By Rev. Dr. Jim Holley
Now that we’ve all had a good laugh, let’s get serious! Next year’s presidential election on November 3 will determine exactly what kind of America we will live in. Will it be an America that continues and elevates a racially-charged atmosphere perpetuated under the current president? Will it be an America with a new president and a new direction for tackling racism? Or, will America have a new president who’s struggling to avoid the sickness of racism, but can’t come up with a sure cure that he or she campaigned to find? After all, systemic racism has been embedded in the fabric of America for 400 years.
The 2020 election will be a clear indicator of which political party and respective candidates love or hate African Americans the most. Our current president has already shown the proclivity and vocal blustery that have let the world know exactly where he stands. He’s clever in what he does and says, while denying being a racist and adding that ‘he’s the least racist person in the world.” OK, how about another LOL right here.
The President of the United States is quick to attack anyone when he feels his ultra-thin skin is being compromised. Yet, he saves his most vicious and toxic rhetoric and actions for African Americans, Mexicans and other Hispanics, the LGBT community, Muslims, and anyone from an African, Central or South American country.
Of course, there are Democratic presidential candidates who claim they are for the aforementioned groups of people. The Democratic Party is supposed to be the political entity that loves and cares about black people. However, we’ve basically gotten nothing from this party, while giving it our blind loyalty for decades.
Words should be backed by action, or put another way: actions speak louder than words. While there are at least 10 to 12 Democratic candidates that want our black vote next year, I’ve not heard “consistent talk” on their respective campaign trails about issues that matter to the empowerment of black people in this country.
I did hear a little chatter a couple of months ago about reparations for black people. Yet, when the majority of the Democratic candidates went to lily-white Iowa a couple of weeks ago, where black people make up 8.3 percent of the state’s total population, I didn’t hear any one of the candidates utter a mumbling word about reparations, or an urban agenda. I guess talks of reparations and other issues facing African Americans are reserved for black people in black sectors of the country. Yet, we need to tell our Democratic presidential candidates that it’s alright to talk about – or at least mention – to white audiences, where and why they (the candidates) stand on reparations for black people, because reparations is not just a black issue; it’s an American issue that needs to be proactively addressed at all political campaign stops.
My black brothers and sisters of Michigan, particularly in Detroit, we have our work cut out for us leading up to and on November 3 of 2020, as to who will be the nation’s president. I believe it will be the most important choice we have ever made at the polls. We must, however, make sure that candidates address gun violence issues in urban America that far too often morph into murder. Cities that rank in the top 30 for murders include Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Miami, and New Orleans, all of which have huge black populations. St. Louis, who tops the infamous list, has dealt with at least 12 children being gunned down and killed since April. Where’s the consistent outcry from our president and Democratic candidates?
While many of our elected officials who run these cities blame such violence on gang activities, these same officials never point the finger back at themselves and their ineptness to push for a sustained and meaningful urban agenda that includes addressing violence and murders in urban areas.
Let’s cut to the chase: We have to vet and vote for people who are serious about fixing problems in the black communities of this country, inclusive of taking on gun violence and dispute resolution measures, facilitating a massive overhaul of urban education for our young people and adults, creating meaningful training programs and jobs, reforming the criminal justice and prison systems, building affordable housing, and much more. Please, no more lip service that does nothing for us.
As a long-time registered Democrat, I’m trying my best to determine should I vote or sit out the 2020 presidential election, because we, as black people, have been misused and confused too many times since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and even before.
Whoever wins the White House in 2020, will it really make a difference to the progress of black people? Will racism disappear once and for all after 2020 (LOL)? Think about this: we had a black president in Barack Obama, and a president who folks called our first black president in Bill Clinton (everybody should LOL right here). How did they change racism in America? Has racism gotten better or worse since Clinton and Obama served as presidents of the United States?
Voicing your choice for who you want as your next president is your right. However, let’s make sure the choice doesn’t lose his or her voice when it comes time to speak up and advance the agenda of black Americans in 2020 and beyond.
And that my friends…is the gospel truth!
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