Not being ‘bought off’

Recently the reelection campaign of Donald Trump, in his outreach to African-Americans, produced a meme touting the lowering unemployment rate and reduction of prison sentencing as a reason to vote for him next year.

He can quit right now, because the vast majority of us aren’t being bought off so easily. We have more character than that.

The reason is that much of our dilemma has always resulted from political, not economic, forces beyond our control. This goes back to the days of the civil-rights movement, when many of the day’s foot-soldiers belonged to the professional, academic and mercantile class — you know, the people who were already “making it.” (Most Southern cities had their share of black millionaires.) Yet they couldn’t vote and, in many places, found themselves harassed, perhaps even killed, by police or mobs were they to venture into the “wrong neighborhood.”

We see that today, and yet society refuses to address that issue. States controlled by Republican legislatures often gerrymander districts to dilute black voting power or create other barriers, most notably voter-ID laws, to suppress that vote. And let’s not forget that three years ago that now-former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the playing of the national anthem to protest police brutality — and the haters, most notably President Trump, went ballistic. Some said, “Couldn’t he have found another way to make his point?”

The short answer is “no”; the longer answer is that they don’t have the authority to determine how someone else protests when they’re not affected. See, it doesn’t matter how much money you make if a policeman stops you for no real reason, and that needs to be addressed culturally and politically.

That’s why, to us, unemployment numbers don’t mean a hill of beans. We want the ability to live in peace without being regarded suspiciously, and that will take a lot more than a few more bucks in our pockets.