06
Back in February of 2008, Michelle Obama, the new first lady of the United States of America, made a comment that she hadn’t been proud to be an American for some 26 years. She was vilified in the press for that comment and many people questioned whether America should elect someone whose wife is ashamed of the country he wants to lead. What many white people failed to realize it that the sentiment that Michelle stated spoke for millions of African Americans in this country. And for 25 years of my adult life, that included me!
Any African American of “Generation X” is old enough to know what happened in the 40′s, 50′s, and 60′s, and young enough to know that while some things have changed, many have just been hidden under the rug. When I heard the comment and the ensuing brouhaha, my first reaction was “yeah and.” The real problem is that many white people, even those who say they have “Black friends” have never sat down and had a REAL CONVERSATION, about each other’s true feelings about race in this country. A conversation that doesn’t point fingers, that doesn’t accuse, but just lays it/racism as we see it. If and when that conversation ever occurs, race relations will take another giant leap forward.
The thought that a Black man would be elected to be president in my lifetime was unfathomable. Yet on November 4, 2008, history was made. Barack Obama was elected president. And his message of inclusion obviously struck a cord that transcended race, age, occupation, sex, and sexual preference. While Obama’s “message of inclusion” created history, not only for America, but for the world, his message was certainly lost for 52 percent of californians.
Continue reading “Proud to me an American and ashamed to be a californian” »
04
As I said in an earlier post, this year’s election is probably the biggest election in modern history. Projections are that this election will have the largest voter turnout ever. With the Democrats seeking to take over the White House and control both houses and Republicans seeking to hold onto the White House and maybe gain some seats in both houses, the political future of this country is up for grabs. With so much at stake, is it really a surprise that Republican supporters are pulling out all of the stops, including breaking federal laws, to win?
There have been numerous reports coming from many areas of this country stating that someone Republicans supporters have passed out flyers in minority areas that are meant to scare, confuse, and discourage us from voting. Many of these flyers state that if you have warrants out for your arrest or unpaid parking tickets, you will be arrested if you go to the polls. Calls have been made to voters who are registered as Democrats saying that “Republicans vote on Tuesday and Democrats vote on Wednesday.” Text messages are being sent to cell phones stating that voters can “phone in” their votes. People are being told that if they don’t have any identification, they won’t be allowed to vote. For Latino voters, they are being told that their citizenship papers can be revoked, they can and will be arrested and deported. These are blatant lies and are federal crimes.
The 1965 Federal Voters Right Act, an extension of the 15th Amendment of the Constitution, states that no one can be denied the right to vote based on their race or color. It also states that voting literature must be in the languages of the people in that precinct.The subsequent extensions of the Act in 1970, 1975, and 1984, also make it a crime to intimidate or mislead voters. This is EXACTLY what Republican supporters are attempting to do. They are attempting to intimidate, misled, scare, and surpress Democratic and by extension, Black and Latino voters, from voting. And let’s not forget that in the 2004 election, we had “hanging chads“, voting machines that were said to have been “hacked“, and excessive lines that discouraged people from voting. Or more inportantly, polling places that closed even though people were still waiting in line to vote.
For a country that claims to be ”for the people and by the people”, it seems like only certain people, Republicans, think they should be the only people to decide how this country is ran and who should run it. The CIA could take lessons from the Republican Party because the Republicans have no shame in getting what they want. And that includes breaking federal laws.