NeNe Leaks, Lil Jon and Star Jones: Cowards Afraid to Speak out against Donald Trump’s Claim Obama Not Born in America

African Americans have a strong history of standing up against injustice and hatred. This is not the case currently. Although America has its first African American President, many who claim to support Obama are silent in the right’s quest to humiliate and doubt his legitimacy to serve as the commander in chief.

Just last week we lost a great scholar who made a career in speaking out for truth and against racist dogma, Dr. Manning Marable, but now, it seems we are top heavy with more entertainers and athletes and celebrities that thinkers, intellectuals and those concerned with the collective over the individual. True, entertainers and celebrities can hold the banner for such as James Brown, Bill Crosby, Arthur Ashe, Hank Aaron and Muhammad Ali did in the past, but such is not the case for celebrities today.

Over the past few weeks, Presidential hopeful and tea party fuck boy Donald Trump has been front and center in stating his belief that President Obama as not being a native born American citizen. Triumph, a billionaire and executive producer of the weekly television show “Celebrity Apprentice.”, has received some criticism from African Americans but not much. Especially from celebrities.

On his show there are several people of color including the rapper Little Jon, the reality television beneficiary Ne Ne Leaks, singer Dionne Warrick, and Lawyer Star Jones, but to my amazement, none have spoken out openly against Trumps assertions that Obama was not born in America. I find this troubling for two reasons. First that they are afraid and subconsciously see Trump as a slave master who would be more prone to chop off their foot for not changing their slave name (a metaphor for money) than to stand for the truth and their community. The second is that they appear to be cowards, afraid to voice their beliefs in support of Obama, as if they have forgotten they will not have water hose sprayed on them or dogs let loose on them.

I am very saddened that in 2011, people feel obligated to act more as slaves than free individuals. That is unless they too believe Obama is not a native born American. If they do not, then they seem to serve their selves over the community, the same community that supported them and made them wealthy. For being ashamed to voice a political opinion for a man you support is both loathsome and cowardice and reminds me of what George Orwell once wrote: In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

A More Perfect Union

School House Rock this was the show, early Saturday mornings in my childhood that taught me the preamble of the constitution. I can still sing that song today. I especially was fond of the stanza “We the people in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice and ensure domestic tranquility.”

The two phrases of importance herein are “we the people” and “more perfect union.” In Wisconsin, Ohio and several other stats around the country, a battle for these two phrases are underway. The consternation is that Republicans do not agree with these founding principles albeit they claim the innateness of the constitution as being sacrosanct, but what can one expect from racist, sexist, kkk, bible toting republican backing nutt sacks?

Not to mention these same folk claim to know how to correct the economy and create jobs yet the only economic prescriptions they advocate support individuality and ignore social responsibility while enriching self on the backs of the hard working citizenry. The way I see it the query remains do they? The social issues seem to be more paramount. I figure if a person doesn’t want an abortion don’t have one and if you do not want to marry a gay person don’t – a lot of my heterosexual confederates do just that. But back to the Wisconsin example.

Although many believe that the governor of Wisconsin is conducting a personal raid on pensions and attack on collective bargaining as being essential to balancing the budget – it is not What is not overtly discussed are the facts. One is that just a few days after taking office the Governor gave more than $100 million in tax breaks to large corporations. This on top of the fact that corporations really do not pay any taxes as it is in Wisconsin. More than 60 percent of Wisconsin corporations pay no taxes at all.

Factually the Governor is attempting to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class during the middle of a recession. Not to mention he desires to make up for differences in the tax breaks for corporations he gave with $78 billion in the pension fund. He like the Governor of Ohio does not want folk to have a say in their money they put in their own pension. It seems strange that while Gov."I don't need any Blacks" Kasich of Ohio takes from folks making 50k a year, he has given his chief of staff a raise of $50,000 not even being in office six months. If this is ok, then the next thing would be someone telling you they have control over what you put in your 401k, what is the difference. A pension is similar for it is just deferred pay for work done. You can’t tell me a DA working for the state makes the same as a lawyer working in the private sector. If it is ok to raid union pensions then it is ok to raid a 401k or a credit union as well as prevent class action law suits.

Across the nation, the GOP has gained almost 700 seats in state assemblies. Fifteen are considering Arizona styled immigration acts including Kentucky, Nebraska and Oregon and several others are pushing for the drug testing of welfare recipients. In North Carolina, Republicans are trying to repeal the state’s Racial Justice act – it allows inmates on death row to use statistics to appeal based on discrimination. In Wisconsin they are trying to repeal a law that requires police to record the race of folk the pull over.

Go figure, from inside the beltway to the state level, the GOP is dealing with everything except the economy and jobs. I have yet to hear of or read any job creation legislation on their behalf. And I am sure they know the US trade deficit has increased to its largest gap in four months – by 33 percent. Mainly due to extending the Bush Tax cuts (which increased their beloved deficit). We have $365 billion in imports from China while we export $10 billion there in the midst of increasing oil prices.

They complain about Obama’s budget yet admit they do not have one of their own. Although the public decree is to focus on jobs and unemployment, they seem to have formed their own Napoleonic Rhenish Confederacy while at the same time the metternichian principles of the Tea Party in congress attempts to maintain political hegemony via sleight of hand and inquisitional methods. The more I try and understand, the more confused I get. I mean where does the GOP get spending cuts, abortion and civil rights as being what the electorate wants dealt with first from when our economy is sinking? Strange for again, I thought it was jobs.

America, I hope we are not that stupid. A more perfect union is we the people, not we the corporation.