What was I Thinking?

Ladies and Gentlemen, "President-Elect Barack Obama"!!!!!
I sat there speechless in my chair, witnessing this incredible moment by myself. I had tried to go to a watch party that night, but it was just too noisy, so I rushed back home. Yet as I sat alone in front of my TV, I shared the moment with e-mails and instant messages to my friends in Atlanta, my family back home in Omaha, and my extended family on Facebook. As we saw him walk up and speak to that excited throng at Grant Park in Chicago, I had to admit that I never believed this miracle would happen; at least not in '08.

I couldn't help thinking back to a moment almost one year ago, at the airport in Las Vegas, Nevada where I had just finished a business trip. But my flight back to LA was late and I had some time to kill. I noticed a sharp looking young brother who was supposed to be on the same flight. I always try to speak to young black men, just to let them know that I see them, like the village elder. I guess it's one of the privileges of gray hair. It also keeps me connected with what they are thinking about, since I'm from a different generation.

This young brother was eager to talk to me as he put down his iPod and Blackberry. He told me that he was also on business in Vegas and he had just signed up to work on Barack Obama's presidential campaign. He was very excited about the possibilities of Obama's candidacy and he wanted to know what I thought. I weighed my words carefully, trying to find a balance in my troubled thoughts that wouldn't discourage his enthusiasm. Being the voice of reason, I told him that I applauded his effort and I was envious of his ability to commit to such a goal. But there was a "but" lingering in my thoughts,
"But I really wonder if he can get elected?” I told him, "I just don't know if I believe that America is ready for him! I know he's ready for America, but will they let him run?"
The young man looked at me and listened intently. He told me he believed in Barack and was convinced he was backing the right candidate, not to mention he was building an incredible organization. I looked back at him and said,
"I know he's GOOD, I heard him speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. I believe he will be President eventually. But I don't think he'll get past Hillary!"

The young brother looked at me like he felt sorry for me, and he seemed to be thinking,
"This old dude don't understand nothing. Doesn't he know the 60's are over?"

I thought I knew what I was talking about. Everything I told him was the truth, at least as I saw it. I had faith in Obama, but not in the America I have been living in. We've been too blinded by race in this country; trapped in a mindset bogged down by the history of slavery. Blacks/Africans had to be dehumanized in this slavery system to justify the horrors of putting people in chains, and buying and selling them like cattle. That vision of inferiority is firmly planted in the American psyche and we haven't been able to shake it.

I went to all-white schools in high school and college and I met white men and women that had never been in the same room with a black person before. They were surprised when I was "articulate", and amazed when I could answer a question, proving my intelligence.
But they were never shocked that I wanted to play basketball or football because that fit the profile of their expectations for me. it's a scenario that I've seen repeated time and time again in my adult life on almost every job I've had.

But as President-Elect Obama gave his acceptance speech, I had to accept the fact that America had fooled me! This Time America Stood UP and Got it right! This election was about the need for symbolism, the need to have a President that we could believe in again. You could see it in the eyes of the people who came out that night to hear Obama speak. His words lifted them up and brought them to a new level of confidence. They/We adored him; and his beautiful family. It's was like a beautiful fairy tale that came true. They could actually see through his skin.

Perhaps one of the most eloquent statements that night came from a middle aged white man who was there to witness firsthand the Obama acceptance speech in Grant Park,
"I feel like a nightmare is finally over", he said through his tears, "I think we have a future now, I think we really have a future!"
When he said that, I realized that Black people had not suffering alone all these years with this pain and shame of racism. This election for many of us was like a cleansing of all the hate!

But to that young brother I met on the plane last year, I can only say,
"Thank God you didn't listen to me! Thank God you believed it was possible NOW. Thank God you were NOT prepared to be patient and wait for Obama to have his turn. You knew 13 months ago that Obama's time IS NOW and that later would have been TOO LATE!
Yes, I was wrong, and I am SO HAPPY ABOUT IT!

Hudson Family Pain Exposes Racism

Like so many millions of Americans I was devastated by the news that Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and seven year old nephew were murdered. I poured through the news accounts over the internet looking for details of what happened. But I also stopped to look at the notes of support from her countless fans; people who just wanted to let her know that they shared her grief.

“Jennifer we love you”, said so many writers, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this difficult time!” It was almost unanimous in the expressions of shock, sympathy, despair and love; all rolled up into one big prayer. Like I said, it was almost unanimous.

Because there hiding in the weeds was a nasty, racist note that nearly broke my heart. I have to repeat it word for word so that you understand how painful this thing was to read:

“It serves her right for living like an animal on the Southside of Chicago. She got what she deserved! Plus it’s two less votes for Obama!”

I couldn’t believe what my eyes were reading to me. Could anyone actually be that hateful to write something so brazen, hurtful and full of lies? It reminded me of the murder of young Emmett Till in 1955, who was executed because he whistled at a white woman. There were people in Mississippi who were so full of racial hatred that they actually said told reporters,

“He got what he deserved! How dare that black boy whistle at a white woman; and what was his black ass doing down here anyway; just another troublemaker from up North!”

Those segregationist people is Mississippi didn’t believe a crime had been committed; that if Emmett Till had known his place, he might still be alive today as long as he didn’t live on the Southside of Chicago!

Whoever wrote this post about Jenifer Hudson’s family appeared to be from Chicago and seemed to have his own twisted view of Chicago. He also made it clear that anyone who lives in that Black Community is insignificant and worthless and deserves whatever trouble comes their way. He didn’t care that an innocent woman and her family were slain in their own home, possibly by a trusted family member. It was the kind of domestic crime that could and does happen in any neighborhood, amongst any racial group in America.

While there is crime on Chicago’s Southside, it is just not a neighborhood of killers, muggers, crackheads and thieves. It’s an area filled with thousands of hard-working, law abiding, decent people, who are just trying to make their way. But because of the way news is covered in this country, viewers and listeners assume that most blacks in certain neighborhoods are a bunch of lazy, drug smoking, thieves living on welfare. No one deserves to be murdered under any circumstances; especially in a tragedy like this.

But the final blow to my human instincts was that comment about the election,

“Plus it’s two less votes for Obama!”

Where did that come from? Yes Jennifer Hudson sang our national anthem at the Democratic convention and supports Obama, who also lives on the Southside of Chicago. But for normal people, these murders had nothing to do with politics.

This kind of wacko is disgusted at the thought of a black man from the Southside of Chicago, standing on steps of the White House, and waiting for the key to the front door. He would probably do anything in his power to stop it from happening. It scares me because we know he is not alone in being trapped in a legacy of hate

He could easily have been one of the skinheads in Tennessee who were arrested by the FBI three days later for plotting to assassinate Obama. They also planned to kill another 100 African Americans including the beheading of 14 of the victims. For them the murders of Jennifer Hudson’s family was good news. They must also celebrate every time they hear about the murder rate in Chicago and black on black crime.

For many Americans, the candidacy of Barack Obama is a campaign of hope as much as it is about change. It is a chance for us to show the rest of the world that we are prepared to be take our seat at the new world table of inclusion. It would put us on the same level of international respect that South Africa gained when Nelson Mandela emerged from prison and marched straight into the Presidency. His election saved that country from an almost certain bloodbath in the streets over who would control the government. Yes they still have problems, but they didn’t have the race war that everyone was expecting.

Here in America, we are proud to say that Barack Obama’s candidacy proves that the United States is changing; that the country has come a long way from the bitter days of segregation based totally on the color of our skin. Yes, we’ve come a very long way.

But the harsh reality is everybody didn’t want to come with us.

Wall Street Welfare

Bailout Plan: Since we share the blame, let’s share the payoff!

I am a little confused by this Wall Street Meltdown business. Are they saying that this whole crisis was caused by people like me, who qualified for a so-called “sub-prime” loan? As Steve Urkel used to say on his TV show, “DID I DO THAT?” The answer is a resounding HELL NO!

Anyone who bought a home in the last three years, took the plunge because the real estate market was so white hot! Properties were escalating in value at unbelievable rates; sometimes as much as five per cent a year. So if you did your research and picked a good property, your chances were good for having a home that was instantly worth more than you paid for it. These loans were marketed to consumers as a way to get in the door, make the payments, and then refinance the loans with the new “instant” equity.

The risk with a “sub-prime” loan was in the fine print. The loan would reset after two years and the payments would certainly go up, no matter what happened. If you made your payments on time, the payments would still go up! If your credit score went up 100 points, the payments would still go up. Perhaps even more bizarre is that these loans were nearly 100 per cent interest; which was pure profit for the lending institutions.

Here’s where the GREED enters the picture. There is no reasonable explanation for why the loans were set up in such a way to guarantee that the payments would increase. These banks and lending institutions were determined to maximize their profits by either forcing the homeowner to pay more or forcing them into foreclosure. Either way the banks thought they would win because they would have received two years of payments on the purchased property. Those payments would substantially reduce their exposure on the loans and allow them to resell the same home at a profit if/when the buyer defaulted. But the banks didn’t expect the real estate market to go so cold, so fast and they suddenly found themselves with a lot of foreclosed property they couldn’t move.

What do you suppose would have happened if these same banks had tried to work with the homeowners who needed help? Instead of using escalating payments to force people out of their homes, they could have worked to keep those buyers as customers. They should have worked to make those payments affordable for homeowners, the same way they wrote the loans in the beginning. Today those banks would have thousands of happy homeowners, instead of thousands of empty houses that keep dropping in value every day.

But the other piece of the puzzle is the financial institutions that bought and sold home loans at the drop of a hat. Two months after I bought my home through Homebanc, the loan was sold to another mortgage company with terrible customer service. For instance, they wanted to charge me $10.00 to pay my mortgage through their website. Let me say that again; there was a FEE for me to pay my bill online! How do you justify that kind of clip-joint mentality? That’s not the way that you generate trust with your clientle; not the way that you win friends and influence people. But it does reveal the mindset of these profit at all cost companies that are begging for our help now, from the same people that they’ve been ripping off. This crisis could have been averted if a little common sense and compassion were part of the plan.

Before we move on from the “sub-prime” loan mess, let’s don’t forget the insider scams that ripped off the system for millions of dollars. Scores of mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and appraisers formed partnerships, built on a foundation of greed and deceit. These predators bought homes at discount prices and then used phony appraisals to resell the properties at inflated prices. A $50,000 home would be appraised at $125,000, and then resold to a fake buyer for a $75,000 profit. Then the same house would be resold again and again for escalating prices, even though no improvements were made. Finally, the last fake buyer would default on the last big loan and the bank would foreclose. It wasn’t until then that the bank discovered that the home was only worth the original $50,000; considerably less than the phony appraised value of $400,000. These insider scams contributed greatly to the mortgage meltdown, but you don’t hear much about them now.

Who was responsible for the oversight of those phony loans and the way they were processed? These rip-offs were strictly inside jobs by greedy people who knew how to manipulate the system and get away clean. There are entire neighborhoods that were devastated by these white collar thieves, who left behind a trail of vacant houses in various states of disrepair. Imagine the impact on homeowners in those neighborhoods who were just trying to own a home of their dreams. What do you think happened to property values in those areas, because of this housing pyramid scam? None of these victims ever worked on Wall Street!

Yes, you would think the “sub-prime” home buyers are the ones who caused the failures and problems at Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. That’s why they need this 700 billion dollar bailout, which the government claims will save the country’s financial institutions. Well I’m all for helping out the Wall Street unfortunates and giving them a little welfare money; but let’s flip the script just a little bit.

Let’s recalculate the $700 billion dollar bailout and add enough to give one-million dollars to every American who paid taxes in 2007. This payout to taxpayers would be used to pay off or pay down their debt on homes, cars, credit cards, and other installment loans. This plan would make many of us debt free, with a tidy profit left over. The beauty is that we’d be paying off the banks and bailing them out from the ground up. Talk about an economic stimulus plan. I can’t wait to get that check!

One final piece of advice for consumers who have money left over. Whatever you do, don’t put all of it back in the bank!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

So Right, He's WRONG!

When driving in Atlanta, GA you have to listen to AM radio if you want to avoid traffic jams. But what's even worse then being stuck in traffic is listening to the constant liberal bashing from self proclaimed "patriots" like Sean Hannity.

His show is a total and complete flag-waving sham. The people who call in to his program start off by saying, "Sean, you're a great American", and he has the nerve to sit there and pretend that he is humbled by the line; even though every caller says it. His show kinda reminds me of the old Western movies, when the snake-oil salesman is out on the street selling a magic potion. At the right time, his accomplice limps up to the front of the crows and buys a bottle. One swig of the potion and suddenly the "customer" can walk again. It's the same game, only played out daily on "Talk Radio".

Sean deals in the world of "bait and switch" and he never lets the facts get in the way of a good story. The recent Don Imus debacle is a classic example. Everyone knows by now what Imus did last year; attacking an innocent group of Rutgers basketball players by calling them terrible names on his live radio show. But instead of condemning Imus, Hannity went on the offensive and attacked Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Hannity called them hypocrites for using the same kind of offensive language. He played excerpts of speeches that both men made several years ago. His logic, that Jackson and Sharpton had no room to criticize anyone.
But Hannity's logic was a flawed as his consistently biased program. The comments made by Don Imus were on a live radio program, compared to a speech at a private function. Imus is supposed to be a professional broadcaster, who knows the difference between attacking politicians and attacking a women's basketball team. Sean Hannity should also know the difference since he works in the same field, but instead he chose to twist the facts, so he could justify his opinion.

Whether you agree with the words of Sharpton or Jackson is not the issue. The point is, they did not make their remarks on a scheduled live radio program. It is that kind of flawed and biased logic that makes Hannity so obnoxious. It is shameful and irresponsible for him to try to trick his listeners with that kind of biased reporting. If this is the kind of work that makes him a "great American", it's no wonder that the worldwide image of the United States continues to slip.