Jeff Johnson knows how to make his audiences squirm. The young, black
radio and TV political commentator waits for the discussion to turn to
the topic being talked about ceaselessly, incessantly, ad nauseam: the
meaning of the barrier-breaking election of Barack Obama.
Then, in his laid-back style, he says, "The real issue for me is
that history is not enough." That's when the mood becomes tense.
"Black folks, in particular, get irritated," says Johnson, who
travels the lecture circuit, hosts a half-hour show on Black
Entertainment Television and has a weekly spot for social criticism on
a radio program popular with black listeners. Get past "Obama the
personality" and see "Obama the president," he says. "Otherwise all
you're being is a political-celebrity groupie instead of a citizen. . .
. It starts with acknowledging he's my president, and not my homie."
As the nation's first black president settles into the office, a
division is deepening between two groups of African Americans: those
who want to continue to praise Obama and his historic ascendancy, and
those who want to examine him more critically now that the election is
over.
Johnson is one of a growing number of black academics, commentators
and authors determined to press Obama on issues such as the elimination
of racial profiling and the double-digit unemployment rate among
blacks.
But doing so has put them at odds with others in the black
community. Love for the Obamas is thick among African Americans -- 91
percent of whom view the president favorably, compared with 59 percent
of the total population, according to a Quinnipiac University poll
conducted last month -- and as a result, the African American punditry
finds itself navigating new ground. CONTINUE READING