Black people, other people of color and traditionally marginalized folk still lose despite who wins on Nov. 3, 2020.
Marginalized people will still suffer at the hands of a two-party, 1% biased republic. The forefathers of this country ran from tyranny and fought a revolutionary war to protect the right to own slaves.
We see modern day internment camps of children separated from parents.
We see the prison industrial complex mimic merchant ships filled with black bodies chained at the hip.
This election we are forced to vote between an open racist and two people who are collectively responsible for the explosion of mass incarceration rates.
We lose.
Who are we?
The Black and Brown communities lose. The LGBTQIA+ community loses. The indigenous people lose. The lawfully born citizens of the Latino community lose. The poor white community that believes white privilege protects them also lose. Those Jesus-quoting, Bible -thumping devout, lower income Christians lose.
Jesus, Biden and Trump all have the same employer.
White patriarchy and cis-white male privilege are still the law of the land. Every other race just mimics it.
In the words of Childish Gambino, “This is America!”
Even the celebrity Black person is not above the racist reproach. You can have this pampered view of not experiencing racism until you do. See the coach that was shot. See Candace Owens.
The law of the land is to serve and protect the interest of the higher socioeconomic, white class. It is to sustain the barriers between the rich and poor.
Your degrees mean nothing. Your star athlete status is merely for entertainment. The NCAA continues to fight against athletes benefitting from their likeness as college athletes.
How was your summer of Black Lives Matter chants?
Black people, people of color and mentally ill people were still shot and killed repeatedly on camera. Transwomen were also assaulted and murdered.
Derek Chauvin, the white police officer who suffocated George Floyd, still posted bond.
What will my vote matter in a traditionally blue state like Illinois?
I haven’t honestly decided if I will. My ancestors did not die for the right to vote. They died for the ability to be equally accounted for in the clause “all men are created equal.”
My single vote over the years has not changed that notion or swayed the pendulum toward economic inclusion or political power.
Voter bashing is equal to Bible bashing.
Aldermen/women still are employed by the system that oppresses people of color. The agenda for integration is continually pushed by raising property taxes and pushing people out of Chicago and Illinois.
Black folks lose.
We still waiting on white Jesus to pull up on Chicago Avenue in a white Bentley to absolve us of this present-day condition.
Harriet Tubman heard the call. Nat Turner heard the call. W.E.B. Du Bois heard the call. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr gave his life. Malcolm X became a martyr.
The men and women of Tulsa, Oklahoma, were minding their own business. The bombing of the section of Philadelphia bares the scars of fighting against oppression.
Policy after policy reinforces the state of marginalized people. Ask Fred Hampton, Mark Clark or Masha P. Johnson.
We lose because we still believe the American dream was meant for us.