Roland Martin on Bill Clinton’s anger for losing favored status among African-Americans
Roland Martin, CNN contributor, has written an interesting article regarding Bill Clinton and his continued harping on how we was dealt the race card. Here are some of the highlights from Why Bill Clinton’s Still Upset.
- Poor Bill. Stuck in no man’s land, no longer able to stand before adoring crowds of African-Americans who would welcome him as the “nation’s first black president” with thunderous applause and all kinds of pats on the back, he clearly is having issues dealing with the new world order.
- When Bill Clinton compared Sen. Barack Obama’s win in South Carolina to that of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, it was seen by African-Americans as an attempt to marginalize Obama. That has always been a fear of African-Americans who achieve mainstream success — and it left even close friends of the Clintons aghast. That was the tipping point, along with other perceived slights — and we know a person’s perception is his or her reality.
- In an interview with ABC’s Kate Snow, Clinton, when asked about regrets in the campaign, immediately threw out, “I am not a racist.” He kept insisting that he isn’t angry, but we’ve all seen that stare, change in body language, and the parsing of words. Even when Snow asked whether Obama was ready to be president, Clinton answered in the third person, never actually saying he’s ready or not.
- And the Clintons need to stop living in la-la land, listening to the same folks soothe Bill’s bruised ego. They thought they would win the nomination and then blacks would fall in line. Harold Ickes said as much.But in this new world order, when young black folks don’t see Bill as the Great Messiah and really didn’t have a love affair with his eight years, he needs to recognize that a lot has changed. Bill, you clearly have issues with what took place, and sure, you can be mad. But denying you’re angry doesn’t help.
