November 30, 2014
Public opinion polls – which rule the political world – have spoken. Sixty-two percent of whites and 22% of blacks agree with the decision of the Grand Jury not to indict Officer Wilson in the shooting of a black teenager, Michael Brown. This is because both groups have different experiences with the police.
When I was 17 years old, I locked my keys in our car. Back then (1973), there were no electronic devices to open a car door. There was a golf-tee-shaped lock that protruded from the top of the door that was located at the base of the window. Lifting this lock unlocked the door. Thus, I walked into a local business and borrowed a coat hanger. I bent the coat hanger and created a loop that I then pushed through the intersection of the window and the door jamb. I was in the process of lifting the lock when I was interrupted by a police office.
“What are you doing?” he said.
I was in a foul mode as my congenital absent-mindedness frequently put me in similar contretemps. I sneered at the cop. “What do you think I’m doing?”
He said. “It looks like you are breaking into the car.”
I pointed to the dangling keys in the car and in a condescending tone responded, “I locked my keys in the car.”
The cop just walked away. Like Michael Brown, I was an obnoxious teenager. Unlike Michael Brown, I am not black. I am not 6’4” and I do not weigh 300 pounds. I am short, white and wear thick glasses. How would I have been treated if I looked like Michael Brown? I suspect most of you reading this know the answer. In fact when my father heard about the incident (I grew up in a very small town), he informed me that if there was Gold Medal for Stupidity, I would have been a runaway winner.
I was not in Ferguson. I do not know what happened. But I do know this. An unarmed teenager was killed because he was jaywalking. How would any of us feel if our son or daughter was killed by a cop for jaywalking? I think the parents of Michael Brown have been remarkably civil. I would not be so gracious if this happened to one of my children.
This situation illustrates how both political Parties are ignoring our racial divisions. Democrats want blacks to show up on Election Day and then go away. Republicans do not even want them to show up. How did this happen?
Under the guise of having greater black representation in Congress, blacks have been sequestered in Congressional Districts where they are the super majority. Republicans love this arrangement because it enables them to create more gerrymandered Republican districts. In fact, there is a case going to the Supreme Court where Alabama gerrymandered several districts that make it almost impossible for a white Democrat to win.
The problem is that blacks in these districts are too poor to contribute to Congressional campaigns so black Congressional candidates have to grovel to white liberals for campaign contributions. There is a price. They must accept the white liberal agenda of abortion on demand, no vouchers for religious schools, gay marriage, filth on prime time TV, no fault divorce, the stupor-inducing medicalization of their children and free birth control. Any black running in these districts who does not accept this agenda will be blown away in a primary financed by outside money from white liberals.
These values work fine for upper class white liberals but not for blacks because they destroy the family structure. For white liberals, this means a few Prozac prescriptions and annoying legal bills. For blacks, it means handcuffs. Many of our angry imprisoned young black males come from fatherless households. There are more black males are in prison than in college. This is because black politicians represent white liberals, not their black constituents.
President Obama represents the apogee of this arrangement. His entire Presidency has been dedicated to promoting the agenda of white liberals and subsidizing the superrich. Under President Obama, the stock market has more than doubled in value. The bond market is booming. Mega-mergers that are a gross violation of anti-trust laws are reaping obscene fees for investment bankers. Hedge funds speculating with taxpayer money are making billions. Real estate values in areas inhabited by white liberals – central Boston, Cambridge, Manhattan, San Francisco, coastal California, Martha’s Vineyard (President Obama’s golfing venue) and Nantucket – are reaching stratospheric values. Yet, blacks are seeing their home equity plummeting. Under President Obama, the average black family has lost 75% of their net worth. President Obama is the toast of the Wall Street Welfare State.
Republicans are equally as guilty. Rather than trying to attract black voters, they prefer to make it more difficult for blacks to vote and hope they don’t show up. It worked in the last election. The black turnout was abysmal resulting in a Republican tsunami (except in Connecticut where Republicans have mastered losing elections to an art form).
My heart goes out to the Brown family. I hope they can find some peace. But as someone who has run unsuccessfully for political office twice, I suspect our professional politicians on both sides of the aisle are looking at polls and slicing and dicing the electorate to gain an advantage from this senseless tragedy. Justice for the Brown family will be the least of their concerns. And while Black America still supports President Obama, many may be muttering under their breath, “We’ve been had.”