The Fenty Principle

The calamity is upon us and the community has begun to speak in ways that many did not anticipate. But hailing from the center of confusion the African American population has begun to vote against change agents that were cloaked as the beginning of a new generation of leadership, complete with a contingent of self-serving white commentators who feigned some similarities in cultural experiences and a distant resemblance to the president. Our hope is that the defeat of Mayor Adrian Fenty in D.C.’s Democratic primary is not indicative of the Obama administration’s vulnerability to a barrage of election failures. We hope that Obama’s legacy will not be subjected to some of the Carter administration characterizations that dogged that presidency and the man of that metaphoric and tragic hour. But absent a solid and unified front, African Americans continue to distance themselves from the controversy and the challenge, opting still to accept a pseudo-status quo, once they rest in the misplaced belief they have achieved a real and equitable hierarchy. But in that flawed perception of reality, the ability to understand the greater good and the connection with the masses is lost.  
The dinners, the private meetings, and the co-opted lobbyists that you have lunched with supposedly to improve the lives of the black electorate, now lie exposed in the harsh light of election day, that Fenty did not have the political or social mettle for a second run, no matter what his history reveals or any weight that his past experience may have carried. His lack of appreciation for his blackness and his touting of his biracial heritage became a downwardly spiraling reality for African Americans who no longer boasted about their seemingly privileged circumstances. That phenomenon is known in some circles as the Fenty Principle, but it should resonate with all of those who dismiss our heritage and our past, in the effort to forge tenuous bonds with a new America. We didn’t survive slavery to become slaves to companies that make a mockery of diversification in their hiring practices and in their boardrooms. The remedy for that is to make firm economic decisions and not buy their products, not eat their burgers and not visit their establishments. If Burger King chooses not to contract with African Americans or Hispanic agencies to sell to African Americans and Hispanic people, we have no obligation to buy from them.
And for the power brokers who do break bread with the lobbyists and compromise the black community through the use of terms like “those people” vs. “my people, my family, my brothers and sisters,” watch where you tread. Some philosophies teach us that we are charged with the well being of the next person and we are caretakers of the entire world. Still others seek only sponsorship for the mediocre alterations they make to reality. So for this imperfect principle, we respond with imprudence, which allows us refute their thinking and deny their advances. We can affirm the fact that we can make changes in our representation without the backlash of guilt and or the constraints imposed by uncertainty and self-doubt. The people and the electorate are not limited by term limits, so long as we don’t acquiesce to political tricksters and life-long candidacies. Term limits for African American leaders — as well as all others — might be the best thing for the community. If our people do not feel like our destinies are moving toward fulfillment under the political structure, then we should reject it and turn these self-serving bureaucrats out of their offices. While they may maintain their contracts and their strongholds on some sectors of society, at least we will not have deferred our dreams and aspirations for a nightmarish reality.
We will not continue to be denied opportunity based on the lack of leadership in government and the unwillingness of black politicians to take ownership of their offices and take a stand for their constituents in a place which, ironically,  was once known as Chocolate City. “Self-aggrandizement aside, and politrickcians denied,” ought to be the public outcry. The measuring of truth provides for their removal from office and obliteration from the national scene.
Today the African American community might choose to have a different conversation, given that the decimated economy means that blacks are still facing obstacles to progress and will suffer in the aftermath more than their counterparts. The economy is in a recession and for the African American community that spells a depression. But don’t punish the president for the Fenty Principle. Tell others in the community that we don’t need a one-term presidency, we instead need to put our shoulders to the grindstone over the next 24 months and bring to bear extreme pressure on our representatives in Washington. They must address the issues that we put forth and act as stalwarts for the African American trust. When “those constituents” return to the polls and the ask the question “What have you done for me?” The answer that looms in front of them will determine the political outcomes.   
Peace.