2014 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

One of the responsibilities for the Chief Executive is delineated by Article 2, Section 3 (a): He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.  Televised State of the Union addresses are usually unexcitingly mundane political theatre, and President Obama’s 2014 speech deviated very little from his previous ones or those of other presidents in contemporary modern times. The Republican response afterwards was rather anemic and commentary by syndicated columnist David Brooks and political commentator Marc Shields on the PBS McNeil/Lehrer News Hour didn’t find much substance in the address, either.  Mr. Brooks mentioned that it lacked anything dealing with outlining policy, which he found a little disappointing, but that criticism is a usual complaint based mostly on partisan ideology. The thing is, though, the event is not the appropriate forum for policy formulation but rather serves as a national stage for the president to share his assessment on the overall health of the nation and to offer recommendations to Congress for implementation of  legislation that will, in the words of the Preamble, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity; as well as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as articulated in the Declaration of Independence.

 

President Obama is certainly not shy about heaping high praise upon First Lady Michelle Obama and her Let’s Move partnership that has supposedly contributed, based on her example, influence, and advocacy, the reduction of the upward trend in childhood obesity for the first time in 30 years. Additionally, Michelle and Jill Biden launched the Joining Forces Alliance which has been a vehicle to provide incentives for employers to hire and train more than 400,000 veterans and military spouses. I wonder if there is a website or information that can be accessed to find out how these organizations are really performing and the success rate, beyond all the rhetorical spin and fuzzy math.  Of course it is to be expected that there would be compelling human interest stories of real, hardworking Americans like teachers, farmers, autoworkers, rural doctors, pizzaria workers,  blue collar workers, female single parents, or the child of a non-English speaking factory worker.  The most emotional moment was about the life of Army Ranger Sgt. Corey Remsburg, who was severely wounded while on his tenth deployment was nearly killed by a massive roadside bomb in Afghanistan.  Sounding a note of positivity, president Obama mentioned about the rebounding housing market, rising domestic oil production levels, reduction of the deficit by more than half, and supplanting China as the number one place for business investment dollars. He also took the time to defend the burgeoning size of the federal government. President Obama said the compromise with Congress over the budget should free up time to work toward the creation of new jobs, not create new crises. He referred to the government shutdown which threatened the full faith and credit of the United States [affecting the rating on Treasury bonds in the international financial markets].

Although no specific policy was highlighted, what was introduced were numerous programs and foreign policy strategies; some old some new, such as:

 

1. The White House just organized a College Opportunity Summit where already, 150 universities, businesses, and nonprofits have made concrete commitments to reduce inequality in access to higher education.

2. Reforming the tax code because complicated loopholes that punish businesses investing here; end those incentives to ship jobs overseas, and lower tax rates for businesses that create jobs here at home (old news).

3. Create jobs rebuilding our roads, upgrading our ports, unclogging our commutes – Congress  protect more than three million jobs by finishing transportation and waterways bills .But I will act on my own to slash bureaucracy and streamline the permitting process for key projects, so we can get more construction workers on the job as fast as possible (old news).

4. High-tech manufacturing in Raleigh, North Carolina and Youngstown, Ohio where we’ve connected businesses to research universities (old news).

5. Bank loans to small business owners (old news).

6. Bi-partisan trade promotion authority to protect our workers, protect our environment, and open new markets to new goods stamped “Made in the USA”

7. A patent reform bill that allows our businesses to stay focused on innovation, not costly, and needless litigation.

8. Businesses plan to invest almost $100 billion in new factories that use natural gas. I’ll cut red tape to help states get those factories built and put folks to work, and this Congress can help by putting people to work building fueling stations that shift more cars and trucks from foreign oil to American natural gas (old news).

9. Environmental protection: strengthening protection of our air, our water, and our communities. I’ll use my authority to protect more of our pristine federal lands for future generations (old news).

10.  A smarter tax policy that stops giving $4 billion a year to fossil fuel industries that don’t need it, so that we can invest more in fuels of the future that do (old news).

11. Climate change (old news).

12. Immigration reform (old news).

13. An American Job Center – places where folks can walk in to get the help or training they need to find a new job, or better job.

14. Vice-President Biden to lead an across-the-board reform of America’s training programs to make sure they have one mission: train Americans with the skills employers need, and match them to good jobs that need to be filled right now.

15. Reforming unemployment insurance so that it’s more effective in today’s economy. But first, this Congress needs to restore the unemployment insurance you just let expire for 1.6 million people (old news).

16.  We worked with lenders to reform student loans. We’re offering millions the opportunity to cap their monthly student loan payments to ten percent of their income, and I want to work with Congress to see how we can help even more Americans who feel trapped by student loan debt (old news).

17. I asked this Congress to help states make high-quality pre-K available to every four year-old.   Race to the Top, guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education. So just as we worked with states to reform our schools, this year, we’ll invest in new partnerships with states and communities across the country in a race to the top for our youngest children. And as Congress decides what it’s going to do, I’m going to pull together a coalition of elected officials, business leaders, and philanthropists willing to help more kids access the high-quality pre-K they need (old news).

18.  Last year, I also pledged to connect 99 percent of our students to high-speed broadband over the next four years. Tonight, I can announce that with the support of the FCC and companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint, and Verizon, we’ve got a down payment to start connecting more than 15,000 schools and twenty million students over the next two years, without adding a dime to the deficit.

19.  We’re working to redesign high schools and partner them with colleges and employers that offer the real-world education and hands-on training that can lead directly to a job and career (old news).

20.  And I’m reaching out to some of America’s leading foundations and corporations on a new initiative to help more young men of color facing tough odds stay on track and reach their full potential.

NOTE: This was quite unexpected and the quietude in the Chamber was so deafening that you could hear a pin drop a midst the astonished crowd; along with the multitude of hushed whispers. NO APPLAUSE FOR THIS CAUSE.

21. Today, women make up about half our workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it’s an embarrassment. A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. It’s time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a “Mad Men” episode (old news).

NOTE: I think this is the first time that a State of the Union speech referenced a series on HBO.

22. Lifting the minimum wage to $10.10; it’s easy to remember-ten ten.

23. Let’s do more to help Americans save for retirement. I will direct the Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings: MyRA. It’s a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg. MyRA guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in.

24. And because of the Affordable Care Act” more than three million Americans under age 26 have gained coverage under their parents’ plans. More than nine million Americans have signed up for private health insurance or Medicaid coverage. And here’s another number: zero. Because of this law, no American, none, zero, can ever again be dropped or denied coverage for a preexisting condition like asthma, back pain, or cancer.  And we did all this while adding years to Medicare’s finances, keeping Medicare premiums flat, and lowering prescription costs for millions of seniors (old news).

25.  Citizenship means standing up for everyone’s right to vote. Last year, part of the Voting Rights Act was weakened. But conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats are working together to strengthen it; and the bipartisan commission I appointed, chaired by my campaign lawyer and Governor Romney’s campaign lawyer, came together and have offered reforms so that no one has to wait more than a half hour to vote (old news).

NOTE: The political commentators and pundits punted on this one, too (no pun intended).

26. Citizenship means standing up for the lives that “gun violence” steals from us each day. I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, and police officers all over this country who say “we are not afraid,” and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook (old news).

FOREIGN SECURITY/NATIONAL SECURITY:

27. And I know this chamber agrees that few Americans give more to their country than our diplomats [Benghazi consulate in Libya] and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces (old news).

28.  After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future. If the Afghan government signs a security agreement that we have negotiated, a small force of Americans could remain in Afghanistan with NATO allies to carry out two narrow missions: training and assisting Afghan forces, and counterterrorism operations to pursue any remnants of al Qaeda (old news).

29.  While we have put al Qaeda’s core leadership on a path to defeat, the threat has evolved, as  al Qaeda affiliates and other extremists take root in different parts of the world. In Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and Mali, we have to keep working with partners to disrupt and disable these networks (old news). 

30. In Syria, we’ll support the opposition that rejects the agenda of terrorist networks. Here at home, we’ll keep strengthening our defenses, and combat (old news).

31.  New threats like cyber-attacks (old news).

32. The prudent limits on the use of drones (old news; foreign/domestic??).

33. I will reform our surveillance programs – because the vital work of our intelligence community depends on public confidence, here and abroad, that the privacy of ordinary people is not being violated (old news).

34. This needs to be the year Congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanamo Bay (old news).

35. American diplomacy has rallied more than fifty countries to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands, and allowed us to reduce our own reliance on Cold War stockpiles (old news).

36. Syria’s chemical weapons are being eliminated, and we will continue to work with the international community to usher in the future the Syrian people deserve – a future free of dictatorship, terror and fear (old news).

37. American diplomacy is supporting Israelis and Palestinians as they engage in difficult but necessary talks to end the conflict there; to achieve dignity and an independent state for Palestinians, and lasting peace and security for the State of Israel – a Jewish state that knows America will always be at their side (old news).

38. Iran has begun to eliminate its stockpile of higher levels of enriched uranium [sanctions??]. It is not installing advanced centrifuges. Unprecedented inspections help the world verify, every day, that Iran is not building a bomb.

39. Iran’s support for terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, which threaten our allies (old news).

40.  Our alliance with Europe remains the strongest the world has ever known.

NOTE: Is this statement overlooking the NSA documents about U.S. spying on their allies, thanks to Eric Snowden?

41. From Tunisia to Burma, we’re supporting those who are willing to do the hard work of building democracy. In Ukraine, we stand for the principle that all people have the right to express themselves freely and peacefully, and have a say in their country’s future. Across Africa, we’re bringing together businesses and governments to double access to electricity and help end extreme poverty. In the [South] Americas, we are building new ties of commerce, but we’re also expanding cultural and educational exchanges among young people. And we will continue to focus on the Asia-Pacific [containment/restraining China], where we support our allies, shape a future of greater security and prosperity, and extend a hand to those devastated by disaster (old news).

42. As this time of war draws to a close, a new generation of heroes returns to civilian life. We’ll keep slashing that backlog so our veterans receive the benefits they’ve earned, and our wounded warriors receive the health care – including the mental health care – that they need. We’ll keep working to help all our veterans translate their skills and leadership into jobs here at home. And we all continue to join forces to honor and support our remarkable military families (old news).

 

 

Robert Randle

776 Commerce St. #B-11

Tacoma, WA 98402

January 30, 2014

robertrandle51@yahoo.com

 

Is Richard Sherman vindicated and Michael Crabtree vilified?

It has been nearly a week since Seattle Seahawks Defensive Cornerback Richard Sherman’s postgame victory rant to FOX Sports reporter Erin Andrews, which has gone viral on the Internet. The thing is though, a sincere apology from Sherman and a fine in excess of $7,800 from the NFL for taunting, notwithstanding, there are several things that need to be put into perspective. The first thing that has to be admitted is Sherman’s behavior in that moment of his interview was unprofessional, but it does not mean he has “no class.” In fact, his class was on display after the game winning deflection of San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick’s pass to Wide Receiver Michael Crabtree that as both players were walking off the field, a jubilant Sherman patted Crabtree on the backside and said, “Hell of a game.” An understandably dejected Crabtree did not acknowledge Sherman, and rebuffed his gesture with a swing of his arm toward Sherman’s shoulder or facemask. In all due fairness to Crabtree, he almost made an incredible catch that would have sealed Seattle’s fate, and the San Francisco Forty-Niners would have been representing the NFC in Super Bowl XLVIII. Obviously, the weight of that fact was not lost on Crabtree and so because he is such a competitor, as well as feeling a little bit like he might have let his team down, he acted the way that he did; but that was of course, on the field.

Now to break it down a little more: This was the third meeting between the Forty-Niners and Seahawks in this football season and there is probably no love lost between these two professional sports franchises, coaches and their fans; let alone the players.  As always, the media likes to stir things up and will exploit to the fullest any trash talking or incident for maximum effect, and such is the case in this case.  Any casual viewer of the Seattle Seahawks games cannot but notice Richard Sherman always talking because that’s just the way he is. Even during interviews after the game, on more than one occasion Richard Sherman not only likes to talk into the mic and in front of the camera. He also likes to play like a reporter by taking the mic and asking some of his fellow teammate’s questions, too. With all that being said, Q13 FOX, in true 12th man true blue-green Seahawk fashion, expended considerable resources to vindicate Richard Sherman but allowing the viewing audience to hear a recording of what was said on the field after the Seahawks victory; which has been broadcast over and over again every day since last Sunday. Sports Director Aaron Levine is especially annoying, and I think Michelle Ludtka should replace him because she is a better sportscaster, period. The one thing that I think portrayed Richard Sherman in the negative light that it did was during his tirade, he called out Crabtree as “second-rate” and by saying, “This is what happens when you try to test/challenge me” [paraphrasing Sherman].

I can understand why Coach Pete Carroll and The Seahawks organization wanted to do damage control in a hurry, and get this matter behind them and not let it take on a life of its own, and become a distraction leading up to and possibly during game day. Strategically, Richard Sherman talked about his behavior was not who he really was, and the outburst was just a side of him as a player in the heat of a hard-fought battle, and it was not personal. Then there was the Sherman family biography with his parents especially praising Richard’s academic accomplishments as an Honor’s Student in High School and Stanford graduate with a BA in Communications. Such a wonderful picture and not that of a “thug” drafted strictly for athletic ability. There was also mention of the charity work that Richard Sherman is involved in, but many professional sports athletes give back to the community or get involved in helping others; Crabtree probably does the same, as well as other San Francisco Forty-Niners. In fact, the Forty-Niners or their fans are involved in a local charity in the South Sound (Seattle or thereabouts).

One final point: I wonder if there would have been the same concern or outrage if Richard Sherman had done his Dennis Rodman high-on-somethin’ ranting and raving persona in front of reporter Pam Oliver [who reportedly said that the 12th man wasn’t all that great; at least to her] instead White reporter Erin Andrews.

 

Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
January 25, 2014
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

Rise of the Drones

The Tacoma News Tribune featured an article on December 30, 2013 by Associated Press reporter Michelle Kindles, about the growing business of unmanned aerial drones, and the six states that have been awarded contracts so far; Washington State was not among the bidders for this newly evolving and potentially profitable commercial industry. Drones are supposed to be used by the military in the War on Terror to destroy al-Qaida insurgents in the Arabian Peninsula and Pakistani Taliban in Afghanistan, not soaring overhead in American airspace. Proponents of this venture talk about the benefits to farmers, private businesses, the government (state/federal), and research opportunities for colleges and universities. The detractors on the other hand express “right of privacy” concerns and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) wants to introduce la bill before Congress that would prohibit searches for illegal activity without a warrant. ACLU attorney Catherine Crump wants Congress to act now and enact legislation that would have nationwide privacy protections before the skies are filled with drones.  If this isn’t bad enough, American citizens are increasingly placed under surveillance at-shopping malls, courtrooms, public libraries, art galleries, hotels, schools/colleges, government buildings (county, city, state, federal), sporting events, and watched by traffic cameras as we drive through intersections, etc. And thanks to Whistleblower Eric Snowden, the NSA has been collecting data on our personal/private cellphone conversations without our knowledge or permission.

In fact, Lawrence Hurley of Reuters was featured in Tacoma News Tribune January 18, 2014, NATION&WORLD section (page A-13), writing about 2 cases (Riley v California; U.S. v Wurie) that are scheduled to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, and the legal issue is “Whether police can search a criminal suspect’s cellphone [for evidence] after he has been arrested, without a search warrant”? Just like with the unmanned aerial drones, can law enforcement use technology in criminal prosecutions by extending the range of the “plain view” doctrine from a thousand feet up in the sky by the use of a telephoto camera lens of a residential home suspected of growing marijuana plants? It is all about protecting the Fourth Amendment guarantee which prohibits unreasonable search and seizures without a valid search warrant based upon “probable cause;” not on general principle, intuition, a lucky break, or some other chance and circumstance. This Brave New World or the “new normal” in America is beginning to look more like North Korea, the People’s Republic of China, or some totalitarian regime in the Middle East where, like with them, the increasing police powers of the state are slowly but surely eroding our civil liberties and privacy rights/right to an intimate life without government putting its nose into our personal business. What will be the next constitutional and fundamental right taken away or abridged? Is it like Gil Scott Heron of the Last Poets who defines “F-R-E-E-D-O-M” as free doom?

Of course one can always look on the bright side of things and say these changes are just growing pains and that American society, like the forecast on the economy in 2008, is strong and good. But wait, didn’t the Meltdown on Wall Street happen soon afterward? Perhaps not too much will be made of drones flying overhead and like most things, will be so commonplace that one will hardly notice, or it could be like the old saying, “The road to HELL is paved with good intentions.”

 

Robert Randle

776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
January 20, 2014
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

A treatise on how to gain real Em-P-O-W-E-R-ment for Black people

The African-American community is at a crossroads. High unemployment, gang activity, drug abuse, failing schools, and soaring rates of incarceration among Black males wreak havoc among us. The simple answer would be to blame it all on “racism” but this is not a strategy for liberation.  In order to simplify things and get to the heart of the matter I will quote the words of Jesus: “You will know the truth and it will set you free.” The first thing to acknowledge is that we have been lied to and continue to receive this ‘cultural brainwashing.’ We have been told that we live in a Democracy but our form of government is Republican, according to the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, Section 4). We are taught the path to success is getting a college degree but that is not necessarily true in every case. And even so, all it makes you is a well-paid, educated slave.  Curtiss Mayfield of the 1970’s Soul group ‘The Impressions,’ once said in one of his songs: “Educated fools from uneducated schools.”  This does not mean that he feels the value of higher learning is useless, but rather that accumulating a lot of information and facts isn’t the same thing as knowing ‘truth’ and how the real world works.

During the Civil Rights period we had two choices-Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm-X.  The former won out over the latter because this is what White America wanted- a harmless-as-a-dove slave that believed all the lies. MLK’s stance on non-violence was correct, at least strategically, in view of our circumstances and experiences in this country, but he was naïve and overestimated the capacity of the racists in having a moral conscience. Malcolm-X, on the other hand understood this perfectly and explains much of his harsh language and fiery rhetoric in denouncing the White man, at least in the beginning, as “Blue-eyed devils.” MLK might have used the Bible and faith in God as his guiding principle but he did not know TRUTH.  Malcolm-X, on the other hand, understood “reality,” that is, how things operate in this world system, especially American imperialism and hegemony; he therefore knew TRUTH. MLK was driven by pie-in-the -sky theological yearnings and suffering for rewards in the afterlife, and while such is a viable part of the Christian path, it does not mean one must be blind to the things that are happening right before our very eyes.

It is important to understand the nature of “power” and no better practical explanation of it can be found than the one offered by actor Jim Davies of the popular TV show of the 1980’s, “Dallas.” In one episode, Bobby Ewing (played by actor Patrick Duffy) was complaining to his father Jock Ewing (played by Davies) about the underhanded way his brother J.R. (played by actor Larry Hagman) took over control of Ewing Oil company after Jock appointed him to run it, at first. Jock, angry at the whining of his younger son, said, “Nobody gives you power, Bobby, you take it.” This is the ‘answer’ in a nutshell because as long as you are dependent on someone giving you something then you don’t have power; at least in the true sense of the word. Take for instance the stories about immigrants who came to America and created businesses and major industries. They weren’t given anything but created with imagination, perseverance, and a little luck, an industrial renaissance that gradually changed the country into a manufacturing juggernaut.

 

Marxism says that a significant minority [status quo] controls the factors of production as well as the distribution of goods and so it seems obvious what we need, as a starting point, is to recreate our own ‘power’ by making things, selling goods and services that can be exchanged and sold as currency in the marketplace, whether domestically or internationally. We have to own our own businesses using our own money and learn to create generational wealth. The lessons learned from the 2008 Wall Street meltdown is the tremendous power and influence of the banking and insurance companies [AIG], and that is where the ‘institutionalized power’ is because some of them were deemed, “too big to fail.” Blacks need to understand about  financing, investment banking, the stock market, international business and emerging markets, and we must take a huge stake in or control some of the major industries in America like transportation, chemicals, insurance, technology, commodities, telecommunications, banking, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, utilities, oil and gas etc.

As a last point we have to remember that we are part of one vast Black community, no matter the city we live in- whether urban, rural, metropolitan, town, or village. We are part of the African “Diaspora” and while it is not of necessity to return to the mother Continent, but we do have to link up in an unbroken chain of cultural solidarity with people of color all over the planet-in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Central and South America, India, First Nations people, Pacific Islanders, Australian aborigines, etc. If people of color are in need of help why do we have a “White Savior” come to the rescue-such as an international Pop star like Bono, Sting or some American movie celebrity? If Black people can come together for a “Million Man” march why can’t the same type of organizing take place where, for instance,  every Black person or working family in America donate just one dollar that will go towards alleviating some specific need in the Black community? This would generate millions of dollars and we could gradually take care of many of our own problems without asking for one dime from others or the government. The money could provide computers and Internet services to a neighborhood with at-risk kids by bridging the “digital divide.” We could also keep community clinics operating just a little bit longer that provide basic healthcare services for those who have no insurance or can’t pay for treatments or examinations.  We could also use the money to pay daycare services for working single-parents who take public transportation to work or college, and other such things that are necessary. As Soul Brother # 1, James Brown said in one of his songs, “I don’t want nobody to give me nothing, open up the door I’ll get it myself.”  

 

Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
July 20, 2013
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

 

WA State Supreme Court Justices concede bias in jury selection process

In a Tacoma News Tribune, August 2, 2013 article, WA State Supreme Court Justices mention about racial bias in process by which jurors are selected in criminal trials. The Justices acknowledge there is ‘persistent’ racial bias in jury selection but there is no agreement on what the remedy should be. This concern stems from the case of Kirk Saintcalle who was convicted in the murder of Anthony Manzo. Saintcalle complained that the Prosecution struck the only potential black from the jury pool using what is called a “preemptory challenge.” This procedure is used in the court by lawyers to disqualify or exclude someone from serving as a juror because it is believed they would not be impartial. Some of the Justices concede that “race is often a factor . . . when lawyers use their preemptory challenges to dismiss potential jurors from cases.” Justice Steven Gonzales wrote that throughout the state this strategy is based on racial stereotypes and that it is [frequently] invoked to exclude people from jury service strictly based on race. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Gonzales have called for the elimination of preemptory challenges in jury trials, altogether.

WA Supreme Court Justice Charlie Wiggins cited Batson v Kentucky as legal precedent to show that institutional discrimination still exists in jury selection.  According to “Wikipedia” this was a case in 1986 where James Kirkland Batson, an African American man, was convicted of burglary and receipt of stolen goods. During the voiere (questioning) of jurors the Prosecution dismissed 4 potential Black jurors and Batson was convicted by an all-White jury. The defendant appealed his conviction to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which affirmed the conviction. That court cited Swain v. Alabama, and held that a defendant alleging lack of a fair cross section must demonstrate “systematic exclusion” of a group of jurors from the panel of prospective jurors. That is, the defendant had to show that not just in his case, but as a process, juries in his community were being constructed so as to not represent a cross section of that community. Batson continued his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted Writ of certiorari to decide whether petitioner was tried "in violation of constitutional provisions guaranteeing the defendant an impartial jury and a jury composed of persons representing a ‘fair’ cross section of the community.

In a 7–2 decision authored by Justice Lewis Powell, the Supreme Court ruled in Batson's favor. The court overruled Swain v. Alabama by lowering the burden of proof that a defendant must meet to make a prima facie case of purposeful discrimination. In Swain, the Court had recognized that a "State's purposeful or deliberate denial to Negroes on account of race of participation as jurors in the administration of justice violates the Equal Protection Clause", but that the defendant had the burden of proving a systematic striking of black jurors throughout the county, that is, that the peremptory challenge system as a whole was being perverted. In Batson the court ruled that the defendant could make a prima facie case for purposeful racial discrimination in jury selection by relying on the record only in his own case. The Court explained:

The defendant first must show that he is a member of a cognizable racial group, and that the prosecutor has exercised peremptory challenges to remove from the venire [jury pool] members of the defendant's race. The defendant may also rely on the fact that peremptory challenges constitute a jury selection practice that permits those to discriminate who are of a mind to discriminate. Finally, the defendant must show that such facts and any other relevant circumstances raise an inference that the prosecutor used peremptory challenges to exclude the veniremen from the petit jury on account of their race. Once the defendant makes a “prima facie” showing, the burden shifts to the State to come forward with a neutral explanation for challenging black jurors.

The Court also held that:

• A State denies a black defendant equal protection when it puts him on trial before a jury from which members of his race have been purposely excluded;
• A defendant has no right to a petit jury composed in whole or in part of persons of his own race. [NOTE: Wouldn’t this apply to White people, too?] However, the Equal Protection Clause guarantees the defendant that the State will not exclude members of his race from the jury venire on account of race, or on the false assumption that members of his race as a group are not qualified to serve as jurors.

The Sixth Amendment states “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed. . .” It DOES NOT say that you have to be tried by a jury of your peers and the Courts have at times, interpreted this phrase in various ways. Just as important, if not more so is the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1b, which says, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Whether the criminal defendant is guilty or not isn’t the issue but rather that the individual receives a fair trial and jurors are not systematically excluded if a racial minority, in a trial involving a person of color.

How would it be if a white criminal defendant faced an all-Black jury, would their attorneys not issue a ‘prima facie’ challenge about the exclusion of white jurors? Well, if it is seen as absurd to have Black jurors deliberate in trials of White people then by the same “equal protection” logic it is even more so for Black criminal defendants to have their fates decided by White people. Is it because Black people cannot understand all the discovery (evidence) and legal arguments between the Prosecution and Assigned Counsel (Defense), or are racial minorities more sympathetic toward criminal behavior? White people are not any more law-abiding, moral, or intelligent than anybody else, so their disproportionate numbers as jurors has to be balanced with inclusion of more non-Whites to bring integrity and respect to the Justice system, as well as the courts that it has never enjoyed in quite some time, or at all; especially from disenfranchised persons of color.

 

Robert Randle
776 Commerce St #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
August 3, 2013
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

Still on the Plantation: Hip Hop and White male Hegemony

I have had some time to think about problems besetting the Black community that is evidenced in rap/hip hop music videos and lyrics. Let me get to the heart of the matter by making this bold declaration: “ENSLAVEMENT OF BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA HAS NEVER ENDED.” I know many will say this is absurd because of The Emancipation Proclamation issued by president Abraham Lincoln ‘officially’ ended slavery in 1862. Next thing is you will remind me about the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments [1868-1870] to the U.S. Constitution included in the Bill of Rights as proof that I am off my rocker; Well, let’s just see if this is the case or not. The first thing that should be obvious to any rational thinking person is that no one can give you something that you already possess as a human being with the  alienable right to life, liberty [freedom], and the pursuit of happiness. Subsequently, anything that is ‘given’ can be taken away, abrogated, ignored, and doesn’t really belong to us in the first place because it is artificially created. Any legislative act by itself cannot truly make people free; especially if it undermined by structural and institutional mechanisms whose primary functions are to keep so-called ‘freed’ people on the plantation.  The shackles of iron formerly worn around our ankles and wrists are now the glittery BLING BLING rings on rappers fingers and gold chains hanging around their necks. There is an old African proverb that those who don’t know their history are dead, thus the name ‘Negro’ etymologically means “dead.” Our ancestral memories, traditions, religion, and distinctive tribal customs were tortured out of us, a type of cultural genocide or ethnic cleansing [brainwashing], which has no parallel in the history of the world. Now when it comes to the mixed messages coming from the African-American community about gangsta rap, well the Black community is under siege. The rappers who talk about being in a state of war are right on the money, the thing is though, and they stop a little short of fully explaining it. Many soldiers coming back from the battlefield war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan are diagnosed as suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), well, in a similar way this is what is happening to black people in America.

The seeds of the ‘dysfunctional’ Black family were planted long ago and it is just now producing the fruit of violent and angry young Black men. I don’t know if it is amusing or sad to see Black intellectuals try to explain the problem in front of the White-controlled media because when the cameras are rolling they like to clown just like the young rappers whom many of them criticize. It’s like singer Curtiss Mayfield of the 1970’s Soul group ‘The Impressions’ once said, “Educated fools from uneducated schools.” It seems to me that no one is asking the right question and therefore the answer is still elusive. I have a thought-travel to any part of the world where there is a war [sectarian, religious ethnic, regular, etc.] going on and observe the people, infrastructure and living conditions, then come back to American and compare what you saw there to the scenes in some Black [and Latino] communities in this country. I would speculate there is very little difference and I am also sure the people are very angry about how they are living in such deplorable conditions and if they could write rap lyrics about their experiences in English it would sound quite familiar as far as tone or feeling. It is laughable when some well-meaning saviors think the answer is more money because if that was the case, with all the billions of dollars that have been spent over the years, especially in education [the linchpin of Conservatives and many Liberals] most of our problems would be solved, according to them. Critics like FOX News Bill O’Reilly, other Conservative demagogues and a few token Blacks in the news media say it is the fault of Blacks themselves for their dismal state of affairs. Blacks have been freed from slavery, given citizenship, legal protections, the right to vote, free education, affirmative action, integration, employment opportunities, and just about everything else that the White man has, so what gives-why can’t they make it or be more law-abiding?

Well, back on the plantation in the ante-bellum Southern states some slaves served in the Big House and had a few more privileges than the field slaves. Now get this, only a very small number worked inside with and around the master and his family, even raising his children while the overwhelming majorities were treated quite differently.  In other words, even a brutish and racist master can reward one slave with favors and advancement while denying the same opportunity to another one if in doing so it serves his purposes. This is how the unequal system is maintained because it was never intended to bring everyone up to the same level. The master even enjoyed some entertainment by forcing two strong bucks [physically powerful and muscular Mandingo warrior-types] to battle each other for his pleasure, and no other reason. And even as awesome as the slave was he was still obedient to the master’s whip, rope, or gun. The trauma of experiencing torture, especially terror and fright are recorded in our DNA and transmitted generationally in our genes. Black people have been psychologically traumatized and “raped” by the White Euro-American male hegemony and the perpetrator of this crime against humanity is “above the law.” Not only that but he feigns benevolence by giving us the dope of social service programs and promises that we eagerly take and inject into our veins like heroin, but all this does is make us more dependent on the drugs in the first place. Then when we are all strung out he gives us another drug to wean us off the addiction of this opiate in the form of social methadone; of which we become addicted to the cure. What we desperately need is mental health and counseling services but there is no doctor in the house. The Conservatives and others say, “It’s not my problem-heal yourself.” And of course one of the main obstacles to being treated for any medical problem is to deny that anything is wrong and thinking that you are doing just fine; then the next thing you know you are in the ICU suffering from Cardiac Arrest or pronounced DOA and R.I.P. [you’re deceased].

What about Black men’s hyper masculinity, sexuality, misogyny, thug life and gangsta pose? It’s quite elementary my dear Sherlock-our seeming crazy, inconsistent, incoherent and erratic at times behavior in and out of the lyrics is the result of inner turmoil, struggle and tension expressed as an outward sign that we are in pain and hurting. Collectively, all the Black community is affected; it is just that some of us show outward signs of the progression of the malignancy more than others. The Black man has been the White man’s or slave master’s “cultural/social eugenics” experimental lab rat for so long he really doesn’t how to be a man. The corporate recording industry is “punkin” him or pimping him out through hip hop lyrics and like any loyal ‘star’ in Big Daddy’s stable, you bring him the money so he can break you off a few ends. The most visible evidence of this “new racism” is in the “N” word because brothers who use it and think that somehow they have taken the power from it shows they do not understand the enemy, their history, or themselves for that matter. By the mere fact that they come off a certain way in the music videos and lyrics is only being a tool of the very racists [not just simply the P-O-l-I-C-E] that they claim to be fighting against. I was just thinking about Nelly’s “Tip Drill” and if ever there was a video that should be in the racists showcase, it is this one. The twist in that video is this: The White recording producers, executives and commercial industry represent the brothers throwing cash money at the women [rappers] who are performing for their pleasure. I think it is a love/hate relationship with the White power structure. On the one hand you hate him for what he has done, and continues to do to you collectively as a group, and yet on the other hand you want to be just like him or have the things that he represents [wealth, power, fame, king of the hill, and objectifying  women]-like a son wanting to emulate his father. It perhaps explains why many successful male rappers identify with the persona of someone like Donald Trump, and although there are wealthier men, he stands out as flamboyant, swag, [money, clothes, women-“Notorious B.I.G”], livin’ large, and he’s a real New York, Big Apple playa.

To wrap all this up, Dead Prez in the song, “It’s Bigger than Hip Hop” gives the key to the entire dilemma with such lyrics as.: “Got us slavin for the welfare, aint no food, clothes, or healthcare. “ “Ay dogg that label is that slave ship, owners got them whips and rappers are slaves.” “Aint never seen no hope, brainwash video shows be foolin my folk.” “It's bigger than all these fake ass records when poor folks got the millions and my woman's disrespected.” “MC's get a little bit of love and think they hot, talkin' 'bout how much money they got-You would rather have a Lexus or justice; A dream or some substance; A Beamer, a necklace or freedom?” “Still a nigga like me don't playa' hate, I just stay awake[to what the true game is really all about].” The most important quote is from Master MC Jesus, who said, “You shall know the Truth and it will set you free.” You see, we have been programmed to celebrate July 4th, but as MLK astutely observed decades ago, “The Negro is not yet free [in America].” The Revolutionary War of 1776 freed the colonists from British rule but it didn’t free us [from the colonists rule and their descendants]. Our Revolution and Declaration of Independence is yet in the future as the struggle to achieve it is ongoing, and the weapon we must use today is ‘Truth;’ not guns or insulting and offensive words. Learn the lessons from the past and reread the war manuals passed down in the legacy of writings from original OG’s such as The Black Panthers, the last Malcolm X speech and other soldiers of the Movement, when the consciousness of Black people really started to awaken and many of them saw the chains that were wrapped around their and our minds.

 

Unfortunately, the one casualty in this current cultural war is “ignorance” exhibited by our rapping brothers and the collateral damage is Black women depicted as hoochies, hoe’s, bitches, tricks, skeezers, and baby mommas. To correct Reef and The Lost Cauze’s tribute to Trayvon Martin where it voices a threat to George Zimmerman, “The hunt [war] is on and you are the prey.” No, the war is on and has been for millennia against people of color, and we are the prey. I could not end this without a final word as it relates to all the brothers who brag about how they have been so successful but to me they are the modern “house niggas” (you know who you are) and the ‘real’ soldiers in the struggle are the “field niggas” who haven’t been pimped out or compromised the integrity of Hip Hop just to get paid-even though the rent is due. But it is a much bigger issue than any one Black male rapper or the female performers in the videos but rather there has to be another way to represent ourselves positively and earn a decent living at the same time. What is needed in the Black community is for us to reclaim our collective womanhood and manhood. I believe this movement towards recovery has to be Black women-led because they are the mothers of civilization and moral teachers of our children. We need to clean up our act one family and one house at a time without the pity party, victimization, and playing the convenient “race card because blaming White America is not a strategy-It’s a little more complicated than that. Just Keepin’ It Real.

Robert Randle

776 Commerce St #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
July 30, 2013
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

George Zimmerman found Not Guilty

There are many who will say that this unexpected verdict is just another example of the racist justice system that exonerates Whites who perpetrate crimes against a persons of color, proving once again that there is “No Justice, J-U-S-T US [against Them].” The all-White female jury found George Zimmerman not guilty in the murder of Black teenager Trayvon Martin. Was this a case of ‘racial profiling’ similar to Driving While Black (DWB), or rather in this particular situation, wearing a “hoodie” and seen walking in a neighborhood where Trayvon wasn’t expected to be and he stood out like a sore thumb? I found the last day of the trial quite interesting, especially when the Judge’s instructions and the Prosecutors closing arguments to the jury before their deliberation where they were told, “Although there might not be enough proof. . .”

Additionally, the judge instructed jurors to consider Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law in their deliberations, but it was not an issue in the case because Zimmerman wasn’t on trial for violation of that criminal statute, but for Second Degree Murder and Manslaughter. To me this is a technical error that should be challenged legally on the grounds that such statements would or should have cast some doubt in the minds of jurors, causing bias and possibly influencing them to render a fair and impartial decision. The other aspect of the trial that was the most important concerns the charges of Second Degree Murder and Manslaughter.  In order to prove this accusation or charge in Court the Prosecution had to raise the threshold from “beyond a reasonable doubt” to almost “absolute certainty” in the mind of jurors to get a guilty verdict.

I don’t think the evidence and witness testimony were sufficient to prove that George Zimmerman “murdered” Trayvon Martin intentionally, but rather that there is the likely possibly he unwittingly “caused the death” of this teenager. Using BUT/FOR and “IT IS REASONABLE THAT” analogy in Criminal law- BUT/FOR George Zimmerman stalked Trayvon Martin he would not have died [on that day]. IT IS REASONABLE THAT in a struggle involving someone with a gun such a person could get killed. The issue for me is not so much the absence of any person of color on the jury panel, but that the elements were present according to  FL Criminal Law Statutes, as in the following:

782.04 Murder.—

(1)(a)  The unlawful killing of a human being:

2.  When committed by a person engaged in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate, any:

n.  Aggravated stalking,

784.048 Stalking

a) “Harasses” means to engage in a course of conduct, directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress in such person and serves no legitimate purpose. “Aggravated stalking” requires the stalker to willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follow or harass another person, and make a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury.

Also, was there structural racism from the very beginning because the Sanford FL police initially arrested then quickly released Zimmerman at the beginning and the Police Chief refused to even charge George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin until public opinion and comments by President Obama put pressure on law officials to at the very least re-arrest Zimmerman? Although the State has the Burden of Proof and in this trial strategy Prosecution orchestrated the appearance of equal justice, and entertained trial-watchers like a Three-Ring Circus, the outcome had all but been decided, as the evidence submitted during Discovery was flimsy or inconclusive they more or less ensured Zimmerman’s acquittal on all charges?

I think one of the things that everyone seems to gloss over is what the one unnamed juror that has been speaking out about the case. She says that initially 3 of them (including her) found Zimmerman ‘not guilty’ but 2 jurors found Zimmerman ‘guilty’ of Second Degree Murder and the final juror found him ‘guilty’ of Manslaughter. My question is this: “How could 3 jurors after the 16 ½ hours of deliberation reverse their previous positions in such a radical shift of opinion  where all of them completely change their minds and found Zimmerman innocent of all charges?” I can understand if one, maybe two of the jurors changed their minds, but all three; this is highly irregular and I think there should be an investigation into jury tampering because at the very least the verdict should have resulted in a hung jury (5 votes for acquittal and 1 vote for guilty). This would have meant a retrial at a later date and a more reasonable judicial outcome instead Zimmerman walking with no culpability for Trayvon’s death whatsoever.

I am also critical of the media’s role in ‘racializing’ the issue in such a way that everyone is so caught up in this incident that they are using Trayvon’s death, as well as his parents grief to further their own personal agendas.  There has been a lot of talk about possibly revising “Stand Your Ground” laws in about 30 states, and even the NRA has weighed in on this by saying that this is a Second Amendment issue, and still for others it is another case of “racial profiling” (wearing a ‘hoodie’). While all these concerns are legitimate there might be an even bigger debate that needs to be enjoined besides the one race relations, namely-America’s wild, wild, west shoot-em’-up mentality; and walking around with a gun on your hip. All of the frenzy distracts us from the real deal here, and that is George Zimmerman made a stupid decision, a rush to judgment, and because of his careless and reckless abandon of common sense and responsible behavior, unwarranted and unprovoked actions, caused the death of a black teenager.

President Obama was mistaken when he said that if Trayvon Martin had been carrying a gun when Zimmerman came up on him then he would have been legally justified in shooting Zimmerman under the “Stand Your Ground” law. The problem with his example is that if Trayvon would have had a gun, and being a Black teenager, I am not so sure that the FL law and the Prosecutor would have seen it quite so simply. I think Trayvon would have been charged with felony Assault or attempted Murder, and if Zimmerman would have been killed, Trayvon would have been charged with Murder and convicted by an all-White jury. The reality is this-If Trayvon had been a White kid that Zimmerman shot and killed we wouldn’t even be talking about this because Zimmerman would have been charged and found guilty of Murder-case closed. The one good thing about our system of justice is that it has many layers and Zimmerman is not out of the woods yet because the attorney for the Martin family can appeal the decision to the Justice Department on Civil Rights violations or as a Hate Crime -so it’s not over by a long shot.

 

Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
July 22, 2013
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

 

 

 

Is America on the verge of Techmageddon?

It has been said that life imitates art, and if that is true humanity may well be one the verge of ushering in the dawn of a bleak future; one in which man is not master, but the machine. The technology which has developed surveillance cameras to spy on our activities, almost anywhere people gather there is an electronic, all-seeing “eye” watching and keeping track of our every move.  George Orwell published the book “1984” in 1949 about a society very much like the direction that America is heading. In this account people live under a totalitarian state which uses weapons of propaganda and public mind-control to maintain the status quo. Big Brother is an enigmatic, unseen, semi-divine symbolic leader who lurks in the shadows above the visible ruling party. Popular social institutions are merely tools of the system whose primary function is to reinforce obedience toward acceptance of the politically-correct revisionist history rewritten in newspapers and books (all media sources) of reality. It is the ultimate social control for the greater good. With that in mind, the 911 terrorist attacks was the tipping point and paradigm shift in national domestic policy because it empowered the government to subordinate constitutionally guaranteed privacy rights to The Patriot Act, creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Adding to this point is the political and military influence on foreign policy in the presence of unmanned aerial drones, which are presently used in the “War on Terror” with a mission to seek, search out and destroy al-Qaeda leadership wherever they may be hiding, but once American combat troops pull out of Afghanistan in 2014, what will be done with this expensive and exquisitely sophisticated technology? Will these formidable and deadly toys which were used to kill people (insurgents, enemy combatants as well as civilian collateral damage) in warfare on faraway lands be flying overhead in cities and neighborhoods across America in the very near future?
  

It has been talked about more recently after the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon on April 18, 2013 that if aerial drones had been patrolling the vicinity and course the Tsarnaev brothers might have been intercepted by authorities, or at the very least taken out by the drone before they detonated the explosive bombs which brought such horror and tragedy. While this might be an interesting consideration and considering the circumstances quite plausible, but what’s to stop a benign and beneficial service to get out of control and become the “Frankenstein Monster” of tomorrow? Is it paranoia or caution to be a little hesitant to cross into that brave new frontier as depicted in the blockbuster “Terminator” Sci-fi movie sequels? Humanity’s demise started off as just a simple computer programmed to play a simple game of chess that ultimately led to Skynet, which was a computer system developed for the U.S. military by the fictitious defense firm Cyberdyne Systems. Skynet was first built as a "Global Digital Defense Network" and given command over all computerized military hardware and systems. Sounds a bit farfetched until you consider the military already has the X-47B pilotless aircraft and what makes this drone so remarkable is that it just might have the ability to indiscriminately initiate its own attack protocols without direct human involvement; in other words it has the capability toward artificial intelligence (independent self-actualization or initiation). There are already video games where the computer digitally ‘learns’ or grows from the moves initiated by an opponent or player. So, as more programming power and capability is built into it, this cybernetic servant for humanity may one day become its metalloid master.

 

Robert Randle

776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
April 30, 2013
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

 

 

 

A letter to the NRA

There is no simple answer to curb the escalating gun violence in America and the pain, suffering, anger, mental and emotional anguish that families, friends and loved ones have to endure when faced with attending the funeral of those whom they will never see again in this life. One of the cornerstones of your organization is the “right” to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. While it is not my suggestion that the federal government should confiscate every citizen’s guns because such an action would be impractical but the issue of gun ownership is worth looking at again, from a perspective that, at least to my knowledge, has not been introduced into this public debate. There is an old saying in some Christian circles, “Text without Context becomes Pretext.” This relates to interpreting Biblical passages without taking into account the circumstances in which the narratives are written, and the absence of such a technique can lead someone to misapply scriptural standards to a given social situation.

 That being said, the Constitution is more than just the articles and amendments but rather a whole document, including the Preamble, and most importantly, the Declaration of Independence. In fact, it is the latter that provides, at least to my thinking, the moral and legal justification for the colonists, though still subjects to the King of England and British Parliament, which granted charters or legal agreements to establish colonies in the New World, due to abuses from their sovereign, to declare themselves free and independent states and no longer subject to the monarchy. There are at least 17 reasons or categories that those in rebellion gave for their decision, which were reintroduced or formed the basis for inclusion as the Second Amendment, Federalist papers notwithstanding, are as follows:

 The state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions from within (Second Amendment; Article 1, Section 8b).

 He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies (Third Amendment; Second Amendment), without the consent of our legislatures.

 For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; for protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states (Second Amendment; Third Amendment).

 He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us (Second Amendment).

 He is at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death (Second Amendment), desolation, and tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy; scarcely parallel in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy of the head of a civilized nation.

 He has excited domestic insurrections among us (Article 1, Section 8b), and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rules for warfare, is an undistinguished destruction, of all ages, sexes, and conditions (Second Amendment).

 So, in a nutshell this is why the right to bear arms was written into the Constitution because it was adopted and codified during a period based on the aftermath of the Revolutionary War of 1776. All the 13 individual colonies had at this time in the way of domestic security were civilian Militias for protection, and so it would seem prudent as well as practical, to enact into law what was customary practice to keep gunpowder and musket within reach just in case one had to respond to some unexpected internal or external threat. Personally, I don’t know whether fewer guns or more guns are the answer, but at least for the sake of constitutional clarity, before you start yelling about gun rights, read the Declaration of Independence first and stop using the Second Amendment as though it is sacred, like one of the Ten Commandments.

 

Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
April 12, 2013
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

 

America: Multiracial but not Colorblind

The article in The Seattle Times on Thursday, March 21, 2013 by Staff Reporter Jerry Large on two books authored by UW professors Habiba Ibrahim and Ralina Joseph, got me to thinking about the first time the term “post racial” came into popular use in the public conversation. It seems that when the media or academia introduces something then it must be ‘lingua franca’ for the masses. Since Barack Obama suddenly appeared on the political scene, seemingly out of nowhere, to secure the nation’s highest elected office, his ascendancy has to some at least, been the poster child and crowning jewel in celebration of a color-blind America; nothing could be further from the truth, however. There are even those with the audacity to believe that America’s election of a person of color for president somehow fulfills Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Dream” of living in a country where a person will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character; and thus, the feet of those who marched behind the Drum Major for Justice will finally come to rest, and those who pounded on the drumbeats for freedom will no longer need to beat out a single note against injustice; and the long, twisted and winding road along the lonesome trail for Civil Rights laden with the sweat, tears, and blood of martyrs can be remembered no more. America, the idealists say, is a “meritocracy” where if you work hard and play by the rules then you can achieve success or be all that you want to be. Even President Obama uses that phrase but is it really, really true, for everybody?

While President Obama has been lauded with almost reverential praise he has also received some of the most mean-spirited, vicious, blatantly egregious and hateful mischaracterizations in recent memory, ranging from being like Hitler, the anti-Christ, Illuminati spawn of Satan, or the typical racial epithets voiced by the redneck NASCAR attendees or from far-right Tea Party members. Those who like to espouse ‘post racial’ are just trying to use the term as a psychological cover-up to assuage feelings of centuries-old “White Guilt” from the legal practice of ‘chattel slavery’ and racial bigotry practiced from the beginnings of this nation. Not only that, but this peculiar institution was codified into the very foundational document of our democratic Republic in Article 1, Section 2a (three-fifths clause), Article 1, Section 9 (the 1808 clause), and Article 4, Section 2b (fugitive slave clause), by the noble and enlightened signees who touted such lofty words in the Declaration of Independence as liberty, justice, freedom, and, “All Men are created equal. . .” Besides all of this, Barack Obama is not the only African-American with a White parent or direct bloodline, and whether you call it bi-racial, mixed race, transracial, multiethnic, or two or more races, what’s the big deal? Would ‘post racial’ still be used if Barack Obama had two Black parents, or heck, would he even be president?

What is paramount regarding this entire matter is that in America there still exists a sense of ‘ascriptive hierarchy’ (White privilege) and control over the factors of production as well as all the popular institutions are still overwhelmingly the ‘exclusive’ domain of the White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) male; for the most part. This practice transcends mere ideology or what one sees or feels. Instead, it puts into practice mechanisms to perpetuate a particular hegemony and control in the formulation of laws, political philosophy, educational curriculum, economic policy, and to a surprising extent, religious practice and theology. What seems to go missing from the conversation is that ‘race’ is a social construct that is actuated within a cultural framework, according to sociologists, and really has nothing to do with skin color or physical features. So, ‘post-racial’ is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms because any casual observation and experience in reality only serves to repudiate this term in convincing fashion. It is not what you see and feel, as it is what you do; whose interests you want to protect, and what are the incentives for wanting to do so by your participation? Far too often we respond to verbal cues and images from narrative stereotypes that serve as an emotional trigger where we are programmed to react in a certain way, without fully understanding the nature or meaning behind our reactions. America is not color blind or ignorant about race relations because she has had a nearly 250 year history lesson and the only blindness that exists is one that is self-induced.


Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
March 21, 2013
robertrandle51@yahoo.com’