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This past week was
very challenging trying to handle parish duties, focus on
the Democratic National Convention and still celebrate my
daughter Tracee’s PhD achievement with mutual friends and
professional associates. Nevertheless, I was able to reflect
upon the seriousness of a couple of peculiar situations that
took place on the strange terrain of local and national
politics.
Awkward
Moment #1:
When
former Mayor Mike Bell chose to run for Lucas County
Commissioner as a Republican against incumbent Pete Gerken,
a Democrat, the decision was destined to place him in a
situation where he would be required to show his true
colors.
Bell, who
reportedly, afterwards described his presence as awkward,
was chosen to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at Donald
Trump’s rally in Toledo last week. He was one of
approximately only five African Americans among 8,000
supporters who attended the event.
Why the
city’s second black mayor cut short his personal vacation
and returned early to open for Mr. Trump, is not only
disappointing, but also baffling. Trump, described by some
as a “dangerous demagogue,” has used extreme campaign
rhetoric that seems to go against Mike Bell’s general
formula of seeking common ground and breaking bread with
members of both Democrats and Republicans.
It also
appears that Bell underestimated the consequences of being
wed politically to “someone who has said that POW’s aren’t
heroes because they have been captured, Mexicans are
rapists, and that we should ban every member of a religion
from entering our country,” says an associate. Recent news
sources also allege that Trump has close personal ties and
strong business relationships with America’s superpower
rival Russia, which could potentially undermine the strength
of our NATO alliance and national security.
No doubt,
many in the black community will see Bell as a “Step N
Fetchit,” “Sell-Out,” or “Uncle Tom.” Yet, it is apparent
that he may have been exploited by the Republican Party to
serve as a stage prop, strategically placed to ensure that a
black face would be in view of news cameras covering the
Trump event. This is what Rev. Jesse Jackson has called the
“Inclusion Illusion” a tactic, which gives the illusion that
the Republican Party cares about inclusion. “I think that is
what happened to Mike, but he should’ve been smart enough to
know that he would be exploited and that’s why you don’t
go,” adds another person close to Bell.
Awkward
Moment #2:
Millions
of Bernie Sanders supporters remain disgruntled as the
release of hacked Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails
exposed alleged DNC leadership bias toward Hillary Clinton.
Politico reports that Democratic strategists are
concerned about the impact on the election should die-hard
Bernie or Bust supporters protest the perceived bias
and Sanders’ primary loss by voting for Trump, third-party
presidential candidates from the Libertarian or Green Party,
or just staying home altogether.
Although
Sanders himself sees the big picture, has endorsed Clinton
and does not appear bitter, I understand the frustration of
losing on a playing field not considered to be level.
However, the bottom line is that all elections have winners
and losers and then we all eventually have to move on and
get on the same page.
Perhaps
looking back over history will provide a perspective not
quite visible to the Movement’s cadre of new recruits. A
dynamic similar to today’s Bernie or Bust movement
occurred in 2000. A large number of progressive, liberal
purists, who were not enamored with Al Gore, seeing him as
too centrist and linked to Bill Clinton, voted not for Gore,
the party’s nominee, but for activist Ralph Nader, their
ideological purist. This strategy quite literally led to the
election of George W. Bush, producing two unnecessary wars
and total destruction of the world economy.
Many of
today’s soldiers of the struggle also have not heard of
persons such as Ella Baker, the brilliant hero of the civil
rights Freedom Movement. Baker played an indispensable role
in influential organizations of her time such as the NAACP,
King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Baker’s legacy is a lifetime of trying to
change the “system.” Radical change for her was recognizing
that “her goal was not a single ‘end’ but is rather, an
ongoing ‘means,’ that is a process. She was not a sprinter
but a long distant runner,” (Ransby, 2003), that understood
that Movement goes back to 1619, a year before the
Mayflower, when the first 20 African slaves were sold as
indentured servants to settlers in Virginia but continues
even today.
With
Hillary Clinton’s adoption of Sanders’ political platform
into her own, Bernie’s radical progressive movement
continues.
It would
be foolish then, to sacrifice not only the Movement, but
also potentially lose the entire country for the sake of the
immature political goal of ideological purity.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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