POLITOPICS

by Angela Winters

Alton Maddox writes an editorial about Dr. Condi Rice and Barack Obama for the African American newspaper, The Amsterdam News. The article, titled Looking Black and talking white, is in my opinion unfairly critical. After viewing the recent hearings on the hill for Dr. Rice's confirmation, he criticizes Rice and Obama for not representing the black experience in the way that men and women like Fannie Lou Hamer, Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., Malcolm X, Harry and Harriette Moore, Medgar Evers and Rev. George Lee have.

What does that mean? Not every black person is going to be like these people and not every black person should? And who says that these people represent the only true black experience? Who says that their sacrifice is the only standard by which sacrifice can be measured? We have to move beyond the days of determining one's commitment to their race based on how they sound when they speak or how much their acts and deeds mimic those of others that came before. We all contribute in different ways because we are all different people. There shouldn't be any "black" way to talk, think, sacrifice or anything else.

Black America Web has just completed its STATE OF BLACK AMERICA series. The topics are incredibly relevant and most of the articles are really good. Worth reading:

Part One: Whither Black People?
Part Two: Our Financial Insecurity
Part Three: Education Matters
Part Four: Health As Wealth
Part Five: Our Empathy Deficit
Part Six: The Leadership Drought
Part Seven: Seeking Solutions