Project Logic Ga

Do we really care about the future of our children because actions speak louder than words? Yes, I am concerned about the treatment of kids who recently crossed the southern border and yes, I understand that everyone from troubled nations can’t come here.

But, I am more immediately concerned with children from the American South.  If you share my concerned you will learn to read political money maps (I just coined that term.)  See, candidates and elected officials base their actions and interests on computer-generated election maps—where are the voters and for whom did they vote locally, state and nationally.  President Trump’s cabinet might very well make funding decisions on Red and Blue areas on the map.

Atlanta is the heart of Georgia; she gets more state funding because she pays more taxes.  But, the Gainesville/Hall County area gets a disproportionate amount of money because those folks vote, vote, vote. How many high-powered elected state officials are from that region?

South Georgia on the other hand is struggling with population decline and the remaining people don’t vote enough.  On the local level, leaders have computer programs that show voting down to the street and down to the house. If you want to see where local government money is spent, where roads are paved, where schools are located and where the police act nicer, you should view the election results maps.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease.  You can march up and down every street in protest but please end that march by marching into the polling place.

Conservatives have a vision of America that is basically “back to the future” and with President Trump, they finally have a leader who is brash enough to implement it.

Look here, first, you secure the borders and send the farmworkers and manual labor illegals back home.  Not to worry because the people currently receiving public assistance will be doing those jobs after those programs get tossed in the trash. You know, the schools on our side of town should get more funding because we paid most of the taxes. The Help was such a good movie.

In my community, you hear grown men break down pro and college football in the fall with scientific details….at high school football games.  Yes, sports is good clean fun and a healthy past time but I can read the election results map.  Those same loving fathers don’t vote.  They care more about kids reading defenses than kids reading Hemingway.

Those plotting conservatives long for the days when those strong Black backs would be making them money in the fields or low-wage factories.  My friends and I often say that we are all one generation from the projects.  Yes, our grands lived in the projects and were glad to be out of Mr. Charlies’ housing quarters on the Jim Crow plantation.

But, that statement is a riddle… did you catch it.  We can be back in the projects if we don’t continue to strive, if we aren’t mindful of how we carry ourselves, and if we aren’t diligent in all of our actions.  Yes, there will always be poor people but your situation should be based on your actions; not color or systematic privilege/oppression.

I bet Trump wouldn’t have won Georgia if every public housing adult resident who could vote did vote. As Democrats, we can’t keep fighting battles for people who aren’t battling for themselves.  You might not care who runs the White House and Congress but the troops on the front line of the next war will come from our part of the map.