BY PAUL WESTMOORE
SANBORN — While he’s a great supporter of Barack Obama, Michael E. Dyson, a well-known black lecturer and author of 16 books, is not shy about getting on the president’s back concerning his performance in office.
Speaking at Niagara County Community College on Tuesday before at least 300 people, Dyson said Obama has to get a lot tougher, organize his Democratic Party behind him and start moving forward by doing what’s good for everyday Americans.
“Get on your job!” Dyson said of Obama. “Stop trying to kiss the Republicans. I’m not mad, but you have to know who you are and what you stand for” if any significant change is to be made.
“For eight years, the Republicans didn’t give a damn about what we thought or what we wanted,” Dyson said.
He said Obama has wasted too much effort trying to get Republicans on his side of issues like health care when “they will never stand behind him.”
“He needs to shore up his base and he has not done a good job of doing that,” Dyson said.
He said the president could learn something by looking at “C student” George W. Bush’s performance where the nation’s wealth was distributed upward to the very rich and Republicans pretty much did as they pleased.
“Look back at George Bush,” Dyson said, “He stole the (2000 election) and for four years he said (to his base), ‘It’s on me.’ This is why I believe he got four more years because he did what his base wanted.”
He said everyone from blacks and Latinos to poor white people and Native Americans are suffering because of the bad economy, unemployment and the lack of health care.
“That makes it an American problem. So we all have to get on the same page in dealing with that kind of inequality,” which has haunted black people far back into American history.
“So people have to understand who the president is. That means Mr. Obama has to have values, ideas and a vision that he is willing to fight for. We know you are disinclined to fight because you are a very conciliatory figure. But now that you are in office, you have to step up to the plate and say what you believe in. Sometimes that demands a bit more brusque and strong engagement than what he’s been doing. He has to step up sand say this is the deal. That these are the consequences. This is what we believe in and this is how we’re going forward” in spite of the opposition he may face even from conservative Democrats.
“We all need jobs but have to remember that people without jobs need to be treated in a fair and just fashion. Poor people should not have to use the emergency room for health maintenance. You can’t do that and live. By the time you get yourself diagnosed in the ER, you are in real trouble. You’ll have 14 diseases and only enough money to pay for one of them,” Dyson said.
He said Americans have a moral responsibility to care for each other — even those who are not rich.
Dyson said he feels Obama was right to deal with health care, “but he could have done it more vigorously and immediately. He shouldn’t have been hemming and hawing about it with people of his own party.”
He believes the president must take charge and lead the way, and by doing that he’ll be more successful in helping the American people, especially those who are suffering in a bad economy.
Dyson has appeared as a guest on many television shows and is known for his writings such as “Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster” and “Is Bill Cosby Right? Or has the Black Middle Class Lost It’s Mind.” Dyson has a doctorate degree in religion from Princeton University and is a professor at Georgetown University. His wife, the Rev. Marcia Louise Dyson, appeared with him and fielded several questions.
