By
James Clingman
What are you? A
Republican? A Democrat? A Liberal? A Conservative? The
"silly season" is upon us once again. The big
parties are in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
Black people are hyped
about the upcoming election to the point that it's all we
hear about these days. Black people are so happy to be
"in the house" with the political movers and
shakers that we are diverted yet again from our economic
mission.
Black talk shows are rife
with who's on what side of the political fence, which
Blacks are in which party, and which Black people are in
whose camp. We see Black people standing on the stages
lauding their candidates, promoting the virtues of their
party, and promulgating "inclusiveness" for
Black people. We see Black people skinin' and
grinin,'entertaining the conventioneers, and enjoying the
hoopla associated with what will inevitably be a return
to business as usual in January 2001.
Black people are convening
forums to "discuss" political strategies,
political fairness, political candidates, and the
political future of Black children, all without having
one ounce of real political power. All of the Black
politicians in Washington combined cannot pass one law.
Therefore, they must trust the white leaders of the party
to "do the right thing" for them and their
people. More times than not, they are and we are
double-crossed.
When that happens we
return to our "Drive the Vote," "Rock the
Vote," and Rap the Vote" campaigns, because
"this time" we will hold them accountable.
How can we hold
politicians accountable? The answer given most of the
time is: "By voting them out of office." That
could be true in a few extreme cases, but some of the
worst politicians for Black people have been in office
for years and years - case-in-point, Jesse Helms and
Strom Thurmond. So much for accountability, and even if
we did vote them out, we will have suffered under their
rule for two, four, or six years. We do not have that
kind of time, folks.
The current political
hucksters put on one face from August to November and
another face after January. Four years later it happens
all over again. Why are we so available to the political
parties and their lackeys to do their bidding and to
promote their agendas?
Why do we work ourselves
into a frenzy about political games, for which Black
people make none of the rules, only to be mistreated,
ignored, and taken for granted by them -both parties -
after they get what they want from us?
The watchword for every
political campaign in the Black community is
"Vote." Of course, preceding that word, the
call goes out for Black people to "Register."
That's all well and good, but there is much more for us
to do after we vote. We must work, for ourselves and
among ourselves, and not go home to wait for white folks
to take care of us and do what they promised to do.
One of the largest
political forums ever will take place during the
democratic convention in Los Angeles. Listening to the
list of Black "who's who" made me wonder how we
can convene such a group of wealthy, well known,
respected, and influential brothers and sisters to
discuss politics, and not get these same folks together
to discuss and take action on economic empowerment for
Black people.
This distinctive panel of
Black people comprise the intellect and the resources
necessary to start an economic movement for the ages.
Instead, much of their time will be spent discussing
politics. Don't get me wrong. We must participate in
politics, but we must never do it to the neglect of
economics. The establishment wants us to spend our time
on something that will keep us from making any change in
our economic status, because that would mean we would
begin to re-direct our money away from them and toward
ourselves.
We cannot allow our
brothers and sisters to forget the words of Marcus
Garvey, who said, "The most important area for the
exercise of independent effort (is) economic. After a
people have established a firm industrial foundation they
naturally turn to politics…, but not first to …
politics, because the latter cannot exist without the
former.
We must heed the words of
T. Thomas Fortune, who told us, "No people ever
became great and prosperous by devoting their infant
energies to politics. We were literally born into
political responsibility before we had mastered the
economic conditions which underlie these duties."
When asked what Black
people needed most, Booker T. Washington said,
"Economic solidarity!" Shirley Chisholm said,
"Our bondage and our battle is economic. We have to
spend more time at economic conferences, be producers and
provide jobs, The answer is economic
self-sufficiency." I submit to you, my dear brothers
and sisters, that the answer is still economics - not
politics. I pray that the distinguished panel I mentioned
will also see that our problem is economic and spend much
of its time dealing with strategies that will move our
people way from the broken promises and empty victories
of politics. I hope the panel will agree to get back
together and stay together and devote more of its
resources - financial and intellectual - to serve and
lead us to and through a new paradigm for economic
solidarity.
Hobnobbing with the
politicians, being elected to office, and participating
in conventions are fine. But those kinds of activities
should not dominate our thinking and our actions so much
that we forget about the importance of economic
empowerment.
We must not allow
ourselves to be divided by political parties; we must
work together,politically, no matter what party we
prefer. Moreover, Black people must work hard, even
harder than we do for the politicians, to secure our own
economic solidarity. Politics alone will not take us
where we need to go. Politics, placed before economics,
will result in the same problems we have faced for the
past forty years. Politics divides us; economics will
make us whole.
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