An open letter to African-Americans who have left DU (xpost from AA)

[underthematrix]

315. I'm AA and I no longer post here

although I did stop by to read a link from a site where I spend most of my time. But I think it's helpful for me to post my take on why African Americans may find this space unfriendly. At this site, I found myself getting extremely frustrated and sometimes angry at some of the posts and comments regarding President Obama. Often, it demonstrated a complete lack of knowledge of how our government works and the complicated nature of governing. It reflected a sort of either/or thinking which is more developmentally appropriate for someone in the latency stage of cognitive development. It failed to take into account the historical and social landscape of what it means to be the first African American President of the United States, a landscape that is still racist, classist and sexist. As an African American, I'm constantly in fear for the President's safety and understand the role words and narratives play in securing and maintaining his safety. #Ferguson and #ICantBreathe are examples of why my fear is so palpable. Law enforcement officers are killing black men and boys. Law enforcement is also responsible for protecting the first African American President. I'm dismayed that so many here cannot appreciate the irony of that. That vast right wing conspiracy Hillary described during the nineties is real and effective in attempting to topple our government because a black man is at the helm. And the evidence of their effectiveness is on January 15, 2015 we will have our first KLAN Congress since the thirties when the KKK was at the height of its membership and influence. Again, with that said, I'm okay with not participating in the conversations here. I prefer the Obama Diary. It is a very diverse well-educated and intelligent group in which you can speak your truth. However, it too has rules. Disrespecting the President, e.g. calling him "Obama" instead of President Obama or making references to his character, e.g. "he's weak" is frowned upon. The focus is on the President's policy agenda and strategies and pushing back hard but intelligently against the media aka newsstainers who try to block him at every turn.

So in love I tell my white brothers and sisters here, this is your space to speak your truth. There's really no space for me here and I'm totally okay with that.