Leonard Pitts: Why silence from African-American voters?

[ananda]

1. I've been wondering..

.. why Black people have been so quiet and submissive
pretty much since Bush and Florida to this day.

Well, I think maybe it's because our society has turned
into a seriously racist police state, and all the ins and outs
of the economic change since Bush took office has affected
Black people disproportionately.

Then there's the media, now corporate owned, which very
effectively marginalizes the poor, demonizes and ridicules
anyone not in the rich corporate camp, and sends very
strong messages regarding terrorism, law, and order designed
to keep us all in line.

And of course there's the criminal justice and prison industries
which incarcerate and disenfranchise Black people, mostly males,
notwithstanding the poor education they get in distressed schools
and neighborhoods.

I believe that things are worse now than ever before, really riot and
march and demonstration worthy, but that's not happening at all.
Until people decide to be proactive on their own behalf, both in spite
of and because of government and media abuses, nothing will change.