This morning, while scrolling my newsfeed I stumbled upon the following headline; “Governor Pence hits the streets of Indianapolis to talk about lowering crime,” The sight of him, in that neon colored crossing guard vest caused my jaw to clench. Reading further that it was Ten Point Coalition, who allowed for this Twilight Zone-esque occasion made me nauseous.
It has been reported, that this meeting had been in the works for weeks and that the timing, which coincides with presidential candidate Donald Trump’s visit to Westfield today – where he may or may not make an announcement concerning Pence, was purely coincidental. I am absolutely not buying that and I feel that it is an insult to the community’s intelligence to even think that load of crap would fly. Pence is currently one of top choices to be named Trump’s running mate and his little walk through the hood was just one of a handful of stops he plans to make this week. He is also expected to make remarks at Expo’s Governor’s Reception today as well.
We know what Trump is about. Throughout his campaign, he has managed to isolate and disrespect several segments of society with his xenophobic, misogynistic and downright idiotic viewpoints. His vision to “Make America Great Again,” has people that look and live like me seriously wondering if that doesn’t involve us going back to live on a damn plantation or being kicked out of the country that was literally built on our backs. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the study done by Teaching Tolerance, titled The Trump Effect. The research conducted showed that schoolchildren from all across the nation literally live in fear of what is to come if this man is elected president. “My students are terrified of Donald Trump,” said one of the surveyed teachers from a middle school with a large population of African-American Muslims. “They think that if he’s elected, all Black people will get sent back to Africa.”
We also know that Pence, has exhibited some of these same problematic behaviors. Anyone remember RFRA? What about when he wouldn’t support pre-K funding? Or how about the time he tried to block aid to Syrian refugees or the time he attempted to pass what has been referred to as a “sadistic” and “draconian” abortion law. Thankfully on those last two, we had a true leader in the Hon. Tanya Walton Pratt who ruled both attempts unconstitutional.
I know why Pence and Trump are a match made in Hell but what I don’t understand is why Charles Harrison would think it’s ok to whore out his platform and influence to someone who has quite literally shown that he does not give a damn about the marginalized.
People are upset about this and I believe their rage is justified. We are sick and tired of the okey-doke. We are sick and tired of seeing our “leaders” looking cute and dumb, guzzling down the cyanide laced Kool-Aid with smiles on their faces begging us, the proletariat to have a taste. The world is watching and Black people are hurting!
How long are we going to play these dumb games, allowing whoever has a fat check, or a nice cool spot in the Big House to come on down to the quarters for a quickie whenever they want? Do you know that they are laughing at you and at us for being so damn foolish? Situations like this are one of the reasons why we as a people can’t get ahead socially and politically. They see us as a joke and as a toy to be played with. We don’t need no more damn photo opps. We don’t need no more damn “leaders” looking for the come-up at the expense of you and I. The next time a proven bigot wants to play nice and come visit, we (Black people) need to say “Hell No!” This goes for community groups, churches, social organizations, etc.
We all have some serious reflecting to do and if this pissed you off then good. I’ve done my job. We can’t keep selling ourselves out. There is far too much at stake.
