What the hell is up with Obama's cabinet picks?
Peep the roster, folks of color in bold. I haven't seen this many white dudes on one squad since the 56' Celtics.
NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED:Okay, as you guys can probably guess, I'm conflicted on this one. Part of me says this is okay. The "diversity" is at the top of the ticket, and that's really all the change that's needed. After all, make no mistake, the boss is the one calling the shots. He chose them, not the other way around.
TREASURY SECRETARY: Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
SECRETARY OF STATE: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.
ATTORNEY GENERAL: Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general.
DEFENSE SECRETARY: Robert Gates, holdover from Bush administration.
HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Dipset Capo, Jim Jones (BALLIN!!) .
COMMERCE SECRETARY: Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M.
NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR: Lawrence Summers, former treasury secretary.
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET DIRECTOR: Peter Orszag, director of Congressional Budget Office.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
VETERANS AFFAIRS SECRETARY: Retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki.
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY: Shaun Donovan, New York City housing commissioner.
ENERGY SECRETARY, Steven Chu, director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
EPA ADMINISTRATOR, Lisa P. Jackson, former commissioner of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE, Carol Browner, former EPA administration.
WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY CHAIR, Nancy Sutley, deputy mayor for energy and environment in Los Angeles.
EDUCATION SECRETARY, Arne Duncan, Chicago schools superintendent.
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY - Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor.
INTERIOR SECRETARY - Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo.
POSTS TO BE DECIDED, WITH THE CONTENDERS:
CIA DIRECTOR
John Gannon, former deputy director for intelligence at the CIA during Clinton administration.
Jami Miscik, former head of CIA's analytical operations.
Steve Kappes, CIA's current No. 2.
Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., now heads House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence.
John McLaughlin, former interim CIA chief.
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR
Denny Blair, retired admiral and former commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.
Don Kerr, No. 2 official in Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Jami Miscik, former head of CIA's analytical operations.
Former Rep. Tim Roemer, D-Ind.
LABOR SECRETARY
Ed McElroy, former president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Linda Chavez-Thompson, former AFL-CIO vice president.
Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of American Rights at Work.
Maria Echaveste, former Clinton White House adviser.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich.
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY
Jane Garvey, former head of Federal Aviation Administration.
Mortimer Downey, former deputy transportation secretary.
Steve Heminger, executive director, San Francisco Bay area transportation commission.
Ron Kirk, former Dallas mayor.
That said, what the f*ck, Barack!?!?!
Seriously, one brother out of all the picks made? Just one? And Eric Holder is a Clinton refugee, he prolly would have gotten the gig had Hillary won.
Lisa Jackson gets an EPA gig, but she ain't heading the Department. She's a double-minion.
There's Hispanics (Richardson, Salavar) and Asians (Chu, Shinseki), and lots of white women (too many to cut and paste), but only one AverageBro in the whole damn cabinet? What is this, the Obama Administration or my last Managerial Retreat?
Somethin' ain't right, Barry.
Before folks get all in a tizzy, I know, Barack should be hiring the "best person for the job". But what's to say there weren't lots of other "best persons" who just happened to be black that got shut out. Off the top of my head, folks like Anthony Brown, Deval Patrick, Ron Kirk (still in consideration), and even Colin Powell deserved a seat somewhere. Anywhere.
It's somewhat interesting that many of Obama's down-ticket picks (Susan Rice, Valerie Jarrett, Desiree Rogers) are indeed black. They just all happen to be women. Unless I'm missing something here, Holder is the only black and male Obama pick. Sure, there's that black White House butler, but damnit, even Reagan had a black butler.
This is some bullshiggedy!!!
I thought the Obama Administration was supposed to be a turning point in American history. Brothers and sisters would have our chance to shine. Kids in ghettos coast-to-coast would abandon dreams of "the pole" and "the trap" for a life of higher education.
The more sh*t changes, the more it stays the same, apparently.
Thanks for nothing, Barry.
Question: Is the virtual whitewash of the Obama cabinet the sign of things to come, or merely a sign that he hires the best, and brightest (provided they're either from Chicago or close with his wife)?
Name by name, Obama's Cabinet taking shape [AP]
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To you're question, I gotta say it's the latter.
If you've ever driven in Dallas, you'd never want Ron Kirk for Trans. Secretary.
@ Spool
Could it possibly be worse than hiring a horse trainer to run FEMA!?!
I'm just sayin'.
Obama's "hire my boys and a bunch of old folks" favoratism looks an awful lot like Bush's. And we all know how that ended.
I think your inquiry about the absence of brothers is fair, but why limit it to the team PE Obama is putting together?
Frankly, folk should have been asking these questions, especially to those now looking to get "broke off" with Team Obama.
I'm just sayin'...
ROTFL!
OK, you got me there, AB.
baahahaha...
@AB Don't forget that Barry is HALF-WHITE! He has to get the best folks for the jobs dude. He can keep it hood all by himself.
Sometimes the cracka-assed-cracka part of him comes out.
I'll sit this one out...
eh...
I think his goal was to select the best and the brightest. And when you look at the positions that are actually part of the cabinet or Cabinet-level (the ones with constitutionally mandated authority - Secs of State, Treasury, Defence, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, HHS, HUD, Trans, Energy, Education, VA, Homelande Security and VP, WH Chief of Staff, EPA, OMB, Drug Czar, Trade Rep), it's a little better - Possibly 7 oout of the 21 positions. The rest of those positions, while pivotal and influential, are just for show.
Hopefully 2 things will happen though during the Obama administration - 1) there will be more of an effort to hire and promote "highly qualified" minorities and 2) more blacks and black men will look toward jobs in various roles of public service. As you know AB, I work for an agency that serves underprivileged girls in Oakland and San Leandro, CA. 90% of our girls are children of color. Our staff is at least 75% white...if not closer to 80%. Our volunteers and mentors and donors are largely white and old. Let me say that I love our staff and donors and volunteers, but it's sad that in a city that has a enclave of highly educated, upper incomed blacks, there aren't more who are involved.
Until we start doing the jobs that get us on track for these positions (foreign service, peace corps, teaching/education administration, etc) and then excel and get promoted, we won't get the posts.
@Everyone.
I apologize for my horrible comments made at the expense expense of our fair brother and sisters. That is just not right. Again, I apologize.
p.s.
I'm more interested in sub- cabinet appointments because that's where the next generation of public and private sector leadership is groomed.
But, hey, that's just me.
:-) Average Bro... Fasten seat belts! It's going to be a bumpy ugly ride!
i recant my former statements made weeks ago re: not caring about the color of barack's cabinet. not that the cast has been selected, i'm HEATED. why? b'c with this slazar appointment i feel that he's properly implementing affirmative action as it pertains to hispanics (there are a good handful) and asians (energy and VET AFFAIRS for crying out loud). then when i found out the education and HUD posts were given to white men, i threw up my hands. HUD, PEOPLE!!! from what avb reports, we don't have a chance at labor either. the only hope is ron kirk. if he gets looked over i'mma have a problem. it's simply not a good look. sorry. i KNOW there are very qualified black folks to head these agencies. heck, one named sanford bishop was a major contender for ag sect.
now, as far as the biracial piece goes. cjames, i didn't find it offensive (but then again i'm not biracial) but it did get my pressure up!!! why?? first, it's not cool to evoke the whiteness now that you're elected when he was NOTHING BUT A BLACK MAN during the election. second, what you're implying is excatly what adrian fenty has done in dc and it's infuriating. he got into office by knocking on d@mn near every door in dc and it's plain to say that black folks got him in. but dude straight flipped the script and appointed one white person after another to head agencies. some of whom were DRASTICALLY UNQUALIFIED. it has been my hope and prayer that i would not see barack do the same thing. but it's shaping up that way...
i've never given her props b'c she was a bush flunky but condy rice is a perfect evidence of the fact that there are highly qualified black folks out there. i mean a black woman who studied and is in expert on russia?!?!? let's wake up people and give ourselves more credit- there are PLENTY of us out there at the top of these cabinet fields.
what about surgeon general?? ya'll gonna say there aren't any top rate black docs out there who could fill the post?? i'd love to see ben carson get the job.
oh, and re: the butler. i actually think they should hire a white waitstaff. it's a powerful symbol. when i was growing up, we had a white maid. that really made a lasting impression on me. given all the racists corporate bs my father went through in his career, i'm willing to bet he did it on purpose. i know it's great to support our own and keep $ in the community but it really is an indescribable power shift. having grown up going to white friends' homes and seeing their black and latino help for so many years, it really was nice to be able to show a different dynamic in my home.
or they have to be from ivy league colleges. Just peruse senior executives from corporate america, he can find plenty blacks that are qualified who run or have run global business groups. What about the previous head of the NAACP Mr. Gordon? I don't believe they are all the best and brightest. I myself am looking at Barry sideways for the next year...
Are we kidding?!?
I could care less if he hired a mixed race half blue alien and half disco late 70's wigger.
You cant honestly believe that simply because you put a black in the white house he was going to go and hire all blacks?
Find the person that will do the job...regardless.
Personally, I'm glad to see some whites up there cause if they were ALL black, then I'd start wondering if he made his choice more alone the lines of color than resume.
@sanguinebliss-
uhhh, who said anything about an ALL black cabinet? h@ll, NOBODY would expect that! and you say "some" white people?? some and even a MAJORITY is to be expected!
Talk about an overreaction. "Virtual whitewash"? 7/21 is a damn good PoC count in a country that's 70-80% white.
Am I reading the same blog as from a few weeks ago? Because the guy that says this:
I thought the Obama Administration was supposed to be a turning point in American history. Brothers and sisters would have our chance to shine. Kids in ghettos coast-to-coast would abandon dreams of "the pole" and "the trap" for a life of higher education.
Doesn't sound like the same guy who said this:
Part of the pride of Obamania sounds like the old Black Savior mentality personified. Namely, we're waiting for someone to save us when the saving can be done by people just "doing better" and not expecting or needing someone else to motivate/inspire them to greater things. And that's why as much as I expect Barry to do a great job as President, I just know Black America is going to get buyer's remorse and turn on the guy sooner or later. He's not Jesus, he's just the President. We're collectively putting too much weight on the shoulders of a guy who's barely a buck and a quarter to handle.
It seems like he's doing great on the diversity front to me. I can't wait until Rush Limblob starts bitching about an 'anti-white' bias in his Cabinet picks.
@ antonio- we're talking about black appointees. not minorities as a whole.
I wouldn't be so dismissive on Eric Holder because he'd be the first black attorney general.
This is outside of the fact there are a few thousand more positions to fill. Now, I'm a fan of identity politics as much as the next black democrat, but I don't see the point in name dropping like 3 people then acting like there is this huge reserve of black male political talent in america. The facts are that it's not at the top where you should be looking for the majority of these appointments. It's in the ranks, because that's where the future is going to come from. The point is when people are pulling names from the Obama admin to help out in their presidency, they are going to see a lot more Eric Holders. By that i mean, Blacks that we see as entitled to the job not because they share the same ethnicity as the guy they work for, but because they came up through the ranks.
The hope is that Obama gives opportunity to minorities to develop that experience. To be that democrat party talent for the future. Honestly, we as black people have got to stop asking for shit by birthright and start realizing where our opportunities really start.
deedee, he specifically talks about the lack of black men in particular and complains the smaller cabinet picks (Valerie Jarrett, et al) are all women.
I agree with SanguineBliss, get the people who get the job done. If I'm reading correctly, AB, you're a little concerned of the lack of black MALES and not blacks in general right? The whole election we've been talking about affirmative action and how and when it should be used. On one hand we're not too happy that there aren't a larger number of AvBros except one, on the other if he hired all blacks there would have been an "I told you so" attitude from all the racists who didn't want him in the White House for fear he would reverse slavery on the citizens. I personally think if the people chosen can get the job done and do it well/right then there shouldn't be a problem. Sure there are probably other minorities he could have chosen but who knows what his dicision making process was based on besides him. Worst case scenerio, he doesn't do as good a job as everyone thought he would and we vote for someone different in the next 4 years.
@deedee
"...it's not cool to evoke the whiteness now that you're elected when he was NOTHING BUT A BLACK MAN during the election. second, what you're implying is excatly what adrian fenty has done in dc and it's infuriating. he got into office by knocking on d@mn near every door in dc and it's plain to say that black folks got him in. but dude straight flipped the script and appointed one white person after another to head agencies. some of whom were DRASTICALLY UNQUALIFIED. it has been my hope and prayer that i would not see barack do the same thing. but it's shaping up that way..."
We've got to remember that the black vote was not the only vote that got Barry into the office, it was a healthy mixture of votes and a huge amount of white helped him get elected. He didn't win by a slim margin, he had a huge lead.
@deedee
Really? Drastically unqualified? Who? I'm not playing dumb, but of the people I see listed and what I know of them - they seem pretty gosh darn qualified in my eyes. I see a list of people who have several years and/or decades experience in their field. I think that's the who point of our "post-racial" world is that it's not supposed to be symbolic or mean anything when he selects a person who is or is not a certain race. That person is just the best person. Are we really going to start second-guessing every Obama decision to make sure there's enough "blackness" in it? geez o pete
@gracie- my drastically unqualified comment was only referring to those i personally know in the fenty cabinet. that description wasn't meant to carry over to obama's picks- just the abundance of whites/ lack of blacks was the parallel i was trying to draw. thanks for allowing me to clear that up.
@ miss jay- same thing- the black votes getting FENTY into office. clearly that was the case in dc as we are still a majority there. thanks to you too for the opp. to clarify.
so maybe not the greatest analogy- fenty v. obama- perhaps that means i won't want to puke when i see obama's face 2 years from now like i do when i see fenty's.
in general, i'm glad you all are happy with his picks. i hope the majority of the country agrees with you. i'm feeling uneasy. i'm just not willing to give up that easily, throw in the towel and accept that there are more qualified black folks out there to fill at least a couple more of these spots. and yeah, it would be great to see some more black MEN in the roles. peace.
Ahhhh - I see...that's why one shouldn't speed read when they're supposed to be doing...I don't know...work.
I don't know much about what Fenty's been up to. I moved to Oakland...home of the most ineffective Black mayor EVAR (Ron Dellums)...soon after Fenty was elected. All I know is Michelle Rhee is kicking a$$ and taking names.
@Gracie,
DARN IT, DOO-HICKIE, HECK. geeze louise! I am loving you expressions.
@deedee
Believe it or not, I see where you're coming from. Remember he's got to save his own ass too so he can't shake things up completely, he could get killed.
i meant to say "accept that there are NOT more qualified blacks..."
along those lines- @ derek- no one is asking for a handout. i truly believe we have the intellectual and experiential powerhouses to fill some of these seats.
@ gracie- PLEASE don't get me started on your girl, rhee. my nerves are too bad today to go down that road. but to summarize, she's doing no such thing.
@ cjames- ok, ok but can i get TWO more black faces? BUSH's cabinet was blacker than his!
alright, i gotta go, ya'll.
I'd like to point out that Susan Rice's position will be elevated to a cabinet level spot. And Valerie Jarrett will probably be the 3rd most powerful person in the administration. So I wouldn't make their appointments sound incidental either.
Wowzers. So many comments. So little time. Here we go...
@ Denise
Frankly, folk should have been asking these questions, especially to those now looking to get "broke off" with Team Obama.
I'll admit. I fell asleep at the wheel on this one. But many of the names floated early on were black folks (including some men).
@ CJames
No comment. At least you corrected yourself.
@ Gracie B
Good points. The talent needs to be cultivated, and likely will be in the hundreds of lower profile spots. But why not more brothers and sistas in the high profile gigs NOW!?!?
@ James T.
I'm sure you just love this post, don't you?
@ deedee
We'll have to talk offline. I agree with about 110% of what you're saying here.
You killed me with that "white butler" thing though. Bwaahahahahaha!!!!
@ OregonSis
The Post ran a story saying nearly all the Obama appointees are from the Ivies or "elite" schools like UNC, Georgetown, and Stanford. Not really sure what to read into that one.
Are you saying there's not a SINGLE HBCU grad that's got the right resume?
@ SanguineBliss
Of course not. No moron would expect him to hire ALL BLACKS. But ONE Black secretary!?!? One? Out of 20 some posts? C'mon now.
Personally, I'm glad to see some whites up there cause if they were ALL black, then I'd start wondering if he made his choice more alone the lines of color than resume.
Not sure what to say about this? Again, nobody is saying "hire unqualified folks cause they black". Bush did this (Rod Paige) and we're still paying the price. But out of the thousands of applicants, they couldn't find more than ONE cabinet secretary? ONE?
@ Antonio
You're misreading, my brother.
I'm not talking about other minorities, I'm talkin' about US. 1 out of 21. ONE!!!
I'm only pointing out the black women (about 10 to lower profile gigs) with gigs so far to illuminate the lack of brothers (ONE!). Not marginalizing anyone's job here. Just sayin' it seems odd, no?
@ Derek
Not dismissing Holder. He IS qualified and deserved the gig.
And yeah, I know there are 100's of other gigs to fill, but who the hell knows who those folks are? Just like Obama's ascent to the top of the ticket is supposed to repesent something because it's high profile, I'd expect something similar for Secretary level appointments. As is, Bush and Clinton had some brothers and sisters on their rosters.
Inexcusable.
The hope is that Obama gives opportunity to minorities to develop that experience.
Based on the looks of things so far, you might need to keep on "hoping".
@ Gracie B
Rhee showing up on the cover of Time doesn't equal "kicking a$$ and taking names".
Ask anyone who lives here in/near DC. She's turning into a media superstar, but she isn't incredibly well-regarded.
@deedee
I hope you wouldn't wanna puke seeing Obama.
I guess the whole thing is we can't expect EVERYTHING to change just because Obama was elected. Gradual change is just as good as a huge one time change, the affects are the same, just different time frame that it is observed.
@Gracie
I'm supposed to be doing work too LOL
You bamas are gon' get me fired. Last comment of the day...
@ MissJay
I guess the whole thing is we can't expect EVERYTHING to change just because Obama was elected. Gradual change is just as good as a huge one time change, the affects are the same, just different time frame that it is observed.
Well, right now, it seems like Obama's definition of "change" is he gets a "come up" and errybody else (that he doesn't owe a favor to) gets the shaft.
Again, fewer blacks appointed than any President since FDR.
That just ain't right!!!
AB - This like "As is, Bush and Clinton had some brothers and sisters on their rosters." reminded me of one of the earlier episodes of West Wing (I've been getting re-connected). Because yeah - Clinton and Bush had some brothers and sisters in their cabinet, but were they just puppets or were they people making a substantive contribution.
Anyway - the line from Episode 9 of season 1 (The Short List) that hit me was when President Bartlet asks Toby to check out Judge Mendoza because he wants details on him...he "didn't want it to be like he had a hispanic on the short list."
Condi and Colin may be black...but to me, they're like having a hispanic on the short list
@AB
I feel you. I should have said we shouldn't expect everything to change OVERNIGHT. But your last comment covers that too :)
lol@ Bush's cabinet being more diverse than Obama's. :)
Condi Rice is the most powerful woman in the world. That should count for more than it seems to.
@AB
I think this is the age-old debate of quality vs. quantity. I think it would be inappropriate for the President-Elect to take his cues from past administrations. Again, we voted him in because we were seeking change from politics as usual. Although Barack has less black males on his cabinet than past admins, it doesn't necessarily mean that he is turning his back on his ethnic and gender group & courting old politics. Maybe the black picks from past admins were solely picks of a token-nature. Maybe those admins were looking to meet some kind of quota and didn't take the time to scrutinize their choices. In my opinion, I'd prefer a quality black pick over a token black pick any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
FYI - I liked your comment about the lack of a qualified HBCU grad pick thus far. (I'm an assistant professor at an HBCU.) I'm sure there are qualified HBCU alumni Barack could have chosen. Just one of those things that make you go hmmm...
Obama owes a debt to all of the American people that believed in him and his ability to ultimately make our country better for all people!
Well, we have to ask how large the black talent pool was. Were there enough qualified black folks to pick from to put in those positions? I think that if Obama ends up a 2 termer, he'll start posting hookups. Right now, there's too much shyte to clean up to worry about making it rain negroes in the cabinet.
Let's see how things end up before we start slinging Ivory soap at Barack.
EG
What EG said. Damn, give the man a chance. One thing's for sure...it can't get any worse. The brother is facing some serious challenges. It's gonna be a loooong slog uphill. Especially since he and his cabinet are gonna have to shovel through the huge pile of shit that has rolled downhill in the wake of Bush & co.
AverageBro, I fully understood you were talking about black men in particular, I'm just not buying into the outrage. The cabinet is very diverse with 1/3 of the occupants being people of color. I'm more interested in appointee's qualifications than race or gender. I hope some more brothers make into the Cabinet, but it's far from the most important issue on my mind.
The Energy Secretary is a Nobel Prize winner. Last time I checked the list of brothers who've won a Nobel Prize in Science is pretty short. Barry's responsibility is to create jobs for the black community cut the pipeline from Schools to Prison and help our sorry nation from sinking into a depression. Black folks need policy changes not faces in the cabinet. Barry's not hiring people to make their decisions he's hiring people to carry out his vision. Let's see where things stand this time next year...
As a supporter of Obama, I don't expect him to be the saviour for any group in particular. We're responsible for our own destiny. Sure, we've never had a biracial president before, but we have had other men in positions to inspire us to do better for ourselves.
I get very irritated. Some of us are focused on the wrong things.
Many of us can do better for ourselves we just don't.
Even if we can't do better I don't expect Obama to do it for me either. I've didn't expect if from any previous president either.
AverageBro, a good fried put me onto this blog and so far I must say it's living up to the hype.
Now regarding this particular topic, I have to strongly disagree with the proposition that Obama is not appointing enough people of color, especially black folks.
For starters, that's actually not true. With all due respect, you've left some names off when it comes to black appointments.
For example, you don't list Melody Barnes (a sister) who Obama appointed his director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.
You also don't list Rob Nabors (another brother), who Obama appointed as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
You also don't list Susan Rice (yet another sister) who Obama appointed as Ambassador to the United Nations.
So in all actuality we can't exactly cry wolf here in good faith when it comes to the claim that Obama is not appointing any black people. That's simply not true.
That being said, even if there were ZERO black appointments on Obama's cabinet (which we've just proven is not the case), the criticism of no black appointments is a flawed argument for two reasons:
1) As Whyford correctly noted, the concern for the black community is not how many black faces can be stacked onto a cabinet. No, sir. The concern for the black community is how effectively Obama and his staff carry out policies that include the best interests of the black community. Black appointments mean nothing when compared to polices that may help our community. Just look at Clarence Thomas. Need I say more?
2) Going back to one of your earlier blogs, AverageBro, you said it yourself that Black people need to be realistic about what a Black President means. Does that mean all 535 members of Congress, all 9 Justices, and the entire Cabinet are all going to be Black? C'mon now. Let's keep it real. Just because Obama is not painting the white house black does not mean we should be disappointed or questioning whether he's hooking up enough brothers with cabinet positions. Especially in his first term.
In fact, I'm kind of surprised by the notion here that he isn't looking out for "us" because all my black political junkie friends and I have been noticing how skillfully Obama has been sliding a black person in during nearly every round of appointments. He'll announce a new panel of people, and slide in a sister. Then he'll announce another panel of people and slide in a brother. He's been doing this for weeks and white folks haven't caught on yet!!!
So give the man some credit. Throughout his entire career, even going back to Harvard Law Review, when it comes to advancing minority interests he's been playing Chess while everybody else has been on some Checkers shit. You honestly think that he has in any way stopped playing Chess now that he's actually got the Presidency?
@Spool
"Condi Rice is the most powerful woman in the world.
Say what??? What are you smoking??
Oprah is way more powerful than Condi. I guaran-ass-tee it.
I love the fact that two white posters are talking about the most powerful women in the world and they're both African American!!
Hey, Everybody!!!! Can't we all just get along?? Damn. Two of the most "powerful" women in the US that Spool and I agree on are black!!!
Y'all got Oprah and Condi. That should count for something!!
Damn, give O a little time. Baby steps, y'all!!!! Jeez.
@vanilla:
Heh, Oprah would've been my #2, but it's basically the same point. :)
Maybe they can put a black face in Rahm Emmanuel's place, since he's basically missing in action.
Last time I saw the new Chief of Staff's face, it was on a milk carton...
I think we're missing the point. Bottom line is, this country is in some serious trouble and Obama is smart enough to know that if things don't magically turn around in the next year or so -- it won't be b/c there are a bunch of negroes at the helm who can't seem to get the job done. That's the surest way to make him a one-term president if I ever saw one!
I don't care that there aren't a whole bunch of black faces in the Cabinet. He's the freaking President of the United States!!!!! This is HUGE! If we want to ask where the qualified blacks are -- let's just take it to our own communities, streets, and neighborhoods.
Why aren't there more black men...
...in church?
...on the school board?
...in the state legislature?
...in XYZ law firm?
...running their own business?
...at MIT?
...at A&T?
...etc. etc. etc.
We are always asking the wrong question. If we had it together on the ground level, we wouldn't have to worry about the top level because a man's gift makes room for him.
But here's where we don't have to inquire about a dearth of black men...rap/hip-hop concerts, basketball courts, the corner, jail, nightly news, etc. etc. etc. Let's get our priorities straight!!!! (And before folks jump all over me, I know lots of "good black men." But the very fact that we have that designation is illustrative of a larger problem.)
If we get our ducks in a row where it really counts, we'll be ready with the preparation when the opportunity comes. In the meantime though, Barack's got a job to do! And he doesn't have time to do what white politicians have to do -- which is carefully craft a list that "looks" like race doesn't matter when we all know it does. Barack is just trying to assemble a good team of people who'll help him make a dollar out of fifteen cents, and I support him all the way. So all the complainers can just step aside b/c we don't need "superficial" politics with a token black here and there. We need fundamental transformation where we are raising up a new generation of black men and women who are ready to lead, skilled in a substantive area, and who can shine in the fields of education, transportation, agriculture, etc. etc. etc.
So let's just give Obama our prayers and concentrate instead on doing what needs to be done if we want to play in the big leagues.
Averagebro. Of course there are qualified HBCU grads, and hope that is not what my comment inferred. My son graduated from one. I am shocked to hear statements like "he picked the best and brightest and those that can get the job done", like picking an African American male or female you won't find the best and brightest. I work in corporate America and there are some brothers and sisters that are brilliant....I hear that not since Eisenhower has there been so few blacks in a President's cabinet>
No Ron Kirk... Obama's picking a Republican for Trans. Sec.
And that Chief of Staff gig might still be up for grabs... I'm starting to really think Emmanuel will go down with Blago.
This post really has me thinking.
In my own family and community there are good, loving, family, educated, community giving, employed men.
But I can't name 10 black males that might be willing and qualified(with the education and/or experience) that could come close to being nominated for a position within Obama's administration that I know personally. Can you?
@ Oregonsistah
Regarding so few blacks in a Presidential cabinet since Eisenhower, that's actually not true.
Eisenhower didn't have any. The first was in the Kennedy administration and he had to create a new position (HUD Secretary) just to add a brother to the cabinet.
Every president since Kennedy has AT MOST had only ONE black cabinet member until Bill Clinton came along. Until then, it was either ONE or NONE. Usually none.
@ Cinco - to answer your question, yes I could name at least 10 black males worthy of appointment but I admit that the circles I run in are mostly made up of attorneys and politicians. Your question raises a good point that seems to underscore the general theme here: where are our brothers at???
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