The First Black President: My Nominations
The First Black President: My Nominations
What do you think it would be like if we had a black President ?
I think it would be pretty neat. I would nominate Kwesi Mfume first of all because Mfume wants the NAACP to be what he calls "second to none," and I think that is great. Mfume wants to be respected not only by blacks but whites too. He looks forward to setting these goals for the NAACP. Mfume's priority is to enforce civil rights, voter registration and turnout, educational excellence for blacks, economic development, and reach out to young people. I think that Kwesi Mfume would make a great president, and if he would ever reach his goals he would make a big difference.
Another man I would nominate is Jesse Jackson. I would nominate him because of his leadership skills, which has prevented a reduction of the black image in the public eye. As early as 1972, he
was keynote speaker of the Gary, Indiana Black power convention where he urged the formation of a
separate black political party to endorse candidates of both major parties when the black agenda could be furthered. Jackson is the Chairman of the National Rainbow Coalition, and he has become one of America's best known black political figures. Over the
last three years Jackson has played a major role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. Jackson has been called the "conscience of the nation" and "the great unifier," calling
America to "make just and human priorities, and bringing people together or common ground across lines of race, class, gender, and belief."
Another black man I would nominate is Colin Powell. I would nominate him because it seems presidents always want Powell on their side. After George Bush won the election in 1988, Powell told Time Magazine, the new president-elect wanted to name him CIA director. Powell did not take the offer, and Bush later chose him to Chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As Howard Fineman wrote in Newsweek, Powell "lays out a bland set of conservative principles that would allow him to run either as an independen t or as a moderate Republican: low taxes, faith in free enterprise, new scrutiny of entitlements." If the Republican Party had nominated Powell for president in 1996, 51% of american voters would have lean more to him, 41% to Bill Clinton.
Having a black president would be a major change for America. These three black men would be my nominations for a president, and they would all be excellent presidents. If our national racism could be ended, black men and women would have a better chance at being elected president. We saw this trend in 1984 when Jackson led the first significant campaign for President by a black candidate. He made an even better showing in 1988, amassing 6.7 million votes, and finishing second at the Democrat Convention in Atlanta to Micheal Dukakis. There, Jackson brought his message "together we can win" to voters in the crucial New Hampshire primary. From my point of view, if men like Powell and Jackson were not black, they would have already attained the office of president.
Jet Magazine, 11/96 pg.32,
World Book pg.730 1992 edition, "Colin Luther Powell," Volume 15.
Newsweek September 11, 1995, pg. 26.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (http://www.naacp.org).