Almost Woke

Cite.

Duh, Michael, Harriot! Of course, the Democratic Party is not “our” friend!

Neither is the Republican Party. Especially on the federal level, these parties are composed mostly of

people who have two goals: to stay in office for as long as possible and, thereby, to accrue as much money and power as possible. And that has been so for a very long time.

Almost each member of the House and the Senate is his/her own friend, in addition to being a friend to those colleagues who help him/her in reaching the goals.

Case in point. Last week, during the State of the Union address, President Trump pointed out that unemployment among black Americans was at its lowest point since the measurement of it began. Watching the response of the Congressional Black (Democrat) Congress was fascinating. All members remained seated. One member clapped, but the rest of them only frowned and slumped down in their seats. (The funniest part was watching the white Democrat congressmen in the area looking at each other as if to check to see if it was okay to clap or not.)

Why weren’t members of the Congressional Black Caucus happy about more black people being employed? Easy. Because the president is not a member of the Democrat Party and the low unemployment rate for black Americans does not benefit the Democrat Party and, therefore hinders the Caucus's goals: to stay in office and to accrue more money and more power.

But I think the linked piece has the wrong title, not to mention countless faulty assumptions and conflations.

Every day for an entire month, [the Democrat Party] looked us in the eyes and told their constituents how they were going to resist the ethnic-cleansing-lite policy of the Republican Party. “Not a dime until we renew the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” they said. “We’ll shut it down if they don’t agree,” they told us. If Congress funded the government, Dems promised that the GOP would have to do it without a single Democratic vote. 

They were lying the whole time. (…) 

So here we are again, left out in the cold while the Democratic Party gets warm and cozy behind the artifice of solidarity and equality. They are tricksters. They will sit at the table of our last supper and break bread with us, knowing that they have already conspired with the enemy planning our crucifixion. We know they are going to betray us, but we are always surprised when the cock crows. 

They get us every time. 

They will lock arms with you and claim that they are your “ride or die.” They are always by your side, but if there ever comes a time when you have to stand back-to-back and fight, those white friends will likely disappear. They are always willing to ride. They are never willing to die. (…)

The writer’s premises for the assertion about who our friends are all reek of this one thing: collectivism. Black, brown, and Muslim solidarity -- as if DACA will be some grand bennie to all non-white, non-Christian/Jewish constituencies.

But this is how the Democratic Party operates. It is impossible to say whether they remain perpetual losers because of a lack of a plan or because they don’t give a fuck about their nonwhite constituents, but it is telling that their losses somehow always end up costing black and brown people.

There is no racial group, nor politician, nor political party that is my friend and that goes for you as well. There are indeed individuals who are my friends, but activist groups and political parties can, at best, be only allies. But, most of the time, these alliances are really patron-serf relationships and they feed the money-power goals of the patrons.

You do remember what I said about racial patronage, right?

Many black people have [this] view of white people: they view all of you as their hated masters, (...) but their masters, nonetheless. Moreover, as our masters, it is your duty to feed, clothe, and house us; and to give us anything else we ask of you. (...)

[Black liberals] are unable to view white persons outside of the master/patron/domination paradigm and cannot envision any relationship between black persons and white persons outside of that perspective. Somebody has to be on top. And, in light of our past and our indoctrinated and unacknowledged feelings of inferiority, most black liberals believe it will be you, my white friends.

The writer's outrage at the actions of the White Democrat Party perfect demonstrate this way of thinking. He is angry that the Patrons are not doing their jobs.

But if he thinks that ganging up with other racial/ethnic groups is the answer to getting off the bottom, he's in for another rude awakening. Power begins at the individual level.

(Thanks to Lancia Stewart)

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