A recent front page story in the Washington Post (‘Blacks at Odds over Scrutiny of President’) highlighted how black critics who criticized President Obama were being criticized for doing so.   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/05/AR2009040501894.html?sub=AR

What’s the issue here? Political? The quality of Obama’s presidency? Obama himself? Not really.

The applications go far beyond how black people perceive President Obama or his critics. The real underlying issue is, how can (and should) President Obama, and other successful black men, be judged?

It highlights the extra qualifications or credentials required for black male achievement and how that success is analysed more for black men.

The message is: it’s not enough for black males to be successful – we must be successful AND have a certain way or style that follows or we’re not considered successful.  These additional parameters make it difficult for black men to get acknowledged for their achievement.

You would not find an article on this topic written about any past president so to see it written here belies where we are at.  

Somehow it feels like we haven’t ‘arrived’ until the first black president can be criticised.