I find Watson's words and language to be interesting, as I do with all conspiracy theorists. It is amazing to watch millions of White Americans going through what black people have felt for hundreds of years. The pain of socio-political marginalization can be incredibly frustrating, leading us to see our leaders in black and white, good or bad terms, rather than realizing that most of our reality lies in shades of gray. I've never seen so many white folks feeling angry and disgruntled, nor so many black folks becoming content with simply being part of the establishment.

The paradoxical thing about conspiracy theories is that the theorist is usually right: there is almost always a conspiracy taking place on some level. The problem is that when we try to guess the intricate details, the timing or the motivations of the conspiracy, we usually get it wrong. I am in complete agreement that government and business officials are always working hard to manipulate the minds of the American public. But most of us are ignorant about exactly when and how such manipulation takes place. So, in our efforts to fill in the blanks, we end up replacing relevant facts with our own ridiculous suspicions or rumors that have been shared with us by someone else. In the end, powerful people are never as omnipotent or malicious as we think they are. But to go in the other direction and presume that they always have our best interests at heart (as many are doing with the Obama Administration) is incorrect as well. Let's be clear: The fundamental motivation of nearly any politician is usually going to be self-interest. Once that's taken care of, the ambiguously-defined and highly conditional public good usually comes in a distant second.

The Obama Deception is not a film I plan to see any time soon. Perhaps if it were a more balanced analysis of the Obama Administration, I'd be interested. But the real truth is that while Watson and his followers claim that the government is trying to manipulate your thinking, the truth is that they are aiming to do exactly the same thing.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.