Philosopher Cornel West
Activist and public intellectual Cornel West has lashed out at
President Obama's run as the United States' top official, calling him
the "Black face of the American empire." He says Obama has marginalized
social movements that criticize US policies.
In an excerpt from his
upcoming book, titled 'Black Prophetic Fire,' the controversial
Union Theological Seminary professor claims that President
Obama's ascendancy represents a large shift of African-American
leaders enmeshing themselves with the political establishment. As
a result, West argues that Obama's presidency has made it harder
for African-Americans to criticize US policies which continue to
make their lives difficult.
"The unprecedented historical symbolism of the first Black
president has misled many if not most Black people to downplay
his substantial neoliberal policies and elevate his brilliant and charismatic presence," West writes
in the excerpt, which was published online by Salon.
READ MORE: Cornel West slams 'counterfeit'
Obama's presidency
West went on to pan Obama for policies that he claims benefit
Wall Street, as well as for failing to take action on issues that
affect the poor and minorities.
"The Obama presidency has been primarily a Wall Street
presidency, drone presidency, mass surveillance presidency
unwilling to concretely target the new Jim Crow, massive
unemployment, and other forms of poor and Black social
misery," he writes. "His major effort to focus on poor
Black men was charity and philanthropy - not justice or public
policy."
Additionally, West blasted the media for failing to cover stories
that affect poor and minority communities, such as mass
incarceration and wealth inequality.
"The central role of mass media, especially a corporate media
beholden to the U.S. neoliberal regime, is to keep public
discourse narrow and deodorized," West writes. "By
'narrow,' I mean confining the conversation to conservative
Republican and neoliberal Democrats who shut out prophetic voices
or radical visions. This fundamental power to define the
political terrain and categories attempts to render prophetic
voices invisible."
In an interview with Democracy Now , West elaborated on his
critique of Obama's foreign policy, comparing his legacy as a
Nobel Peace Prize winner to that of Martin Luther King, Jr.
"In the end, Barack Obama commits war crimes in Somalia and
Yemen, commits war crimes in Pakistan and Afghanistan," West
says. "And Martin Luther King Jr. tries to keep the spotlight
on the war crimes, to keep track of the innocent children who
were being killed, the innocent men and women who were being
killed. So you get a major clash.""And that's why I tell my young brothers and sisters, when
they walk around with this little sweater of Martin, Malcolm and
Barack Obama, I say, 'Please. That's like Coltrane and Sarah
Vaughan and Pat Boone.' He's a very different tradition. We love
Brother Pat, but he doesn't belong on that shirt. And Barack
Obama does not belong on that shirt."
Notably, this isn't the first time that West has called Obama a
"war criminal." He last did so in August, when he said that
drones have killed hundreds of innocent children and accused
Obama of "facilitating" the deaths of innocent Palestinians
through his support for Israel.
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