paint the white house black

During the Amherst Blackademic Quiz Bowl, I learned that Frederick Douglass was the first African American to run for president, and not Jesse Jackson like everybody thought. African Americans have been throwing their hat into the ring since before we had the franchise.
As the election season heats up and the nation watches our first viable black presidential candidate traverse the country, in an effort to win votes and gain supporters to join team Obama, I've been thinking about running myself. But my candidacy would be a little different since it's for a post that hasn't been created (yet).

Although I plan on pulling the lever for Sen. Obama on February 5th (my bday!) during the NY state primaries and I light a candle in prayer for an Obama/Edwards or vice versa ticket, I would like to run for president as well - President of Black America.

If elected as president, Sen. Obama will not be able to address all of the needs of black Americans because as president he has to represent the interests of ALL Americans. However, in our democracy we as a group have traditionally have our interests and needs circumvented due to the nature of our representative government. Our democracy is a rule of the majority, which seems fair, but really isn't when one considers the fact that we have marked underclasses - blacks, other people of color and the poor. Since all of these groups are minorities, they will never enjoy full representation. A flaw in our great republican system ( I might be a radical black girl, but I do recognize a good system when I see one, and we have the best).

Thats where I come in as President of Black America. My office would specifically address the needs of black Americans through direct federal action.
I would enact a system of reparations for the descendants of African slaves, which would be include good housing opportunities (low mortgage rates, etc...), a trust fund for all children under the age of 18, and passports of all black Americans with a airplane voucher for a trip to any nation in the African Diaspora - Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. However to access the trip, the people will have to attend a minimum of 5 therapy sessions with a trained counselor- hey, living under 388 years of racial oppression hasn't been easy.
Apart from the reparations plan, my administration would work with the federal government to roll back the unfair minimum sentencing laws for drug offenses. We would expand the Head Start program, ensuring that all 3 year olds have the opportunity to enter school. And of course we would develop a plan to sharply reduce the cost of medical care in our communities, with the eventual goal of universal health care.

Its a pipe dream, but this pipe dream would help us realize the dream that Reconstruction never realized. Hopefully Obama can pull some of it off.