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That WaPost
headline promises positive news on the home front. Is a
segment of the politically monolithic black community behaving
responsibly?
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Jeff
Johnson knows how to make his audiences squirm. The young, black radio
and TV political commentator waits for the discussion to turn to the
topic being talked about ceaselessly, incessantly, ad nauseam: the
meaning of the barrier-breaking election of Barack Obama.
Then, in his laid-back style, he says, "The real issue for me is that
history is not enough." That's when the mood becomes tense.
"Black folks, in particular, get irritated," says Johnson, who travels
the lecture circuit, hosts a half-hour show on Black Entertainment
Television and has a weekly spot for social criticism on a radio
program popular with black listeners. Get past "Obama the personality"
and see "Obama the president," he says. "Otherwise all you're being is
a political-celebrity groupie instead of a citizen. . . . It starts
with acknowledging he's my president, and not my homie."
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Alas, the division appears to be between "those who want to
continue to
praise Obama and his historic ascendancy," and others who want to keep
score on how much booty Obama is diverting to the Black community.
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Johnson is one of
a growing number of black academics, commentators and
authors determined to press Obama on issues such as the elimination of
racial profiling and the double-digit unemployment rate among blacks.
To hold Obama accountable, [Political blogger Faye Anderson ] created
the Tracking Change wiki to
follow the stimulus money and document whether a proportionate share
reaches the black community.
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