You have heard the proverbial
saying: The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again
expecting a different result. I imagine no political relationship makes this
statement ring truer than the love affair black people have with the Democratic
Party.
After 50 years of voting Democrat,
let me remind you of what we have to show for it:
- Black unemployment rates top 11%
- Black youth unemployment rate swings between 25-50%
- Black home ownership rate is 45% versus 70% for whites
- Black household wealth $6,446 vs $91,405 for Whites
- Black median household income $35,416, versus the median household income for whites, which is $59,754
- Black poverty rate is one in four , while fewer than one in 10 whites live in poverty
- Source: CNN Money
As we stand poised to elect
another president of this fine country, former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton is on the ballot, hat in hand, begging for the Black vote.
Well, I have a question for you,
Mrs. Clinton: Why on earth would we vote for you?
Thousands of black men are in jail
right now, serving life sentences because of the policy of mandatory minimum
sentences you and your husband, former President Bill Clinton, put in place.
You virtually wiped out an entire generation of black men, between the drugs
that overflow in urban areas and the harsh sentences passed down for possession
of those same drugs, there is an ungodly number of black children needlessly
growing up without their fathers.
Here is a quote from Former Federal
Judge Nancy Gertner, who is now trying to make amends by helping the people she
unjustly incarcerated under the mandatory minimum sentence laws:
"We as a society destroyed
the lives of a generation of Black folks by the draconian drug and minimum
mandatory laws we enacted in the nineties,” she
said. “It eliminated a generation of African American men, covered our racism
in ostensibly neutral guidelines and mandatory minimums… and created an
inter generational problem…”
Apparently, this judge is
honorable enough to want to atone for her misdeeds. Judge Gertner is
recommending a form of marshal plan to rebuild neighborhoods destroyed by this
war on drugs that was disproportionately aimed at black neighborhoods.
What about Hillary Clinton? When
will she atone for her part in the policy that ripped apart black families and
imprisoned thousands of black men over a drug our government has since
legalized in 29 states? Hillary Clinton hasn’t said a mumbling word about this
grave injustice, yet she expects black people to show up for her in droves at
the polls.
Meanwhile, Republican candidate
Rand Paul, who may have never received a single black vote is far miles ahead
of Mrs. Clinton in seeking a re-write of the laws that unjustly imprisoned
black men. At the very least, his willingness to publicly address this problem
proves that he is well aware that the Republican Party can no longer take the
Black vote for granted.
The Democratic Party, on the other
hand, assumes it will get the black vote, so candidates dance around important
topics. Why wouldn’t they? Black voters aren’t giving them a compelling reason
to work to resolve these issues.
For 50 years, the party has
courted black leaders during election time - visiting churches, kissing babies,
showing up for the occasional award show or NAACP dinner, or Black Caucus
prayer breakfast. Some of the faces are different, but they haven’t deviated
from the script: Make loads of promises without the slightest intention of
keeping them. Get the votes, get into office then either ignore Black America
altogether or come up with excuses as to why you cannot keep your promises.
They will understand.
And it happens every four years,
like clockwork.
So my question to Black America is
how many times are you going to fall for this same old trick?
In the 1990s, former President
Bill Clinton won the distinction of being called the first black president. I
will concede that Clinton is intelligent, charming and well-spoken. But what
exactly has he done for us that warrants such an accolade? We have an actual
black president now that hasn’t done much for us either except be intelligent,
charming, well-spoken and a great actor (I’ve seen his hilarious BuzzFeed video).
But great jokes, late night talk
show appearances and viral videos is not what the black community needs. But
here they come again, the Democrats, ready to make and break more promises, I
presume. And they may do it again! It’s been four years and suddenly Mrs.
Clinton and Mr. Sanders and Vice President Biden are showing up on our radars
yet again, aligning themselves with marquee names in the black community.
Will black youth vote this time
around? These are young men and women who know what it’s like to grow up
without a father because many of their fathers are doing 10 to 20 years for
marijuana possession because of laws the Clintons enacted in the 1990s. These
are the ones who understand what it is to struggle to find a job - any job -
and try to succeed in college when their underfunded schools have intentionally
left them unprepared for college success.
Will they feel compelled to vote?
What’s more, will they vote Democrat?
The forerunners for the Democratic
nomination - Bernie Sanders, current Vice President Joe Biden and former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - are expecting black people to turn out in
droves to continue the tradition of voting Democrat. For those who have
traditionally voted Democratic for Democrat’s sake, it’s time to carefully
examine the credibility of each candidate and make a thoughtful decision on who
can be trusted to keep their word and who cannot.
Even for the few candidates who
did not directly have a hand in writing the laws that incarcerated thousands of
black men, young and old, for a crime that no longer exists, we must ask every
candidate, regardless of party affiliation:
What did you do to stop it then?
What are you doing to fix it now? What have you done for us lately? And what do
you plan to do after you get our votes?
And wait for them to have a real
answer that includes a well-developed strategy.
By Toyin Dawodu, former
Republican, now free-thinking independent
