The Unspoken 'Black Code of Conduct' is NOT Helpful!

So Roland Burris was confirmed today; he will take the seat as US Senator, appointed by Illinois Governor "Blago" as he's known in the media. To be clear, it was a bold move on the part of the embattled Governor, but "bold and unexpected" does not make it "wrong and unlawful". I have been absolutely shocked and saddened by the lack of support for Roland Burris' appointment- having nothing to do with Burris himself- but more so for the protectin of his civil rights.

Because President-Elect issued a statement in disagreement, almost immediately upon the announcement of Burris' appointment, it rendered almost ALL of the leaders in the Black community, painfully silent. Al Sharpton was quoted in the Washington Post saying that he did not have a position on the Burris matter and that Black leaders should respect the position of the President. Wow. Now that really concerned me. First, because Rev. Sharpton has built his reputation on taking a position on issues like this, whether or not we agree with his positions, he definitely takes them. Secondly, because I have not ever heard President-Elect Obama ask Black America for a "hall pass" to let him off the hook. In fact, it's quite the opposite. President-Elect Obama has stated, repeatedly, that he expects to be held accountable. His leadership style is to respect all opinions and he has not surrounded himself with people who will only tell him what he wants to hear. He's stated openly that he reads negative press and opposing opinions so he can consider all sides of an issue. It's clear that he leads from the center.

So why then do some Black leaders think there is some honor or appropriateness to not express an opinion that may not be in agreement with President Elect? I use the Roland Burris case as a clear example. Based on my personal and professional contacts, I know that there were a lot of Black folks- with notable profiles- who did agree that Burris should have been seated but did not want to be "the one". As in, "the one" who spoke out in disagreement with President Elect Obama. Even CNN noted that they had "not heard from leaders in the Black community" in the early days of this drama. I fear that this is a cultural approach to dealing with our leaders that could cause our community to be underrepresented in this administration.

President Elect Obama has made it very, very clear that he does not have an agenda specifically for Black America, regardless of being Black. He is the President of the United States. So why then would We respond to him and his decisions differently, because he's Black? I firmly believe that if the President Elect today was not Black and had issued the exact same statement on Burris' appointment, Roland Burris would have received an overwhelming amount of support from Black leaders and would likely have been seated sooner... and that's really too bad.

My fear is that there is an unspoken "Black Code of Conduct" that equates our support with our silence and consent. And yet, nothing could be further from the truth of what President Obama wants or needs. He has never asked for a "pass" from any other community and no other community gives him one. One of the largest group of supporters for Obama were white woman and when they did not see enough top cabinet appointments going to women, they spoke out- loud. Some of the very organizations that endorsed Obama, over Hillary Clinton, early in the campaign came forward to express their concerns about women nominees. Their concerns did NOT mean they no longer supported him, not at all, it meant they were fully vested in his leadership and felt like they had enough of a stake to speak up on an issue that mattered to them... and best believe they will continue to do so.

So if we don't hear or see the administration dealing with issues related to HIV/Aids, Black male incarceration rates, staggering and overwhelming unemployment, growing crime, increasingly poor health in urban communities (and the lists go on), that will not be because President Obama didn't do his job, it will be because we didn't do ours.

Doing our jobs starts with getting over this notion or fear of disagreement or pretending that things are "all good" when they are not. That is ridiculous. President Obama has shown no signs of the Bush "my way or the highway" leadership. It is so critical that we continue fighting for the issues that will help our community and pushing the Obama administration to consider our needs, just as they are considering every other groups' needs- those groups, of course, who are not afraid to speak up.