My father taught me that when you see white people driving through your neighborhood, watch out for danger because you don’t know what their next move will be, but be sure it is not for your benefit. Watch out. When whites showed up on their ships in Africa in 1619, it was the beginning of 250 years of brutal involuntary slavery for the twenty to thirty Black Africans who landed in the British Colony of Virginia, later called America.
When the Governor of Florida invokes a rule that says you cannot make rules or teach anything that makes white folks uncomfortable, it is not for your benefit. Watch out when a poll says 72% of Americans are headed in the wrong direction, and another poll says there are multiple rules to make it harder for Blacks to vote, and still another rule that says in Georgia they will deny the right to bring water or food to voters. Also, nearly 48 out of 50 states have new laws to make it more difficult to vote. In Mississippi, teaching about race is now illegal. In some states, same-day voter registration is now out. Black members in the Mississippi legislature walked out. Little Black students will be denied the truth of how their fore-parents were treated by white folks' ancestors. The story of Ruby Hughes will have to be taught in church and at home. Florida’s Governor has also proposed to have a police force to allegedly protect voters’ rights. In fact, the force would be there to intimidate voters. There are other measures taken like cutting down on polling places and drop-boxes, denying mail-in votes without showing your Drivers’ License and Social Security Card number. Watch out! They are afraid. It is nearly as bad as it was when President Wilson kept segregation as the rule. We are expected to go and fight for America and also expected to take the pain of discrimination, just as if we were still living under President Wilson’s Black Codes. Today, racism shows up not only at the voting booth but in health care as well. Even with the pandemic. Health care providers should address specific needs such as language differences where there may be children who speak different languages or are from different countries. Discrimination in education is also essential as the children have different skill levels or learn differently. It is unequal to say white students may be offended with certain information; Black students may also be offended by certain events. My Daddy was right when he told me and my siblings to watch out. Quoting Fannie Lou Hamer, “We want to determine our own destiny. Without the right to vote our destiny will be determined for us”. It is noted that Arizona was the last state to approve Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday as a national holiday. Arizona Kyrsten Lea Sinema was one of two Senators who voted with the Republicans in guaranteeing the right to vote to all Americans. The Arizona Democratic Party (not legislature) has since Censured Sinema. This is a continuing result of the crooked works of the past President. My Daddy was not an educated man, but he was not stupid. He was smart and he said for us to watch out. Today Liberal Scholars are watching a change in the Supreme Court and we are watching the Court move toward repealing Roe vs. Wade, and we are about to see the Court take up Affirmative Action and approve overturning it. It is believed that Amy Vivian Coney Barrett approves of overturning Roe vs. Wade. She suggested one choice pregnant women can make is to adopt Black babies like she did. Well, Thomas Jefferson and other presidents had black babies also. They called them “slaves”. I suggest we take this article, cut it out, and look at it again in three years, assuming we have the same Court then. I’ve been a Lawyer for forty years and I’ve never seen a court choice held up like they did with Obama’s choice of Judge Neil Gorsuch, for a full year. Clarence Thomas listens to his wife to make decisions. In a recent report, Don Lemon Tonight on CNN, reporter Jane Mayer speaks about her new piece detailing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife's ties to right-wing groups. Justice Thomas and Ginny Thomas declined to be interviewed for Mayer's article in The New Yorker. (Source: CNN) Clarence Thomas listens to his wife. I think he’s stupid. I guess his wife thinks he’s stupid too. One of the cases the Court has announced they are considering has not gone to the appellate Court and yet it’s being heard. This gives the Court the power to overrule Affirmative Action. My Daddy’s gone but I still hear his words, “Watch out!” |
|
