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January 25, 2006
Finding Relevance
Posted at January 25, 2006 03:23 PM in Politics .
I was telling a friend the other night that we, Black Folk, spend too much time worrying about who owes this, who didn't give that, we're looking to the government to do something for people who don't vote. Many of us don't vote and as a result, we have been rendered "irrelevant" -- i.e., Katrina.
Then today, I read the following:
This is how I put it a year ago. Political participation leads to political relevance. What I didn’t quite realize until hurricane Katrina drove it home for all of America was that political relevance is required for outright survival in Bush America. If you aren’t relevant, your life means nothing. You may be left to die in a hurricane, or sent to die in Iraq or allowed to die of AIDS or executed in a justice system that remains flawed when it comes to providing equal protection to all races and classes. In short, the groups in America who lack adequate political relevance face outright death because of their political irrelevance. This was illustrated even more explicitly when a former cabinet member and current radio show host, Republican Bill Bennett, publicly declared that, "if you wanted to reduce crime, you could - if that were your sole purpose - abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." (see Congressman John Conyer’s diary on this). This is the Republican view of Americans who are not relevant to them.
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. If there is no political power, no voting at the polls, no grassroots organizing that is effective, you are summarily dismissed and rendered irrelevant.
Article: Race in America and the need to be politically relevant
Comments
What?
On the one hand, some of what is said is truth; on the other, in this mildly assimilationistic-apologistic-whitewashed piece,all the barriers to voting are omitted. Then this must surely throw out contemporary and racist thought about the Hispanic community's political relevence since, the margin of voting between it and Us is something almost 3 to 1, and projectionists theorize that to be comparable to Our vote will take at least 10 years??????
I am all for the black community and especially the black gay community doing for self; we have everything we need for such... except the mindset... but give me a break!
I agree that considering what was given by Our ancestors in return for the vote; we should be tearing down polling places to vote... and sometimes we do - but again, what of the barriers - unfairness, not being counted, the everyday racisms and other things that hinder and make that vote invisible?
According to your thought, then the reason that Asians got billions of our tax dollars after the Tsunami and LaKeisha and 'em was left to die was because all those Asians was voting and therefore relevent?
Thanks now I understand!
Posted by denise at January 26, 2006 12:02 PM