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An Asian American’s Perspective On Obama, That Morehouse Speech, and “Personal Responsibility”

We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices. Growing up, I made a few myself. And I have to confess, sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. But one of the things you’ve learned over the last four years is that there’s no longer any room for excuses. I understand that there’s a common fraternity creed here at Morehouse: “excuses are tools of the incompetent, used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness.”

We’ve got no time … Read more “An Asian American’s Perspective On Obama, That Morehouse Speech, and “Personal Responsibility””

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The Obama Paradox

I’ve gotten some grief lately over critical comments I’ve made about President Obama. Folks reference a piece I wrote a while back about why I was a supporter of Obama’s candidacy in the last election, calling on other racial justice advocates who were critical of his first term to join me. Why, folks now ask, would I so strongly support the candidacy of our nation’s first Black president, only to be so critical of his reign?

Here’s my answer. In politics, silence is often as good as consent.

We ought not stand mute in the face of human rights violations … Read more “The Obama Paradox”

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Why “Redistribution” is a Dirty Word to Republicans

Sorry, I couldn’t resist this bit of right wing propaganda. I wish this was an indication that they’re totally out of touch, but, alas, no. In fact, they’re just about in touch with control of the presidency and both houses of Congress.

“Redistributionist,” according to Merriam-Webster, is a term coined in 1961 specifically to refer to one who believes in or advocates a welfare state. If that resource is accurate, then being a redistributionist means being exactly the sort of person who conservatives have no use for.

But, the question remains, why does the term seem to have special power … Read more “Why “Redistribution” is a Dirty Word to Republicans”