Month: April 2008

An elder responds to statements about Michelle Obama and Jeremiah
Wright
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:30:07
+0000

========================================================================
To
The Editor:
As a 78 year old American of African descent, I feel
compelled to respond to all this "much ado about nothing" when it comes to
the statement that Michelle Obama made about the fact that this is the first
time in her adult life that she has been proud to be an American.

The
country needs to hear this from the Black perspective.

Long before I was
born, my grandfather Joseph Burleson, owned a considerable amount of land in
oil rich Texas. Because during that era, Blacks could not vote, nor could
they contest anything in the courts of the United States, my grandfather's
land was STOLEN by his White neighbor. My grandfather, who was literate and
better educated than my grandmother, drove to town. Seeing my grandfather
leave, the covetous neighbor asked my grandmother to show him the deed to
the property. He snatched it. She could not insist that he give it back, nor
could she have reported this THEFT to the sheriff because of the fact that
Blacks had no rights in the 1800's. The prevailing law at that time was he
who held the deed owned the land. Do you think that is something that I am
PROUD OF? Right now I should be living off the oil and gas royalties. In
1934 when my dad drove us to Texas to meet his family, when he stopped to
purchase gasoline, his daughters and wife were not allowed to use the
washroom. As a man it was easier for his to relieve himself in the bushes,
but not for the females. We were, however, reduced to having to go in the
bushes, also. Do you think I am PROUD OF THAT? In 1938 when my oldest sister
went to enroll in Hyde Park High School, she was told by the counselor
that she did not want to take college preparatory courses, she wanted to
study domestic science. Do you think I'm PROUD OF THAT? Of course, when
Beatrice Lillian Hurley-Burleson went to school the next day, that was the
last time anyone thought that the Burleson girls wanted to study domestic
science.

When in 1943 my parents attempted to buy the 2 flat at 5338
South Kenwood, where we had lived since 1933, in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL we
were told that we could not buy it because there was a restrictive covenant
that said that the property was never to be sold to "Negroes."

Do you
think I am PROUD OF THAT?

In 1950 when I graduated from college, I was
unable to get a job because I was considered "overqualified." the code word
for they would not hire me because of my race. All of the want ads called
for Japanese Americans or Neisis ( the word given to Japanese Americans at
that time). Do you think that was something that I should have been PROUD
OF? I understood that America was trying to make up for the interring of
innocent and patriotic Americans who were our enemy by association.

My
cousin's barbershop was bombed in Mississippi in the 50's because he was
encouraging Black people to register to vote. His wife who had earned a
Masters Degree from Northwestern University lost her position as the
principal of the local school because of the voter registration activities.
Is that something I should be PROUD
OF?     

                                                                                                               

Now we get to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the pastor of the Obama family. Rev.
Wright like so many religious zealots overstates many things, that many of
his members do not agree with. To suggest that Senator Obama should leave
the church of his choice is not only a double standard, but it is absurd.
Would any of the talking heads who are so alarmed by Rev. Wright's thoughts
and speeches suggest that Catholics should abandon their faith or denounce
and reject the Pope because so many priests have olested children.
These children were exploited and taken advantage of and they had no choice
to even know they could resist, reject and denounce. To me the situations
are parallel, except for the fact that the priests behavior is a physical
violation of the innocence of children who are marred for life; and the
priests behavior is a crime. Rev. Wright's speeches are just words, that one
can listen to or not, the members have a choice. Should Governor Romney
denounce and reject the Mormon Church because some of their members practice
polygamy? As Senator Obama has previously stated, we have entered the silly
season.

Barack Obama is an adult, and most importantly, he is an
exceptionally intelligent adult. Like most of us adults, fortunately, we do
not accept all we hear or see. If we did, the world would be more amoral,
debased and perverted than the world of today is. I see all these "so
called" ponderings an attempt to marginalize the candidacy of Senator Barack
Obama. I cannot truly call this racism because some ignorant Blacks have
also spoken disparagingly about him.

I accept this as the darker side of
mankind who because of their own inadequacies, they project their
deficiencies on others. Barack Obama is a very rare individual, the likes of
whom the world seldom sees. Like most geniuses, they are often
misunderstood. They are objects of envy and jealousy. They are suspect
because they soar above the average man who does not have the intellectual
ability to understand the greatness of special people. They are also targets
to be pulled down to the level of the mediocre who cannot stand to see an
individual with deep convictions and high standards.

We have not seen a
phenomena like Barack Obama in many years and many generations. Like Ghanda,
like Jesus, like Einstein, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., like Mother
Theresa, genetically, intellectually and spiritually, these people offer the
world so much, but they are often aligned and misunderstood.

Barack
Obama is a Christian in the true sense of the word. A true Christian loves
his fellow man unconditionally. A true Christian wants the best and tries to
bring out the best in his fellow man. A true Christian wants to unite and
bring the world together in peace and harmony. This is what Senator Obama
stands for; but, unfortunately, he has had to get off point to answer these
false charges, innuendoes, and just plain lies.

We are in the presence of
an angel unaware in Senator Barack Obama; and this country needs him, more
than he needs us. He is the only person at this time in history who can
restore respect for America with the worlds' people. Because of his family
background, the influence of his beloved mother who instilled great values
in him, the influence of his absent father who vicariously inspired a son to
go to Harvard as the father had done, the influence of a minister who
brought him to an understanding of the value and meaning of Christianity,
the influence of a brilliant Harvard educated wife who inspires him and
keeps him grounded; he is the epitome of a citizen of the world. He is of
the world because the world is in him; and this is what America needs to
bring us out of the abyss to which we have sunk in the eyes of the
world.

Like, Michelle Obama, after living in this country all of my 78 years,
loving my country and not understanding why my country has not loved me, I
now for the first time in my adult life feel PROUD OF MY COUNTRY because I
sense a maturing, a recognition of talent and character, and not color, and
a field of candidates aspiring to lead this nation coming from very diverse
backgrounds of gender, religious beliefs, national origin, ethnicity, age
and experiences. This to me is the HOPE that America is coming into her own
and will begin to CHANGE and will embrace the philosophy upon which this
country was founded, where all men are created equal and are entitled to
life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. 

 

Now I truly believe, YES WE CAN! For further information:

Contact: Helen
L. Burleson, Doctor of Public Administration
(708)
747-0919

Forwarded by Pat Harper
Karen Taylor (415)
310-6711