Ace and Deuce : Barbershop Philosophers

I was at the barbershop the other day getting a fresh cut when my two favorite barbers got into a discussion about Barack Obama and Ludacris. For those of the readers who don't know of the importance of the barbershop in the black social fabric, its very important .The black barbershop is the most democratic and free statement of will and opinion ,even possibly surpassing the black church .
In the barbershop it does not matter what your social status is ,everyone is equal while waiting for the barber.In the waiting area you have young men ,older men , businessmen, blue collar workers ,executives ,you name it all waiting for their barber to provide them with a fresh cut.
Ace and Deuce are two of the most unlike barbers you want to meet.One is older about 45 and the other is 27. They both share a common sense of pride and intelligence ,and they dispense some of the best knowledge ,definitely better than what we have in Congress.
Ace and Deuce got into it last week discussing their favorite topic besides women , and that was Barack Obama .Deuce brought up that the rapper Ludacris had made a song / rap extolling Senator Obama and downing or as Ace would say "dissing" the other presidential candidates .

The New york Times reported in their July 30 , 2008 that many in the Obama camp were upset about Ludacris and the rap .The Obama campaign indicated that it was inflammatory. Ace said it was good that Ludacris also known as Chris Bridges the web site to his charity is as follows : http://www.theludacrisfoundation.org/index.php , be inflamed about something that rises the conscious of the people other than women shaking their backsides.
Deuce was concerned about the negative connotations of rap and the Obama candidacy.Deuce said "sometimes a black man got to sneak in the door ".That prompted Ace to say that "Obama can not sneak in anywhere or for that no black person can sneak in anywhere when it comes to obtaining power."
From that point the conversation was on ,sometimes heated but always jovial .Both of my favorite barbers agreed that the media would demonize Chris Bridges and young black men who have waken up their political conscious and as Ace would say "that would be a two fer ".The theory was that Chris Bridges and rap would be the new Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama candidacy would be damaged .Deuce said that even "the most moderate white voter would not want to see Barack in the White House booming base,...black folk should calm down on the pro Barack raps." This definitely did not go over well with Ace who started a free style rap on Deuce as a sell out. The barbershop talk continued from the floor as Bennie the sales executive said "despite Barack running as the ultra lite black candidate he still has chocolate flavoring ". Bennie said that one of his Barack's strongest points was that he didn't "scare white people" ,and "when the media makes him look like OJ then the election will be over ".I concluded from the meeting of the two wise men,the deciding factor in this campaign will be what it was from the beginning when Barack Obama was catching fire which was race.
How America deals with it in their boardrooms,classrooms ,courtrooms and yes,the barbershops will determine the future of America. How the voters decide on November 4,2008 will be talked about in barbershops for years.