Archive for August, 2024
Former IDF Soldier Debunks Israel’s Claims of Being The Most Moral Army In The World | Kim Iversen Show
This is my commentary on the opening segment ( starts @ 5:00 to 19:52)of the Kim Iversen show where she interviews a former IDF soldier by the name of Adar Weinreb. I also shared my thoughts in brief with Ms. Iversen before making this post.
Full Video on Rumble: Former IDF Soldier Debunks Israel’s Claims of Being The Most Moral Army In The World
Israel is a tiny country, bent on building an empire called Greater Israel, and like all other Empires, they must manipulate, compromise, exploit, rape, pillage, steal, murder & torture in order to displace its inhabitants, obtain the land and the resources that were there before they arrived. They have to have some fundamental ideology to support the righteousness of their claims to do what most would consider crimes against humanity.
When the Europeans came to the so-called “New World”, that is exactly what they did. Had they not done that there would be no United States of America today nor a Canada, Central and South America. Being a proud American and stating that you “love” your country most definitely must mean & should mean being proud of its history. However, when I hear people critique the foreign policies of the United States, I often wonder why they seem to always fall short of pointing to the very nature of the foreign policy that the United States was built on.
The only difference between what Israeli settlers and colonizers have done is the age in which it is being done. The same tactics, techniques and war crimes were committed by the initial Europeans of the so-called “New World”. North America & Central America were called Turtle Island before it was ravished.
During this time, the European empires of Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, Russia, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden began to explore and claim the Americas, its natural resources, and human capital,[2][3][4][5] leading to the displacement, disestablishment, enslavement, and even genocide of the Indigenous peoples in the Americas,[2][3][4][5] and the establishment of several settler colonial states.[2][3][4][5][6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_colonization_of_the_Americas
Kim Iversen, mentioned that humans are migratory animals. This is true. However, if migration is for the purpose of Empire building then we have a serious problem. That’s because Empire building is ideologically prefaced on the fact that those whom they come in contact with are considered animals or sub-human savages. Therefore it would stand to reason that the migrants (colonizers) consider themselves superior to the indigenous that they come in contact with, thus, there is no crime against humanity, because the indigenous are not considered human.
Unfortunately, that is the nature of Empire. That is the nature of colonization.
Many of the first settlers were prisoners, vagabonds, and folks of ill repute. They were called explorers, given high praise, monetary assistance, monuments, history books, etc. yet they considered those they met here in the so-called “New World, sub-human savages. Then they went to Africa and kidnapped millions for their slave labor. These settlers were fortified by “their” fundamental ideology that gave them license to build their Empire from “Sea to Shining Sea”. They engaged in whatever they needed to do in order to have dominion over the territories they claimed to have discovered. Even if it meant warring against other European nations.
These territories existed long before their arrival and certainly had not been lost, found or discovered. But you won’t find this perspective taught in the history books. Instead you will find the promotion, propaganda and adulation along with national anthems, that perpetuate the righteousness of their quest in the west.
We cannot honestly point fingers at Israel for doing what its forbearers have done without acknowledging what happened in the so-called ‘New World”. Otherwise, we are being hypocritical. The avoidance of these facts around how the “New World” was colonized by foreigners claiming Manifest Destiny upon the land they colonized, only allows the same hubris from the Israelis when they say “from the river to the sea”.
The main reason that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is so tenable and almost impossible to resolve is because of the European history of colonization all over the Western Hemisphere and Africa. They are all complicit in ignoring the big elephant in the room, that is, their own complicity in their role as colonizers. What the narcissistic and impudent behavior of the Israeli government and its supporters is showing us, is the underbelly of the brutality of the conquest of other lands performed by their own European forbearers. Even to this very day, the citizens of these European nations along with the US & Canada are reaping the economic benefits of the atrocities that were hoisted upon the peoples in the so-called “New World”. There is blood on everybody’s hands, not just Bibi Netanyahu.
The ICC & the ICJ would have to list all the war crimes that many nations have committed and not simply point at Israel as if it is one rogue state amidst many others who have been the most moral. It is a subtle and on the other hand, a blatant hypocrisy.
The Balfour Declaration, which resulted in a significant upheaval in the lives of Palestinians, was issued on November 2, 1917.
The declaration turned the Zionist aim of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine into a reality when Britain publicly pledged to establish “a national home for the Jewish people” there.
This Declaration was not an anomaly fashioned out of whole cloth with no predecessor nor did it establish a precedent describing how colonies should be established. It happened 300 years after Plymouth Rock was founded by the Pilgrims in December of 1620. The disenchanted Pilgrims wanted a new land where they could settle and have religious freedom. However, they did not go to a vacant land, they made their incursion into a populated land and settled there.
The Israeli Settlers are simply a reflection of the early settlers of the Western Hemisphere who claimed it was a ‘New World” that they had the right to explore, settle upon and displace the original inhabitants. In order to do this, they too, had to see these original inhabitants as savages or sub-human. The reflection in the mirror for the entire Western World is penetrating. The cognitive dissonance that the citizens of the Western World have about their own horrendous history of death, destruction, torture, murder, famine and disease of indigenous peoples of the lands they wished to conquer, is the handmaiden of Israeli hubris.
We can barely speak of the destruction of Western civilizations, if we wish to call it that, without reflecting on how Western civilizations were established in the first place. If we ignore the backs that were stood upon and subsequently broken so that the Western world could be prosperous, plentiful and mighty then we are summarily ignoring the fundamental onus that is on them and their forefathers.
Those who self-righteously reject what the Israelis and their government are doing are committing a major disservice to their argument against Israel by ignoring their own history. That is, they must admit in the most sincere and genuine way, that they too are guilty of war crimes of the past and the present. If they do not, then their rejections are simply blowing in the winds of historical rhymes. They are telling Israel to ignore what they’ve done to establish their great nations through rape, pillage, murder, torture, displacement and devastation, and pompously demanding that Israel follow the high moral ground that they themselves do not and did not stand on. In essence, they are telling Israel, “do as we say, not as we do”.
It stand to reason, that Israel will continue to reject their baseless requisitions. It stands to reason that Israel would have no desire to adhere to anything that the ICC or ICJ would throw at them. In fact, it actually makes sense that Israel would feel embolden to ignore what these petitioners are asking them because they obviously know that heretofore these petitioners have done the exact same thing in their quest to establish their own nations’ right to self-determination. They’ve had exemplary role models for centuries in advance of just how to establish dominion over territories that were inhabited before they arrived.
Quiet as it’s kept, colonialism is a form of terrorism if the colonizers are using war fare to invade another inhabited land for the express purpose of displacing the indigenous and seizing the resources they find there.
Today we call it Zionism. In the past it was called by many other names. History shows us that the results were the same no matter the terminology that was used. Colonizers came in all stripes with varying ideologies to support their claims and rights to another’s land, property and resources. The fundamental reality is that the invaders had one intrinsic ideology, and that was to conquer the land for the purpose of Empire building. PERIOD!
From Sea To Shining Sea
In 1845, newspaper editor John O’Sullivan coined the term “Manifest Destiny” to describe the ideology of continental expansionism. Though the term was new, the ideas underlying it were much older, dating back to the first colonial contact between Europeans and Native Americans. The ideology that became known as Manifest Destiny included a belief in the inherent superiority of white Americans, as well as the conviction that they were destined by God to conquer the territories of North America, from sea to shining sea. The ideology of Manifest Destiny justified extreme measures to clear the native population from the land, including forced removal and violent extermination. For proponents of Manifest Destiny, the American Indians were mere impediments to the forward march of racial and technological progress, and they advocated pursuing a policy of Indian Removal.1
Yesteryear’s wars were fought with antiquated guns, bombs, bows and arrows, the Pony Express and Paul Revere.
Today’s wars are fought with AI targeted bunker buster bombs and social media. The only difference is the times and who’s doing the colonizing; the methodology is the same. Only when atonement & reparations are made to the indigenous of Turtle Island & the Enslaved Africans can there be genuine attrition for Israeli war crimes. Otherwise those in glass houses cannot throw stones and Israel can continue to ignore them while it continues to commit war crimes from the “River to the Sea”.
Watch This Video on Rumble: “America Is A Haunted House”
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SDE Teiman Exposes Israeli Systemic Rape
Commentary: Featuring Reporting from the Last American Vagabond
While watching Ryan Cristian’s reporting on the sexual abuse perpetrated by IDF soldiers onto Palestinian detainees, many thoughts came to mind. Ryan reported on the many horrors Palestinians endure while in the Israeli Torture Prisons that have been equated to Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp Prison in Cuba.
If the IDF are raping male prisoners, doesn’t that indicate that they have homosexual ideations? I mean, when I think about it, a man has to have an erection in order to actually penetrate someone, correct. So, if they are sexually stimulated to the point of having an erection and then to proceed to the point of raping another man, wouldn’t that be considered a homosexual act?
Then, am I to conclude that in essence, to say they can rape “non-Jews” not exclusively, female “non-Jews” aren’t they essentially saying that homosexuality is allowed when it is being performed on or with a “non-Jew”? And if so.. who is actually raping these men? Homosexual IDF soldiers?
Israel’s escalating use of torture against Palestinians in custody a preventable crime against humanity: UN experts. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/08/israels-escalating-use-torture-against-palestinians-custody-preventable
To take this construct further, are we to assume, that there are homosexuals in the IDF? And if so, and if they are raping men, then what about the wives, girlfriends & partners of these men? Or do they have female partners? And supposedly they do, or may not, are we looking at the spreading of STD’s among those who have been raped, as well as those who are raping, and including the other partners these rapists may have?
To go down this rabbit whole a bit deeper, are we seeing the spreading of sexually transmitted disease among the Israeli population that come into contact with these rapists? Is this some kind of secret health issue that is not spoken about openly?
Because seriously, we can see how repugnant the act of raping anyone is something to draw disgust. But if these rapists actually think that their behavior is only “torturing” their victims, we can certainly surmise that they are delusional.
Israel sees alarming rise in syphilis infection rates – Health Ministry Head of Belinson Hospital’s dermatology and venereal diseases department expresses concern over growing number of cases. By DR. ITAY GAL JANUARY 22, 2024 15:38 https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-783071
So, yeah, we are not just talking about torturing some nameless, hapless, defenseless Palestinian. We are talking about the long term ramification of these acts. These long term ramifications cannot and won’t be isolated within the confines of these torture prisons, but in my view, can and will impact on the entire Israeli society, or at least, anywhere these perpetrators roam.
It’s something to think about, especially if there is conscription for Israeli citizen with a few exceptions; upon reaching the age of 18 and are required to serve for at least 2 years.
Experts advise cautious approach to summer fun as drug-resistant STDs increase globally. Israel is among the many countries experiencing a dramatic increase in Sexually Transmitted Infections.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF JUNE 11, 2024 04:45 https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-805813
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Rallying for the Black Vote: Part 1
Or Is It Pandering for the Black Vote
Despite the “one drop,” multiracial, code-switching, garnering barely 1% of the vote, dropping out of a presidential election, freeing criminals, jailing innocents, debacle of a job as denied “border czar,” sleezily creeping up the slippery ladder to success, and the eerie cackling of a goose, what I want to explore with my readers is the so-called “black vote” and what and how it does or does not impact on who gets to be President of the USA.
It’s not like pandering to the African American community is a new thing heading into the 2024 election cycle. Simply put, this type of pandering goes back decades, particularly in areas where African American residents form a majority, and reached a fever pitch during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign with certain other candidates sprinkled in especially during the 20th century. What is most interesting to me in these days and times is how presidential candidates of all stripes will select a few high profile events, places and individuals to openly rally for the black vote.
The African American community is barely 15% (some say more) of the populace of the United States. And of course if there was a united voting block of individuals who identify as other than “white” that would indeed have a strong impact on the outcome of any presidential election. But the truth is that this “so-called” melting pot has not been able to merge these groups into a substantial voting block that would make even the slightest dint in the final presidential selection. The issues that swirl around all the other than “white” demographics make them hard pressed to find common ground. In fact, that common ground is hard to determine when you take into account the entire voting populace of the USA. More often than not, the voter votes against their interests rather than for them, as they are summarily divided on what their issues actually are and how any presidential candidate can effectively address them, much less do anything about them once in Office.
African American Suffrage In the USA: A Historical Perspective
The enslaved African American in the USA was denied the right to vote during their captivity for 300 years. After the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 (which freed up to 4 million enslaved Africans) was declared, the African American “males” voted in such numbers during the Reconstruction (1865-1877), installing individuals into various political offices in such numbers that have yet to be seen since.
During Reconstruction, the Republican Party in the South represented a coalition of African American people who made up the overwhelming majority of Republican voters in the region. Their vote literally set the Post Bellum South on fire, causing their former slave owner such duress they resorted to various methods to dissuade their former slaves from voting. Many southern states in 1865 and 1866 successfully enacted a series of laws known as the “black codes,” which were designed to restrict freed Black peoples’ activity and ensure their availability as a labor force. These “Jim Crow Laws” remained firmly in place for almost a century, but were finally abolished with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
After passing the Civil Rights Act (over Andrew Johnson’s veto), Republicans in Congress effectively took control of Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 required southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment—which granted “equal protection” of the Constitution to former enslaved people—and enact universal male suffrage before they could rejoin the Union.
The 15th Amendment, adopted in 1870, guaranteed that a citizen’s right to vote would not be denied “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” During this period of Radical Reconstruction (1867-1877), Black men won election to southern state governments and even to the U.S. Congress.
In less than a decade, however, reactionary forces—including the Ku Klux Klan—would reverse the changes wrought by Radical Reconstruction in a violent backlash that restored white supremacy in the South. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction
The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist organizations targeted local Republican leaders, white and Black, and other African Americans who challenged white authority. Though federal legislation passed during the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant in 1871 took aim at the Klan and others who attempted to interfere with Black suffrage and other political rights, white supremacy gradually reasserted its hold on the South after the early 1870s as support for Reconstruction waned….. By the end of 1876, the entire South was under Democratic control once again.
Freed African Americans Were Primarily Republican
In today’s world it is truly ironic to see the Democratic Party as the party that gets the most votes from African Americans when the Republican Party initially held and support African American suffrage in the Post Bellum South. After a period of decline, white Protestant nativist groups revived the Klan in the early 20th century, burning crosses and staging rallies, parades and marches denouncing immigrants, Catholics, Jews, African Americans and organized labor. Members of the KKK went underground with adherents to its dictates taking several positions in various institutions such as the police and public office to name a few. They were/are so secretive due to their attire which included hooded masks and overt denial of their participation that it has become a commonly held secret that you “never know” who’s a Clansman.
Needless to say, their acts of terrorism that included lynchings, burning of crosses, bombing of homes of African Americans and their white supporters created a significant deterrent for the freedmen to muster the determination to fight against their oppressive and terrorizing tactics. The power of the so-called Black Vote became less and less significant. It took the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s to move the bar a little closer to inclusion in the voting process in the USA. Today we see more and more African American civil and social organizations rallying and encouraging the African American to get out “the vote” for candidates that appear to be concerned with their interests. From Ward Leaders, to City Councilmen, to State Representatives, to Senators to finally the POTUS as seen in the election of Barack Hussein Obama.
However, it is still increasingly clear, that the representation of the African American concerns in this country still remain primarily unattended to in a significant way. The collective issues around education, economics, housing, politics, health care and social programs are still highly in need of attention. 13% of voting age African Americans are imprisoned and those with felonies are denied the right to vote either in prison or upon their release.
In the 15 years between 1865 and 1880, at least 13 states — more than a third of the country’s 38 states — enacted broad felony disenfranchisement laws. The theory was simple — convict them of crimes, strip away the right to vote, imprison them, and lease them out as convict labor and Blacks would be returned to a condition as close to slavery as possible.
What is the result of this history? Black Americans of voting age are more than four times as likely to lose their voting rights than the rest of the adult population. One of every 13 Black adults is disenfranchised. In some states like Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and, until recently, Florida, one in five Blacks have been disenfranchised. In total, 2.2 million Black citizens are banned from voting. Thirty-eight percent of the disenfranchised population in America is Black. https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/racist-roots-denying-incarcerated-people-their-right-vote
The topic of using prisoners for slave labor is something that this article will not be addressing. But I am sure that the Democratic Presumptive Candidate for 2024 Presidential Election, Ms. Harris is fully aware of how that works. Anyone interested in looking into it a bit further can read an intriguing book called “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander.
Get the African American Voter to Vote
What I do wish to continue with is how the African American vote became something for candidates in the political sphere of influence to rally for. Considering the many hurdles the African American had to overcome to get the right to vote which was enshrined in the 15th Amendment of 1870, and the terrorism that ensued following the Radical Reconstruction Era; we can see that voting rights for African Americans post Civil war had to be fought for and some even died for, in order for their voices to be heard. We often here in the African American community the rallying cry of “You should vote because our ancestors fought and died for the right to vote.”
I have to admit here, that I have my own opinion about this rallying cry however this article is not the context in which I wish to convey my opinion on it. I simply want to discuss the why, what and how the African American vote impacts on the electoral process of electing a President in the USA. I want to explore the numerical value of their vote, the power that these numbers have and if these numbers really make a difference in the overall scheme of things. I want to look at the population of the African Americans in this country, the number of them that are of voting age, and how those numbers tip the scale to the right or to the left of the voting machine paradigm as it relates to electing a president. I want to examine the motives, however perceived or contrived, as to why Presidential candidates find it important to pander to the African American voter when in essence they know full well that the African American voting block does not bring the sizable amount of revenue to substantially promote or support a Presidential candidate.
This is reflective of the forerunners to Obama, like Jessie Jackson, and post Obama, Cornell West. With all the African American eligible voters, why were they not able to seal their election that would place them into the white house. My question is then, why do the other Presidential Candidates pander for the African American vote when individuals from the African American demographic were not able to do so, solely on their vote.
List of African-American United States presidential and vice presidential candidates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African-American_United_States_presidential_and_vice_presidential_candidates
Does the African American voter vote “color” instead of issues? Is the African American vote based on personality, style, smooth talking, promissory notes made by a candidate, notwithstanding their ethnicity? Is the African American voter an informed voter, or are they simply lemmings who vote for the candidate who is pushed in front of them as a viable means to get their interest and concerns attended to? Or is the African American so happy to be allied with those who proport their vote really matters when in fact they know that they are more dependent on donor dollars, more than the African American voting block can ensure? How many African Americans who are eligible to vote, actually vote in numbers that make a difference in outcomes as it relates to determining who will be the next POTUS?
The number of Black Americans eligible to vote for president has reached a record 30 million in 2020, with more than one-third living in nine of the nation’s most competitive states – Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – a higher share than the 29% of all U.S. eligible voters who live in these states. Nationwide, Black eligible voters now make up 12.5% of the U.S. electorate, up from 11.5% in 2000. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/fact-sheet/facts-about-the-us-black-population/.
These are some of the questions I wish to explore in this article. At risk of making this too long, I will break it down into several parts as I move through the topic of “Rallying the Black Vote.”
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Rallying for the Black Vote: Part 1, Or Is It Pandering for the Black Vote
Despite the “one drop,” multiracial, code-switching, garnering barely 1% of the vote, dropping out of a presidential election, freeing criminals, jailing innocents, debacle of a job as denied “border czar,” sleezily creeping up the slippery ladder to success, and the eerie cackling of a goose, what I want to explore with my readers is the so-called “black vote” and what and how it does or does not impact on who gets to be President of the USA.
It’s not like pandering to the African American community is a new thing heading into the 2024 election cycle. Simply put, this type of pandering goes back decades, particularly in areas where African American residents form a majority, and reached a fever pitch during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign with certain other candidates sprinkled in especially during the 20th century. What is most interesting to me in these days and times is how presidential candidates of all stripes will select a few high profile events, places and individuals to openly rally for the black vote.
The African American community is barely 15% (some say more) of the populace of the United States. And of course if there was a united voting block of individuals who identify as other than “white” that would indeed have a strong impact on the outcome of any presidential election. But the truth is that this “so-called” melting pot has not been able to merge these groups into a substantial voting block that would make even the slightest dint in the final presidential selection. The issues that swirl around all the other than “white” demographics make them hard pressed to find common ground. In fact, that common ground is hard to determine when you take into account the entire voting populace of the USA. More often than not, the voter votes against their interests rather than for them, as they are summarily divided on what their issues actually are and how any presidential candidate can effectively address them, much less do anything about them once in Office.
African American Suffrage In the USA: A Historical Perspective
The enslaved African American in the USA was denied the right to vote during their captivity for 300 years. After the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 (which freed up to 4 million enslaved Africans) was declared, the African American “males” voted in such numbers during the Reconstruction (1865-1877), installing individuals into various political offices in such numbers that have yet to be seen since.
During Reconstruction, the Republican Party in the South represented a coalition of African American people who made up the overwhelming majority of Republican voters in the region. Their vote literally set the Post Bellum South on fire, causing their former slave owner such duress they resorted to various methods to dissuade their former slaves from voting. Many southern states in 1865 and 1866 successfully enacted a series of laws known as the “black codes,” which were designed to restrict freed Black peoples’ activity and ensure their availability as a labor force. These “Jim Crow Laws” remained firmly in place for almost a century, but were finally abolished with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
After passing the Civil Rights Act (over Andrew Johnson’s veto), Republicans in Congress effectively took control of Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 required southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment—which granted “equal protection” of the Constitution to former enslaved people—and enact universal male suffrage before they could rejoin the Union.
The 15th Amendment, adopted in 1870, guaranteed that a citizen’s right to vote would not be denied “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” During this period of Radical Reconstruction (1867-1877), Black men won election to southern state governments and even to the U.S. Congress.
“In less than a decade, however, reactionary forces—including the Ku Klux Klan—would reverse the changes wrought by Radical Reconstruction in a violent backlash that restored white supremacy in the South. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction“
The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist organizations targeted local Republican leaders, white and Black, and other African Americans who challenged white authority. Though federal legislation passed during the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant in 1871 took aim at the Klan and others who attempted to interfere with Black suffrage and other political rights, white supremacy gradually reasserted its hold on the South after the early 1870s as support for Reconstruction waned….. By the end of 1876, the entire South was under Democratic control once again.
Freed African Americans Were Primarily Republican
In today’s world it is truly ironic to see the Democratic Party as the party that gets the most votes from African Americans when the Republican Party initially held and support African American suffrage in the Post Bellum South. After a period of decline, white Protestant nativist groups revived the Klan in the early 20th century, burning crosses and staging rallies, parades and marches denouncing immigrants, Catholics, Jews, African Americans and organized labor. Members of the KKK went underground with adherents to its dictates taking several positions in various institutions such as the police and public office to name a few. They were/are so secretive due to their attire which included hooded masks and overt denial of their participation that it has become a commonly held secret that you “never know” who’s a Clansman.
Needless to say, their acts of terrorism that included lynchings, burning of crosses, bombing of homes of African Americans and their white supporters created a significant deterrent for the freedmen to muster the determination to fight against their oppressive and terrorizing tactics. The power of the so-called Black Vote became less and less significant. It took the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s to move the bar a little closer to inclusion in the voting process in the USA. Today we see more and more African American civil and social organizations rallying and encouraging the African American to get out “the vote” for candidates that appear to be concerned with their interests. From Ward Leaders, to City Councilmen, to State Representatives, to Senators to finally the POTUS as seen in the election of Barack Hussein Obama.
George Edwin Taylor in 1904, Presidential candidate of the National Negro Liberty Party
However, it is still increasingly clear, that the representation of the African American concerns in this country still remain primarily unattended to in a significant way. The collective issues around education, economics, housing, politics, health care and social programs are still highly in need of attention. 13% of voting age African Americans are imprisoned and those with felonies are denied the right to vote either in prison or upon their release.
“In the 15 years between 1865 and 1880, at least 13 states — more than a third of the country’s 38 states — enacted broad felony disenfranchisement laws. The theory was simple — convict them of crimes, strip away the right to vote, imprison them, and lease them out as convict labor and Blacks would be returned to a condition as close to slavery as possible.
What is the result of this history? Black Americans of voting age are more than four times as likely to lose their voting rights than the rest of the adult population. One of every 13 Black adults is disenfranchised. In some states like Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and, until recently, Florida, one in five Blacks have been disenfranchised. In total, 2.2 million Black citizens are banned from voting. Thirty-eight percent of the disenfranchised population in America is Black. https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/racist-roots-denying-incarcerated-people-their-right-vote“
The topic of using prisoners for slave labor is something that this article will not be addressing. But I am sure that the Democratic Presumptive Candidate for 2024 Presidential Election, Ms. Harris is fully aware of how that works. Anyone interested in looking into it a bit further can read an intriguing book called “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander.
Get the African American Voter to Vote
What I do wish to continue with is how the African American vote became something for candidates in the political sphere of influence to rally for. Considering the many hurdles the African American had to overcome to get the right to vote which was enshrined in the 15th Amendment of 1870, and the terrorism that ensued following the Radical Reconstruction Era; we can see that voting rights for African Americans post Civil war had to be fought for and some even died for, in order for their voices to be heard. We often here in the African American community the rallying cry of “You should vote because our ancestors fought and died for the right to vote.”
I have to admit here, that I have my own opinion about this rallying cry however this article is not the context in which I wish to convey my opinion on it. I simply want to discuss the why, what and how the African American vote impacts on the electoral process of electing a President in the USA. I want to explore the numerical value of their vote, the power that these numbers have and if these numbers really make a difference in the overall scheme of things. I want to look at the population of the African Americans in this country, the number of them that are of voting age, and how those numbers tip the scale to the right or to the left of the voting machine paradigm as it relates to electing a president. I want to examine the motives, however perceived or contrived, as to why Presidential candidates find it important to pander to the African American voter when in essence they know full well that the African American voting block does not bring the sizable amount of revenue to substantially promote or support a Presidential candidate.
This is reflective of the forerunners to Obama, like Jessie Jackson, and post Obama, Cornell West. With all the African American eligible voters, why were they not able to seal their election that would place them into the white house. My question is then, why do the other Presidential Candidates pander for the African American vote when individuals from the African American demographic were not able to do so, solely on their vote.
List of African-American United States presidential and vice presidential candidates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African-American_United_States_presidential_and_vice_presidential_candidates
Does the African American voter vote “color” instead of issues? Is the African American vote based on personality, style, smooth talking, promissory notes made by a candidate, notwithstanding their ethnicity? Is the African American voter an informed voter, or are they simply lemmings who vote for the candidate who is pushed in front of them as a viable means to get their interest and concerns attended to? Or is the African American so happy to be allied with those who proport their vote really matters when in fact they know that they are more dependent on donor dollars, more than the African American voting block can ensure? How many African Americans who are eligible to vote, actually vote in numbers that make a difference in outcomes as it relates to determining who will be the next POTUS?
The number of Black Americans eligible to vote for president has reached a record 30 million in 2020, with more than one-third living in nine of the nation’s most competitive states – Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – a higher share than the 29% of all U.S. eligible voters who live in these states. Nationwide, Black eligible voters now make up 12.5% of the U.S. electorate, up from 11.5% in 2000. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/fact-sheet/facts-about-the-us-black-population/.
These are some of the questions I wish to explore in this article. At risk of making this too long, I will break it down into several parts as I move through the topic of “Rallying the Black Vote.”
decacsinc 
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