The Real News
Black voters have always faced a daunting task when it came to picking a party to uphold racial justice. We talked about how this choice often became trying to determine which party is "less hostile" to minority rights.
US history has not been encouraging. By 1890, the Republican Party, the champion of African American rights after the Civil War, decided to join the Democratic Party in scapegoating Blacks for political gains. It was the beginning of Jim Crow persecution that was to last until the 1960's.
As a minority in the country well known for it personal and institutional racism, Blacks live in a precarious position. With the age of Trump, we could see a backsliding to white vigilantism and systemic discrimination. In effect, Blacks have to think outside the two party box, supporting Democrats who stand against racism, and abandoning Democrats who are just part of the corporatized duopoly.
We also talked about the huge economic hit that Black families suffered during the Obama presidency. Kamau thought that Obama was afraid to risk trying to improve the lives of African Americans. I am not so sure. He certainly sacrificed Black interests in his work as a "community organizer" in Chicago. His early political funding came from real estate moguls more interested in selling off public housing than in improving inner city lives.
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On another topic, Eli will be doing two programs a month starting in January. Sharon, who has helped me interview a number of guests, will also cohost two shows.
I am looking forward to the new year. At the height of the Gilded Age, the muckrakers of the early Twentieth Century were tearing into the miserable corruption and decadence of the rich elite. We have targets aplenty in this new Gilded Age of limitless wealth for the few and depravation for the millions. Exposing the lies of the elite is not a burden but a delight.
