Barack Obama's presidency is not the change we need

Unfortunately, this week hasn't been good for everyone.

One of our college students called on Wednesday to let me know that a noose had been hung in an area of the Baylor campus where the African-American students hang out. She told me about an Obama sign-burning that took place in a bar-b-que pit and some fights that had broken out between Whites and Blacks. The story was picked up by CNN:



She text'd back on Friday to let me know that the fighting had not let up. She told me of instances of the "n" word being used toward students who White students assumed voted for Obama. She talked about the tension and slight fear that has been created through White students comments and threats...and some retaliation that has happened with some of the Black students.

As she told me about these events, she wondered aloud, "Why are they targeting us? It wasn't just Black people who elected Barack Obama. Why are they acting like it was only Black people who elected him?" She explained that some White people she knew voted for Obama and some Black people she knew voted for McCain.

An African-American student of mine who teaches at a small, rural, predominantly White school explained that this week has been very somber at her school. One of her close [White] friends who hadn't spoken to her all week finally admitted to her that she is scared President Obama is going to enact all kinds of laws that benefit Black people and oppress White people.

It is true that 95% of African-Americans voted for Barack Obama...but so did 43% of Whites, 67% of Hispanics, and 62% of Asians. Barack Obama could not have been elected solely on the Black vote; there simply aren't enough Black people to make that happen. Plus, as we all know in "politics," people have to cater to their electorate or they won't be elected again. I don't know of any politician who gets elected just to prove a point (i.e. that a Black man can be president) and doesn't want to be re-elected when that time comes.

This reality has not escaped Barack Obama. He addressed it in his speech:

"And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn -- I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too."

Barack Obama is not going to be perfect. No president ever is. I'm sure he will make decisions that I will not agree with. Besides, the presidency is different than the campaign; he will probably not fulfill all campaign promises due to realities he didn't realize as a candidate.

But Barack Obama never said he had all of the answers. Throughout the campaign, Barack Obama challenged US to get involved. The presidency is not the end. It is only the beginning. Each of us must step up and get involved. We must get out in the community, organize people, and encourage them to speak out as well. It is OUR voices that are important to making this country work.

November 4 was not "the change" we are looking for. November 4 was only the BEGINNING of that change.

It was up to us to start the process of change. We did that by electing a president who is African American. It will be up to us to continue that change...by involving ourselves in local issues...by writing letters that express our thoughts and opinions...by educating ourselves about candidates and vote accordingly...by visiting city hall.

Our democratic society is set up so that everyone can be a part.

"There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America." ~Barack Obama

We must ALL choose to be a part of that change for it to happen. We're not there yet.

Are we ready to move to the next level of race relations?

John Lewis, Rep. (D-Ga.):
As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.

John Lewis has always been a hero of mine. I admire his wisdom, his work, and his perseverance during the Civil Rights movement. In my mind, he was a more important person than he gets credit for in many history books.

Though it may mean little for me to say that John McCain and Sarah Palin are stepping over a line, creating unfounded fears and provoking untruths, John Lewis lived through the climax of racial tensions, fear, and hatred. He experienced the results of fear-filled people who were provoked by strong voices in our country.

In 2008 we have come to a new turning point in our country. We are experiencing a new era that is leading us to deal with our prejudices and discrimination head on--whether it's women, African-Americans, Muslims, Mexicans, spanish-speakers, gays/lesbians, and a number of other cultural groups.

As happened in the 60s, the current culture clash is leading us to show our colors.

I have hope that, like the 60s, these confrontations will ultimately propel us on to the next level. I pray that as we work toward that next level, however, we will not have to go through the same tragedies in order for us to realize how ridiculous our fears and actions were.

"I keep to myself"

Stereotypes about "the projects" create a vicious cycle. They are hurtful to the people who live there and create a fear and distrust for those who don't. Not all of those stereotypes are true. I'm not saying "the projects" are a glamourous and safe place to live...much to the contrary. But what I have learned is that despite the stereotypes, there are many good people who live there.

As I have visited with people in Turner Courts through the years, I have met some really neat people. As we talk, they invariably say, "I don't want any trouble so I keep to myself. I stay inside." Some have told me that the moment they were assigned to Turner Courts for housing, they cried for the first week...or sometimes month. They stayed with friends or family to avoid it as long as they could.

Contrary to popular belief, the residents aren't excited and content to live in "the projects." They don't enjoy the fighting, the shooting, or the break-ins. They want their children to be safe and get a quality education. They want to make enough money to move out.

The problem I see is that community has broken down. The fear and distrust (sometimes perpetuated by rumors...media and such...from the outside and sometimes perpetuated by a few troublemakers on the inside) keeps the good people I've met from knowing (and trusting) one another.

My friends/co-workers...the people who run our After-School Academy here in Turner Courts...are working toward changing that through their involvement in the community, their leadership, and their friendship. Each one of them told me the same thing when I interviewed them for their current job, "I don't want any trouble so I keep to myself. I stay inside." Now that they are connected to each other and working toward connecting with the community, they are hearing the same thing from other residents.

As Wyshina and I interviewed for our new cook position, we both chuckled when every single one of them said the same thing, "I'm just a person that doesn't want any trouble so I keep to myself. I stay inside." I was so glad Wyshina was there. She reassured each one of them that she, Chanel, Sylvia, and Ms. Fields lived in Turner Courts and understood their concerns. She told each of them that our current staff had all felt the same way. She encouraged them to join them at the After-School Academy...whether or not they got the job.

Building community takes time. The process is slow. Building trust is not easy. It will happen, though. Their refusal to give up and their desire to make it all work inspires me. I look forward to and thank them for allowing me to be a part of their growing circle of friends.

My friend, Monica

I'm not sure how you feel about immigration issues, but regardless of how you feel, I hope you read Larry's blog (click here) and think about how lives are dramatically being affected and families being torn apart...all because some people are more concerned about getting rid of Mexicans (even when they've been here most of their lives) no matter what the cost. I fail to see how the dramatic actions to rid us of Mexicans help our country. What bothers me even more is the fact that these Minutemen-types claim Christianity. I see no Christian behavior in targeting teenagers and ripping families apart as has happened with Monica and so many others.

Please pray for Monica and their family. I have known them for the last 12 years. They are such a wonderful family and deserve none of this emotional toil...and now fear...that will likely stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Is fear holding you back?

Over the holidays my cousin asked me a question that I didn't have the answer to. She was telling me about their local public school and how students were scared to go there because of the violence. Just recently, she explained, one of the kids had pushed another kid down a flight of stairs, injuring him to the point of hospitalization. She then went on to ask, "You work with Black people. Why do they hate each other so much?"

Despite the fact that I know there's probably some degree of underlying racism in that question, I didn't have an answer for her. In my mind, there is no short answer to that. Even if I had given her the long answer, I don't know that I could explain the oppression, the systemic racism, the self-hatred (often times due to the way the media presents people of color), the poverty, and the difficult family situations that all contribute to this phenomena. The answer is much too complicated...and quite honestly, I don't have an answer--either to refute her question or to affirm it.

Yesterday I had a conversation with a 20-year old I hadn't seen in quite some time. I've watched him grow up since he was about 9-years old. I've watched him change from a sweet, innocent child to an angry, self-destructive young man. I posed my cousin's question to him to which he replied, "I ask myself the same thing."

He doesn't know why he or his friends act the way they do. Once again, I think it's very complicated. But as he explained to me that he was trying to change and do things differently I began to realize that one of the major things that keeps holding him back is FEAR. He's afraid of venturing into the unknown. He told me point black, "I'm afraid if I step out I won't have any friends." That's powerful. And that's real. But it's not unusual. Several other teenagers have told me the same thing, "I'm afraid."

Even knowing that, I still can't say the solution to his fear is simple. We need to be available...we need to be visible...we need to be persistent. But sometimes even that doesn't work. I can't change his thinking...about himself or about the situations around him. Only he can.

I know for me, surrounding myself with good people who love me despite and in spite of myself really helps. Surrounding myself around people who I feel the need to be accountable to helps as well. The love that people show me despite my flaws continues to inspire me. I hope he can recognize that he has people around him who always have and always will love him as well. I hope he realizes that we want him to do better...for himself and for what he has to offer the rest of us. Hopefully that realization will help him conquer some of his fears as he steps out.

What are we afraid of?

Maybe I'm crazy (some people I'm sure would vehemently agree!), but I can't understand the reason people fear low-income neighborhoods so much.

Yesterday a man came by our office in Turner Courts to deliver a mail bag to one of the organizations in the office. As he was leaving he half-jokingly mentioned that the guy who was delivering before him told them he deserved hazard pay for having to deliver into that area (Turner Courts).

He chuckled.

I gave him a half-hearted smile and told him, "We're actually pretty nice people."

What is it that makes people scared just by driving into the neighborhood?

I know that, statistically, crime is higher in Turner Courts and other low-income neighborhoods. However, that doesn't mean bullets are flying 24-7. In fact, the majority of times "outsiders" are typically around (usually during the 9-5 day), there isn't much activity.

I've been told that people "hanging out" makes them uncomfortable. Would it make them uncomfortable if there were a bunch of White people "hanging out?" I tend to think the answer would be no. And in my experience, I have never seen or heard the people who are hanging out plotting to attack the first person who drives through.

Some say it's the trash...or the run-down buildings. I've never known trash or run-down buildings to be scary. Depressing...yes. A lack of pride in their surroundings...probably.

Just so you don't think I'm completely oblivious to what's around me, please note that I am aware of the crime and stupid acts that go on. But I also know drive into and walk through Turner Courts every day without incident.

My point is that I believe society has contributed to creating an unhealthy fear of certain neighborhoods--primarily those where the majority of people are darker and poorer. Maybe if were less afraid of people and neighborhoods and actually got to know them, we all could create a different reality.

Our fears create our realities.

Afraid of what we don't know

Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we're dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake.

But we aren't afraid. We know they guy with the crooked eye is Davey the Baby's brother, and the tall one next to him in the straw brim, that's Rosa's Eddie V., and the big one that looks like a dumb grown man, he's Fat Boy, though he's not fat anymore nor a boy.

All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us drive into a neighborhood of another color and our knees go shakity-shake and our car windows get rolled up tight and our eyes look straight. Yeah. that is how it goes and goes.

~Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street, p. 28

I can relate. People are scared of my neighborhood, too. I think once they come and visit me, they realize it's not so scary. I think. Who knows...maybe they still think it's scary.

But I'm not afraid.

I know that Gino, next door, is a deacon in the church. Roy and Lupe and their family, across the street, marched in the Immigration March not because they're illegal, but because they believe in rights for all people. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are an older couple that are very active in their church and do what they can to protect, make change in, and love their neighborhood. Mrs. Brown works at a healthcare place and Mr. Brown is a crossing guard for Richardson schools. Ray, J.J., and some other older men who I can never remember their names, love to stand outside, shoot the breeze and bar-b-que every chance they get. Miss Dorothy, across the street, gave me potted flowers when I first moved in to my house. Twin brought me mums from the nursery up the street when he found out the potted plants I had on my front porch had been stolen. Main and Tiffany are college students and are constantly talking to their friends in the neighborhood, encouraging them when they are discouraged, talking to them about college, and trying to help them to be on a path that is productive. Zabrina has "adopted" (without the paper work) a girl in the neighborhood and treats her just like her other two daughters because the girl's family isn't always around. Mr. Vidal is very well-read and teaches his children to read and learn about Mexican history and other stuff that the schools don't teach. Brenda has raised her grandson while his mom was in jail, along with taking care of her own mother, and now takes care of her daughter's other baby because her daughter is back in jail again. Chris has worked at Baylor faithfully for about 8 years or more, getting up to be there by 5:00 a.m.

I could go on and on. I just wish people knew the things that I know about my neighborhood. Then maybe they wouldn't be so scared of it.

Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

~Maryanne Williamson

Realization

I woke up at 5:30 this morning to a low-flying helicopter going back and forth around my neighborhood. I knew what was going on before I even got up to look out the window. Sure enough, the helicopter was buzzing around shining the spotlight looking for someone who was running from some kind of crime, no doubt.

Thank goodness it's not like that's an every day occurrence around here. I know in some neighborhoods it's probably more common. But, it has happened enough over the last 11 years that I've lived here that I know what's happening. I crawled back in bed and started to go back to sleep. As I laid there I realized how little that incident affected me. I guess you could write it off as me being desensitized. Since I've lived in my neighborhood, though, I've never been scared of things like that--helicopters, gunshots, etc. So many of my friends--kids and adults--have told me that things like that scare them. They talk about locking and re-locking their doors at night and cringing when they hear gunshots or police cars and things like that.

What dawned on me this morning is the fact that when something like that happens around me, it's not as personal to me as it is to someone who grew up here or in a similar, possibly much rougher neighborhood.

I thank God for allowing me to live in this neighborhood so that I can understand what the media sensationalizes versus what is real. There is so much more to my neighborhood than just low-flying helicopters, gun shots, and police raids. I thank God that He has allowed me to be a part of a life that is much different than the way I grew up. However, I realize no matter how long I live here, I may never internalize the fear like someone who has grown up hearing gunshots, someone who has had to deal with strangers who are sometimes high or drunk as they walk home from school or catch the bus (because their parents don't have transportation).

I do thank God that my life hasn't been affected like some people's lives. But as I thank God for protecting me, I am very conscious of the fact that others haven't been so insulated from frightening and unjust incidents.