I think we are going to have to come to understand that the reason black policy seems so hindered is that theres a gap between what people want and how people can get it.
What does it mean to draw the perfect play:
You can hold every politician to the fire until they talk about reparations or black only policy and say you won't vote for them.
Or...you can score points.
You can settle for 50%, 60%, or 70% your policy proposals...and regroup for future political battles. Anything you leave with is more than what you had and should not be viewed as a failure.
Points win games. Drawing the perfect play always works better in theory.
Here's the uncomfortable truth.
Theres no explicitly whites only political agendas anymore.
And you know this.
The courts would shoot it down. Even the most conservative politicians aren't openly advocating DIRECT white supremacist policies. Everyone operates with indirect coded language nuanced subversive intentions.
So here's the situation we have. For the longest while, black people were excluded LITERALLY and EXPLICITLY from legal recourse on several levels.
Then the 60s happened and all the civil rights laws passed basically for black people ended up also helping every other minority group...because theres no way to pass a "non-racist" law by targeting a race of people. You just can't do it.
So now we're in a situation where theres a growing segment of black voters who feel they were left behind and want black only policy. There are laws and policies that disproportionately affect black voters, but not directly. Even if the laws aren't explicitly targeting black people, they're made to disproportionately target us in negative ways. The problem is that when investigated its hard to pin down where the actual racism is. So when you talk about states rights, big government, voter ID, etc all you're doing is enabling white supremacist talking points but its hard to pin down because theres always plausible deniability. In response to that, white supremacists enact laws that basically hide their intentions.
How do you fix this?
You need policy thats worded smartly...
Except...you can't legally make black only policy.
And theres no white only policy on the books either.
So in essence, the conscious black community is asking for something they have to know won't ever happen.
You get around this issue by doing the following:
Lets say you want a law that targets poor black people in certain neighborhoods.
- You can't say "this law is for poor blacks in these major cities". This law would never pass any state congress, national congress, or survive in any court house.
- You get around this by saying: "In these [insert zip codes] zip codes where the poverty rate has been below 20% for the last 40 years, individuals are allowed to seek federal grants up to $XX,XXX amount for up to 20 years and interest-free loans up to $XXX,XXX amount for the next 20 years"
See the difference?
You can't target black people, because you can't target white people. The law has to be written to give the perception that its just there for everyone.
Here's the reality, you have to hide your intentions in the law.
The black community is going to have to abandon legal platitudes that are too transparent. Its never going to work and you will have to outsmart white supremacy.
Now will the bill I wrote help every black person?
No...just like every white supremacist law sometimes hurts white people. But en masse more black people will be helped than not-helped and its more that would have been helped than by holding out for a hardline political stance.
Will my bill help more black people?
YES. HELL YES. Even if it only helps 60, 70, 80% of the people targeted, those are tangible gains in the ultimate plight against white supremacist laws and policies. Holding out for the perfect law ensures you will never pass anything. EVER.
The goal is to GET POINTS ON THE BOARD. Holding out for the perfect shot is not how you win.
Everyone has to negotiate on policy, and you avoid more debilitating negotiations by bringing smarter policy proposals to the table in the first place.e
The goal is to leave with more than you came with.
My strategy works.
DONT LET THE CONSCIOUS COMMUNITY TRICK YOU. They are essentially advocating a black version of the white supremacist laws that were used against us because the language was explicitly anti-black. This. Will. Never. Happen. Those laws will never be passed and I think everyone knows this.
Do you want laws passed or not?
Theres a way to do it, and you know this.
Don't believe me?
Theres a political science concept by black academics known as the BLACK UTILITY HEURISTIC. Basically, laws can't target us because they would never get passed, so laws have to be passed to help us without explicitly targeting us. White supremacists do this basically all the time.
My goal is for this forum to start pushing smarter policy that has a chance of seeing daylight. The time for day dreaming is finished. Its time to grow up and put one foot in front of the other.
@GzUp @wire28 @Return to Forever @ezrathegreat @Jello Biafra @humble forever @Darth Nubian @Dameon Farrow @General Bravo III @BigMoneyGrip @hashmander @Call Me James @VR Tripper @Iceson Beckford @dongameister @Soymuscle Mike @BaileyPark31 @Lucky_Lefty @johnedwarduado
I thought it was just me. i'm using the coli greyscale original theme too, that grey on grey 
. But good thread tho for OP.
