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Following
is a simple multiple choice question that will give you the
answer regardless of your age as how you view your ethnic
grouping. See if you can find the answer to the engine that
is driving her political horsie.
Question:
WHAT VOTING BLOC IS CRUCIAL TO HILLARY CLINTON WINNING THE
WHITE
HOUSE?
(a) Eskimos
(b) Cajuns
in northern Louisiana
(c)
Samoans
(d) Hopi
Indian tribes of New Mexico
(e)
Blacks/African-Americans/Coloreds/Negroes/people of
color/Hispanics
For the
politically obtuse, here is a hint: this voting bloc
composed over half of the
primary
voters in the recent South Carolina contest. Still not
getting it? Give up? The answer is (e)!
Yes, it
is appears that Hillary has to cobble together the voting
blocs of President Obama's winning coalition and take some
of the youth vote from Bernie Sanders and
wow the
independents if she wants her husband to have even a remote
chance at getting his hands on some shapely White House
interns when he returns as First Man to the White House.
The
minority vote will be the clincher for Hillary and she loses
no opportunity to grin and smile at every face that is a
caramel color or darker.
Now,
this is where the plot thickens. Once she hogs most of the
available delegates and super delegates and can throw down
against the carnival barker Donald Trump who is playing with
fire by not thoroughly denouncing any wooing by any David
Duke voters or rebuking Duke's allegiance to the detestable
KKK, Hillary will take the White House.
When
that happens, what does black America do with a Hillary
presidency? Do we smile and bask in the glow that we
composed the razor's edge of victory for her and then go
home and sit back and be content. Or...
Or, do
we generate a list of demands (not requests) that is
promptly presented to Hillary as our due for putting her in
the White House?
Do we play
hardball politics and say, in effect, "Ok Hillary, you are
now the first woman president and we put you there with your
primary victories and in the general election, now pay up!"
Maybe, "pay up" is too harsh a phrase to use. Maybe it
should be refined and made more dignified and restated as,
"Politics is a give and take game. We have given and now it
is our time to take!"
Will or would such a demanding statement cause
political shock waves if black and brown people were to
coalesce about a list of demands and of which the lack of
substantial fulfillment would mean that if Hillary were to
seek re-election, she would find a most cool reception when
she ran her game on black folks?
We do
not know but one thing we should be cognizant of and that
is, unless you struggle, there is no progress and if
minority voters were to let Hillary off and give her
"softball"
requests as payback for their consistent ramrod backing of
her, we would be not be real players in this game of
politics and asking for real change (that is Hillary's
mantra) from Hillary.
So, to
further this discourse, I have taken the liberty to propose
the following demands that should be "leaked" to the Hillary
campaign so that they will know that if she wins the White
House, that win comes with some strings attached, namely,
payback time!
DEMAND
ONE: The appointment of a black woman to the U.S.
Supreme Court.
Imagine the
consternation that would cause Clarence "Uncle Tom" Thomas
if he had to know that every day in court deliberations he
had to face a no nonsense black woman who would not
countenance his playing the silent brooding jurist. Imagine
if you would, a black woman telling Thomas to get his act
together. Imagine in closed door deliberations on civil
rights and voting right and prisoner rights cases, a black
woman glaring at Thomas to stand up and quit being a dupe
for the far right. Oh, how rich that would be!
And if
by chance the Senate would turn that appointee down, Hillary
would have to appoint another black woman until the Senate
caves in and consents to such an appointment. Imagine going
from an "Aunt" Jemima to that of Jurist Jemima.
It would be
a cataclysmic change in power and the rule of law for such
to happen.
DEMAND
TWO: The appointment of a black man to the cabinet
position of Secretary of Agriculture. Agriculture you say?
Because in that position, an aggressive secretary could make
sure that black farmers stay in farming with crop subsidies
and farm loans that heretofore has cause the lost of many
farms in the past thirty years. Also, the power of a
Secretary of Agriculture is enormous as to influencing food
stamps allocations; and other related food product issues
that greatly impact upon people of color.
DEMAND
THREE: To provide an outright endowment of $10 billion
to the historically black colleges and universities. Many of
those institutions are in dire financial straits and need a
substantial financial infusion in order to keep their doors
open and to revamp their strategies that they can woo
students to their doors. Such colleges and universities play
an integral part in the education of minority students who
can attend such colleges and develop and grow in an
atmosphere that is free from racial prejudice.
DEMAND
FOUR: To aggressively bring legal challenges regarding
voter suppression and police misconduct in both the South
and the North. Included, is the repeal of the recent
Supreme Court opinions that allowed corporations to be seen
as having First Amendment rights and the right for fat cats
to give unnamed and unlimited funds to the political process
which in reality, buys elections.
DEMAND
FIVE: To bring to justice via a bucket load of criminal
indictments against the Wall Street thugs and robber barons
who caused the 2008 meltdown of the economy. The identities
of these investment houses, insurance firms, banks and
mortgage companies are well known; and to date they have
received only civil fines for their egregious conduct. What
a sham that justice is so blind. Justice sees quite well,
thank you, when it wants to and those scoundrels are living
the good life while they have caused untold misery to
millions of people who lost their homes, pensions, savings
and hope for a stable retirement due to their naked greed
and duplicity.
So, if
people of color were to come together over the above Big
Five demands, and if Hillary and the Congress were to enact
such legislation, then and only then could Hillary boasts of
making real change.
Contact
Lafe Tolliver@
Tolliver@Juno.com |
