“Barack Obama Pushed LeBron James Away From Pivotal NBA Strike”
Your worst enemy will always be an enemy that does not appear to be one at all. We see the best examples of these kinds of enemies in our favorite TV shows and movies. It was Scar to Mufasa in the Lion King, Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars, Nicki Marron to Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard, and Fredo Corleone to his brothers in Godfather II. These characters did not appear to be enemies, but they were. In many cases, this is my view of Barack Obama to Black America. He does not appear to be an enemy, but he has made moves that make me question whether he is.
As of right now, Black America is so focused on our current president, Donald Trump, they do not see the potential threat right in our backyard, but of course, Donald Trump is a known bigot. He has no filter, and he has said many racist things in the past and in the present whether that be through Twitter or any of his latest press conferences. While we cannot ignore phrases such as “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” from Trump regarding protesters who sought justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, we also cannot ignore the countless moves Obama has made that do the opposite of benefiting Black America.
Barack Obama is the most dangerous man to Black America.
Now before you call me a coon, a sellout, an Uncle Tom, or anything in between, just hear me out. I stand with those who agree we need to get Donald Trump out of the White House. Another four years with Trump will be detrimental and I would never vote for him, but I am also not blind to what is going on with the Democrats. Barack Obama has strategically maneuvered Joe Biden to be the only Democratic candidate we have left. He pulled some strings behind the scenes of the Democratic nominations that pushed Biden to the frontline. This is the same man who, once became president, said he was not the president of Black America but was the president of the United States of America. Now don’t get me wrong, I was ecstatic when Obama first ran. I voted for him. I supported him, and I was beyond happy and proud when he won, but we are talking about a man who spent eight years as president and did nothing that directly impacted or benefited Black Americans. We are talking about a man who shut down the Occupy Wall Street Movement while Biden was by his side. If he and Biden did not create a specific policy that would support ending the injustices Blacks face in America then, how can we really count on them to do it now?
Here we are today in 2020 screaming “Black lives matter,” a phrase that should not have a rebuttal, but is faced with the phrase “all lives matters” as if we are not aware, but with the number of countless shootings of unarmed black men and women and injustices during this year alone, us Black Americans feel otherwise. After seeing George Floyd take his last breath on camera, you would think something would be done. There was absolutely no question as to whether his murder was justified or not. This man was killed in cold blood while the world could see, but just shy of three months later we had another police shooting of Jacob Blake caught on camera. Black America is yet again outraged. Among those who were outraged were NBA leaders LeBron James and Chris Paul. They stood up to fight against police brutality, refusing to be silent. They went as far as to say they would have an NBA strike in order to see justice served, but who do you think shut that notion down? It was not Trump, the out-in-the-open bigot. It was Barack Obama, someone Black Americans trust.
Do you know how big of an impact an NBA strike would have made had that notion been fulfilled? Do you know or understand how many pockets would have been hit with a move so radical? Millions of dollars would have been at stake for NBA owners, the league, basketball arenas, advertisers, etc. That would have gotten millions of people’s attention, but the NBA leading justice reform was short-lived because Obama decided turning basketball arenas into voting stations would be of better use, as if voting is something we do not know how to do.
Voting is not the issue. America needs aggressive, radical change. Voting for Biden is not going to change police brutality, which was on the rise when Obama was in office. If you take a look back at history, this country was not set up for Black Americans to thrive. Slavery, the 1944 G.I. Bill, redlining, lynchings, and so many more events have kept Black Americans from reaching their fullest potential. Even the history of starting a police force was a disadvantage to Blacks. Some of the first police forces created were formed in order to keep the slaves in line and to prevent them from running. That is the history of the police department, to keep the Black folk in line, and we still see that today. Change has to take place from the inside, but it is those of us on the outside that must strategically push for change and hitting America in the pockets is a start.
We have been protesting for years. We have been voting for years, and I am not saying we should stop doing those things, but when you still have to listen to Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris dance around questions regarding creating a solid policy that will end qualified immunity and police brutality, it is disheartening and something more radical needs to be done.
I really hope Black America wakes up and sees Barack Obama is doing more harm than good. He had eight years to make a change but instead, he has only shut down Black America’s attempts to rise up and get what we have been fighting for, and that is to only be treated equally. Wake up Black America. We must continue without him.