“For more than three decades, she’s been fighting for you
and for the basic
bargain of America…if you work
hard and do your part, you should be able to get
ahead and to stay ahead,” said Baltimore's Mayor Stephanie
Rawlings-Blake in reference to two-time, presidential hopeful, Hillary Rodham
Clinton. Baltimore's mayor was "honored" to introduce Clinton
at this year’s Democratic
Nation Committee Summer Meeting. It's not clear how many more decades
before 1985 Clinton has been fighting for "the basic bargain of
America" for Americans, but given the current condition of life among
American workers, the “basic bargain of America” is no bargain at all,
especially where Black lives are concerned.
“This election is about who best
understands the pressures facing the families of America...and who has the
skills and tenacity to tackle them,” Clinton said. Unfortunately, much of
what followed the first two minutes of her speech was reminiscent of an ex
promising to change, to do better, and to fight for "you," "with
you" while never addressing how you got there in the first place.
Clinton gives a “shout out”
Clinton chuckled and gave a
"shout out" to the "grassroots movements" working to help
build her campaign. I chuckled, as I envisioned the Black Lives Matter (BLM)
movement whom Clinton dissed in New Hampshire and had recently dismissed in Cleveland. For sure, she did not
include this grassroots movement in her shout out, for when Clinton began to
speak about race while in Cleveland, representatives of the BLM movement
started chanting and were escorted from the event. Clinton continued with her
speech on race; "We've got to come to
terms with some hard truths about race in America. We do have to stand up and
loudly and clearly say black lives matter." This is true, but we cannot
merely "say black lives matter." For
no matter how loudly or clearly it was shouted at the event mere moments
earlier, Clinton’s minions silenced those voices that, in their way, demanded Clinton
"…come to terms with some
hard truths about" legislation enacted during Bill's tenure as
president—legislation that has destroyed families and lives of many Americans,
especially Black Americans.
It is no secret
that mass incarceration is more so the result of the privatization of prisons—a
direct result of former Pres. Clinton's Violent Crime Control Act—than an
increase in crime. Coincidentally, Clinton was quick to point the finger at the
GOP, but she has yet to acknowledge her husband's contributions. Ohio State
University’s, Michelle Alexander has already exposed the devastating numbers
surrounding Black incarceration in her book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age
of Colorblindness," but this time, the net has widened to include the selling of children to
private prisons for profit.
Selling Children for Profit
According to The Drug Policy
Alliance, “Two-thirds of women doing time in federal prison are behind bars for
nonviolent drug offenses, and the vast majority of them have children they
can’t even see…Harsh mandatory minimum sentencing may keep them behind bars for
20 years, 30 years, or even life.” Although this is a
devastating fact, nothing trumps the sale of countless
children by Pennsylvania
Judges Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Michael Conahan who pocketed more than $2
million selling children to private juvenile prisons? Are Americans to forget and/or ignore the acts
of those willing to sell our children into slavery to line their pockets? Can
Americans honestly say that these are the only two judges in all of America who
have profited from the sale of bodies to the private prison industry complex? Thus,
when BLM questions Clinton about her role in the private prison
industry complex, everyone should be concerned about her answer and/or
unwillingness to answer because not just Black families and lives are affected.
Work harder…longer hours
Clinton continued,
like any bad ex would, to do just what BLM had accused her of in New Hampshire:
“victim blaming.” “If [we] work hard and do
[our] part, [we] should be able
to get ahead and to stay ahead.” Maybe Clinton’s campaign would do
well to purchase a copy of David K. Shipler’s, The Working Poor: Invisible in America, a collection of narratives
of hardworking Americans who can’t seem to get ahead, no matter how hard they
try or work, which brings us to Bill’s “Minimum
wage” legislation that did more to keep working Americans in poverty than
lift them out. Ironically, Americans were outraged when, presidential hopeful,
Jeb Bush suggested working longer hours. Where is the outrage at the subliminal
suggestion that Americans are not working hard enough? Where does Clinton stand
on minimum wage? She says she’s for equal pay, but minimum wage hasn’t been
addressed.
Affordable tuition and Student loans
Making sure she
hit every topic covered by her political rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton
also mentioned affordable college tuition and student loan debt. Like a
scorned lover, I scoffed, and thought, “Now, there’s an oxymoron if ever I heard
one: affordable and student loan in the same context. Consequently, Bill
Clinton’s legislation denies working Americans the opportunity to discharge
student loans in bankruptcy while offering methods of repayment that many
cannot meet. That’s why students are strapped with insurmountable debt after
college. Imagine, Donald Trump can fold on a multi-million dollar real estate deal
by filing bankruptcy, but the average working class, college student with student
loan debt has to struggle to repay loans with, often times, two or more low
wage paying jobs. In addition, the affordable college plan Clinton hints at is
a slap in the face compared to the plan proposed by Sen.
Bernie Sanders.
In fact, much
of what Clinton mentions in her speech echoes the issues addressed by Sen. Sanders in his 12 Step
Agenda. Moreover, Clinton is merely willing to mention these issues “loudly”
and “clearly,” thinking it will relieve her of addressing the issues or providing
a clear plan for helping Americans who work hard, thus, expecting to get ahead
and stay ahead. Unfortunately, Clinton can only hide for so long, but why wait for
her to change her position on the issues, yet again? She began her speech by
telling us that we need someone “who best understands
the pressures facing the families of America...and who has the skills and
tenacity to tackle them”; she’s right. Let's be done with basic, bargain basement, politics by supporting the one person in this race who is not bargaining with special interest groups: Sen. Bernie
Sanders, the real deal.
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