Ask Ed & Sugar: Will Obama’s Win End Racism?

30 September 2008 No Comment

If Barack Obama became president, do you think the racists of America will be more vocal or more institutional towards black people?

–Worried on The Westside, Atlanta, GA

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Sugar’s Take

Dear Worried,

There is no doubt that an Obama presidency will flip the idea of race in America. My hopeful side wants to believe the hate and fear for people of color will slowly subside as a result of a Black Commander in Chief. My cynical/realistic side is familiar with the possibility of heightened racism. I don’t want to believe that a Black man in the White House will magically rectify the practice and effects of racism. It really depends on the work Obama is able to do during his potential presidency. My personal belief is we need equal protection under the LAW (gotta excuse a brother…just saw ‘Thurgood’). Whatever our Jewish brethren did to ensure their safety, security and religious freedom in these United States is the same thing we as people of color need to do. Do you know it’s a crime to leave a flyer with hateful banter in the remote presence of anyone in the Semitic community? But the names Bell, Diallo and Louima will always remind us of our perceived inferiority. To answer your question, at best, racism in America will remain the same. At worst, there will be more calculated attempts to push us further into the margin…if that is at all possible.

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Ed’s Take

Peace Worried On The West Side,

Now that is a loaded question indeed. To be frank, White supremacy will always be as American as apple pie. It’s the founding principle of our nation…right along with supposed freedom and justice for all. Obama has forever changed the once limited conception of “blackness” as a social construction, but not even his charisma can swing the doors of equality wide open. I believe we have to be realistic…one four year candidacy from a black president cannot diminish hundreds of years of oppression, lynching, and institutionalized racism. If Sen. Clinton’s arrogance and “sour grape” antics has shown us anything, it’s that when faced with blacks “moving on up” that proverbial hill, some white folks can’t handle the stunning role reversal. So if and when Obama wins, we should sip some sweet tea, eat some chicken wings with our play cousins that night…and know that in the morning being black person in America is still beset with a unique set of inconveniences. And I didn’t need CNN to tell me that!!!!

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Got a question; email us askedandsugar@afrostoshelltoes.com!!!

About Sugar Between catching the uptown train to conduct “we luv the kids” writing workshops to dancing rumba on the lower eastside, Sugar Johnson flaunts his creative freedom in various mediums. The actor, vocalist, and educator have not only shared the stage with prolific artists such as The Last Poets, M-1 of Dead Prez, Jessica Care Moore, and Spike Lee, but he also labors to cultivate the forgotten souls of Rikers Island. Johnson made his film debut in Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. The ASCAP member holds a B.A. in Mathematics from DePauw University and will release the poetry collection Food Clothes and Shelter on his imprint Home Grown Publishing, LLC in 2008.

About Ed Award winning writer, educator, counselor, and activist Edward M. Garnes, Jr. is the founder of From Afros to Shelltoes: Art, Action, and Conversation, a nationally acclaimed series of cultural productions confronting the social divide between elders and hip hop heads, and holds a B.A. in English Writing from DePauw University and a M.A. in Counseling from Michigan State University . His seminal essay, ” Sweet Tea Ethics: Black Luv, Healthcare, and Cultural Mistrust,” currently appears in Not In My Family: AIDS in the African American Community, a 2007 NAACP Image Award nominated collection edited by Gil Robertson. (www.afrostoshelltoes.com).