Gettin' political again

by reposting another comment I made on http://gamesntheory.blogspot.com

I'm a lefty and I despise Sharpton. Jackson as well. The only time you hear from them is when they're calling somebody racist. They do little to actually elevate the community which they rely upon for support. Whatever you feel about Obama, I can say that I've personally seen a change in many young black people I know since he took office. They actually feel like they're part of the country now and pay attention to politics more. I'm talking about actual critical thinking. Historically the black vote (small as it has been) has gone largely to whoever panders to them. Since Obama's election, though, blacks I know have become more involved in thinking about government. Many of them are fairly conservative. The point is that since these young people are new to thinking about politics (meaning their parents didn't think about government too much), they haven't been indoctrinated into any party philosophy. They look at each issue individually and judge it from their moral/social/economic viewpoint, and come to a decision. We need more of that kind of thinking, from everybody.