Voting OUR Interests...
Peace!
Recently, the mainstream (as well as the not-so mainstream) media has been saturating its viewers and listeners with the contest for the next president of the United States. Getting more attention, however, is the contest for the next Democratic Party nominee for that office. Listeners and viewers hear or read, over and over, how the next Democratic Party nominee will be an historic selection, as there has never been either an African American or woman in this position. It's historic! It's unprecedented! It's monumental!
Hyperbole notwithstanding, by and large African Americans are taking sides in this Democratic Party nomination race. (After all, isn't this what so many of our people died for?) But interestingly, there are those among us who are declaring their support for one or the other candidate for the shallowest, most dubious of reasons. "I'm voting for Hillary because I think she's a strong woman, a great example for women everywhere", a feminist- leaning sister exclaimed to me. (For the record, I do also know some feminist-leaning sisters who are supporting Barak Obama.) This got my "wheels" turning. I was compelled to ask this sister to explain this line of reasoning. In other words, how did she come to the conclusion that Hillary Clinton is a strong woman? Needless to write, this sister could not concisely support her position, not even to herself.
African people cannot afford to continue to be naive politically (or in any other way for that matter). Why are there so many black people claiming support for Hillary simply because she is a woman? Isn't this just as naive as voting for Barak simply because he is a black man, or for someone simply because of Party affiliation? Hillary is a politician to her core (and she has proven this in the last few weeks). What is Hillary's voting record, especially where we are concerned? What is Barak's voting record, especially where we are concerned? Now is not the time for such naiveté' as to assume that because a candidate is black or a woman that this will translate into power for blacks or women.
To learn of both Hillary and Barak's voting record, a good place to start is www.votesmart.org
If we are going to approach voting as though it is a panacea, then let us do so in as sophisticated a manner as possible. Let's not vote for a candidate because he or she is black, a woman, cute, handsome, speaks well, speaks eloquently, or has long money. And let us not assume that voting a black man into the office of the president of the United States will translate into black power, in the same way that voting a woman into the office of the president of the United States will translate into into woman power. This is merely ceremony without substance (i.e. window-dressing), which unfortunately, some of us seem satisfied with.
Lastly, for those of us that are hell-bent on voting for a woman simply because she's a woman, sister Cynthia McKinney is also running for the same office that Hillary Clinton is running for.
Now Get Up.
Tarikh Bandele'
http://www.runcynthiarun.org/
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