[YouTube Link]
The always opinionated Cornel West shares his opinion why he wasn’t happy to see Barack Obama be inaugurated using Martin Luther King Jr.’s bible because the President is using his legacy for political purposes. Sound off in the comments section!
{ 41 comments… read them below or add one }
with all due respect, dr. west. you’re a million percent wrong on this one.
Him and Tavis Smiley have been hating on Obama ever since he refused to do an interview with Smiley hating ass. Talking about Obama wasn’t doing enough for African Americans. They could’ve been credible community leaders, but l guess you can ignore the hate if it’s in you.
yup. him and tavis.
don’t forget jess jackson hating too.
them old heads hating hard.
I’m about done with Cornel West.. The story already broke on why he is suddenly against the President. It’s a personal vendetta because Obama couldn’t make it to one of his events and he felt like he worked so hard to get him elected. Go sit down somewhere people are losing respect for you by the minute.
exactly. fuck this dude.
how petty and childish.
plus this dude speaks in non sequiturs. WTF is he saying?
Isnt he married to a white woman? No disrespect but please report to the nearest NFL stadium and have all the SEATS in the arena!! Cornel should have played Stephan in Django.
Oh how far Cornel and Lupe have fallen in the eyes of the majority of black folk… if they only knew when to be quiet.
Sometimes black people sound off on things they should shut up about. There are a million things going wrong with the black community and Obama is NOT one of them.
+987654323456789
did any of yall watch the video? He explained thoroughly why he’s against it!!!
Nothing has changed since Martin has died. So to use him symbolically when all the same things ARE STILL happening IS WRONG!!
Go slap yourself at midnight.
ok boss!
You are 100% wrong.
explain you reasoning?
we are not getting hosed down or chased by dogs. little white boys and little black boys are playing with each other (daily, my son included, especially in school). its different now. not 100% perfect…but pretty close consider we have a president thats darker than me in office (im black).
fall back.
Co-sign, there’s been progress, to say none is stupid, but still work to do, look at black unemployment rate, okok so you say well only if they would work hard and get an education, well you know that blacks with degrees still have almost 2x as high unemployment rate compared to whites and even goes for people with masters, phd.
The system isn’t perfect but are there things that we can control , yes, we don’t have to kill one another see: Chicago, black males especially gotta step up their game. /rant over
@ riiiight – Nothings changed? what about the fucking fact a black man leads the nation?
jackass….
You mean to tell me that you think Obama is actually running things?!?!!
Consider this african proverb:
“When the axe enters the forest, the trees will look at the handle and say, look he’s one of us!”
Obama isn’t making an decisions that aren’t being pushed by a bigger agenda. There is no more social justice for black people or people of poverty than there was when MLK was alive..and if you think there is than you’re a jackass!
agreed. but the perception of most americans isnt like yours. they say, he`s the president of america therefore the world. that goes along way in the psych of your average shitizen.
to you its nothing but to the world, a black man is running it.
This is why I didn’t explain my reasoning. You and the person are resorting to calling each other names and you are so strong in your belief that nothing has changed that I don’t think I could do any good in convincing you that quite a bit has changed. Alas, that is my opinion. You have yours. The issue, though, is that you are quite unable to come a little towards the middle in your reasoning, and so your stance is so extreme that it ignores other important facts. No, things aren’t perfect. Yes, things have changed A Lot for the better. But, that’s not as fun for the extreme.
Your African Proverb is a nice sentiment, but it is just… missing the point.
Obama is trying to fix things. He is trying to fix things for All peoples. Black people and White people. The quicker the older generation dies away the quicker equality is easier achieved in the work sector. Does sexism and racism still exist? Most importantly, like Cornel said, does Classism still exist? YES YES YES.
But times Are changing.
Was anyone up in arms about gun control when Oscar Grant was shot? What about when Sean Bell was shot 50 times?! Trayvon Martin? …And all the kids in Chicago?! Times are changing and we’re STILL getting the short end of the stick!!! If the person in office that’s is “so good for me because he looks like me” then I want him to be vocal when stuff happens to me and ny people! Is that too much to ask? And remember there are TWO sides to the older generation…
I agree with that point, since skip gates he doesn’t want to tread in those waters, what about stop and frisk. To give him credit the crack-powder sentencing guidelines has decreased under his admin.
“They let one negro into the league and we’re suppose to forget about 400 years of oppression” – Malcolm X
My point exactly! This country was not founded for us and did not even include us are “WHOLE” people…(3/5 to be exact). So all of a sudden after you’ve MURDERED our leaders (Martin & Malcolm just to name a few) and you’ve ALLOWED one of “us” to sit in the captain’s chair, it’s supposed to be allll good?!?!! #FOH
Honestly I disagree with your views, but reading you opinions I noticed a very constant trend in your opinions. You seem to be displeased with the way things currentlu are, yet providing no better realistic solution. Explain …. Are you just here to hate or do you actually have some alternative resolution in mind?
Shuttttttt upppppppppp!!!! Cornel West sounds silly and the majority of people who are were agreeing with West in the audience had no idea what he was saying but they just agreed because he was spitting that old baptist rhyming rhetoric,.
Interesting dialogue. I think the folks mad Mr. West should take another listen. It was objective and constructive criticism. Just because the president is black does not mean he gets a free pass when it comes to dealing with minority issues. For instance, when he presented his gun proposal he referred to Sandy Hook quite often, he only touched on inner-city violence toward the end of his speech. While SH was tragic, is it more tragic than the 500 people (majority of them teens) in Chicago or the 300-plus people in Detroit who were murdered in 2012? It is all tragic!!!! I think they should all go have a beer in the White House garden and end the rift!
It was not objective criticism. It’s the furthest you can get from constructive criticism without spitting in someone’s face.
if you’re interested in deconstructing his “argument” (it wasn’t an argument… it was a poem) point by point – post back and we can give it a go like gentlemen.
Don’t feel like writing a paragraph with correct punctuation so here’s an outline of my thought.
- Cornel West might have a great argument but given his past hate on President Obama and Jay-Z he still gets the side eye
-Most people from the older generation are haters. Its just the truth
-Black people (incuding myself) got way too excited about a “Black President”
-No matter how cool President Obama is, he’s still a politician
-We need to help ourselves in our communities instead of waiting on the government to assist us.
-Lupe is a wannabe revolutionary his antics are only hurting his “cause”
I have to go now. I think my computer is tapped
Coooo-Sign
Church, nigga.
Amen.
My thoughts exactly!!
Co-sign
I’m not Cornel West’s biggest fan by any means, but he is ABSOLUTELY right about this. Stop throwing around our heroes names. Dr. King stood for peace, for ALL. He would not agree with the bombing of people overseas…etc.
& IMO the whole of the black community is worse than EVER. A black male is more likely to be murdered in Chicago than Iraq. Think about that.
yeah that’s because black men live in Chicago. they don’t live in Iraq. dummy. idiot. retard.
and the black community is worse than ever? you’re a fucking idiot. go look at the numbers and then come back and restate your assumptions.
the black community is BETTER than ever.
everybody has feelings. if you’re gonna base your opinions on your feelings than you’re no different than a dog driven by its impulses.
when you want to stop metaphorically pissing on the sidewalk – return, with some numbers. and develop an opinion like a real adult and not some mindless sap.
With all respect but i’m suprised about the fact that many people who have comment on this post dissagree with Cornell West. Martin Luther King jr. did not only fight for the rights of dark skinned people… Hè also stood up for love & peace! Yes It’s Great that to become a president, it doesnt matter anymore what color you are.. But still… You can not pretend to be ‘down’ with MLK and he’s ideology while you still send drones and soldiers to kill people. I’d like to remind you all to this quote… The quote tells us exactly why Obama comes not even close to what MLK really wanted (LOVE)
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that”
Love & Peace
Michael
then none of us can actually be down with Martin then.
you and cornell are right. i’ll never utter his name. i’ll never aspire to him.
thanks – I needed you and cornell to put me in my place. Obama too.
we needed that.
Why can’t none of us be MLK than?
I’m living my life in peace…. If you didn’t get the message of my comment i’d suggest to ignore it or read again
I got the gist of your message.
it’s fucking ridiculous.
Okay so at the end of the day Martin Luther King Jr was just a man. A great man, but still a man.
And Cornell West is at this point nothing but a hatin ass nigga. You can’t see his views (which are valid) because he’s carrying around Tavis and his own hate.
Tired of Cornell West , Jesse Jackson, Tavis Smiley and Dick Gregory’s hating ass.