I may as well comment on Jesse Jackson, too.

I saw a funny thing on the net today. There was a picture of the good Rev. Jesse, in front of a microphone as usual, with a caption saying “Rev. Jackson– Sen. Obama hasn’t spoken with civil rights leader about his comments.” A little further over was a picture of Senator Obama, looking suave and relaxed as usual, with a caption that read “On Recession– Sen. Barack Obama is pushing for another economic stimulus package.”

I could stop right there, and I think most of us would recognize the difference and the symbolism of it all, but I’ll keep going for posterity’s sake. Okay, are you ready? Here’s the bombshell–

Jesse Jackson doesn’t matter.

    

 

 Of course, most Black people, especially those with any semblance of socio/politico/cultural understanding (and here’s a surprise mainstream media– many, many, many of us do) already are well aware of that, and get peculiar amusement from watching the various clueless talking heads running to get the good Rev. Jesse’s opinion. But this past week brought us into not a new arena, but certainly one we thought would be publicly avoided. You see, several months ago, when Barack Obama’s campaign was just a trivial tremor on the political map, and not the full-scale earthquake it’s grown into, I wrote (on another forum) that the “Old Black Guard” (or OBG) would, sooner or later, start actin’ ugly. We’ve already seen Blackellectuals like Tavis Smiley doing the “he ain’t the right one” song and dance. And of course there’s old Bootyshakin’ Bob Johnson, who probably doesn’t have a bone of cultural conscientiousness in his body, but who acts like money makes him a spokesman for Black America. Those two were fairly predictable– in Tavis’s case, I suspect he had begun believing that he was going to be the “Next One,” and is a bit miffed that Obama beat him to it. And Bob is stupid rich. You know how that is.

It’s the OBG, though, that I felt posed the biggest threat to undermine what should be (and really already is) the most historic event of our generation. Let me explain where the OBG comes from. Since the death of Dr. King, the dogfight to be “Leader of Black America” has required at least one of three things:

1) the term “Reverend” in front of your name,

2) well-known affiliation with the NAACP, SCLC, or Urban League, and/or

3) born and raised in the south, specifically Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, or Louisiana.

Senator Barack Obama fits none of that criteria, and the OBG who “marched right beside Dr. King and been on the battlefield of civil rights all my life” are not just resentful, but downright hateful. Now, prudence maintains that no matter how acrimoniously they view Obama, that rancor had better remain private. For some of them, like John Lewis, sooner or later there’s going to be an election with their names on it, and the people who vote (and pay attention to backstabbing) are going to make them pay. For young OBG’s like Tavis (in the club because he survived growing up in Mississippi), it means black listeners calling Tom Joyner and telling Tavis to shut the hell up. But what about the good Reverends, especially when there is no actual church to lose? Jeremiah Wright? Retired, and then proceeded to try and throw Obama as far under the bus as he could get him. Al Sharpton? Since the beginning there have been rumblings out of New York about Rev. Al’s jealousy. At least one source says he told Obama to “Stop grandstanding in front of White people” when Obama called for non-violence after the Sean Bell verdict. But to his credit, even Rev. Al crawled out to criticize Rev. Jesse after the latter’s deer-in-the-headlights moment on Fox News. You mean you didn’t think the microphone was on? And a camera too?! What do you mean you heard me whispering that ghettofied foolishness and then making a motion like I was cutting hair under the table?

Yes, Rev. Jesse, today you look like a complete fool– but that’s to the mainstream media. To Black people, you look just like you did the day before – an egotistical, arrogant, underhanded hypocrite willing to do and say anything for fifteen more minutes, historical opportunity be damned. Fortunately, most of the OBG has the common sense to avoid such a scenario, but you– well you just don’t know when to say when.