I have been reading many articles as of late that are endlessly theorizing that an Obama presidency will be the death knell for the Black victimization paradigm. This paradigm is a political and social belief system that has had a stranglehold on the Black community for 40 plus years. I'll believe such a supposition when I see it with my own eyes. Nevertheless, many Black folks (and I have said this countless times, so this entry will be no different) are victims, only a racial construct is not the sole perpetrator in those instances-it's the internal subcultural component. Sure, poverty and poor educational access cannot (and should not) be obfuscated, however those impediments existed decades ago (especially the racial factor) without the same level of accompanying pathology.
One could say the aforementioned hurdles were exponentially greater in years past but the pathology in comparison was far less than it is today. Fast forward to 2008 and we have an unfortunately common occurrence in which a young Shamshawan Kelly of Crown Heights, Brooklyn (pictured, above) was shot in the head by a stray bullet simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The progressive ideologues that visit this blog (and they are welcome....as long as they are respectful) seem to either chalk up scenarios like this as being statistically negligible or structural in origin, requiring government intervention. It's never something that requires a community's personal responsibility.
I just know that perhaps an Obama win, despite his uber-liberal bent (which might be debatable as he tries to garner more votes in this election season), might be the first step in the long arduous road to Black self-determination and responsibility. I just hope that we reach the end of that road in time for young master Kelly to recover as he clings to life. We can't afford to lose more young Black and Brown lives while the excuses continue to mount.
First, check out the Obama presidency is an end to victimology argument, courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor:
Could Obama's rise signal the end of black victimology?
And then click on the link below for the NY Times piece on the young boy shot in Crown Heights:
After a Boy’s Shooting, ‘Why?’ Is on Everyone’s Lips
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