Rick Perry and His Rock, Herman Cain, and the Black Community

LZ Granderson dares to write a piece on CNN that says the real problem in the black community is not Rick Perry's rock or Herman Cain:

The number one song on Billboard's R&B/Hip Hop charts this week is a romantic little ditty called "Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay".

In it, Big Sean refers to the object of his affection as "my bitch" while Kanye West boasts that his girl is cool because she performs oral sex while wearing shades.

Again, this is the most popular song on black radio right now.

So now I ask you: How do we begin to criticize what President Obama has or has not done for the black community when lyrics like these are acceptable?

How can we dismiss Herman Cain as a sell-out for calling black people "brainwashed" when the hottest song on the radio encourages men to treat women like receptacles?

How do we wave an angry finger at what Governor Rick Perry's rock may or may not have said 20 years ago while something like "Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay" is happening right in front of our faces, in real time?

Perry's "Niggerhead" revelation is disturbing but if the controversy forces him out of the race tomorrow, life for black America would not be changed. Our unemployment rate would still be twice the national average, we'll still be disproportionately living in poverty, we'll still be lagging behind in education.

So despite the kind of 24-hour sexiness that usually accompanies an n-word scandal like this one, the truth is that it is not the real story. It never is.

The real story is if the black community doesn't find a way to heal ourselves from these self-inflicted wounds, there won't be much of a black community left for people like Perry to offend.

There's a lot more - read it all.

The black community wants their concerns to be taken seriously by both parties, but I can guarantee you it's not happening at the leadership level of either party. Why? Blacks regularly vote 95% or so for Democrats, which means Democrats can pay them lip service and still get their votes. It also means that the GOP realizes its efforts towards the black community will be wasted, so why bother?

If blacks want to be taken seriously by both parties they've got to start voting for both parties. Until that happens there's really no reason for either party to pay much attention to them.