General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: When Black Voters Exited Left: What African Americans lost by aligning with the Democratic Party [View all]GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)or where I livein Memphis. We don't need more of the "Rah, rah, just get out of our way" because the FACT is that "out of our way" is a million times more revolutionary than white folks' worst nightmare.
Get out of our way? 60 Trillion f'ing dollars were drained from our community since the days of the middle passage. 60 Trillion dollars that we not only never got back but are having multiplied every day while we are exploited by rich white people. 60 Trillion dollars of homes to be passed down, of educations, of communities, of families and of futures have been stolen from us. Get out of the way? . . . Give us back what you stole.
Get out of our way? The vast majority of criminal laws were INTENTIONALLY designed to put black people in prison or to give cops the right to shoot us down. Michael Brown is dead because white folks made it a crime to walk down the side of the street so cops would have the "discretion" to yank folks over to "talk to them," knowing that 9 times out of 10 it would be US who got yanked over. Get out of our way? Repeal every post Civil War criminal law and replace them with laws that criminalize conduct which causes DIRECT and SERIOUS harm to another person. Get out of our way? Strip cops of the power to use any force not also allowed to private citizens and give us the same rights of self-defense when they do. Get out of our way, free and enfranchise the millions of black men who were victimized by the 1996 Violent Crime Act and its state-level counterparts.
Do you seriously think white folks are going for that?
I could go on, but the point is this, the accomplishments of great people of color do not erase the oppression we face and people who talk like we should be happy and enthused because some white people are willing to incrementally loosening the shackles we still wear is exactly what cost us as a party more votes in Detroit, Philly, Columbus, than the margin by which Trump won the states where those cities are located.
They aren't going to "get out of the way." They couldn't even if they wanted to.
They need to fix the problems they created. They need to talk about the water problems in Flint, about mass incarceration, about capital punishment, about jobs IN THE CITY and they need to do it OUT LOUD and during the general election.