The smear against Obama regarding his past drug use - i.e., the "did he sell drugs" question - is dangerous territory for anyone who attempts to advance it. The most fertile ground for such a question is a racist assumption. Several other candidates in this race and in the past have either been suspected of or admitted using drugs in their younger days. Not one of them has been accused of being a drug dealer. Even George W. Bush, whose alleged drug past is probably more extensive and sordid than the others, was not assumed to have sold drugs.
In this instance, not only has Obama been brutally honest about his past, there is absolutely no evidence that he was a drug dealer. So why has this issue been raised and why is the press falling all over it? Because he is a black man and it is all too easy for some people to assume that he is more likely to have been a drug dealer than a white person with a similar background.
This assumption is a common one made about our young black men, regardless who they are. Obama is just more prominent than most.
This is a perfect opportunity for Obama and other African Americans to point this out. Yes, we'll be accused of "playing the race card" - we always are whenever we refuse to remain silent on such things. But it is those who are asking the question who are playing the race card by trying to capitalize on the negative steretypes that are consistently used to pigeonhole and, yes, hold back, young black men.
Obama wrote the Foreword to the National Urban League's "State of Black America Report: Portrait of the Black Male." In it, he wrote:
There are at least two stories to tell about the state of black America in 2007. One story celebrates the extraordinary fact that some of this country’s top financial institutions have black chief executives, that a black woman is president of an Ivy League university, that the current and previous secretaries of state are black Americans, that a black coach led his team to victory in the Super Bowl, that the college graduation rate of black women has never been higher, that homeownership by blacks is as high as it has ever been, and that blacks have penetrated nearly every barrier in law, business, medicine, sports, education, politics and public service. Black influence on art and culture is as strong as it has ever been, and black voters should feel empowered by a reauthorized Voting Rights Act. But another story must also be told about the state of black America. A quarter of all black Americans live below the federal poverty level, a poverty rate about twice the national rate. More than a third of all black children live in poverty and almost two-thirds grow up in a home without both parents. In some cities, more than half of all black boys do not finish high school, and by the time they are in their 30s, almost six in ten black high school dropouts will have spent time in prison. Half of all black men in their 20s are jobless, and one study a few years ago found more black men in prison than enrolled in college. The typical black household earns only about 60% of the earnings of white households and has a net worth only about 10% that of whites. The HIV/AIDS rate is highest for black Americans, and blacks are more often the victims of inadequate healthcare and preventable health maladies. This sad story is a stark reminder that the long march toward true and meaningful equality in America isn’t over. We have a long way to go.
The world is changing at lightening speed. Globalization is transforming the game for all Americans, creating more opportunity but also greater vulnerability. At the same time, the black family, as a structure of relationships, love, support and sustenance, is endangered. And government institutions that support working families and ensure economic mobility have been damaged by irresponsible fiscal policies, cynical incompetence, and neglect. Young black males in particular have been left so far behind that their well-being is too often measured not by the richness and meaning of their lives—or their contributions to our economy and common lives—but rather by the costs they impose on others.
. . .
That’s why this annual status report is so important. It is a moment to consider the opportunities that confront America. Will we be able to use the greater financial, educational, political, and cultural assets that we have acquired in order to finish the fight for equality that others have started? Will we be able to coalesce around a commitment to strengthening the black family and reinventing community-based and national programs to support those who have been left behind or need assistance to get ahead? The crisis of the black male is our crisis whether we are black or white, male or female. The failure of our policies to recognize black men as husbands, fathers, sons and role models is being acknowledged, and we need a new ethic of compassion to break the cycle of educational failure, unemployment, absentee fatherhood, incarceration, and recidivism.
History teaches us that equality must be fought for each and every day. We must redouble our efforts to close the health care gap that leaves minority communities with higher rates of disease and lower rates of quality care. We must close the achievement gap by committing to early education and ensuring that we teach all of our kids to take pride in educational achievement. We must close the empathy gap that lets us give up on people who may have lost their way and all Americans must embrace our common fate and shared destiny . . . This is the journey we are on together. http://www.nul.org/thestateofblackamerica.htmlThis smear opens the door to some real analysis of these issues and give Obama and others the opportunity to diffuse some of the stereotypes and negative assumptions that people have about blacks in general and black men in particular. There is no doubt that the ONLY reason this attack has been launched against Obama is that he is a black man. No such smear has ever been made against a white candidate - or at least has not been picked up by the mainstream media - regardless of their background or personal history. The people who threw this into the atmosphere expected it to stick because they know that many white people would accept without question the notion that a black man, no matter what his history and accomplishments, may have once been a drug dealer.
But much of the prejudice that leads to these assumptions is based on ignorance, not malice. I believe that there are many good-minded and decent-hearted people who respect Obama, even if they are prone to stereotyping him, who will listen and learn and understand the truth if it's put to them the right way.
This could be a real teaching moment for a large segment of the American public.
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