As a young boy, I was taught not to cheat. I’ve voted for local politicians and for national politicians, and I remember voting for President John Kennedy, but I’ve never voted for a cheater, especially one who was openly cheating. Even Nixon, who got caught cheating, didn’t do it openly, and no, I didn’t vote for him.
When I was in England, an Englander asked me about voting in America because that person was shocked and amazed at the failure of Americans to make a decision about who was the winner, Bush or Gore, after so much time had passed. I don’t recall if I thought about whether one side was cheating or not, but now I know that it was more than possible and maybe even probable. The guy in the White House right now would have no problem cheating. He admitted he lied about the Covid-19 disease, so I don’t think he would think twice about voter fraud, as long as he wins. I think that in his mind, Vladimir Putin in Russia cheats so why can’t he? The answer is, “This ain’t Russia”. This is the great experiment called America where all are, supposedly, equal. It’s my understanding that Russia is a non-Christian country, so I guess it’s okay to cheat, lie, and steal. That’s Communism. Maybe the guy in the White House is a Communist? I ask, “Where are the Evangelicals? Where are the Christians? Where are those who believe in immigration and health care for all in the Bill of Rights? Can this incumbent actually win by stealing, cheating, and lying? Whatever happened with the truth?” African Americans have suffered and overcome tragedies like The lynching of Emmit Till, the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, the shooting of James Meredith, the sit-ins, freedom riders, Black Power movement, Civil Rights movement, and other demonstrations including the destruction of Black Wall Street, the creation of the Underground Railroad, and uprisings like that of Reverend Nat Turner. The present resident of the White House, whose claim to fame is his juvenile name-calling like, “suckers and losers”, acts like he would turn back the clock of history and send us back to years of discrimination and Jim Crow. I think that as long as there is eternal vigilance, we are safe, as our history has shown. The guy is as amazing as a circus clown selling snake oil. My father taught me how to identify snake oil salesmen and not to buy their oil, because they are after the same thing you want, the money in your pocket. America has seen major changes in her culture. African Americans have gone from a life of forced slavery to Jim Crow to music makers and dancers, to politics, school teachers and professors like W.E.B. Dubois, and from scientists to the White House. African Americans have always suffered discrimination at the hands of educators and politicians who strived to keep them out of schools and out of voting booths, but African Americans have landed on their feet with the assistance of leaders like W.E.B. DuBois, Dr. Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshal, Harriet Tubman, Stokley Carmichael, Eldridge Cleaver, Angela Davis, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, and others who have been forever vigilant in the struggle. We’ve overcome hardships in the past and we’ll overcome whatever keeps coming at us, even voting and cheating and the lack of law and order. |
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