Unlike most voter
guides, this “resource guide” does not advocate candidates or positions, but instead
ideas, critical thinking and important video and article resources to review to
get a well-rounded understanding of the social construction of politics and
reality.
REAL CLEAR POLITICS
We are capable of bearing a great burden, once we
discover that the burden is reality and arrive where reality is. – James
Baldwin from The Fire Next Time
This is probably one
of my favorite quotations…and I believe one of the most insightful words ever written.
James Baldwin understood this country better than most ever will. He knew what
most still have not accepted: until all
Americans accept our history, this country is doomed for self destruction (from
white delusion and black disillusion).
James Baldwin clearly
understood that the system of reality most white Americans function in has
never meshed with historical reality.[1]
This system of reality is at a crossroads and this election will reveal the
next trajectory in the journey.[2]
RAW POLITICS
The presidential
election is almost over…thank God. Many variables may affect the results -
including some that were not expected. The east coast is still trying to
recover from a devastating storm and much of the nation’s focus is rightly on
supporting that recovery highlighting the best of our humanity. But on the
political side, we see some of the worst aspects of our humanity, our most
cynical tendencies. Efforts to misinform, suppress and intimidate voters are
ratcheting up. Reports of armies of poll watchers and election machine
irregularity raise questions about the legitimacy of the actual result we do
get. But despite all the possible variables, Obama will probably win….but I
think it will be close. I think we may have reached an historical tipping point.
DEMOGRAPHIC POLITICS
Folks may think this
election is about the economy...but this country's economic fate was sealed a
long time ago...around the time that globalization took stronghold. If Romney
wins, it will not be because of the economy...it will be because of RACE. This
is slated to possibly be the most racially polarized election in history.[3][4]
Gender will be an important factor as well, but not as much as it could have
been if race was not THE factor.[5]
The Real 47%
As much play as the
video of Romney dismissing 47% of this country got, there has been little
discussion of the other 47%....the 47% that will NEVER vote for Obama because
of his race. He could walk on water and turn water into wine, and they still
would not embrace him. Of course, their disdain will remain veiled in coded
language like ‘socialist’ ‘big government spender’, ‘Muslim’ etc., but what you
can read behind all those words is the same thing....black.[6]
In some ways it feels
like we are back to the Civil War era with sharp racial lines by geographic
regions and polling data reveals this demographic reality. Among working class whites, the breakdown by
region = Midwest +8 Obama (manufacturing/union factor), West +8 Romney, NE +4
Romney, and the South +40 for Romney breakdown.
According to political scientist Prof. Frederick Harris, it is this racial
reality that has allowed Obama to ignore the social and political needs of African
Americans and has silenced African American criticism of said abandonment.[7]
It is true that many African Americans
avoid discussing race in the Obama era…most notably, Obama (and purposely I
would argue).
ELECTORAL POLITICS
So how will Obama win
with this motivated majority against him?
I think his margin of
victory will be smaller in blue states (loss of some white support). I believe
his margin of defeat in red states may be much bigger (motivation of more
whites to vote against him). It is entirely possible that he may lose the
popular vote, and win the electoral vote.
His ability to win
swing states depends on GOTV efforts. If enough women vote and he’s able to
have a net + gender gap, he will win in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin,
New Hampshire, and possibly Colorado and Virginia. If the percentage of Latinos
voting is higher than 2008, he will win Nevada and possibly Colorado and
Florida because of it. If he does not
get a net + in turnout for these demographic groups, he could lose any and all
of the swing states based on the net – race variable.
My Prediction: The
Electoral Map
THIRD EYE (PARTY)
POLITICS
"Media does not reflect reality, it defines
it"... The
corporate media blackout of the many presidential candidates not from the two-party
corporate system serves as a constant reminder that democracy still does not
exist in this society. Maybe one day we will actually know ALL the people listed on our ballots
that are running for office. That day we will be able to say we live in a
democracy. But that does not mean we will live in a progressive society. That
will take much more time. Equality of opportunity does not equal equality of
condition. Yes, the message and the messenger matter, but so does the
recipient...context is everything...and in electoral politics, the context =
constituent groups with polar interests.[8]
While many may choose
to vote strategically in a flawed system, voting one’s conscious and one’s interest
makes perfect sense always. I personally understand why folks do not want to
vote for “the lesser of two evils” or a corporatist candidate in red or blue
stripes. While I personally don’t agree with the stance to “not vote”, I can
even understand that some people are so disenchanted with the system they don’t
see how their votes in a national level election affect their daily reality.
Lupe Fiasco got a lot of heat recently for stating that while he engages in
local elections, he would not be voting in the presidential election. After
learning that one of his major inspirations for his latest work was James
Baldwin, I had a better understanding of where he was coming from….Lupe
understands the burden of reality…Lupe is a realist.
But in hip hop, we
also have progressive visionaries. The vision and groundwork to one day achieve
a new reality of social equality must be done now and always. In electoral
politics, independent (third party) political parties play an important role in
that effort. Hip Hop journalist Davey D
penned an important article that challenges the idea that voting for a third
party candidate spoils elections.[9] Shamako Noble of Hip Hop Congress and the
Green Party makes a very strong case that Hip Hop and the Green Party share
similar visions and needs, and he provides concrete examples of how progressive
movement from the relationship has already manifested.[10]
Shamako shows that there is no reason to choose either/or; we must embrace a
both/and strategy to community organizing and electoral politics. We need
visionaries to reach a higher moral plateau. Martin Luther King Jr. was a
visionary, and who knows where this country would be today without his
leadership and service. For hip hop, we need visionaries like Shamako. He knows
what work must be done today to achieve a better tomorrow.
MY POLITICS
While I always vote, and
analyzing politics is occupational for me, electoral politics is not my primary
strategic focus. I believe the only path to freedom is self determination. I
follow Carter G. Woodson’s model of service over leadership to achieve
community empowerment as laid out in his seminal work Miseducation of the Negro. For
me, organization and localization formulate the best strategy to combat the systemic
oppression most people on the planet face daily.
That is not to say
national politics does not matter to me. It does, but not for the reasons often
debated. Politicians, by definition, are professional liars. They must tell
people what they want to hear to gain their support. That system is inherently
flawed. But within the system, there is room for true public servants that
truly want to serve the public good; and a society as large and complex as this
one desperately needs good public servants. Unfortunately due to the
corporatization of the system (money in politics), most of our national representatives
(in Congress and the White House) are now politicians and not public servants.
Until we remove money from politics, this will remain the case.
But I still vote. Aspects
of local, state, and even the national election matter to different aspects of
my identity. As a women, reproductive
rights and Supreme Court nominations matter. As a social scientist, platforms
that recognize that validity of research, data, and science matter. As a public
employee & organized labor union member under attack, voting to protect my
right to collectively bargain matters. As a community college professor, voting
to protect public education matters. And for me personally as I stated in 2008,
as an African American, rattling white supremacists like Rush Limbaugh was
change enough for me to believe in…lol. I usually vote my union’s platform
(which usually aligns with the Democratic Party), although in some cases I
will vote for Green and/or Peace and Freedom Party as well. In California, that
is often possible.
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did
and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you
have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed
upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or
blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those
whom they oppress.” - Frederick Douglass
This is my other
favorite quotation…I cite it often in my writing and recite it often in my
classes.
For me this year’s
presidential election is not about any of my personal reasons I listed above. While
I believe Obama will win, I also believe Obama needs to win for more important
historical implications. This nation’s entire history is a racialized one, and
the national psyche has still not come to grips with its original sin. For this
nation to have the best chance to finally address the question of the color
line and progress, an Obama win is necessary.
If Romney wins (or
Obama for that matter), black disillusion will not change. I know that Douglass
speaks the truth when he says that power concedes nothing without a demand. My hope
is that we as a people will resist, but my fear is that our endurance for
oppression is great, and if anything our endurance has increased not decreased…and
instead of resist, we will continue to endure as we have been.
However, if Obama
wins AGAIN, white delusion of their supremacy will face yet another reality check,
and as we have seen in the last four years, many white Americans will revolt. A
second Civil War may ensue; it may
stay safely in the Republican Party, or it may spill out to the streets of Arizona,
or a courtroom in FL when the Trayvon Martin case begins. But there will be
sparks to inflame the Fire Next Time….and
for this country to truly move FORWARD, these sparks will prove necessary. Like James Baldwin and Lupe Fiasco, I am a
realist above all, and believe that MANY in this country are not ready for TRUE
progressive leadership and will not be for a very long time because as Baldwin
correctly understood, many Americans have not accepted history yet. Most (not
all) people of color accepted this historical reality a long time ago …we had
no choice. But no progress can be made
until everyone has no choice. Everyone
must be forced to accept history or this country is doomed for destruction.
Either way, we will know which one is more likely on November 7th.
We cannot be free until they are free – James Baldwin
from The Fire Next Time
“If we do
not dare everything, the
fulfillment of that prophecy, re-created from the Bible in song by a slave, is
upon us: God gave Noah the rainbow sign,
No More water, the fire next time!” – James Baldwin
fulfillment of that prophecy, re-created from the Bible in song by a slave, is
upon us: God gave Noah the rainbow sign,
No More water, the fire next time!” – James Baldwin
[1]
MUST VIEW VIDEO: 1965 Oxford Debate between James Baldwin and William Buckley (the
father of modern conservatism). James
Baldwin segment = 14:15-38:15 (24 minutes)
[2]
Read my latest essay titled: 2012: A Year
of Reckoning, Awakening, or Both?
Link = http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/rise-up-hip-hop-nation-2012-a-year-of-reckoning-awakening-or-both/
[4]
AP Poll: Majority Harbor prejudice against blacks. Link = http://news.yahoo.com/ap-poll-majority-harbor-prejudice-against-blacks-073551680--election.html
[5]
White men will overwhelmingly support Romney which will balance out some of the
gains Obama has with getting majority of women’s vote. Also, there is a decent
% of white women voting race over gender. WATCH Video: Gloria Steinem on
Politics Nation. Link = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755884/#49650012
Also READ Altenet.org article Why frightened white men love Mitt Romney. Link = http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/why-frightened-white-men-love-romney
[6]
MUST see video: Ohio Romney Rally - Interviews with Supporters. Link =
http://youtu.be/nY0M7IdNl7U
[7]
Read related article: The Price of a Black President. Link = http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/opinion/sunday/the-price-of-a-black-president.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121028&_r=1&
**note the title play off of James Baldwin’s book The Price of the Ticket
[8]
I wrote an essay in 2009 titled: DisUnited
States of America: The Red, White, Blue...and above all Green. Link = http://riseuphiphopnation.blogspot.com/2009/12/disunited-states-of-america-red-white.html
[9]
Read article; Election 2012: 3rd
Party Candidates Are Not Spoilers-Every Vote Must Be Earned Link = http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/election-2012-3rd-party-candidates-are-not-spoilers-every-vote-must-be-earned/
[10]
Read article: Jared Ball and Rosa Clemente Were Right by Shamako Noble. Link = http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/jared-ball-and-rosa-clemente-were-right-by-shamako-noble/
