What the Democratic party owes blacks

We've been there for you. You need to be there for us.

The Democratic party is at a crossroads in terms of it's black support.

We have voted reliably for the Democratic party since FDR first moved the party away from it's racist roots. Our support was cemented when LBJ pushed through sweeping civil rights legislation.

In return we gave the Democratic party our loyalty even while others in the party drifted to the GOP.

We've looked past the party's failures to prevent the decimation of programs to help the poor
and the party's capitulation to the GOP in terms of programs like welfare reform and the wrongful imprisonment of our people.

We've stuck with the party through thick and thin so what have we reaped in return?

This campaign season we've been rewarded with the silence of the party as some try to push us aside and label us useless in their zeal to win Latino support and even pit blacks and Latinos against each other.

We've had the Clinton campaign use racist and xenophobic appeals to win votes with not even a peep of objection from the elders of the party that those tactics go against what the party stands for.

Our concerns have been dismissed as whining if they were listen to at all. Our support looks wasted and many of us feel foolish and scammed for even believing in the so called ideals of this party.

No one should be treated this way let alone a group of people who have been the bedrock of the Democratic party for decades.

The party absolutely owes us. Not special treatment but simple fairness. The kind of fairness that is readily given to others in the party without having to beg for it.

We deserve to have our voices heard and our concerns given the same respect that others receive. That isn't too much to ask is it?

We have given the Democrats everything and received little in return.

It's time for that to change.

We need a new way

I've only been blogging for a few weeks now. And in that time I've tried to find my own voice for the things I wanted to think about.

If there is one thing that I want for my blog it's that I want this to be a place where black folks can let their emotions out and channel what we feel into action.

For too long we have had to play a game of grin and bear it while the powers that be have kicked us in the teeth. And unfortunately we still have to do this is we want to get anywhere.

We aren't afforded the luxury of anger. Instead we have to settle with keeping our emotions in, dealing with high blood pressure and heart disease from having to put up with other's bigotry and stupidity.

We have also not had the chance to learn how to really play the political and economic game the same way other ethnic groups have.

There has to be a way to change that.

We have to learn how to play rough. No more marches. No more quoting from the bible about peace.

I'm not talking about violence but the ability to use the intelligence and skills we possess to make things better for ourselves and the ability to respond swiftly to those who attack us.

The non-violence of the Civil Rights Movement was the only way we were going to gain rights for ourselves but I feel it also prevented us from learning how to fight in the trenches.

Thus people's anger over the treatment of Obama. If we had a real way of showing whites that smearing a black candidate would cost them besides possibly staying home in November and giving John McCain the presidency we would be doing it.

The fact is at the moment we don't have anything and that is a sad result of our own complancency as a people and of our so called leaders.

There has to be another way to fight for our rights in this country because what we have right now is bullshit.