Does Race Trump Self Interest?

Yesterday I asked if you are better off than you were four years ago and 98% said no or "hell no." The current issue of Bloomberg made the question more specific to black Americans on the cover if its current issue. But knowing this voting block is going 99% for President Obama maybe the question should be are there any sacred values anymore? Or does party and race trump beliefs even those based on religion?

Photo shoot fresh, looking like wealth
I'm 'bout to call the paparazzi on myself
Uh, live from the Mercer
Run up on Yeezy the wrong way, I might murk ya

Flee in the G450 I might surface
Political refugee, asylum can be purchased
Uh, everything's for sale, I got 5 passports
I'm never going to jail

Jay Z (Otis)

These days it feels like there are a lot of political refugees living in America. The notion of voting with your mind rather than your heart is why contests are so difficult to call. Not only are people willing to forget their own values but they're also willing to forget or forgive their own conditions. It's one thing to get caught up in a mania which is what Obama was four years ago. But this time around we have a track record and it's not impressive. Still, there are niches of the population that will vote for Obama in droves, even if the democratic platform has moved further away from their own personal beliefs. When I was growing up in Harlem there were three things that everyone felt must be addressed for the black community.

This many years later none of these critical things have been addressed and nobody is speaking out about them either.

Drugs pouring into the black community. Rahm Emanuel says on Meet the Press the murder crisis in Chicago is just "gang on gang" as if to suggest no big deal. Either he's saying these people have worthless lives or the general public is in no harm or both. One thing is for sure if it's mostly gangs than its 100 percent about drugs. I don't hear black leaders, disc jockeys, comedians, or other celebrities complain about the federal government allowing drugs to flood the community. Many used to say George Bush personally made money from the drug trade. Nobody is saying that about Barack Obama. In fact nobody is saying anything.