Thursday, September 29, 2011

My Rant: Is Maxine Waters & Tavis Smiley stirring up Drama in the Black & Gay Communities?


So, I was reading a few articles and I noticed how certain members of the Congressional Black Caucus are hounding Obama over his speech last weekend.

The president was giving one of rallying speeches and challenged the CBC to start fighting and stop complaining. Well, the media ran this news to the ground, claiming he was attacking the Black community, which he wasn't it. But my issue is with what Maxine Waters and Tavis "I'm Jealous" Smiley had to say afterwards.

After Obama's speech, Maxine said this:


Then Tavis said this:

What concerned me was how they pointed out the LGBT community. While I understand where they were coming from, I had problem with them specifying how Obama didn't harp on our community. They should know the rift between the Black and Gay community. Using their voice to point that out could cause more issues. For example, some folks will take their statements as "Obama cares more for the gays than Blacks".

Again, I understand their frustrations, but they should be aware of how that argument could spark up some more mess between the communities. I still believe the CBC should fight harder and stand up against the Tea Party/GOP foolishness. However, this 'detour' from Maxine and Tavis is just another way of walking away from the truth. I expect better from those two.

This post was inspired by Metro Weekly

2 comments:

Kyle Leach said...

V, President Obama has from the beginning told activists, of every kind, that he expects them to do their own work, fight their own fights, and build the nation they want. He has also said many times that he is ready for criticism and willing to accept it. I'm as disappointed as the next person about our nation right now(and most of Obama's cabinet), but I would never presume to put all of that on the president or any one person, no matter how powerful. Obama was a moderate from the get-go and for people to act surprised about that, shows how vulnerable we are to sound bites, slogans, and our own wishful thinking. Their are no magic wands and fairy dust. We will need to fight and work very hard to get what we as progressives want. People need to stop putting their faith into others and invest it into themselves and their own actions. They need to be their own change. I don't know if we have it in us, but I know I want us to try.

Anonymous said...

These two benn around awhile and just why are they making noise now when they didn't in the past?? HMMMM

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.