We will work together as brothers or perish as fools. Lawd, I evidently have a wide array of friends and this election season has created a civil war on my facebook page. As Rodney King famously said, “Can’t we all just get along.” Hell nawl .
This country was built on a shaky foundation—stolen from the Natives, stolen labor from Africa, women were second class citizens. At some point, there would be a correction or reconciliation. Of course, those who benefited would be reluctant to change.
Donald P. Trump didn’t create the current climate. Hell, Trump is a professional personality—more P.T. Barnum than anything. The guy is an opportunist who recognized the anger of a certain part of the population…a part of the population that really has nothing to do with him.
I appreciate Donald Trump for saying out loud what others are thinking. Basically, they want their country back—the country they stole fair and square. The country that affords certain privileges based on skin color. (Oh, don’t act like African Americans didn’t do the same thing inside our race…running behind redbones, so-called good hair etc….cast the first stone, my brother.)
Malcolm X often taught that progress starts with putting your true feelings on the table—even if you are considered wrong by others. If he was with us today, he would hate Trump’s views of Islam but appreciate him saying what was really in his twisted head.
To me, the biggest supporter of Hillary Clinton for president is Donald Trump with a properly functioning microphone. Mr. Trump, please continue to speak your mind. If Trump becomes president, those who Democrats seek to help deserve whatever the blank happens to them because they didn’t vote. I don’t like being separated from my brothers but my brothers vote.
I also appreciate the debate surrounding the Georgia amendment that would give the governor’s office the right to privatize or closed under performing schools. First, many of these schools are in our communities and kids should have good educations. However, this horrible amendment is a Trojan Horse; a hidden effort to open up school choice. Again, Malcolm X acknowledged men and women who spoke their minds rather than those who had undisclosed agendas.
Actually, school choice is a debate we can have because parents should have the options of moving their kids to private schools with a little of their money or teaching them at home. Personally, I think homeschool kids are too sheltered but that is just me.
Our community must vote because leaders make decisions involving everyone based on what they hear from the few who vote and speak up. The same people seeking to get their nation back with Trump are also trying to figure out a way to keep their kids away from certain kids and certain teachers. It’s the resegregation of the school systems.
Let me say something rough: many schools are jacked up for real. However, I am the only one who will honestly say that poor schools start with poorly prepared kids and parents. Oh, the school is a lovely building and the teachers well-trained but rotten, half-raised kids will deflate the spirit of teachers and poison the educational process for the majority of youth.
Some kids are raised by the streets and crime-oriented sexy music videos. They don’t know how to focus in school because video games have spoiled their minds. Of course, we could focus at school because we learned how to pay attention at church.
We should consider the path Blacks have taken into the middle class. If you think about it, the surest way into the middle class for many Blacks was government work: the military, civil service, nursing and most of all teaching. This election is an attack on that path because a Trump White House would make the military risky for everyone, the state governments want to privatize civil jobs and the Opportunity School Board Amendment would lead to private companies running schools. Those companies would replace experienced teachers with new educators who cost less.
Bottomline: Good communities, schools and nations don’t happen without honest debate, focused people and hard work.
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