Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Why Obama is No Robert Sobukwe

In this post I am responding to Nunya's question to me about Obama and Sobukwe below.

This is the comment she sent and my response is below. I have left her "half white man's mouth" reference alone because it is just obviously crass:

Ridwan, I have a question for you.

This is the first thing I see when visiting your blog:

"There is only one race, the human race."
Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (1924-1978)

Why is that message unpalatable when it comes out of a half white man's mouth? (Obama)

Obama is not Robert Sobukwe by any stretch of the imagination. When Sobukwe said that there was “only one race” he was standing against the spurious claim by white supremacists that Black people are inferior humans.

Obama’s "speech on race" is a calculated part of his presidential campaign and it comes at a time when he was forced to speak to Pastor Wright’s comments. Up to this point he has fastidiously avoided race in his campaign. In fact, his campaign was definitvely race-less, or rather race-neutered.

Sobukwe, in contrast, did not run for office in terms where he needed whiteness to accept his racial otherness or sanction his notions about race unity.

When Sobukwe made the argument that whites were not superior to Blacks it was part of his lifelong struggle against white supremacy. Unlike Obama, he was not just acquiescing to white domination and its race rules.

Nowhere in Sobukwe’s life or thinking will you find the kind of liberal Obama nonsense that says we can’t be stuck on race so let’s move on.

Sobukwe knew that race was a construction but he also knew that the system of oppression and privilege built around it is real.

He recognized that the consequence of race was racism and not just a convenient misunderstanding like Obama argues.

If Obama was more honest with his white supporters he would tell them that Pastor Wright’s words are hardly uncommon in Black and Other communities.

Obama would also tell whites that most Blacks despise the arrogance and ascendance of whiteness.

And he would tell them that Blacks and Others do not appreciate the sanctimonious motioning that whites do when their privileges are at stake, or when their version of history, and reality, is confronted.

What Obama would not do is to make "step-and-fetch" excuses for whiteness.

To address racism in the US and globally we need more than the duplicitous liberal nonsense that Obama represents.

We have to begin, as Sobukwe did, by confronting whiteness head-on. We can't, for example, just pretend that America represents a just society while its prisons and ghettos are full of Blacks and Others.

But Obama is not about unsettling whiteness.

He is, afterall, a client of whiteness. He cannot ask tough structural questions about race and racism in America; questions that would interrogate whiteness about its structural relationship to Indian genocide and Black slavery, for example.

Asking these questions would be too divisive for Obama.

In fact, if he wanted to end his love affair with whiteness right now all he would have to do is say that America needs to address the question of reparations for Black slavery.

You know all hell would break loose among his supporters.

Sobukwe's revolutionary example stands against this paper-thin politicking. He was not a mere agent of whiteness but a revolutionary that understood how liberals like Obama are among the most duplicitous of players in race politics.

The apartheid government and its voters found Sobukwe so threatening that they kept him imprisoned and under house arrest for most of his political life.

This is in stark contrast to Obama who depends on white people to validate his existence, and the other way around.

Onward!

***Update(8:22pm SA)***
See Angryindian's post entitled "Obama Race Speech: Making White People Feel Safer by Telling Them it is Not Only Their Fault."

As I read through Angryindian's post I thought again how Obama has made it OK for white folk to just be ignorant and indignant about race and racism. He has turned the average closet bigot into a flagrant racist.

Angryindian develops a more complex argument when he says:

Not that my analysis nor the deconstructions of my brothers and sisters observing this minstrel show will mean much outside of the African community. We do not own major media. We do not even own the creative expression packaged and marketed around the world for the direct benefit of the White businessmen who own and jealously guard the means of production. Our opinions, when it comes to critiquing the colonialist government and society that claims dominance over us, are limited not just by our lack of access to technology, but the reluctance Whites have in listening and reading to voices that do not reinforce their sense of entitlement and authority over the entire world. It is the proverbial sea in which we all swim. White makes right, no matter what the circumstances.

No doubt brother!

23 comments:

Shus li said...

As ususal, your analysis shows great insight. If I can talk Eugene into it, we will go speak to Mr. Obama on Friday evening in Eugene-the-city. I shall address the question of reparations for Black slavery to Mr. Obama! Any other questions you would suggest?

Anonymous said...

Does Obama's being bi-racial means that he has to forsake one race for the other to gain advancement politically?

He seems to put more of an emphasis
on his "whiteness" to comply with his white voters.

Obama came into this race with blinders on. His intentions may have been good, but he couldn't have honestly thought that his "We Are The World" mentality would "erase" his blackness from this campaign.

Obama is running to be the next President of the United States! For him or anyone to think that race would not have been an issue, are living in denial.

Racism is very much a reality here (unfortunately) within the US and Obama should have been prepared to face this head on in the beginning.

Fanciful speeches of change and adversity clearly hasn't resonated if the very issue(race)that's been ignored is the very one that comes back and bites you in the ass!

The issue of race from both the media and Obama's unwillingness to face these realities makes me wonder how much in denial will he be once he's running the country.

Dade Cariaga said...

An excellent and well-thought-out analysis, Ridwan. But, perhaps Obama is a "stealth" candidate for racial minorities in much the same way, but coming from the opposite direction, that Junior Bush was a "stealth" candidate for viscious Christian zealots.

If Obama is to win the Oval Office, he must present an image that is palatable to the American public writ large. Those of us who support him must necessarily take it on faith that he is with us.

That's the nature of presidential politics in America, sadly.

Great post!

Dade

Ridwan said...

Hello Shush li. Thanks for your comment sista. I am excited about your meeting with Obama. Good luck on getting Eugene to go :0)

Anyway, I am interested in what he makes of the reparation call. And whether he thinks reparation and restitution is one and the same thing.

Also, I would ask him why in his America there is such a huge discrepancy in the numbers of Black and Other folk in prison.

Why, for example, are there more Black men in prison than in college? And, why are there sentence discrepancies between Black and white offenders for the same crimes?

I would be pushing to see if he sees structural oppression as an issue.

**Erica you make excellent points. It amazes me that white people will even raise his white side when American history is built around the one-drop rule.

I read a comment by a white bigot the other day. The comment went like this: "Yeah I support Obama for president, I support his white side."

Some may think I am making too much of this but let me tell you that I believe his popularity is because he is committed to whiteness and its view of America.

In a very real sense he is 'in-service' to whiteness.

I listened to Obama speak and I thought "what the hell is so ground-breaking about this nonsense."

A Black man should not be making excuses for his white grandmother!

Hell the myth of the Black violent rapist got thousands of Black men lynched in America.

His grandmother should have known better from jump.

And why the hell is this man always ignoring his Black grandparents? Could it be that he knows nothing about those African folk he claims in Kenya?

I am tired of Obama as you can tell. Tired of the colourpeans who see him as a chance to make changes.

I cannot in good conscience see how a man that supports Israel in Palestine will help young brothers and sistas on the streets of America.

He can't because he has already been bought and paid for by the special interests his beige politics represents.

Thanks Erica.

***Dade I would have to disagree with you brother. You and I have talked about it in the past.

I still don't think that Obama will get the donkey nomination, and even if he does it will only mean that McCain is one step closer.

In fact, new polls just made public show that his lead over Hillary is slipping to a mere statistical advantage.

All of this happened since Clinton racialized her attack on Obama.

What does thins indicate>

Well exactly what Erica is saying above, race is not absent in America but rather a very big part of it.

Obama may not be a Muslim, but he is Black enough to make folks uneasy.

Pastor Wright was just what the Clintons needed. He makes Obama's beige politics suspect.

Thanks for your too kind comments brother.

Peace and struggle,
Ridwan

Eugene said...

Pastor Wright was right. The fact that his message made it out there is important. Yes indeed, the U.S. is still as racist as ever, and YES, even though the white only restaurants and lynchings have come to a SEEMING end. And YES INDEED, it is U.S. policy that BREEDS the terrorism that the U.S. claims to struggle against. Truth is, it is damned fucking good for business. (Still no explaination about 6 of the 19 WTC suicide attackers are still alive.) If U.S. policy would stop killing other peoples babies like GENOCIDAL Madeline Albright said was "worth it," then maybe the terrorism will stop.

Because of Genocidal Hillary's racializing of the presidential campaign, appealing to the fears of white folks that yes, they may indeed have to pay back and make reparations for wrongs past to PRESENT, Obama, in my opinion, has dropped the ball on something that could have raised the consciousness of a gazillion folks here in the states. Instead, he is doing his best to let the system know he is still trying to play within the system, "by the rules of the king."

Pretty much, it is beginning to look like that racist genocidal asshole Hillary will get the nomination and then it will be between her and Genocidal McCain. If it is between those two, I guarantee you that millions of folks will die senselessly abroad and here in the U.S. as well as great amounts of suffering will happen to the masses. The wealthy, however, will continue to acquire massive amounts of wealth for themselves.

Anybody up for armed struggle?

Ridwan said...

Thanks for your comment Eugene.

Yeah it is gonna be Hillary over Obama.

There is just enough race doubt in the air now to make Obama seem too risky for the donkey party (or whiteness really).

And all those fools who were thinking that a race-neutered candidate can win will be licking their wounds and blaming the Pastor for speaking truth to power.

Peace brother,
Ridwan

nunya said...

My friend and I had a conversation re: Obama.

She thinks he will be assassinated if he is voted in as President because he is black.

I thought he might be assassinated if he is voted in because his rhetoric includes the words "change" and "unity." After all, look what happened to the very popular JFK?

We both voted for Hillary in the primaries, superficially because of her and her husband's experience. Perhaps more viscerally because my friend and I would like to see a female president. My friend and I are both middle aged females, mostly of white or Spanish heritage, but both with a little Native American blood in us.

I don't know if the fear of assassination of him factored into my friend's decision to vote for Hillary, but it did factor into my decision. Frankly, I don't even want to hope any more. Especially in politicians. No politician wants to deal with what ails the human race:
A)Lack of education for women
B)Overpopulation because of A)

With that, I will leave you with a disturbing quote from Jared Diamond's latest book "Collapse" from Chapter 10 'Malthus in Africa: Rwanda's Genocide' (in which he does describe Germany and Belgium's complicity through colonial policies)

Thus, as André and Platteau note, The 1994 events provided a unique opportunity to settle scores, or the reshuffle land properties, even among Hutu villagers...It is not rare, even today to hear Rwandans argue that a war is necessary to wipe out an excess of population and to bring numbers into line with the available land resources."

That last quote of what Rwandans themselves say about the genocide surprised me. I had though that it would be exceptional for people to recognize such a direct connection between population pressure and killings. I'm accustomed to thinking of population pressure, human environmental impacts, and drought as ultimate causes, which make people chronically desperate and are like the gunpowder inside the powder keg..."


With 6.7 billion people on the planet, exponential human population growth but food production growing only arithmetically, and deforestation increasing the lack of clean water supplies, good fucking luck with those reparation demands.

If that is a goal, you'd better look to Europe, because the US Economy is shot, as is it's post-WWII economic hegemony.

(Shhhhh, don't tell the politicians that)

Anonymous said...

I'm hearing what Nunya is saying about supporting the whole human race, in all racial entirety. However I'm sick and tiered of Obama, because he is cheapening his mixed blood, by being all over the map with who he would like to say he is, and what his so called beliefs are.

I know, Obama is trying to reach out to everyone, and I support that because that is the way to win the popular vote, however to the extent of which he is doing this now, subtracts rather than adds from his being a "peoples president" or choice. In fact, Obama, is becoming the Michael Jackson of this race, what the hell is he, and why is he making a larger issue of it.

Shusli, and Eugene, you can try and ask him all those questions about racism when you see him in Eugene. I'm glad you are going, and I'm kind of curious how that whole scene will turn out. I am however, quite sure that Obama will try and skirt around giving honest, true and especially EXACT answers on the questions we seek. For, if he was to actually make a real statement, it would be a give away as to how he really feels. If you are successful, it would be VERY INTERESTING!! I would also not be surprised if his people try and use force against those who press for answers that put him in a situation he is not prepared for. Mr. Obama thinks he will have an easy time with coming to Oregon, despite the large Republican percentage. Obama thinks that all the liberals in Oregon will support his ass no matter what, so again he in not going to be prepared or be in the position to answer those questions, but again if he does, dam I'd love to hear what he is going to come up with, and you might have a better chance by being creative in asking those questions and do your best to catch him off gard. He will look like a dam fool if he refuses, so back him into a corner.

I'm still voting for Hillary, not because I think she is a good person (not), but because of her qualifications. I am so sick and tiered of Obama and his shape shifter chamilion self. This whole new thing with the pastor is just a bit too much. I had often wished that Obama,would just come out and tell the world he was a Muslim, I would probably have to vote for him if he did that, but at this point even if he did there is no way in hell I would believe that, since he supports Israel occupying Palestine. In this regard he has proven himself to be a liar when he tries to be a humanitarian. Don't believe him. He needs to spend some time in rural Palestine, with farmers who have starving children because Israel has cut off their water supply. Those people have no more commodities, there for no food, or money to be made to support their families. This is all in addition to the other problems there.

I had said before that even though I wouldn't be voting for Obama, I wouldn't mind if he won the presidency either. I have now changed my mind. I would rather vote for old ass McCaine, than vote for Obama, and that's very bad- especially considering that he supports bush's F'd up war in Iraq. We just have no good choices do we?

Despite the way I feel, I see Obama winning this election, so I hope people become wise to his shit seriously, and soon.

Dione

Ridwan said...

Dione that is not what Nunya was saying in terms of race unity.

She was pressing the notion that Sobukwe, as an African (real Black man), is given more biological creedence than Obama (a "half white mouth") where the above comment about race and racial unity is concerned.

What is striking about her entry on this issue is that until she brought it up I had not made that argument on this blog or anywhere else.

I know better than to think that Black struggle is vested in biological terms of who is most Black.

What I have done in my reply, nontheless, is to compare Sobukwe and Obama in terms of their contribution to Black struggle, not to whites or white liberals in the US.

Still, all this race talk has hit Obama hard. He was found trying hard to seem presidential today.

It won't work.

What started with Ferraro has been spun just enough by the white-fright-media and now Gallup polls show Hillary ahead of Obama today.

The "special delegates" will need no-more than this recent race fiasco to know that Obama can't win against Hillary.

Those "fucked up analysts and pundits" among us have been calling this nonsense for weeks now.

Obama can't escape the racist history of Black people in the US.

The "one drop rule" is still the measure that whiteness uses to judge who is and who is not Black.

In the wider Black struggle the measure is more complex. And it is not biological.

Obama is beige to me because he does not embody Black struggle. His blood mix means naught.

Obama is not loyal to the emancipation of Black people and people of color everywhere.

No self-respcting Black activist can be for the blockade of Palestine by Israel.

No self-respecting Black activist would make excuses for a white grandmother and her irrational racist fear of Black men.

Obama is a white American cliche and a client for the interests of whiteness.

There is a long history of knowing what Black struggle should look like and I would be damned if I was going to let white folk, and white America in particular, dictate to me what my Black leaders should look like.

Obama is not one of us!

As for Hillary or McCain, business as usual in my opinion.

Hillary is no more qualified than Obama or Bush. It is the same tired game of genocidal mania and colonial thievery.

I trust you are well Dione.

Peace to you,
Ridwan

Ridwan said...

Nunya thanks for your comment. I have heard folks talk about assassination and Obama.

I would not be surprised by anything. Afterall, we are listening to Bush tell us that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was a good thing and "a success" ...

What happened in Rwanda/Burundi was a terrible shame, a world war in terms of folks who were represented and the mass slaughter that occured.

Bill and Hillary barely raised their voices. Madeline Albright was focused on Kosovo where white life was at stake.

Still, African governments and the US and others failed the people of Rwanda and Burundi ... they still are.

It is one of the saddest chapters in the history of post-colonial Africa. And it can happen again until African states get serious about regional cooperation and early warning systems.

Peace,
Ridwan

Eugene said...

To be honest, I don't vote. If I did, I'd vote for Cynthia McKinney. Still, we all know the reality is that it will be one of the big three. A genocidal white man, a genocidal white woman, and a black man who has yet to prove his genocidal capabilities but no doubt will should he become the President of the U.S. Personally, I believe Hillary will do the most killing because she has a great desire to prove herself more white-male and republican than the actual white male republicans. With known genocidal criminal Madeline Albright on her side, I'd have to estimate that folks in the millions will be killed, which goes along with your comments, Nunya. You see, it will be mostly folks of the dark skinned races paying with their lives, here and abroad. There will also be poor whites because the politicos and the U.S. corporate owners hate them just as much as dark folks and those deemed dark races.

If Hillary or McCain are elected, THERE WILL BE WAR WITH IRAN, and illegal genocidal war at that. Unlike Iraq, the Iranians have the ability to fight back, and with the U.S. economy getting shredded to the bare bones, a war with Iran will definitely bring economic collapse.

The system (the U.S. government) is only interested in the systems survival. Whoever gets elected will indeed be playing the game. Everything needs to change.

BTW, the only thing that made Kennedy a good president was his assisination. I, for one, will never forget how he catered the Indian vote via the Seneca nation. A dam was to be built that would flood their reservation and destroy their economy. JFK was against it, until elected, when he approved the dams construction and destroyed the Seneca nation...an act of genocide (article 2c).

nunya said...

Yes, African Governments hamstrung by World Bank and IMF policies and the US governments have failed Africa.

For the benefit of multi-national corporate interests.

Like the ones looking at the real oil in the Middle East (historically sold for US dollars, but not any more) and leaving the scraps of oil in Sudan to the Chinese to take how they see fit. Do you really think EXXON gives a shit if the Chinese hire the janjaweed to clear people off the land for oil exploration and exploitation?

And you mention Kosovo?


My God, how much do those assholes need in order to feel important?

Did I ever tell you that I was apolitical until I was two classes away from an Associates in Business Management?

This is why I think the US economy is shot:
MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES

I notice S Africa's not on the list. Y'all must have enough toilet paper. (sorry, I couldn't resist that joke as I watch the dipshits in charge wipe their butt on my Constitution and refuse to start planning realistic infrastructure here)


Dionne,
you mention "He seems to put more of an emphasis
on his "whiteness" to comply with his white voters."

Ummm, yeah, he's a politician and he's hedging his bet that more whites will vote. There are still more whites in the US population. Rush Limbaugh is encouraging Republicans to vote for Hillary in the primaries because she's going to be easier to beat than McInsane. I don't know these people who proudly call themselves Dittoheads (Limbaugh listeners) but I do understand that those with power and money spend money advertising on Limbaugh's show.


Yah, and another thing, it's amazing how many people who are in charge of elections in this country are "nonpartisan"...unless you scratch the surface.

Ridwan said...

Sorry Nunya I should have made it more inclusive by saying the Balkans.

Much of Clinton's policies were focused on Bosnia and Herzegovina and southern Kosovo where Croat and Serb tensions were boiling in late 1998. Clinton 'shepherded' the Dayton Accords remember.

All the while he ignored what he knew about Rwanda and Burundi.

South Africa was no better in the initial stages of the genocide in the Great Lakes area.

But I remember Clinton apologizing and Albright. Both in Kigali.

But then it was too late hey.

Still, African states should have been more responsible to what went down. But sadly the OAU (now AU) has mostly been ineffective in most things.

Peace,
Ridwan

Eugene said...

I would like to add one more comment here. I take SERIOUS offense to calling Obama half-white. Here is why. As half Indian, my mother, who is decidedly racist, will get uncomfortable when I bring un Indian issues. She will then bring up the fact that I am half white. However, white society will never accept me AS white and I will never get to join the KKK or the Skinheads.

And then again, in discussing issues with Indians, suddenly folks have Indianess in their veins. Now mind you, it may be very true, but how do you practice that Indianess? Lame Deer said you can tell a "real red Indian" by how they live their lives and not their blood-quantum. Blood-quantum is part of the white mans game. To suddenly bring out the fact that you are part Indian, I have some questions for you.

What nation are you from?

How do you practice your Indianess?

Do you have connections to your culture?

Do you have connections to your landbase?

What are your family connections?

Are you recognized by other Indians as being Indian?

What Indian struggles are you connected with?

Those are just a few of the questions I will ask.

Shusli and I both have met a lot of folks who call themselves Cherokee. I always ask them their connections and most of the time they have no idea. I suggest they look into it.

So please, don't bring your Indianess up unless you are willing to have it challenged. Don't bring your Indianness up unless it is relevant to the conversation. Don't bring it up as a sudden connection to people of color and an understanding of race and racism. Unless you are truly connected with your people, which you may or may not be, your Indianess is irrelevant.

nunya said...

eugene,

the "Indianess" in the family was irrelevant waaaay back when the Indian sisters married the white brothers (literally) in order to hang onto the farms that they (the sisters) had proved up on in Oregon.

That my grandmother's grandfather tried to help the local Indians on the reservation obviously came to naught.

nunya said...

ps eugene, I like Cynthia McKinney also. Did you see "American Blackout?" I'll admit it, I cried. I thought we were beyond water cannons and dogs set upon people. Perhaps we do those things electronically now.

*sigh*

Dione said...

I'm surprised Obama hasn't brought up his "Indianess", or has he?

Obama putting an emphasis on whiteness is a completely obvious way to gain appeal to the white ruling majority. I think we are all clear on that, and the one drop rule that I brought up in several discussions ago, when people were posting here, asking about why no one mentions his white mother, ect ect. Again obvious.

The world views Obama as a Black Man, because of this one drop rule. He does not know the struggle of the African American people, and is not connected to it. Hillary also does not know the same struggle of the women's movement as most her age do, because she always came from privilege, just as Obama comes from privilege. They are all the same.

I do, however very much believe that Hillary knows the gender struggle to a much larger extent than Obama knows any racial struggle. I know this by the very fact there are still people out there that feel that Hillary is riding on her husband's legacy. This simply wouldn't have been the case, if gender had never been an issue. I strongly believe we would have seen her in office before Bill had there not been chauvinism.

Putting all the trivialities aside, I understand all the people who say they don't vote because of the way the electoral system works, however in some respects it's wrong to complain about all these candidates and not take a stand.

When I have asked whom you would be voting for, if you were to vote, and it could be another candidate other than who is on the ticket right now; it was to rattle your tree a little :)

The other people who ask, because they need help figuring it out, need to start doing some reading and learning on their own to figure it out. There are more than a few reasons for secrecy is ballots. People need to make their own decision.

On all fronts, I believe in making an informed choice and exercising our right to cast our opinion, or I personally feel that I am letting down all those ladies that fought hard for our voice to be recognized, and the same applied to other groups as well formerly denied the right to be a part of this decision making process- even if it doesn't work right, and isn't fair, and admittedly it isn't.

Dione

Anonymous said...

Ummm, Nunya, I Erica made the comment: "He seems to put more of an emphasis
on his "whiteness" to comply with his white voters." (get your commenters right)and I stand by what I wrote!

So slow your roll.

Ridwan said...

Hello again Dione. Thanks for your reply.

I was wonering if Hillary knows the struggle of women in Palestine?

Does she know it like Mrs. Bush who claims to have helped to 'free' women in Afghanistan?

Is Hillary connected to their suffering as the state of Israel rains down oppression on their bodies?

I don't think so.

Hillary can't even speak for poor women in the US, and definitely not women of color.

Hillary is no more the candidate for women than Barack is the candidate of Blacks, that is true.

Neither one of these candidates would be viable if the American public demanded real choices.

The only real choice in this election is to withdraw your consent and call the system into question.

When and if Hillary wins and they carry more bodies of women in the middle east (especially Palestine) I will be less likely to listen to folks telling me that they thought she would be different.

She won't.

After Bush stole the first election the voters returned that fool to a second term with a significant majority.

Those who voted for Bush are responsible for Iraq and the mass murder that it represents.

This includes Hillary who voted for the invasion and Obama who voted to keep the war funded.

Though I know that Obama has not called in any genetic connection to Indians, I know that Bill Clinton still argues that he has Cherokee 'blood'.

And, there are still some mistaken Black folk who think he was the first black candidate even though under his presidency he rewrote welfare rules to victimize Black women and more Black men went into prison than any other admisistration, ever.

Peace,
Ridwan

Anonymous said...

Salaams Ridhwan ...

I have yet to hear anyone in thiuese UA of A say anything like what you have said when referencing Barack Obama to Mangaliso Sobukwe. They are ... "Night & Day" for although Barack is a beacon of hope for the failing - flaying policies of the USA - he is still very much as mainstream as they come. Anyone to the left of our "Ndugu" - is hardly electable over here.

So erase the concept of "democracy" out of your questioning mind; it's a farce ...

Yes, I too have been lobbying for Barack Obama - albeit being fully aware of his rather moderate political policies ...

So, to clarify your critique: Mangaliso Sobukwe is virtually unknown by most politically aware Americans of any colour - so for any American to even suggest that trhere be a comparison between the two ... is ludicrous ... !!!


Astagh'firr'ullah ...

Salaams to your mother

Ridwan said...

Salaams owen/mshengu/sharif. Thank you kindly for your comment on this post. I have passed your greeting on to my mother and she sends her Salaams too.

I think that you are absolutely right. Any comparison between Sobukwe and Obama "is ludicrous".

But you know brother folks see that quote on top of my blog and they assume Prof was some kind of liberal who wanted to wish race away, and in so doing wash the history of white racism down the drain too.

Prof was more than that and his analysis is still very valid today.

Obama is a dangerous 'lie' in that he offers false hope. Those who yearn for change in the US should look elsewhere, as you say: democracy there is a "farce".

Be well brother and please do look in when you can.

Salaam to you and yours,
Ridwan

Anonymous said...

Now that Barack as nominated Joe Biden as his running mate - hos chances for winning the election have diminished sharply. Don't forget - for all his supposed foreign affairs expertise - he has been very ardent and vocal suppoter of the Jewish Lobby - thus Barack's very moderate stance on the Middle East.

Somehow, many foreign Affairs experts fail in their punditry by forgetting that Jeruselum is the cornerstone to Judaism, Christianity ... and Islam. Did Al Aksah - Dome of The Rock happen to be where it is by accident?

So, to clarify your critique: Mangaliso Sobukwe is virtually unknown by most politically aware Americans of any colour - so for any American to even suggest that there be a comparison between the two ... is ludicrous ... !!!

Not only that, Sobuke is virtually unknown by South Africans under 40 years of age - just as Malcolm "X" - ala Malik Shabbaz is unknown here by blacks younger than forty. Similary, when mentioning many other great leaders from decades ago - one is met with blank looks in ther eyes and minds of people under forty. It is af a total mental block has been implanted in thr younger generations as is the case with our people back home when we mention , Luthuli, Sisulu, Sobukwe, Govan Mbeki, O.R Tambo - Ahmad Timol and others.

How many in today's world know who's of: Kwame Nkhruma, Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyatta, Patrice Lumumba, Eduardo Mondlane - Franz Fanon are let aslone many of our literary giants.

I have met Baba Sisulu, seen O.R and was friends/comrades with the Timols and others from Fordsburg, Lenasia, Nancefield, Kliptown, Bosmont, Newclare and Durban.

How easy - convenient it is to melding into the furniture and reamin oblivious to the reality that has forged our respective countries.

Ridwan said...

Anonymous thank you ever so kindly for your comment.

Simply put, you speak truth.

I want to post a link to a young South African blogger who blogs for the respected M&G here. He sought to show that the PAC and Pan Africanism is irrelevant.

He did so by blurring lines, making factual errors, and ignoring my comments that sought to correct his discussion of Prof.

See the post here: http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/sentletsediakanyo/2008/08/13/the-demise-and-irrelevance-of-the-pan-africanist-congress-pac/#comment-49478

Anyway, I am saddened here in South Africa to find young folk who do not know Biko too. They have heard his name but can't tell a lick about his life, his struggle.

A big part is the education system. These strugglers you mention are absent in the school curricula and are not taught at the university level to all students.

I taught in a Black Studies program and introduced a course on Pan Africanism. It drew many students but the department has not sought to keep it on the books since I left.

It is sad to note that Black Studies students could get a degree and not even touch on Pan Africanism, or even study Malcolm X closely.

It makes me furious.

When you get more time please speak here of your experiences and I will post it.

Peace to you,
Ridwan

Ps. You can reach me at my email:
laher@iname.com