The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Circles? Round and round Black people go
The new year has brought in a new administration that is riding high on its campaign of unity, with a bullhorn of restoring democracy that hopefully will bring some calm to a nation divided on almost every issue.
The election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris allegedly is set to rechart America’s course — and I, for one, hope it does.
The administration already is setting into motion the processes needed to take on and erase the social and economic disadvantages that have kept minorities either wallowing in poverty or have prevented them from moving forward.
So far, Biden has hit all the right notes with the people who gave him the edge he needed to power his ticket to victory.
Biden is calling for a leveling of the playing field by promising more start-up money for Black entrepreneurs; putting more muscle into fighting job discrimination; creating better access to credit and loan opportunities; and beefing up wages, among other solutions.
“The Black and Latino unemployment gap remains too large,” he told USA Today. “And communities of color are left to ask whether they will ever be able to break the cycle where in good times they lag, in bad times they are hit first and the hardest, and in recovery they take the longest to bounce back.”
That is a true statement and it sounds real good as you are reading or listening to the words. But how many times have Black people heard those words before?
They appear in some variation during every election cycle or as kneejerk reactions from the liberals when the heat of racism hits the streets and temperatures are at a boiling point.
I’ve heard those words my whole life: Carter said them; Reagan said them; Clinton said them; the two Bushes said them; Obama said them. None of it came true and that led Trump to ask Blacks, what did they have to lose by casting a vote for him.
And they are the same words that politicians right here in Connecticut spin when they enter the political arena or the election cycle.
And I hope Blacks are not going to fall again for that same old song and dance as we head into a new era with a promising new beginning.
For once, I hope while Blacks are listening to our politicians or reading those promises they spill, they open their eyes and turn their attention to their neighborhoods, their schools, their access to health care, and see if any of those promises have come true.
They will be bitterly disappointed.
And if Black people here in Connecticut think that is going to change with the same leadership we have had in place for years who have shown little regard for the needs of Black people, then they need to get their heads out of the sand.
Because I can assure them, nothing will change if they continue to buy into the same old song and dance delivered by Democrats, whose speeches have become predictable and have produced outcomes for Blacks that are no different than those promised by fake psychics.
But if after years of listening, Blacks still don’t understand what that same old song and dance means, let me translate it for them. Maestro, cue the music: Black people, grab your families, dance round and round and round and round and round and round until you’re dizzy and realize you’re going in circles, and, once again, you’re right back at the beginning.
Get it?
We don’t need more politicians telling us what’s wrong. We don’t need another study to bullet-point the challenges we face; we don’t need another commission to be formed to make recommendations.
And we certainly don’t need to wonder why the negative problems in the Black community are so prevalent and remain unresolved.
Because we know what we need and we know what has kept us on hold.
We need better jobs, better housing, better education and better opportunities. And let me add an exclamation point to those needs.
Any other efforts that do not tackle those four core ingredients is a waste of time and, if Blacks don’t believe that, they should look to history.
What we need is a new resolve to not go through another year like puppies licking at the face of their masters, begging for what the Constitution already guarantees us as citizens.
That is why I nearly jumped out of my seat cheering when I heard that clergy from Connecticut’s three largest cities put Gov. Ned Lamont on notice.
They told him he would have to earn their support by tackling the “racist and classist” way the state funds the struggling, segregated schools in their neighborhoods.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! And I hope they stand firm because the clergy is critical to Black people and that is the kind of stance Black people need to take. We are small in number but mighty in what we can deliver at the polls when we are united in one cause.
We can’t expect all our problems to be solved at one time but to continue to be blind to the fact that nothing is getting done doesn’t say much for the will of Black people in Connecticut.
If we are ever going to get anything done for the betterment of our people, it is the power of our vote — not our acquiescence to politicians who play us for a seat at the table and produce nothing — that is going to deliver it for us.
Black people must remember that no matter how many times they shake your hand, smile in your face and tsk-tsk at ongoing Black issues, these politicians are not their friends. You are the pawns on their chessboard that allow them to enter or stay in the game — and getting and staying in office is their only goal.
Black people must stop aligning themselves with the promises of politicians, but rather align themselves on what politicians deliver.
There is little doubt that Blacks and Asians are glowing with pride with the election of Harris. And well we should.
But if Black people in Connecticut think that Harris as vice president represents a change in their day-to-day life, they still don’t understand how the political game is played.
It is played with the power of your vote. It delivered the results Black people wanted on a national level and now Blacks must make sure it delivers on the local level.
And if they don’t and continue to fall for the same political rhetoric, all I can say is, maestro, cue the music: Black people grab your families, dance round and round and round and round and round and round until you’re dizzy and realize you’re going in circles — and once again, you’re right back at the beginning, puppies licking at the face of their masters begging for what the Constitution already guarantees us as citizens.
Get it?
Circles? Round and round Black people go.
James Walker is the host of the podcast, Real talk, Real people. Listen at jameswalkermedia.com. He can be reached at 203-605-1859 or at realtalkrealpeoplect@gmail.com. @thelieonroars on Twitter