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What Conservatives are teaching African American children?

Dear Woodlawn Parents and Guardians:

On my return from the inauguration of President Barack Obama, in January I wrote a reflection on my experience. In that reflection I posed a couple of questions - namely; how genuine was the "feel good"? And how long will this euphoria surrounding the first African American president last? I also reflected on what Rev. Joe Lowery said about his hopes: - That the days when being black meant staying back was over. I wondered. Yes, I was skeptical. Was my skepticism just that? Unfortunately, the past few weeks have shown that my fears and skepticism were not misplaced.

As we begin a new year, instead of the traditional reflection on the Virtue of Order, I want to spend a few moments on the virtue of Balance as well. As you recall it did not take long before the hatred for an African American president surfaced. A conservative radio talk show host proclaimed "I want Obama to fail!" Never mind that his official title is PRESIDENT.  There was not much outrage about that statement in the mainstream media. Was it a case of ‘oh boys will be boys?' Or was it a case of the Dred Scott decision revisited? What is the Dred Scott decision? "The Dred Scott Decision" was an 1857 US Supreme Court decision which basically declared that "a black man has no rights that the white man should respect." Dred Scott being a formerly enslaved man was not considered a citizen of the United   States, and therefore had no right to bring any lawsuit in the federal courts on any matter! Although the decision is no longer the law of the land, there are many white people who believe that it should be and President Obama seemingly reminds them of that belief. It is interesting to note that today the conservatives are claiming that President Obama is not a citizen of the United States! So he must not be respected, right? "Dred Scott decision" is dead. Long live Dred Scott!

Some people might say "oh you are too sensitive." The disrespect being shown the first African American president tells African American children in particular, that no matter how high their achievement; no matter how brilliant they are "you will never be respected by some white people." If a white man can call the PRESIDENT of the United States a "liar" and get away with it do our children stand any chance?

"There will always be blood in the tsetse-fly's head" is another saying of the Akan people of Ghana. The saying reminds us that racist people may claim they are no longer racist all they want but they will never rid themselves of the disease. It did not take much to bring them back to their former racist state of mind. Will August 2009 go down as the month America reverted back to open racism? I wonder. Many right thinking people were shocked by the August spectacles.  African Americans and other people of color were not surprised. We always knew this would happen. So, welcome to our world!

This month we celebrate the virtue of Balance. President Obama exemplifies a person in complete balance. So tell our children to continue to look up to President Obama and watch how he stays calm and collected under most vicious attacks on his person and family. Yes, even Sasha and Malia have not been spared racist conservatives' venom.