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.These young people were no less enthusiasticabout Obama s candidacy.They wore T-shirts and buttons support-ing Obama, wrote about and discussed his campaign and potentialpresidency in their classrooms, and returned to homes and apart-ments where Obama campaign signs were pasted in the windows.These young black people, however, go to subpar schools, under-funded by the city, state, and federal government, few of whose grad-uates attend college.They live in neighborhoods where gang activityand the wrong policing strategies threaten the safety of neighbor-hood residents and significantly reduce their life options and choices.Faulty decision-making among this group tends to have an exponen-tial negative impact in their lives, since there are few outside andinternal resources to help attenuate the impact of an unplanned preg-nancy, dropping out of school, or being arrested.And while somefrom this group of young blacks will find a way to better their stationin life, many will spend their lives trying to get ahead and recoverfrom policies, institutions, and choices that are unforgiving in theirclosing of possibilities.The politics of third-wave black politicians seem especially relevantand useful to the first group of young blacks, who probably will be ableto continue to make significant strides in America by framing theirstruggles as part of the promise of American democracy without anysustained discussion of and attention to race.These young people, likeObama, embody what is thought to work in our democracy and gov-ernment.They are the poster children for programs like affirmativeaction and Headstart and for the dialogue that has now been goingon for decades on  the importance of diversity. They represent thepotential of the country to produce a new group of leaders who as par-ticipants in the narrow political party structure or as outside agitators My President Is Black 231in support of those most marginalized will push the country forwardtoward a more diverse and inclusive democratic process.I am concerned, however, with what type of politics not only willsave the physical lives of young blacks in the second category describedabove but also will transform the totality of their lived experience,empowering them with equal opportunities to live a fulfilling and joy-ful life.As was clear in the words of many of these young people, theybelieve that race is still a major factor in determining their life oppor-tunities, so a politics led by third-wave politicians unwilling to takeon the question of race forcefully and continuously may not serve thisgroup of young blacks very well.As in the past, it will probably be theorganizers, advocates, and communities outside the traditional politi-cal power structure who will do the hard work of changing the lifetrajectory of marginalized black youth and holding third-wave blackpoliticians accountable.While I can say for sure that as a nation we have not reached or seenthe end of black politics, the answers to other crucial questions are lessclear.How will American politics and the American people respondto the desperate lived condition of some black youth? How will weaddress the continued alienation of black youth toward the state, evenin the age of Obama? How will we facilitate the continued participa-tion of black youth in the political process after Obama? How willwe calm the moral panic in black communities about black youth andproduce a moral politics that can be embraced by black youth? How dowe fundamentally better the lives of marginalized young black people,demanding their full equality?The first step in addressing all of these questions has to beacknowledging and treating young blacks as equal and full membersof the larger political community whose perspectives are central tohow we understand the successes and failures of our politics.Whenwe include black youth as full and equal members, it means thatwe acknowledge their worth and will pursue a politics that reflectthat understanding.As a first step, it means that we will providethem with the necessities to be active participants in the democraticprocess, and that means addressing some basic inequalities.Forexample, it means dedicating more money, effort, and will to spe-cific policies and programs, such as quality education for marginal-ized youth, especially young black people who suffer from dropoutrates of nearly 50 percent in some urban cities.It means designatingmore money to health programs accountable for erasing the dispro-portionate impact of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections,232 Democracy Remixedand mental health problems among black youth.It means that it cannever be acceptable to have members of our community killed onthe way to or from school a way of life that black children in Chi-cago and other major cities have endured for far too long.As equalmembers of our political community, their future is literally ourfuture, their suffering our suffering.And while President Obamahas supported legislation in these areas, for example, bolsteringcommunity colleges and historically black colleges and universitiesas well as expanding health care and funding for public education,more, much more, must be accomplished.In addition to addressing the material needs of black youth, equalmembership in the political community must also mean, as scholarjohn a.powell puts it,  expanding the choices that people have tolead lives they value. 43 He continues,  Fundamental to enlargingchoices is building human capabilities the range of things thatpeople can do or be in their lives [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]