Politics

Why Obama can't escape America's great 'birth defect'

11:29 AM on 04/28/2011

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President Barack Obama walks across the tarmac in a light drizzle as he boards Air Force One in Chicago, Wednesday, April 27, 2011, to travel to New York City for campaign fundraising events. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

The phrase "black man's burden" has taken on a whole new meaning to many after yesterday's impromptu press statement by President Obama, where he informed the country that he had sent his personal legal counsel to Hawaii to secure a "long form" birth certificate to provide yet more proof of his American citizenship.

The worst part of it all wasn't that we had to listen to Donald Trump's narcissistic ramblings or watch his bad hair flapping in the wind. It was that my president, our president, had to stand in front of the world and justify his right to be in the White House..

And Trump's assault on the president's integrity hasn't stopped. He now questions the president's academic standing and worthiness to have been accepted into Ivy League Schools like Columbia and Harvard law.

WATCH theGRIO's GOLDIE TAYLOR SPEAKING ON RACIAL TENSIONS:

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Worse than all of this, was that just like the late baseball legend Jackie Robinson before him, President Obama has to put up with the insults, lunacy, and outright bigotry with a smile. He can't lose his cool because he is the first. He must handle himself with grace and class or the next black candidate for president won't stand a chance.

For many of us who are educated African-Americans of a new generation, we get it. We live it. We know what it feels like to be the first in our firms, corporations, universities, or industries. We know coded race talk when we see it. We know what it feels like to be delegitimized, and questioned, stared down in a funny way regardless of the accolades and laurels of our degrees or achievements.

And we hurt for the president yesterday.

We tweeted and Facebooked, texted and emailed in total shock and awe. I think it took a good five minutes for my younger brother, a minister, and my mom to calm me down on the phone as I was yelling at the top of my lungs about how appalled I was that the president of the United States was being treated in such a shameful manner. I truly felt off center -- like I had personally been kicked. Once we stopped and prayed, I was able to put pen to paper and begin to write down my thoughts.

In a March 2008 interview with The Washington Times, former U.S. Secretary of State Condi Rice said that America was still suffering from "its great birth defect". By that she meant that the United States still has trouble dealing with race because it was founded on the backs of black slaves, who were legally denied the very opportunities of freedom and equality that our nation was founded upon. The very rights afforded to whites, and stripped from blacks for hundreds of years. You do the math. Her point: racism has vestiges, consequences, legacies.

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The phrase "black man's burden" has taken on a whole new meaning to many after yesterday's "impromptu press statement":http://www.thegrio.com/politics/obama-releases-birth-form-decries-silliness.php by President Obama, where he informed the country that he had sent his personal legal counsel to Hawaii to secure a "long form" birth certificate to provide yet more proof of his American citizenship. The worst part of it all wasn't that we had to listen to "Donald Trump's narcissistic ramblings":http://www.thegrio.com/politics/why-obama-shouldnt-have-had-to-show-his-papers.php or watch his bad hair flapping in the wind. It was that my president, our president, had to stand in front of the world and justify his right to be in the White House.. And Trump's assault on the president's integrity hasn't stopped. He now questions the president's "academic standing and worthiness":http://www.thegrio.com/politics/is-obama-an-affirmative-action-president.php to have been accepted into Ivy League Schools like Columbia and Harvard law. WATCH theGRIO's GOLDIE TAYLOR SPEAKING ON RACIAL TENSIONS:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Worse than all of this, was that just like the late baseball legend "Jackie Robinson":http://www.thegrio.com/sports/jackie-robinson-day-2011-baseball-legend-remembered-across-mlb.php before him, President Obama has to put up with the insults, lunacy, and outright bigotry with a smile. He can't lose his cool because he is the first. He must handle himself with grace and class or the next black candidate for president won't stand a chance. For many of us who are educated African-Americans of a new generation, we get it. We live it. We know what it feels like to be the first in our firms, corporations, universities, or industries. We know coded race talk when we see it. We know what it feels like to be delegitimized, and questioned, stared down in a funny way regardless of the accolades and laurels of our degrees or achievements. And we hurt for the president yesterday. We tweeted and Facebooked, texted and emailed in total shock and awe. I think it took a good five minutes for my younger brother, a minister, and my mom to calm me down on the phone as I was yelling at the top of my lungs about how appalled I was that the president of the United States was being treated in such a shameful manner. I truly felt off center -- like I had personally been kicked. Once we stopped and prayed, I was able to put pen to paper and begin to write down my thoughts. In a March 2008 interview with _The Washington Times_, former U.S. Secretary of State Condi Rice "said":http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/28/rice-race-still-issue-bec_n_93892.html that America was still suffering from "its great birth defect". By that she meant that the United States still has trouble dealing with race because it was founded on the backs of black slaves, who were legally denied the very opportunities of freedom and equality that our nation was founded upon. The very rights afforded to whites, and stripped from blacks for hundreds of years. You do the math. Her point: racism has vestiges, consequences, legacies.