January 22, 2016

Hillary Clinton's true feelings about young Black males

I find it highly ironic that Hillary Clinton's campaign has decided, once again, to use the issue of race (and racism), this time against Bernie Sanders, in order to try and consolidate the African American voting block that is crucial to the success of any Democratic presidential run. It was during the mid 1990's, at the height of the Black gang hysteria and constant images of Black males criminality streaming across television screens, that she and her husband Bill decided the Democratic Party needed to appease conservatives by signing a crime bill which provided money for more police, tougher sentencing laws and prison construction - a bill which Bill now admits led to the mass incarceration of Black and Latino men and women.

Hillary offered her opinions on Black males at the time, and it was as racist as you'd expect. I'm sure many have seen this video clip, but here it is again for those who missed it.

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It's worth noting that her statement "bring them to heel" is especially troubling and should cause alarm for any potential Black voter. "Bringing someone to heel" harkens back to slavery and the use of violence in order to place another in a submissive, obedient state. In Hillary's mind, Black men were "super-predators" who needed to be put in their proper place (a prison cell or cemetery). Does the Hillary Clinton campaign think that they are supposed to get a pass from the Black community for this kind of blatant racism, especially when she is still taking money from the private prison industry that profits off of the mass incarceration she help bring about? I don't think so.

Hillary and her husband have done very real and lasting harm to Black Americans, literally helping to destroy the foundation of Black family structure by supporting and advocating policies that have removed hundreds of thousands of able-bodied, working-age men from their families and communities. She helped shepherd in what author Michelle Alexander labels the "new Jim Crow" and she needs to understand that many Black Americans have neither forgotten nor forgiven this betrayal (at least I haven't).

NOTE: I was informed that I posted this in the wrong forum, so I copied it and moved it to the proper one. Sorry for my stupidity!

January 20, 2016

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bernie Sanders, and Reparations

I have found The Atlantic writer Ta-Nehisi Coates to be a good writer with a solid grasp of issues dealing with Black America and I haven't found too much of his content very disagreeable until I ran across this piece.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/bernie-sanders-reparations/424602/

He's actually attacking Bernie Sanders for saying he wouldn't be in favor of reparations! I couldn't believe the name of the piece so I actually had to read it again (and the article) to make sure I wasn't imagining this. Yep, he sure is. He's actually attacking Bernie Sanders for saying he's not in favor of reparations. Let me say that I'm not at all surprised that ANY presidential contender would say they are FOR reparations because it has long been a discussion that evokes strong passions on either side, and probably not a discussion that a serious contender would want to have during an election year. But why the focus of Bernie Sanders at this time and place?

I question Ta-Nehisi's motivations and objectives, especially considering the timing of his hit piece. The Democratic candidates are traveling across South Carolina right now trying to garner support from the Black population there, and Ta-Nehisi throws this at Bernie, apparently as food-for-thought to all the Black people who may be swayed away from supporting Hillary Clinton. Why not write a piece asking why Hillary Clinton does or doesn't support reparations, or Martin O'Malley? Who is TNC working for? If he is not a closeted surrogate for the Clinton campaign, then surely he is trying to put his best foot forward as a potential?

Ta-Nehisi, let's get real. You're not even going to get president Obama or hardly any Black person in a position of power to state publicly that they support reparations - there aren't many John Conyers types remaining in Washington. Many of them have sold their souls and passions to the lords of corporatism and job security. So why try to hold Bernie Sanders to this standard? It is a baffling attack and highly suspicious in my opinion. I don't think the majority of Black voters are basing their support for a candidate on whether or not they support reparations, so what's behind the attack? TNC doesn't really explain his motivation and we are left to guess.

Read through the article and I'm interested in hearing some opinions on this. For the record, I am and have always been strongly in favor of reparations, reparations that would necessarily include land and a great, if not complete, degree of autonomy as a starter.