"I think what motivates people is not great hate, but great love for other people."
-- Huey P. Newton
-- Huey P. Newton
Folks who know me very well know that I don't have any love for the America's two-party political system. Moreover, to say that I'm not terribly fond of the Democratic Party is to put things rather lightly. I have never regretted my vote for Ralph Nader in the 2000 elections and I think the Democrats who still bear a grudge against Ralph and the Greens to this very day have obviously failed to see things in a much broader perspective for all too long. I have been an admirer of Cynthia McKinney for years and I was absolutely thrilled with her decision to run for President on the Green Party's ticket this year. I shared my enthusiasm for Cynthia with many others, including our 9 year-old daughter who watched the television coverage of the Green Party's convention with me a few months ago. But at the end of it all, I felt like I had to cast my vote for Barack Obama. And equally – if not more importantly – I knew that I had to vote against John McCain.
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| Huey P. Newton |
I know I was just as frustrated as many others. But over the course of the last few weeks before the election, I noticed an amazing and unexpected change in what had been a long, depressing period of anger and indignation: On both television and radio, I started to notice that a few brave voices here and there were invoking names that don't often make it into today's mainstream media. I heard folks talking about Malcolm X, Huey P. Newton and Ida B. Wells – people who are real heroes to me – and along with these names followed all but forgotten terms like "working class," "movement" and "unity". These names and words came from the minds and mouths of people like Bernie Sanders, Michael Moore, Roland Martin, Cornell West and other important voices for change in America. And I started to feel...hope.
There is no question that the election of Barack Obama is a pivotal event in the history of America. But it is also not a cure in and of itself for the many problems facing the American people. Racism and all sorts of prejudices persist in today's America just as sure as they did in the days of Jim Crow and George Wallace. There's no doubt that certain elements will seek to exploit these antagonisms in an effort to preserve America's old and broken social order. As my friend Mitch observed last night as he looked at the election map, "Those states where people were killed 45 yrs ago so blacks could vote all went for McCain. Those people, those un-reconstructed Confederates, are still there." True enough. But some early praise goes to Barack Obama for making the effort to bridge the longstanding gaps perpetuated by prejudice and ignorance. He accepted the results of the election by expressing these sentiments:
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It is particularly telling that in just the third sentence of his speech last night – less than a minute into his historic address – Obama sought to address not only the political, racial and class-related tensions which have divided Americans for so long, but he also touched upon the sensitive matter of individual sexual orientation, implicitly and effectively welcoming the thousands and thousands of gay and lesbian Americans into the fold of the American political arena. It is a moment like this that suggests that Obama's respect for diversity and his committment to reform are genuine. The right-wing hate machine, which is already seething and chomping at the bit to pick apart the Obama presidency, would be well-served to have more than a bit of concern over what appears to be a new direction in American thinking. They will surely fight to keep a choke-hold on the imagination of working-class America. And their politics of division must be opposed and resisted at every turn.
It is improbable that any simple reform and optimism will serve to salvage an destitute economic system that was founded on class antagonism, elitism and privilege, but the short-term yields of a progressive Obama administration are certainly attractive. For one thing, it would be nice to get some "breathing room" back when it comes to civil liberties, debate and dissent. The very idea that we now have the potential for real health care reform is an exciting prospect which is long overdue. The fact that the current administration (with the support of Congress) has spent close to $1 trillion this year alone to fight an unnecessary war and to pay for Wall Street's worthless assets provides clear evidence that we can afford a national health care system which guarantees the best of care for every man, woman, and child in the nation, regardless of socioeconomic status. The notion that America will finally have a Commander-in-Chief who will seek to avoid unnecessary militarism and adventurism in favor of real and direct diplomacy presents the opportunity for America to regain some degree of integrity internationally, after years of relative indifference by our current leadership.
It is Barack Obama's moderate but palpable grass-roots collectivism which empowers Americans, providing the motivation to support these efforts and continue to struggle for change. And struggle we will.
Aluta continua!
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