The Viable Alternative

Dear Black America,

So, we’re almost at the end of the administration of America’s first biracial President (well, people call him Black, but truly, he’s half), and what is there to show for it? The Black community is still bedeviled by mass incarceration, a poor education system, police brutality, a high amount of single parent households, gang violence, high unemployment, politicians poisoning the water supply, etc. As far as I can see, the bright spot is we can now tell our kids that they can be whatever they want, and mean it. However, bear in mind that even in saying that, Obama’s Black lineage does not depict the African American experience. Technically speaking, his father was in this country for only a relatively short where he dropped his seed before he went back to Kenya. A true “son of the soil” whose ancestors had experienced the HELL that Blacks went through in this country has not been elected as President yet.

Now, Hilary is about to become President, and I bet, at the end of the four or eight years she serves, we’ll look around and things will look the exact same.

African Americans need to wake up and realize that the Dems are not their saviours, neither is any politician. The saviour of African Americans is going to be African Americans.

Every four years, a member of the Democratic Party seeking office or reelection does his or her rounds of Black churches, where they eat fried chicken with the congregation, say a couple of “hip” phrases or sing a verse in a rap song, do a couple of dance steps like the “nay nay,” while warning of the fire and brimstone that would befall them if they don’t vote for the Dems who supposedly have their best interest at heart. The Pastor endorses the candidate, telling the congregation to go vote for him, and Black people predictably run like cattle to the polls to vote for their “Democratic saviours.” Yet, when when the politician wins office, he subsequently forgets about the people who helped him or her get into office until it’s time for reelection.

African Americans need to start learning how to play the game rather than continue the paternalistic relationship that exists with the Democratic Party where they allow their vote to be taken for granted because the Democratic Party KNOWS that most Blacks are too afraid to vote Republican. African Americans have been so conditioned to see themselves as victims that they depend on the kindly White Liberals to look out for them in gov’t rather than DEMAND that the politicians they helped vote into office carry out their agenda or else they won’t get their vote next time. (In all due fairness, I heard that a number Black intellectuals/activists tried to meet w/ Obama to push a Black agenda but were stonewalled by Obama aides who refused to give them access to him).

What if Blacks thought more “long term” and decided one year to vote en masse for a candidate that wasn’t a Democrat to teach politicians the power of their vote and a lesson in taking them for granted? Better yet, what if Black people focused on “gettin’ they money right” (i.e. economic empowerment) so that they can fund the campaigns of politicians so that these politicians would be compelled to carry out the agenda of their benefactors?

Look at the Jews, who are hated in this country to the point that I’ve read about the Nation of Islam coming together with certain Neo-Nazi groups against the “common threat” of the Jew (I believe KKK guy who aligned with NOI and donated money said, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,”) not to mention the bigoted remarks I’ve heard people say about them all my life by mostly White people, YET look at the STRONG pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. gov’t. How do you think that was achieved? Simply put, Jews learned how to play the game, Black people haven’t.

Black people, the Dems, Republicans, Obama, Clinton or any other politician are NOT going to save us. We will save ourselves by getting our money right and coming together to use it to play the game to bring whatever desired agenda we want into fruition.

This is The Viable Alternative.

Peace.

Ike Love