I mean, after all, it
makes political cents to conjure that if the Democratic
voter loved Barack Obama, surely some of that love would
transfer to Joe like electricity from the pole switch to the
light.
Wouldn’t it? So Joe
sorta laid back and watched the earlier posturings of the
other Democratic candidates do their dance moves trying to
impress the voters and then he would make his move.
Why the copious
confidence that Joe displayed? What was the source of his
inside straight or his “trump” card?
What did Joe count on to
be his rocket fuel to the White House?
You know! It was the
African-American voter! Yes, it was people of color who
would lay down their coats in the muddy streets so that Joe
could walk over the political puddles and get to the prize,
the White House.
Now Joe thought that
if you carried water for Barack Obama for eight years and
you, now and then, visited a black church and sang the Black
National Anthem while holding hands with older black women
and the pastor, that life was good!
But something happened
on the way to his presumed coronation as the Democratic
nominee for the White House.
Black folks didn’t stay in
their political place. They, like the sophisticated voters
they are, surveyed the crowded field of candidates and
watched the debates and suddenly, like water dripping from a
leaky pipe, Joe ripped his pants.
Joe, or someone in
his campaign, put out the word that the black voter in South
Carolina and the Latino voter in Nevada were “his” firewall.
They were his backup,
his guard, his people, his folks, his soldiers and that they
were there for the duration.
Oh, how the mighty have
fallen!
The firewall is
stressed out and is showing some signs of fatigue and has a
little fissure here and a little crack there.
Recent polls indicate
that the firewall can be breached and that Joe’s monolithic
wall of black faces is beginning to show evidence of giving
way to the siren call of the late comer and gazillionaire,
Mike Bloomberg.
Now, Mike has his own
cross to carry regarding the horrendous policy of stop and
frisk that he stoutly supported (and so did Donald
Trump!)and the disastrous effects it had on the lives of so
many young black and Latino lives in the Bronx and in
Brooklyn.
It is only now that
Mike Bloomberg issued a tepid “apology” for his vile actions
against people of color done under the guise of crime
control.
Again, it just goes
to show you that black people are always expendable at the
hands of politicians. When they want to rant and rave
against black people, they do so and do not worry about
suffering any consequences.
When they want to woo
and curry the favor of black folks, they do so with an
agenda in mind and that is to profit off the loyalty of the
black Democratic voter who seemingly takes the guffaw and
political abuse because, who is there to turn to?
Black people make up
the most loyal bloc of the Democratic Party and especially
so, the black woman!
But, when black
people give the two cents out of their pockets and even
scrap together the lint in those pockets to see that a
Democratic candidate wins, what is their thanks?
Slim to none and the
“none” was already skinny!
I know…I know…all the
current crop of white candidates have racial skeletons in
their closets so it comes down to who dislikes the black
voter the least?
Imagine the scenario
if the front runner on the Democratic ticket was approached
and told that if she or he wants a huge black turnout that
it will cost the following political plums: (1) four cabinet
seats, (2) two Supreme Court picks, (3)
fifty federal court
judgeships and (4) twenty billion dollars in financial
support to the HBCU schools (historically black colleges and
universities) (6) comprehensive prison reform and (6) a
financial aid package to African countries.
Why not? The black
voting block plays itself short when it comes to flexing its
massive muscles, so you might as well sit at the table and
demand to eat from all the pots!
Contact Lafe Tolliver at
tolliver@juno.com
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