Whites may embrace Obama, but do 'regular black folks'?

Whites may embrace Obama, but do 'regular black folks'?

January 1, 2007BY LAURA WASHINGTON

Soon, very soon, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama will announce his bid to become the first black president of the United States. If you believe the press and the pundits, this country is in the grips of Obama mania. He has entranced and enthralled the electorate. I have been both heartened and puzzled by the enthusiasm among white voters across the nation. On the other hand, we haven't heard much from regular black folks. So over the holidays, I did my own unscientific survey.
Around the Christmas dinner table, the family was amazingly blase. My uncle Leland "Sugar" Cain is famous in this space for saying, during the 2003 U.S. Senate race that Obama, a biracial graduate of Harvard Law School, was an overeducated "elitist" who wouldn't play well in the 'hood.
Now he is a fan. In between the greens and gravy, he offered some food for thought. He opined on Obama's chances, saying that his fellow South Sider was a ''good man'' who will make a great president -- someday.
''He can do better than Bush. He can probably do better than Clinton. It's not like he can't carry his own weight,'' said Sugar Cain, a retired railroad worker. Yet, he was adamant that Obama can't win the presidency in 2008. For one thing, Obama needs "more experience."
White voters aren't ready to elect the nation's first black president, he added. "It's easy for him to appeal to them now, but when it's time to go into the voting booth, they're not going to pull that lever."
My uncle follows political news 24/7. He reminded the gathering of Harold Ford's failed bid to become the first black U.S. senator from Tennessee since Reconstruction. ''Look who should have won in Tennessee,'' he expounded, his finger flailing in the air. ''Until they put that woman on TV on the telephone.'' He was recalling the controversial campaign ad that featured a sultry blond who reminded Ford that they met at a ''Playboy party'' and invited him to ''Call me.''
The rest of the family -- cousins, in-laws and play-aunts, all -- gave an "Amen!" and proceeded to dig in to my mother's legendary mac-and-cheese.
My random queries to other African Americans elicited similar sentiments. "He's a great guy, but I don't know much about him," says my brother Andrew, an Army sergeant in Fort Carson, Colo. From Randy, who works the door in my building: ''I don't know about him, but what I know, I like.''
I checked in with Michael Meyers, executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition, who specializes in keeping tabs on African-American leadership.
''I don't hear anything from regular black folks about Obama. . . . He's not a star in their orbit. They think he's young, attractive, well-spoken. But I don't know anybody who takes him seriously.'' Obama's not ready, he said.
Obama is burdened by a complex relationship with his people.
Black voters, especially older ones, are very conservative. They believe our elected officials need seasoning. Once we get our people into office, we want them to marinate, keep the seat and bring home the bacon. Obama learned that lesson in 2000 when he challenged longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush and got a good whipping. The message from black voters: Wait your turn, young man.
Obama's old man was born in Kenya. We have a prickly relationship with our African roots. As with our dark skin and nappy hair, some of us harbor deep shame of our ancestry.
Two hundred years of "Living in America" have made us cynical about racial progress. The possibility that a 45-year-old black man could come out of nowhere to be elected president of the United States -- that doesn't jibe with our well-worn skepticism. It all sounds too Pollyanna-ish.
Black folks are their own worst enemy. We need to get over it. Run, Barack, run.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/washington/193216,CST-EDT-LAURA01.article