The Shriveled Up Old Nuts Syndrome

Jesse Jackson's recent comments regarding his opinion that Barack Obama had been talking down to the black community are similar in tone to the remarks made by the Reverend Wright at the National Press Club a few months ago.

It is clear to me that some in the old generation of black leadership in America have their shorts in a bunch about Barack Obama. Those shriveled up old nuts want to cut Barack's nuts off. Of course they do.

They struggled through the civil rights era of the 1950's and 1960's. They were in the trenches and earned their stripes the hard way. They ascended to leadership in the black community out of the street and the churches of those black neighborhoods. Their leadership was grounded in the black community. On occasion, they would make a move into the broader community. Jesse Jackson is an example, with his two runs for the Presidency.

Now that the next generation, untested in the trench warfare of the civil rights movement, is coming to the fore, the old guard is upset. Moreover, this next generation of young black politicians have a broad base of support. Their support is not grounded in the black community but in the broader base of enlightened voters.

"Who do they think they are? We have been running the show for the last forty years. We aren't dead yet. They need to pay us more respect. Who are they to tell us what to do? We may be shriveled up old nuts Barack, but we want to cut your nuts off."

There is nothing quite like the angst of the aging individual who history has passed by.