This letter is in response to Don Allen’s “Has Obama failed?” (MSR July 24-30, 2014)
Many Black Americans were disenfranchised and seeking entitlement when Barack Obama went into office in 2008 and that situation is unchanged in 2014. So the plight of a lot of Black Americans cannot have a President Obama connection.
After the slaves were freed following the Emancipation Proclamation decree of 1863, they virtually had two directions in which to follow: (1) go back to Africa from whence they came, or (2) in order to establish a modicum of autonomy, assimilate into the “Democratic” process in order to alleviate their personal distemper. They chose to permeate into what they hoped to be adjudicated territory.
But no matter how you cut it, that distemper never changed and is not about to any time soon. That house you picked out has become your home. Although it’s badly in need of repairs, you’ve established permanent residency here and are not about to move.
Maurice J. Rhodes lives in Minneapolis.
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