Post by OPINIONBlack Radical Congress on Nov 1, 2004 5:56:04 GMT -5
DEFEND THE BLACK VOTE
The November 2 presidential election is shaping up as a watershed in US history. Voters are
confronted with the prospect of four more years of George W. Bush, with his pre-emptive war
and imperialist empire-building abroad, and racist, anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-environment
policies at home. Or we will get the kinder, gentler imperialist alternative in John Kerry. Those
of us for whom the choices presented by the nation's seriously degraded electoral system are
deeply unsatisfying will participate in the process nonetheless, but we will do so recognizing
that the real work ahead of us, beyond November 2, is to struggle mightily over the long term to
bring about a domestic and global agenda for peace, justice, employment, healthcare, education
and reparations.
Defending the Black Vote -- Before and After November 2?
For the Black Radical Congress, the main focus in this election season is defending the voting
rights of Black people in their communities across the country -- before, during and after the
elections. Given African American history, Black people know more than anyone the pain and
outrage of vote manipulation and vote suppression. As the sector of the population that,
historically, could always be expected to vote its interests, Black people remain the principal
targets of numerous tactics wielded by anti-democratic forces to prevent our votes from being
cast or counted. Today, in coalition with others, we are in the field doing whatever it takes to try
and avert another fiasco such as occurred in 2000. At the same time, realistically, we are
prepared for history to repeat, in which case we will join with thousands in the streets to
demand, "No Stolen Election." Here is the "No Stolen Election Pledge:
"I remember the stolen presidential election of 2000 and I am willing to take action in 2004 if
the election is stolen again. I support efforts to protect the right to vote leading up to and on
Election Day, November 2nd. If that right is systematically violated, I pledge to join nationwide
protests starting on November 3rd, either in my community, in the states where the fraud
occurred, or in Washington, D.C."
The Lesser of Two Evils or ABB (Anybody But Bush)
The vast majority of Black people understand clearly the necessity for regime change at home.
We know that the Bush Administration represents an array of the most right-wing elements in
this country -- forces driven by greed and a reactionary ideology of white supremacy and
domination. Bush and company are allied with the fossil fuels energy industry, which sees
military aggression as a legitimate means of insuring U.S. control over the world's oil resources.
They are allied with weapons manufacturers, for whom endless war means billions in the bank,
and who are racking up more profits from the recent lifting of the assault weapons ban. They
are allied with all the economic interests whose activities pose the greatest threats to the
environment -- industrial polluters, exploiters of space, agribusiness, strip-miners, etc. The
Bunutses are also allied with the Christian fundamentalist community, which espouses virulent
sexist, homophobic, racist and religiously intolerant policies. These Christian “soldiers” have led
the fight to: outlaw a woman's right to choose; re-imprison women in oppressive gender roles
within the family; dismantle affirmative action (which has benefited white women, in addition to
women and men of color), and roll back the gains of the gay liberation movement. The voice of
this entire constellation of backward-looking forces has a powerful amplifier in the Fox Network,
which unabashedly trumpets their every cause in the guise of dispensing news. Looking at this
picture, most Blacks see their worst nightmare in George W. Bush, who, if allowed four more
years would institutionalize the anti-democratic measures he has already enacted, with even
more far-reaching ones to come.
Democrats - What Have They Done for Us Lately??
While most Black people are undoubtedly poised to vote for the Kerry/Edwards ticket next
Tuesday, they are unlikely to do so with anywhere near enthusiasm. The Black Radical Congress
shares with many the perception that a mere six degrees of separation, if that, distinguishes
Kerry from Bush. We are especially disgusted that Senator Kerry's campaign has failed to take
the high road of unequivocal opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq; that he has said nothing
inspired about the catastrophic Israel/Palestine situation; that his health care proposal falls far
short of the single-payer plan the country obviously needs.
?
Indeed, from where we sit, Senator Kerry like Bill Clinton before him, is a creature of the
Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the group that arose in 1988 to contain any leftward shift
within the Democratic Party after Jesse Jackson's electrifying 1984 presidential campaign. The
DLC presented a challenge to the Democratic Party, "one hostile to the grassroots (it favored the
term 'special interests') and determined to make the party safe, or safer, for white men." (The
Nation 8/2/04). The DLC rightward push brought us Clinton, and his neo-liberal package of
mandatory minimum sentences and three-strike laws, rationalized by an intensification of the
"war on drugs"; so-called welfare reform, which shredded the social safety net for women and
children; NAFTA and other globalization offspring of free-market fundamentalism, as well as a
health care re-do that allowed for the inception of the horrendous, profit-hungry system called
"managed care."
Across several decades, Black people have consistently supported the Democratic Party and
voted for its candidates. Despite the party's shift away from the needs and concerns of their
Black constituents, in 2000 9 out of 10 Black voters favored Al Gore over Bush. If Kerry wins on
Tuesday, the Black vote will have done it. In which case, Black people must intensify pressure on
Kerry’s administration to heed our demands for an immediate end to the war in Iraq, and a
substantive and meaningful response to the needs of our communities.
?
Third Parties?
The Black Radical Congress believes that the two-party electoral system has come to constitute
a de facto one party state. This is evidenced, among many other signs, by the Democratic
Party's easy acquiescence to the fraudulent results of the 2000 election -- which revealed that
its true colors are the same as the Republicans': white and dollar green. We, therefore, strongly
support the proliferation of alternatives to the Democratic and Republican parties. We feel that
local politics, especially, can be enriched by the presence of the Green Party and the Labor Party,
whose progressive agendas intersect with our own. Challenges at the local level to the electoral
status quo are a critical ingredient in the struggle for real democracy in the U.S., and such
challenges lay the necessary groundwork for a third party like the Greens to field viable
candidates at the national level.
?
Electoral Change: We Need a Direct Democracy?
In addition to all of the above, the Black Radical Congress calls for fundamental changes in our
un-democratic, winner-take-all electoral system. A true democracy requires:
?
* a system established in federal law that entitles and encourages all citizens and legal residents
of the U.S. to vote. [In Brazil, law requires that citizens vote.] Election day should be a national,
paid holiday that frees people from having to report for work.
* All states should be required by law to meet a single federal standard for state-of-the-art,
tamper-proof voting machines [again, such as those used in Brazil], which print out receipts
verifying voters' choices.
* Full voting rights for both the incarcerated and ex-felons.?
* Abolition of the Electoral College and replacement of the winner-take-all system with a one
person, one vote system, run-off elections and proportional representation.
* Independent watchdog groups and international observers to monitor elections.
* Year-round, community-based "voter education" and organizing around important issues, not
just in the couple of months leading up to November elections.
In The Long-Term ?
Regardless of who wins in November, Black people seeking fundamental change have work to
do. We must continue building an intergenerational movement and developing long-term
strategies to fight racism, end wars of aggression, defend reproductive rights, expand and
protect the rights of working people, dismantle the prison/military industrial complex, support
our brothers and sisters of the diaspora
____________________________________________
www.blackradicalcongress.org
The November 2 presidential election is shaping up as a watershed in US history. Voters are
confronted with the prospect of four more years of George W. Bush, with his pre-emptive war
and imperialist empire-building abroad, and racist, anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-environment
policies at home. Or we will get the kinder, gentler imperialist alternative in John Kerry. Those
of us for whom the choices presented by the nation's seriously degraded electoral system are
deeply unsatisfying will participate in the process nonetheless, but we will do so recognizing
that the real work ahead of us, beyond November 2, is to struggle mightily over the long term to
bring about a domestic and global agenda for peace, justice, employment, healthcare, education
and reparations.
Defending the Black Vote -- Before and After November 2?
For the Black Radical Congress, the main focus in this election season is defending the voting
rights of Black people in their communities across the country -- before, during and after the
elections. Given African American history, Black people know more than anyone the pain and
outrage of vote manipulation and vote suppression. As the sector of the population that,
historically, could always be expected to vote its interests, Black people remain the principal
targets of numerous tactics wielded by anti-democratic forces to prevent our votes from being
cast or counted. Today, in coalition with others, we are in the field doing whatever it takes to try
and avert another fiasco such as occurred in 2000. At the same time, realistically, we are
prepared for history to repeat, in which case we will join with thousands in the streets to
demand, "No Stolen Election." Here is the "No Stolen Election Pledge:
"I remember the stolen presidential election of 2000 and I am willing to take action in 2004 if
the election is stolen again. I support efforts to protect the right to vote leading up to and on
Election Day, November 2nd. If that right is systematically violated, I pledge to join nationwide
protests starting on November 3rd, either in my community, in the states where the fraud
occurred, or in Washington, D.C."
The Lesser of Two Evils or ABB (Anybody But Bush)
The vast majority of Black people understand clearly the necessity for regime change at home.
We know that the Bush Administration represents an array of the most right-wing elements in
this country -- forces driven by greed and a reactionary ideology of white supremacy and
domination. Bush and company are allied with the fossil fuels energy industry, which sees
military aggression as a legitimate means of insuring U.S. control over the world's oil resources.
They are allied with weapons manufacturers, for whom endless war means billions in the bank,
and who are racking up more profits from the recent lifting of the assault weapons ban. They
are allied with all the economic interests whose activities pose the greatest threats to the
environment -- industrial polluters, exploiters of space, agribusiness, strip-miners, etc. The
Bunutses are also allied with the Christian fundamentalist community, which espouses virulent
sexist, homophobic, racist and religiously intolerant policies. These Christian “soldiers” have led
the fight to: outlaw a woman's right to choose; re-imprison women in oppressive gender roles
within the family; dismantle affirmative action (which has benefited white women, in addition to
women and men of color), and roll back the gains of the gay liberation movement. The voice of
this entire constellation of backward-looking forces has a powerful amplifier in the Fox Network,
which unabashedly trumpets their every cause in the guise of dispensing news. Looking at this
picture, most Blacks see their worst nightmare in George W. Bush, who, if allowed four more
years would institutionalize the anti-democratic measures he has already enacted, with even
more far-reaching ones to come.
Democrats - What Have They Done for Us Lately??
While most Black people are undoubtedly poised to vote for the Kerry/Edwards ticket next
Tuesday, they are unlikely to do so with anywhere near enthusiasm. The Black Radical Congress
shares with many the perception that a mere six degrees of separation, if that, distinguishes
Kerry from Bush. We are especially disgusted that Senator Kerry's campaign has failed to take
the high road of unequivocal opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq; that he has said nothing
inspired about the catastrophic Israel/Palestine situation; that his health care proposal falls far
short of the single-payer plan the country obviously needs.
?
Indeed, from where we sit, Senator Kerry like Bill Clinton before him, is a creature of the
Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the group that arose in 1988 to contain any leftward shift
within the Democratic Party after Jesse Jackson's electrifying 1984 presidential campaign. The
DLC presented a challenge to the Democratic Party, "one hostile to the grassroots (it favored the
term 'special interests') and determined to make the party safe, or safer, for white men." (The
Nation 8/2/04). The DLC rightward push brought us Clinton, and his neo-liberal package of
mandatory minimum sentences and three-strike laws, rationalized by an intensification of the
"war on drugs"; so-called welfare reform, which shredded the social safety net for women and
children; NAFTA and other globalization offspring of free-market fundamentalism, as well as a
health care re-do that allowed for the inception of the horrendous, profit-hungry system called
"managed care."
Across several decades, Black people have consistently supported the Democratic Party and
voted for its candidates. Despite the party's shift away from the needs and concerns of their
Black constituents, in 2000 9 out of 10 Black voters favored Al Gore over Bush. If Kerry wins on
Tuesday, the Black vote will have done it. In which case, Black people must intensify pressure on
Kerry’s administration to heed our demands for an immediate end to the war in Iraq, and a
substantive and meaningful response to the needs of our communities.
?
Third Parties?
The Black Radical Congress believes that the two-party electoral system has come to constitute
a de facto one party state. This is evidenced, among many other signs, by the Democratic
Party's easy acquiescence to the fraudulent results of the 2000 election -- which revealed that
its true colors are the same as the Republicans': white and dollar green. We, therefore, strongly
support the proliferation of alternatives to the Democratic and Republican parties. We feel that
local politics, especially, can be enriched by the presence of the Green Party and the Labor Party,
whose progressive agendas intersect with our own. Challenges at the local level to the electoral
status quo are a critical ingredient in the struggle for real democracy in the U.S., and such
challenges lay the necessary groundwork for a third party like the Greens to field viable
candidates at the national level.
?
Electoral Change: We Need a Direct Democracy?
In addition to all of the above, the Black Radical Congress calls for fundamental changes in our
un-democratic, winner-take-all electoral system. A true democracy requires:
?
* a system established in federal law that entitles and encourages all citizens and legal residents
of the U.S. to vote. [In Brazil, law requires that citizens vote.] Election day should be a national,
paid holiday that frees people from having to report for work.
* All states should be required by law to meet a single federal standard for state-of-the-art,
tamper-proof voting machines [again, such as those used in Brazil], which print out receipts
verifying voters' choices.
* Full voting rights for both the incarcerated and ex-felons.?
* Abolition of the Electoral College and replacement of the winner-take-all system with a one
person, one vote system, run-off elections and proportional representation.
* Independent watchdog groups and international observers to monitor elections.
* Year-round, community-based "voter education" and organizing around important issues, not
just in the couple of months leading up to November elections.
In The Long-Term ?
Regardless of who wins in November, Black people seeking fundamental change have work to
do. We must continue building an intergenerational movement and developing long-term
strategies to fight racism, end wars of aggression, defend reproductive rights, expand and
protect the rights of working people, dismantle the prison/military industrial complex, support
our brothers and sisters of the diaspora
____________________________________________
www.blackradicalcongress.org