(ThyBlackMan.com) It is time to face facts. Both the Republican and the Democratic Party have failed Black America in this modern era. While many bask in the emotional glow of having a Black President, our position hasn’t changed significantly since the passage of the civil rights legislation. While we have definitely achieved gains in some areas (and we have the right to celebrate those) we have taken a step back in other significant areas. On net I would argue we are roughly the same overall as in the late 60s.
Our education rates have went up, more Blacks are in business and we have a larger Black middle class. On the other side of the coin we have the highest incarceration rate in the largest prison system in the entire world, our real unemployment rate is more than double the national average if not triple and
it is estimated that almost 75% of our children have only a single parent in the home.
As we push forward deeper into the new millennium we have to also evolve new philosophies of Black elevation. These philosophies have to rise above the materialistic, celebrity, reality show, hero worship culture that is so pervasive in America today and focus on power and growth in a global environment. We have to break out of our over reliance on historical methods of organization and action that focuses on social justice to the exclusion of new models of action and activism. We have to become more innovativeand visionary in creating change. It is only through this shift that we can build on the legacy of our fore-parents and maximize our potential that in large part we have allowed to remain dormant as Black Americans.
One such new philosophy that I have been arguing for over the past few years is the political philosophy of Pro-Black Pragmatism. While a little fancy in the title it is really quite simple. Pro-Black Pragmatism means that we hold no political allegiance but we create policy allegiance. In other words, we support policies, whether they are created by Republicans or Democrats, which advance the cause of Black Power (which will be defined in a future article). By doing this we create a buyer’s market for our vote, which in turn creates broader political power in the future because we FORCE the two parties to competefor that vote.
Most of you are familiar with the phrase, “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free”. In other words, if you will give away freely money, time, energy or affection without requiring that the person you are giving it to return something of equal value back to you, they will NEVER give you equal value in return. You will always end up the loser. This has occurred in our relentless allegiance to the Democratic Party.
While we made a rational decision (and a good one) to leave the Republican Party in mass in the 1930s we have to seriously consider making an exodus in mass out of the Democratic Party today. This doesn’t mean that we won’t have D labeled on our voter registration, but philosophically and in action we “Show and Prove” that we will be mobile voters on specific policies that provide the greatest benefits to Blacks no matter which party originated them.
I know for many this new philosophy is hard to conceive and there are many counter arguments that I am sure you are now creating in your mind. But do me a favor and envision yourself as a Black voter in the 1930s for a moment. You have a President in Franklin Roosevelt who created the New Deal, a set of policies that promised to have a large positive impact on Black Americans. To vote for this man you essentially had to vote against the Party of Lincoln. This was the party that led the anti-slavery charge and one that you have voted for consistently ever since. But you MAKE this vote for the “other party” because the new policies by a new party were better for you and your race. It happened before and it can happen again. We need policy allegiance and not party allegiance. ConsiderPro-Black Political Pragmatism.
Always remember, to BE different you have to DO different.
Staff Writer; Marcus Vessey