IF YOU WERE A BLACK LEADER...What would you ask President Obama to do for the black community?

My "black conscious"friend and I go back and forth with this issue.Now that President Obama has secured a second term in office,will this be the perfect opportunity to finally ask the Prez for what we want as black people in America(besides painting the White House black)?My friend also read the article about the 60 black leaders gathering at Washington D.C. and wondered if these leaders were gathering to make sure President Obama show black folks a little bit more gratitude?I,being cynical,implied that what Obama has done for black folks in America was to be born black,showing the known world that a non-white president can be possible in our lifetime.

My friend shrugged off my comment and said that Obama "owes"the black community for voting him into office.

So I asked my knowledgeable,slightly irritated friend:

"If you were a black leader,what would you ask the president to do for black people in America?"

He thought for a minute,while I sat,still in my cynical mode.

He said that will ask President Obama to help fix the social woes in the black community,such as poor education,mass incarceration,black on black crime and high unemployment.

Now my friend already knows how I will comment on these issues:

The foundation of these "social woes"is poor education.But first let's go back further.The main problem with the black community is that there is no overall MUTUAL RESPECT between males and females,old and young,light skinned and dark skinned,rich and poor.

If the mother and father had mutual respect for one another,then they would not except that their child is receiving poor education.If groups of parents got together and decided to protest the poor educational system by perhaps home schooling their children(always an option),maybe the education system might notice the value of a child's education,like it suppose to do.

But because the child's home often broken,due to lack of mutual respect overall,then the child is subjected to what the world has to offer at their early age,instead of solid lessons of guidance and precautions,that should be the duty of the parents.But,we males and females love to have sex.

Now as far as mass incarceration,simply,I've never been to jail and don't plan on going.But if I have to whip someone's ass and jail is my punishment,then so be it.My brother used to get locked up over stupid stuff HE'S done.

Black on black crime:Respect my personal space and I'll respect yours,nuff'said.

Unemployment:Now when I was unemployed in 1998,I realized a LOT of people owned their houses in my neighborhood.I got my lawnmower,my snow shovel or my rake and charged $20 for approx 12-15 homes.That kept my bills paid and money in my pocket,until I was able to get another job.

So in retrospect,I'd conclude that the social woes of the black community has to be cured by...

THE BLACK COMMUNITY!

My friend,fidgeting,exclaimed that the white racist system is responsible for the condition of black people in America.

I agreed,of course,but I replied that although we know that to be true,what are WE going to do about it,especially if we are NOT going to physically fight such an oppressive system,nor truly mass exit to Africa? Self healing through mutual respect(for starters)must be the key to our survival,particularly from ourselves.Even if Obama do decide to"help"us,we as black folks would probably end up resenting the president for "telling us what to do".