(Community Matters) My Chicago cab driver yesterday morning was a late 40-something/early 50s Black man. Obviously well educated, said ABD (All But Dissertation in educational psychology). We talked on the way to the airport, about what O’s election means. Obviously, all the important stuff about role model, direction changer, best man for the job . . . .
And, Matt told me 3 other things: 1) it took a Black man raised by two white women to become the first Black president. Obama’s mamas didn’t tell him the Black man narrative. They didn’t teach him to expect discrimination, unfairness or to lower his expectations. And, he doesn’t adopt the defensiveness that sometimes physically comes across as threatening.
2) He’s already hearing young men from the street changing expectations and hearing other Black men saying they’ve inherited a responsibility.
3) Matt considers O’s election as much about generation as race. Says O signals the transition of power to post-Baby Boomers.
Community Matters 