Reply #50: I understand what you're saying and we obviously have had very different experiences

[beaconess]

Many Blacks that I know who are familiar with Massachusetts have similarly negative feelings about the state. That's one reason that I'm very excited about Deval Patrick's election as governor - it shows that real progress is being made. But a couple of years ago, I was told by many people that there was "no way" that a Black man would be elected governor of Massachusetts, yet Deval went for it and pulled it off.

I feel the same way about Obama - and any other Black politician. No one ever thinks that the country or a state or a city is ready to be led by a Black person - until that Black person runs, shows what they're about, and convinces the voters to support them. I think it's a mistake to sit back and wait until the country's "ready" because it will never be ready until someone tries.

As I've said before, the country wasn't ready for Blacks to have the vote, until the 15th Amendment and Voting Rights Act forced the issue. America wasn't ready to desegregate the schools - until the Supreme Court said it must. The country wasn't ready for a Black Supreme Court justice - until Lyndon Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall. The country wasn't ready for a Black cabinet member, until Johnson appointed Robert Weaver to head up HUD. The country wasn't ready for a Black U.N. ambassador, until Andy Young was appointed. The country wasn't ready for a Black big city mayor, until Carl Stokes ran and won the mayoral race in Cleveland. The country wasn't ready for a Black Southern mayor, until Maynard Jackson became Mayor of Atlanta. The country wasn't ready for a Black southern governor, until Doug Wilder was elected Governor of Virginia, and so on.

The country is NEVER ready for anything until we put it to them. So I feel very strongly that, if Obama wants to run for president, he should do it. And he should ignore calls for him to sit on the sidelines, watching every White Tom, Dick and Harry, regardless how unqualified or untalented they are, runs to their hearts content, and wait until it is determined from on high that America is ready for him.