0 Barack Obama, the White House, and Black America

I am an ardent defender of Barack Obama and barring some sort of calamitous event in his Presidency, I will most likely continue to be defender of his.  More than that, though, I am an Obama apologist.  I will make a case in his defense whenever possible and rationalize his decision-making.  Perhaps it is because I identify so heavily with the Obama narrative or, maybe, I've developed a sort of motherly instinct toward the nation's first black President -- whatever the case, I'm of the mindset that Barack, if given a more cooperative Congress and a second term, would be every ounce the President I (we) had hoped for.

That said, his four-year review is in progress and black America has overwhelmingly polled in his favor.  Black and voting for Mitt Romney? Consider yourself a statistical aberration; you exist within the purgatory of "the margin of error."  With that, debate over the merits of Obama's command of the black vote has bubbled over and his record on issues that affect black Americans has been on trial.

From the New York Times

The New York Times published an op-ed on the 27th of October titled The Price of a Black President that captured, for me, much of the uneasiness I feel.  Frederick C. Harris, the author of the op-ed, referenced the degree to which the modern reality of a black face in the White House is a disappointment in comparison with the vision black intellectuals of the past had conceived.  For Harris, the black American elite are not scrutinizing Obama in a way that is conducive to the advancement of blacks, that instead of being scholars and thinkers in the mold of W.E.B. and Ida B. Welles, black intellectuals have become (gulp) Obama apologists.

A week away from the election, I would like to explore the question more -- and not just be chastised/praised by various media outlets for my affection/frustration for the Fourty-Fourth President of the United States of America.  So I'm going to put some links below which anyone and everyone is welcome to (should) read and invite my blogging, intellectual, and quick-witted Intelligentsia-of-a-friend-group to offer their thoughts.  I'll post whatever you write if you don't have a blog and link/tweet/Facebook share/+1 whatever you write yourself.  Mickey, Mr. Wright, Tabias, Jameelah, Roy, Brandon Lacy Campos, Shabazz, Kiese Laymon, Kris, Chartise, Barbara, Lev, Munir, Matt Parsons, Jacob, Son of Baldwin, etc. - I'm looking at you all.  Crunchatize -- er, rather, enlighten me, cap'n!

The Price of a Black President - New York Times
Frederick C. Harris

Fear of a Black President - The Atlantic
Ta-Nehisi Coates

For President, a Complex Calculus of Race, Politics - New York Times
Jodi Kantor

What are President Obama's Black Critics Talking About - The New Republic
John McWhorter

What Difference Would Obama's Re-Election Make to Black Americans - The Nation
Melissa Harris-Perry

We Are All Welfare Queens Now - The Atlantic
Ta-Nehisi Coates

Obama's Mistakes and the Role of Race - The Atlantic
Clive Crook

The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West Went Ballistic - Truth Dig
Chris Hedges

Poll: Majority of Americans are Racist Against Blacks - The Raw Story
Jonathan Terbush