(ThyBlackMan.com) We should never take for granted the power of a person’s spoken words. At times, they may appear idle and harmless, but those words’ subtle and indirect messages can ultimately prove deadly. A clever person, when they speak, understands the hearts and minds of his listeners. A clever and insensitive person will take that understanding and use it for malice and ill will. If I mention the name George Wallace, many people may immediately think of the comedian. Others would remember the former governor of Alabama, who Martin Luther King Jr. once called the “most dangerous racist in America.” Gov. Wallace was dangerous because of his spoken words. While many remember him as a segregationist, most people never knew that the NAACP once endorsed Wallace.
In 1958, during his first run for governor of Alabama, Wallace was a moderate Democrat who rejected the idea of making race an issue while declining a formal endorsement from the Ku Klux Klan. By welcoming Klan support, his opponent overwhelmingly defeated Wallace in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. But Wallace was a shrewd politician who adjusted well and developed a deep insight into the mindset of the Southern white working class. He understood the reasons behind their hate, their anger, and their disenchantment. He understood their distrust of the federal government while encouraging the need to stand up against it. Driven by political ambition and the thirst for power, he redefined himself as a segregationist with a strong, authoritative persona. Four years later, he ran again for governor, this time as a vocal champion for segregation and states’ rights. He won by a landslide. In his inauguration address, written by leaders of the Ku Klux Klan, Wallace followed the cultural influence of his base supporters by vowing “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” In four years, George Wallace transformed from a moderate gubernatorial candidate supported by the NAACP into an “angry man’s candidate” who played upon the fears, grievances, and hatred of white Southerners.
It comes down to gaining and maintaining political power. Through his words, Wallace created an “enemy” to be targeted to gain power. Wallace knew from the beginning that it was a matter of time before segregation would eventually end. He also knew which buttons to press with the public to play upon people’s emotions to his advantage deliberately. With his pro-segregation rhetoric, use of racial and social code words, and catering to white working-class prejudices, he knowingly misled his supporters because it was the quickest way to power. Through his words, Wallace perpetuated a deep-seated hatred toward the “enemy,” which resulted in violence.
He created an environment that inspired people to put violent action behind their personal feelings of resentment and rage. Many of his speeches were rallying cries which indirectly motivated acts of domestic terror, harassment, and even murder. Later in the same year of his infamous “segregation now” speech, Wallace, in a newspaper interview, said he believed Alabama needed a “few first-class funerals” to stop racial integration. One week later, four young girls were killed, and over 20 others were injured in a bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in downtown Birmingham. Martin Luther King Jr. later informed Wallace that “the blood of four little children….is on your hands. Your irresponsible and misguided actions have created in Birmingham and Alabama the atmosphere that has induced continued violence and now murder.” Wallace knew what he was doing while taking advantage of his voter’s vulnerabilities, ignorance, and lack of knowledge of public issues and facts. He was a master of the “us against them” strategy. He constantly painted a picture where those who were pro-segregation were the victims being abused by the “enemy,” which consisted of the federal government, along with those who morally sought to end segregation.
Fast forward to the year 2022. When we hear the details surrounding the violent assault on the life of Paul Pelosi, how can we not forget that his wife, Nancy, has been vilified as a political “enemy” for years? As the face of progressive policies, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been the target of an avalanche of Republican campaign ads leading up to the midterm elections. According to AdImpact, which tracks television and digital ad spending, Republicans have spent nearly $40 million on ads that mention Nancy Pelosi by name since the Labor Day holiday.
How can we not acknowledge the consistent patterns from the past to the present? The attack on Pelosi comes during a recent rise in the number of threats aimed at federal officials and perceived enemies of former President Donald Trump. It should not be taken likely when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joked that if he becomes the next speaker of the House, it will be hard not to hit Pelosi with the speaker’s gavel. Where McCarthy would use the speaker’s gavel, Paul Pelosi’s accused attacker used an actual hammer. Idle words can be deadly. Fortunately, no harm came to the House Speaker. And thankfully, Paul Pelosi, who underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture, is expected to make a full recovery.
Written by David W. Marshall
Official website; https://davidwmarshallauthor.com/
Simplicity is the Best Messenger and Always Will Be.
“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
Haile Selassie I
Here is what Clyburn didn’t say, that should matter to every American voter, including Black Americans (by the way we are citizens of this great nation, yet we’re treated with disdain by this administration).
President Biden and Vice President Harris’ policy of undercounting the Job Rates of the working-class, including Black Americans “guarantees” the racial wealth gap will never be closed under his presidency. “You need genuinely true stats to do that.” Biden promotes (lies really) an incomprehensive rate of unemployment, 3.7%, when the Real Job rate is 6.8% for October with a black rate that’s 5% higher at 11.8%.
You ask, how does that hurt Black Americans and makes them consistently poorer as a race of people – man, it’s only a few percentage points difference?
Folks, this ain’t rocket science. You can’t have “TWO” economies and that’s what Biden, Harris, Obama and yes, Clyburn are promoting. One where a politician Joe Biden says, the Jobless Rate is 3.7% and another economy, the REAL one, where Economists agree the Real Job Rate for October is 6.8%. And the Black Rate 5% over the Real Rate is 11.8%. THE TRUTH REALLY DOES MATTER!
The Federal Reserve’s (Fed) mandate is to fight inflation. The weapon used by the Fed is interest rate hikes. Rate hikes slow the economy, creating layoffs. Biden’s policy of lying about job rates saying it’s 3.7% when the Real rate is 6.8% undercounts our Job Rates leading to hiding our coming layoffs.
This is Simple: if you are not counted, you don’t exist. Any misery or suffering you may incur, such as the loss of housing and the challenges of feeding your family as a result of layoffs (you guessed it) do not exist either, on paper, if you are not a part of the public count, when it comes the Job Rates, announced monthly, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is the number the world and Congress sees. Legislation to supply money to help you, is based on this number.
Well, you ask, how do they not count you, after all I get unemployment?
Here’s how Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, Biden, and Harris supported by the Democratic Party and as you can see by Clyburn and the Black Caucus, chaired by Rep. Beatty hurt working-class Americans and Black Americans with the highest Job rate at 11.8%.
If you low-ball or undercount laid-off workers with a job rate lower (his 3.7%), than the REAL rate (6.8%) HE “WILLFULLY” COUNTS ONLY about 50% of LAID-OFF WORKERS. He omits counting 50% of blacks also, who have a 11.8% Job rate and are the first laid-off as the economy declines.
The coming economic storm is REAL, and it’ll result in Jobless rates increasing, effectively, wiping out the economic gains of SENIORS, working-class Americans and Blacks. Remember, Biden’s Job Rate is 3.7%, while the Real Rate, is 6.8%. A key question: Why does Biden “continue” to LIE about our Job Rates! Ask Clyburn.
But how did this get started? Who is responsible for this vile policy?
The Clinton administration started the vile scheme of undercounting the Job Rates of Jobless American workers, Blacks included, leading to under-reporting our layoffs. Mr. Obama continued it and Mr. Biden, wants to sustain it. Read the linked article. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/joe-biden-is-mum-on-undercounting-the-layoffs-of-working-class-americans-including-blacks/ar-AA11Cjwq?cvid=2cae8600808b402da937b4d7aa31ed57
How can this terrible and stupid policy be overturned or ended?
Biden does not need more or added authority to change his official Job rate of 3.7% (U-3) for October and beyond to the REAL jobless rate of 6.8% (U-6), recognized by economists as the true rate just as the Clinton White House, which originated this vile scheme didn’t need authority “to start it.” So, you see, its Joe Biden and Democrats, who are literally putting their knees on our necks.
At the end of the day, no President including Biden can LIE away the REAL ECONOMY saying his 3.7% Job Rate is comprehensive of our Job Situation, when it is not, no more than Trump can LIE away his 2020 lost to Biden. Problematic for all of us is his denial of the REAL ECONOMY with a Jobless Rate of 6.8%. Thus, His Denial is Our PAIN.