Getting right down to straight talk and a meaningful discussion forum that can bring healing to a country that is clearly divided, by race, opportunity and economics.
Historically, the founding of America as one nation has main 3 parts, the arrival of the European Anglo, the slaughtering of the indigenous Native Americans, and the importing of the African Americans as slaves. In fact, Few people realize that Native Americans were enslaved right alongside the African Americans in this country.
And while there were minor wars with the countries of France, Spain and Mexico for land rights, the core of American History lies in the Anglo, Native, and African Americans experience.
White Americans have always be able to vote, which means having a voice and power to make decisions about how this country should be run. That has not been the case for the Native and African American experiences. Native Americans got their right to vote long after their population had been decimated. Although Congress granted them voting rights in 1924, those rights actually were not enforced until 1970 because of state laws prohibiting it.
American Indians and African Americans have rarely had a significant input into how this country is run. In fact, as much as could be done to prevent their inclusion into the society at large, has been repeatedly leveraged against them.
Black votes have never mattered. Indian votes have never mattered.
Both American Natives and Blacks were ostracized and force in to a second class citizen role and kept there, even unto today. While White America got rich first from decimating the Native Americans, taking the land, then enslaving the African Americans, to build and farm, they have not shared that wealth, and that is the conversation that White America refuses to have with African Americans: how to restitute descendents of slaves who have endured a culture that have been so harsh, contrary and malicious to their existence.
Make no mistake about it, the refusal of white America to have any meaningful discussion on race is a smoke screen, because the reality is that discussion is really about equal wealth distribution. In the words of Former President Bill Clinton, Its the economy stupid.
Most Blacks don’t want food stamps or a sit in the corner and do nothing government handout job. Most blacks, just want you to do as James Brown sang “open up the door, I’ll get it myself. ”
Just give me the reparation I am justly due and I will invest in my own education and community. I will build my own business and buy my own houses. In fact, that may be what white America fears most. Enabling Black America to stand own its own feet. White America owns 80% of Americas wealth and are hard line closed to discussions of redistributing to African Americans to whom it has been calculated that 1.5 trillion dollars has come as a result of not only slavery, but the terrorizing and oppression of Black people that in many forms still exist today.
Americas police department which is almost, (a rarely discussed), 85% White males, who disregard all of the FBI and Justice department data that shows white people are most likely to sell and abuse drugs, shoplift and commit child pornography, by a large margin, yet the concentration of police efforts and the number of arrests are highest amongst blacks. The police have become the default tool of oppression, segregating the economies by the justice system, and appear to be abusing the liberties afforded them by profiling and disruption along racial lines.
Georgetown has at the very least acknowledged it has profited from past wrongs through slavery, albeit they are making every effort not to take the fiscal responsibility but are saying that if you are fortunate enough to live in D.C. and are a descendant of slaves in America, they will give you an edge to program acceptance.
Well… far short, but its a start.
President Obama on the other hand has not made any effort to empower black men and women through income redistribution but is seemingly satisfied that Blacks are back where they started before he took office in 2008 with an 8.5 percent unemployment rate and the lowest income level among the 3 largest ethnic groups in America. I think its fare to say thats not the change most African Americans voted for. Travis Smiley writes that Blacks under Obama have lost in every leading economic indicator.
Today more and more African American public figures like Colin Kaepernick are making their voices heard about the wealth disparity and disenfranchising of Black American. Complaints about the police abuse and the wealth disparity is often met with sarcasm, and confrontation while others just ignore.
So here we are on the eve of another presidential election. And the question is, whether Black votes matter. Did they matter under Obama?, Clinton (Bill) and will they matter under Hillary? There is a saying that insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result. Under Obama we expected change and well, here we are, back to where we were in 2008, which doesn’t say a lot.
Donald Trump is probably not the answer. He is probably trying to pick off enough of the hypnotized Black voters who vote democrat over and over again expecting a different result. There is little faith that Donald Trump has any heart to help Black people. In fact the Republicans as a whole see black people as a burden to society and work diligently to oppress them, and would rather see them removed than restitute. But lets give Trump a smidgen of credit. At least his campaign is voicing concern for those issues that face blacks , whether disingenuous or sincere, it at least opens the discussion, which is more than Hillary has done. Her campaign forum for Black America is to sing praises to Obama… the same Obama under whose administration has us back to 2008 economic levels.
So where do we go from here? I’d like to get your feed back.