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21 Oct 2008 03:27 pm

Obama vs. "The Street"

A conservative celebration - at last! - of what a president Barack Obama could do for the self-image and self-confidence of black America. And, yes, changing the assumptions of African-American youth about what it means to be black in America from one that glorifies thuggery to one that celebrates education is an important thing. It is as important for whites as for blacks, because it is important for America:

Black children would be able to avoid internalizing what James Baldwin called "the propaganda of race inferiority," since every night on the news there would be a visible reminder that there is nothing whites can do that blacks cannot. That is the real change Obama offers—all of a sudden the world young black kids imagine themselves inhabiting would seem a richer place to live, one without an upper limit.

To Biggie Smalls' dismal list of career options afforded young black males—"You either slang crack rock / Or you got a wicked jump shot"—we could add the office of president. And in response to what Jay-Z cynically defined as the black man's lot in life—"All we got is sports and entertainment/ Until we even, thievin"—we could say, No, not anymore.

Thank God Culture 11 now exists. The Weekly Standard and National Review couldn't bring themselves to publish something like this:

Should Obama be elected, another pivotal lesson will be learned: That clever child in Watts or Newark will see that although racism exists, he can succeed in spite of it.

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