White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Sometimes both children and the insane speak wisdom and truth. Blacks might feel the need to separate themselves from Obama if Obama fails, lest Obama’s failure be seen as the Blacks’ failure and return them to the outskirts of American national politics.

It may well be that President Obama will continue to be America’s First Black President only so long as he maintains a certain level of popularity. Direct reference to his White heritage may be allowed, and even encouraged, if he doesn’t do so.

The election of Barack Obama is good for black people in a way that it is not so, necessarily, for whites or others: it liberates blacks from the debilitating mindset of seeing themselves as victims in America. Obama’s victory enables blacks to be, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “free at last.” Free to be Americans stripped from the legacy of second-class citizenship. Free to be seen in the eyes of one’s fellow citizens as inherently as capable as others without the historical restrictions imposed by skin color. While it may also be said that the election of Obama is good for whites in that it ends what many characterize as “white guilt,” ending black victimology is without rival with respect to the good that instantly came to blacks with the election of Obama.

Ward Connerly
Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute

But what happens to those Blacks who are “free at last” and to those Liberals who relishing the lessening of their “white guilt” if President Obama is a failure or is perceived to be so?

Will Blacks, Liberals and the MSM “bail out” President Obama by refusing to acknowledge any of his errors or the negative consequences of his administration because he’s too Black to fail?

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4 Responses to “Too Black To Fail?”

  1. Prudie Says:

    One of the rare times I watched O’Reilly, I saw an interview with Whoopi Goldberg. He asked her what Obama had to do to fail in her eyes. She replied, “Nothing.”

    That’s not uncommon. Every leader will have believers no matter what they do. And it’s not limited to Democrats. There are plenty of people who can justify Dubya’s spending spree as being necessary for homeland security when there was a hell of a lot more spending than just homeland security necessities. Still, there does seem to be a religious and fanatical level of belief in Obama’s supporters that seems absent from any other modern-day politician’s supporters.

    And, yeah, I agree that it does seem tied to race.

  2. jonolan Says:

    All true, Prudie, but I was really thinking of the “Great Black Hope” effect. Much like Jackie Robinson, normally thought of as the 1st Black MLB player, there’s a pressure on Obama not to be a stumble bum.

    I wonder if some (read that as many) people are, or world be, afraid to admit his failures because they’re afraid of what they think Obama being a failure might mean for Blacks and for their oh-so-comfortable fantasy of post-racialism.

  3. Prudie Says:

    Ah. I think I see the distinction.

    You think that they might not admit to a failure because they’re afraid all of the “racist, religious, gun-carrying hillbillies” out there will stereotype all blacks based on Obama’s poor performance? Or do you think that they might not admit to a failure because of what it would do to the self-esteem and/or delusions of the black community?

  4. jonolan Says:

    I think, or at ponder the possibility, that they fear both things. I also think that a failed Obama would hurt the Liberals’ own feelings and “White guilt” complex since it would make it harder for them to say that they voted for Obama on ability irrespective of race.

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