# Why are black political leaders not embracing Obama with open arms? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 14, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406 "2008-07-14T05:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/1 "2008-07-14T05:39:29Z")
While Obama’s popularity with the black middle class keeps rising there doesn’t seem to be all that much real Obama love coming from the black political Brahmins. Why? Is it simply jealously [as this article suggests](http://www.creators.com/opinion/roland-martin/obama-s-black-problem-part-1.html) or are there real social policy disputes? > [@](#): > > Frankly, the real problem black leadership has is that Obama didn’t come through “the civil rights system.” And like it or not, there is tremendous jealousy that he has been able to do what so many others have not done: First, he actually got elected to something. Second, he launched a campaign that people actually believe can win. > > Lastly, Obama’s rise as the top black political voice in America supplants others who have served as the arbiters of black thought. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/2 "2008-07-14T06:00:02Z")
Meant to add this to OP [Obama represents new generation of black leaders:](http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/triciaharris/gGgC9C) > [@](#): > > I’m glad Congressman Lewis FINALLY got over his agony and switched his vote for Obama (since 80% of us in the 5th District voted for him). BUT the way he did it – was it necessary to say that it was easier to be beat in the head in Alabama in the 60’s than to cast this vote for Senator Obama? Is it really that difficult to embrace the one elected official that represents HOPE for a nation consumed with despair? ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/3 "2008-07-14T06:15:37Z")
A.) Because he’s not black enough B.) Because, if he becomes president, then they (Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, et al) will lose a lot of power and influence. How would you like it if you had held this kind of power for years, and then some half-breed, that you have no control over, came and pulled the rug out from under you? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/4 "2008-07-14T06:17:06Z")
Possible cynical bit of imagemaking calculus: Surrounding him with black leaders may spook whitey. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/5 "2008-07-14T06:20:07Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Possible cynical bit of imagemaking calculus: Surrounding him with black leaders may spook whitey. [/QUOTE] Possibly, but I still get the vibe that they regard him with good deal of suspicion bordering on hostility. It’s not an act. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/6 "2008-07-14T06:30:13Z")
It’s not suspicion, it’s jealousy. I think the feelings are mixed. On the one hand, he represents the culmination of everything the civil rights generation worked for. On the other hand, he didn’t fight the battles with them. They slayed all the dragons and now he gets to come in and fuck the princess. It has to sting a little. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/7 "2008-07-14T07:03:22Z")
I’m positive that Sharpton and Jackson and their clones are not dishonest in their philosophy. They really are doing what they think is best to fix problems that they think exist. If you take that for a given (which I know many of you will not) then the reason their support for Obama is so tenuous is that they simply don’t trust him. I don’t blame them, either. As a middle class white guy who wants different things from my government than most of the people sharpton and jackson represent do, Obama represents me more than he does poor southern blacks. His background has more in common with mine than it does with theirs. He’s more a part of the political system than any traditional black national politician, and the “system” is what sharpton and jackson are the most suspicious of. I think that they honestly want him elected, but they’re disappointed that the first black major presidential candidate doesn’t represent them as much as they’d like. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/8 "2008-07-14T07:12:46Z")
Oreobama. Theirs is the politics of racial polarization & antipathy; his is not. ---
**Author:** ![chicken\_wire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@chicken\_wire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicken_wire)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/9 "2008-07-14T07:35:28Z")
This has to be a good thing, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be somehow worse if all the elder statesman black leaders supported Obama just because he’s black? That’d be racist and hypocritical of them, wouldn’t it? If the old guard doesn’t much like him and don’t support him, where’s the problem? ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/10 "2008-07-14T07:42:04Z")
It’s in a large part because he’s not a black politician: he’s a politician that’s black. It’s the culmination of the train of thought from Booker T Washington to Martin Luther King… a train that is often honored but ultimately disregarded by most black politicians who view their legiticmacy springing from the Dubois/Malcolm X view of race relations. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/11 "2008-07-14T07:43:42Z")
Politics as usual. [ul] [li]Some may have already been spurned for a place in his potential administration.[/li][li]Jealousy, that they’ve been around much longer and yet have repeatedly failed to win any public office.[/li][li]Racism, in that Obama is only half African-American.[/li][li]Or it could be a ‘vast left-wing conspiracy’ to make Obama seem more palatable to white America by having him reject all the well-known black political figures.[/li][/ul] Or, possibly, just common sense, in that Sharpton, Jackson _et al_ are basically selfish, unelectable malcontents only concerned with their own power and prestige. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/12 "2008-07-14T08:14:18Z")
[QUOTE=Hail Ants] Racism, in that Obama is only half African-American. [/QUOTE] Obama isn’t half African-American, he’s half African. This is a significant thing because a black person from Africa may look like a black person in America, but he is not part of the “black experience” in the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/13 "2008-07-14T08:31:20Z")
What I pull out of that first article is “I don’t know the man,” says Sharpton, or words to that effect. He acts as though he has been jilted, as if Obama should have come to Sharpton, hat in hand, to ask the Reverend’s advice on how to lead black people. It sounds as if Sharpton has been waiting for that phone call, “Will you be my running mate?” It sounds as if Sharpton wants to hear Obama speaking like a civil rights leader, putting Black America at the forefront of all his speeches — a tactic, I might add, sure to alienate many voters as much as it solidifies his, Sharpton’s, support. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/14 "2008-07-14T12:30:17Z")
It kind of has to sting (for folks like Jesse Jackson, anyway) that every white Democratic presidential candidate for the last 30 years has come begging to them for help with black voters, but the first viable black candidate has pretty much ignored them, in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/15 "2008-07-14T13:44:12Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] It’s not suspicion, it’s jealousy. I think the feelings are mixed. On the one hand, he represents the culmination of everything the civil rights generation worked for. On the other hand, he didn’t fight the battles with them. They slayed all the dragons and now he gets to come in and fuck the princess. It has to sting a little. [/QUOTE] That has to be the coolest analogy I’ve ever heard. Hats off to you, Diogenes. Marc ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/16 "2008-07-14T14:25:40Z")
[QUOTE=MGibson] That has to be the coolest analogy I’ve ever heard. Hats off to you, Diogenes. Marc [/QUOTE] Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/17 "2008-07-14T14:50:58Z")
Jackson and Co. believe a black president should be an advocate for the black race. The president of the United States is not a lobbying group; he is the leader of ALL of America. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/18 "2008-07-14T15:28:06Z")
I think all of you are overlooking the fact that there has been similar distrust, antipathy and jealousy from other Democratic/Liberal stalwarts like Bill and Hillary Clinton. People like the Clintons, Sharpton, and Jackson are resentful because they don’t feel Obama has paid his dues and put in his time. He hasn’t spoken to their issues long enough, and he hasn’t sought their advice or approval. I think anyone can understand that. They were the soldiers fighting a dirty battle when this flashy diplomat comes in and attempts to arrange a cease fire with the enemy they’ve been fighting for decades. Most of the people who distrust Obama have lived lives defined by that struggle. It’s hard to trust that someone who has not gone to war with you can understand the complexities of the battle. This has less to do with the civil rights era, and more to do with people feeling he’s usurping their power. That’s why you could count the number of powerful figures on one hand that came out for Obama before it was clear he had a good chance of winning. When it became clear that Obama might have longer coat tails than Clinton, you started seeing people come out and switch their votes, but not before then. How many big name endorsements did Obama have when Oprah was campaigning with him? Nobody wants to support the loser no matter how charismatic they are, and everyone wants to support the winner no matter how many misgivings you have about them. Had Jackson’s true feelings not been exposed on Fox News, he would be publicly singing Obama’s virtues in the next few months. I bet there are plenty of people who feel like Jackson do, they just aren’t stupid enough to get caught saying it on the record. Ask yourself, do you really think Clinton likes Obama now despite what she is saying at the rallies? Probably not, and I would bet she wants to “cut his nuts off” too. She is just a better politician, so she won’t get caught on the record. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/19 "2008-07-14T15:38:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] Jackson and Co. believe a black president should be an advocate for the black race. The president of the United States is not a lobbying group; he is the leader of ALL of America. [/QUOTE] What does this even mean? You act as if advocating for “the Black race”, and being a leader for all of America are mutually exclusive. How does speaking to Black issues hurt White people? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406/20 "2008-07-14T15:41:56Z")
What makes Sharpton and Jackson “Black political leaders” other than their own desire to be such and the press’s laziness and treating them as if they were? I see plenty of actual Black political leaders, like Harold Ford, Jr, enthusiastically supporting Obama. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-political-leaders-not-embracing-obama-with-open-arms/456406.md?page=2)