Will the Real First Black President Please Stand Up!

Last week Bill Clinton was asked a direct question is Barack Obama ready to lead? Is he qualified? This was a chance for the “first black” president to pass the torch to the “second” black president by exclaiming that yes, of course, without any doubt Sen. Obama is qualified to be President. From one brother to another I give my resounding support. Instead this “brother,” fidgeted, coughed, rubbed his nose, looked cross eyed, did everything but say yes, Obama is without question qualified. He used his moment in history to state unequivocally; “I am not a racist,” which reminded this writer of Richard Nixon’s “I am not a crook,” exclamation in 1974. Oh yeah, we learned that no one is ready to be President (especially Obama) and the constitution, not Clinton, determines who is qualified.

The statements were stunning to say the least. Black people loved Clinton! And we all thought he loved us! We naturally assumed that once Hilary gave up her bid for President that Bill, the “first black President,” would naturally do everything in his power to ensure that Obama was elected, right? Wrong. Clinton had done what every powerful white male or female has done for centuries, pretended to love blacks as long as he needed them to achieve his/her goals then drop us like the two dollar whores we are when being linked to us would hinder their political goals. Clinton’s statements provoked me to look deeper into the supposed close relationship between the Clintons and African Americans.

It was Toni Morrison who bestowed onto President Clinton his blackness, when she anointed him the “first black President.” What would move arguably the greatest novelist of our time to bestow upon an American President a white man the title of “first black president.” What had he done to become black? Did he do a reverse Michael Jackson, change his voice, and chemically darken his skin? or Go on his own experimental Black Like Me journey? No, none of the above, Morrison decided that Clinton was black because he as she stated came from a “single-parent household, was born poor, came from the working-class, and was a saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas.” Oh yes, his sexuality was “unpoliced,” more evidence of his blackness.

So let me get this straight, if you are born poor or out of wedlock, in his case both, eat a lot of fried chicken and can’t seem to keep your Johnson in your pants, you must be black. I have always felt that we as a people could have moved much farther and faster if we had not defined our “blackness,” in such narrow terms making it easy for anyone to join the club.

White people are freed by being defined as acting “Black,” it gives them license to do things that would otherwise be inexcusable in their own social circles. Things like being “sexually unpoliced,” however, blacks are trapped by the definition. Being black in America if you are an authentic black person means, being something distinctly different than white, being black has rules. A lot of rules. You have to talk a certain way and if you don’t your not black enough. Walk and dance a certain way, also as a Black American you can’t be a deep sea diver, because black people don’t swim or go deep sea diving, you can’t be a entomologists because black people don’t like bugs, can’t be a forest ranger because black people don’t go camping, black people don’t play golf, black people don’t play tennis etc… rules that unfortunately define us in don’ts or can’ts, rather than cans and dos. Bill Clinton, has never been hindered by such rules. Bill Clinton is not nor was he ever been black, which was why he was able to rise from that hovel in Arkansas to go to Yale, meet Hilary become Governor of Arkansas and get elected to two terms as President of the United States of America.

In any case Morrison’s proclamation led me to want to do a little research into why the Clintons were beloved by the black community as to be made honorary black people. I looked to, Steve Benen’s, 2002 article on Salon.com, asking the same question. Why do blacks love Bill Clinton? Benen’s article enumerated on Clinton’s style, and affable manner around black people, as the reason. Alexis Herman reminisced in the article, that Clinton invited her and a Ernest Green, to the Governor’s mansion and they spent the night talking about their college days. This feel good session during which Clinton treated them like regular human beings, apparently made an impression on her. Also, his trip to Africa, no other sitting President had gone, his move to Harlem, he knew the Black National Anthem and so on all superficial with little to no cost to Clinton but which made a big inroads into the black community. Clinton also appointed many blacks to serve during his administration. He fired a few too. Remember Joyce Elders? Lani Guinier? When he moved to Harlem promises were made to the area’s small black business owners, but it wasn’t until Al Gore’s policy advisor Trooper Sanders took over that things began to happen. Clinton’s coming to Harlem also sped up the Gentrification efforts which have led to more losses of black owned business not able to keep up with rising rents.

From my point of view Clinton got us (blacks) on the cheap. We stood by this “brother,” through all of his trials got him re-elected when he would have lost, stood by him during the impeachment speaking out loudly at the shear unfairness of the process. What black people found out during the 2008 primaries is that when it’s all said and done Clinton was just another white boy playing black. He jumped the tracks and went back home when the seas go rough, and in effect so did we.

With Obama, for the first time we had a dog in the fight. As soon as we knew he was a contender we jumped on the train. For the first time we were working for one of our own, blacks cut the Clintons loose and pushed Obama across the finished line. Of course now we have a really pissed off white boy on our hands. One who is extremely powerful and can use his power to help Obama or hurt him. His latest statements show that he has no inclination to help. It seems that once again blacks put their hopes, dreams, and trust in the hands of a white man playing black and got burned.

Today, Blacks are beginning to gain power in their own right. Obama proves that a black man can reach the pinnacle of white power, CEO of America. His trip to Europe confirmed that a black man could be taken seriously by world leaders and stand as a symbol of American leadership and power around the world. So the question becomes, when will black Americans stop fawning over white politicians who during campaigns try to show a level of familiarity around blacks by eating collard greens and corn bread, or making sure that we know their predilection for fried chicken, soul music, show a little rhythm or a taste for black women? When will black leaders and spokespersons who are allowed a certain proximity to white politicians stop being duped by the glamour of nearness?

The hidden meaning behind Morrison’s conferring the title of first black president onto Bill Clinton was, that this was as close as we would ever get to a black man in the white house. The shame of it is she couldn’t imagine a Barack Obama. She just never saw him coming.