“Should We Vote To Re-Elect Barack Obama Because He Is African-American”? KTSCW

TOPIC:

Should we vote to re-elect Barack Obama because he is African-American?

OVERVIEW:

The unemployment rate among African Americans stands at 16.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 11.5 percent when Obama took office. By some accounts, African American people have lost more wealth since the recession began than at any time since slavery.

Now I know that there are a lot of African Americans that still support Barack, and much of what is happening now is the residual effect of economic and foreign policies that were put in place under the Bush administration, there is no getting around the fact that Obama has not been attentive to the needs of African Americans.

“Let’s not even deal with the facts right now. Let’s deal with just our blackness and pride – and loyalty,” Tom Joyner wrote recently on his BlackAmericaWeb.com blog…Tom went on to write, “We have the chance to re-elect the first African-American president, and that’s what we ought to be doing. And I’m not afraid or ashamed to say that as black people, we should do it because he’s a black man.”…

Was Tom Joyner fair in writing his blog (feelings) on what African Americans should do as it relates to politics and who we should vote for as president? Could Tom’s blog be seen as an assault on our intelligence, while flirting with our emotions? Does this blog add fuel to the stereotypical fire that African - Americans are not politically savvy and cannot think for themselves?