Political Slavery 101

Political Slavery 101

At the end of January 2005, Cong. Maxine Waters appeared on C-Span. A caller asked her a multi-faceted question including the identity of the New American Century Project. She skipped over this facet of the question. This enraged a subsequent caller seemingly of African ancestry.
Her failure or refusal to identify the New American Century Project was of no great moment to me since, at the same time, Cong. Cynthia McKinney had been stripped of her seniority and bounced from the International Relations Committee.
History is repeating itself and nobody in the Black community, including the Congressional Black Caucus, is connecting the dots. This is evidence of political backwardness and fear. Otherwise, we would ensure political representation in foreign affairs and in foreign policy.
Many activists worked faithfully to get McKinney back into Congress in November 2004 from the Fourth Congressional District in Georgia. She won. When a congressperson is returning to Congress, after a hiatus, prior seniority is usually bestowed on that person. The work of activists should have started and not stopped at this juncture.
McKinney already had ten years of seniority and she was, previously, a member of not only the Armed Services Committee but also the International Relations Committee. The seniority should have enabled her, possibly, to become a ranking member of the committee or a subcommittee.
If we learned anything from the congressional performance of Cong. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., it was that a committee assignment is important and seniority is essential. An assignment to the International Relations Committee with seniority would have given her standing and clout in foreign affairs.
The New American Century Project is a “think tank” established to set right-wing, American foreign policy in the “Middle East.” Traditionally, this has been a function of the Council of Foreign Relations. Blacks claim an interest in foreign affairs but we refuse to finance a think tank and we refuse to demand political representation on congressional committees.
Facially, the International Relations Committee has the joint responsibility of overseeing foreign policy in Congress for the United States with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This oversight responsibility is especially important with respect to U.S. policy in Africa and in the Caribbean. McKinney should be sitting on this committee.
Since the Black community believes in running on the cheap, politically, professional thinking is taboo. Expert opinions are frowned upon in the Black community. Many political activists of African ancestry express concern about foreign affairs but they refuse to design a format to ensure the exercise of political power for Blacks in foreign affairs.
Politics starts after an election and does not end after the general election. If politics is made up of three stages, Blacks participate in only one of those stages. We have no involvement in the selection process. Look at the 2005 mayoral race in New York City. Similarly, Blacks are uninvolved in making public policy after an election.
This is reminiscent of plantation politics. Enslaved Africans were not involved in negotiations with potential buyers for the cotton. We were also not allowed to reap the profits. We just simply picked the cotton. Blacks are not allowed to negotiate for the selection of candidates. Moreover, we are barred from setting public policy which leads to contracts and patronage.
The Democratic Party led the assault on McKinney. Cong. Nancy Pelosi called the shot to strip McKinney of her seniority and to bar a reassignment to the International Relations Committee. In the meantime, Black elected officials, high-profile Blacks and political activists are behaving like house Negroes before the lynching of a rebellious Black.
Any Black person who is still enrolled in the Democratic Party on May 19, 2005 has betrayed the vision of Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Hamer formed the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She knew that the Democratic Party has always behaved like the Nazi Party for two hundred years.
Malcolm X was right on point about the Democrats aka the “Dixiecrats.” King refused to collaborate with Democrats after the renewal of Reconstruction legislation. Kwame Ture was not enrolled in the Democratic Party and he advocated for an independent, African party. In fact, you will find no evidence of a respected ancestor enrolled in the Democratic Party.
Blacks must withdraw forthwith from the Democratic Party to put ourselves in the position to exercise the right of collective bargaining. This means fleeing the Democratic plantation. The difference between a slave and an emancipated person is the right to negotiate and to bargain.
This right was expressed in the Civil Rights Act of 1866 but Blacks have refused to exercise this civil and human right politically. Instead, we enrolled en masse in the Republican plantation first and later we enrolled en masse in the Democratic plantation. Collective bargaining is not allowed on either plantation.
It is time for people to stop taking us for granted. Politics is like prostitution. A pimp does not shower his special attention on anyone already in his stable. This special luring is reserved for someone who is independent. Once you are entrapped, you are treated like every other denizen of the slave quarters.