The Demise of the Fairytale

Recently there’s been a lot of talk about former President Bill Clinton’s remark characterizing Obama’s stance on the war on Iraq as a fairytale. Some believe Clinton was actually speaking of the warped speed at which Obama finds himself as the potential Democratic nominee for President. Hillary also had a bit of ‘splaining to do when she commented that it took LBJ’s passage of the Civil Rights Act to realize King’s dream, as if all of the efforts of Black folks before and during the Movement meant very little without the granting of our wishes by a mighty whitey president.

Things got so hot for the Clintons last week that Hillary’s campaign went into full damage control and booked Bill on a round of interviews on Black radio. I caught Bill’s interview with Steve Harvey on Friday morning and on Michael Baisden’s show Friday afternoon. During each interview Bill deftly displayed his usual comfort in conversing with Black folks and did his very best to clean up what has obviously become a huge PR problem. During the Harvey interview, Bill sank so low as to name all of the Black folks Hillary has hired/worked with throughout her professional career. It was the Clinton’s version of “some of our best friends are Black.”

We’re now witnessing the demise of this fairytale--- a fairytale depicting Bill Clinton as the first African American President. Let’s be clear--- we’ve yet to have a Black president and Bill is simply a guy with a boatload of rhythm, who’s really comfortable interacting with Black folks. Isn’t it ironic that the “man from Hope,” has no problem dismissing a brother with the audacity of hope?