Thursday, February 13, 2020

Race Matters: Who will get my vote for President?


I don’t know who’s getting my vote for President.

That statement troubles me. Early voting starts today. Bernie Sanders will be in town tomorrow. I’m interested to see how that plays out.

This is complicated.

The pundits say Joe Biden still leads with Black voters. I struggle with that. It’s hard to dismiss his contribution in passing the Crime Bill. It doesn’t help that Bernie also voted in support of the legislation responsible for increased Black incarceration.

I’m still angry about Bernie’s rapid dismissal of reparations for “being too hard to pass.” Of all people. You can’t talk to me about things being too hard.

Everyone is dirty. People in South Bend, Indiana say former Mayor Pete Buttigieg has a problem with Black People. He did well to shuck it off with an apology after a hullabaloo regarding the termination of the Black chief of police. It takes more than talk to convince Black people.


Mike Bloomberg is showing up as a potential pick for Black voters. How does that happen given his policy of “stop and frisk” when he was Mayor of York City? Claims of racial profiling must not hold the same contempt as back in the day when it felt like people were being stopped for chewing gum while walking down the street.


Speaking of the police and the criminal justice system, how can a Black person justify voting for Amy Klobuchar after reports that she failed to prosecute any of the officer in Minnesota who shot unarmed Black people. Not one. That’s the type of record from of an Attorney General that forces deep pondering regarding motives laced in white supremacy. I’ll pass.


I like Elizabeth Warren, but her affection for plans makes we wonder if she has the ability to follow through. How many of us know a person who has all the solutions while lacking the capacity to get it done? Back home, we call that walking the walk more than talking the talk. Besides, I need to see more Black people.


As for Tom Steyer. I’ll stop there because I heard the collective gasp – who?


I’m almost convinced Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian plant to further destroy America’s democracy. Nothing left to say about that.


My frustration is elevated by the graveyard of Black candidates dismissed by mostly white progressives for failing the radical left litmus test. Duval Patrick is out less than 90 days after jumping in the race. That’s not even a good sprint.


Kamala Harris and Cory Booker represented Black folks hoping for another Black President. Harris was blasted for being too tough on Black crime and Booker was challenged for dancing too much with big shots on Wall Street.


It begs the question, what will it take for another Black person to get a shot? It’s hard not to feel the lesson of fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Is this white America’s answer to never being fooled again? Please holla no.


Maybe I’m struggling to get motivated because of how we got here. We gained some things during the Obama years, but access is not one of them. It feels like back to business as usual with a Democratic Party that talks about race with no real dialogue with Black people. Don’t get me started on how Black women continue to be taken for granted.


The politics of galvanizing white undecided voters leaves me stumbling to find words to address the agony of the taken for granted Black voter. It doesn’t feel good being taken for granted. Is that what Biden is doing?


I can see it now – people blaming Black people, again, for Trump winning the election. I can hear them, in my imagination, talk about low Black turnout. Dang. I get sick of Black people getting blamed for everything.


Sigh. I have to go vote in the primary, but I don’t have a candidate for President. None of them represents me. Not one. Should I vote for the person who can best defeat Trump? If so, what does that say about me. Strike that. What does that say about life and politics in America?


Go to the back of the bus, please. Well, they did say please.








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