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40 ACRES AND A MULE – A Political Tale
Social Change doesn't happen swiftly as those who have participated in movements to change the status quo will testify. “Change is Gonna Come” isn’t a song that mentions quick fixes and easy times, but rather emphasizes that change is “a long time, long time coming”. As minority groups have learned when looking back at their history, change takes enormous struggle, perseverance, and often time sacrifice just to take a few steps forward.
What most successful social movements of the 20th and 21st Century share; Whether the Civil Rights Movement, the Gay Rights Movement, the Feminist Movement, the Labor Movement, or the Environmental Movement, the simple truth is, none of these movements are finished yet. Most took decades of painstaking organized work, sweat, tears and even death before being able to claim a respectful piece of victory.
Newly freed slaves were once promised 40 Acres and a Mule, but most received nothing more than words, and little else. We can also recall during the Great Depression, Americans were promised a chicken in every pot. Unfortunately, these promises, if we care to remember, rarely worked out as they had been packaged, sold and bought. Even one of the most progressive Presidents, FDR, still compromised Black people right out of the Social Security Act that he championed. Domestics (read Black women) and Agricultural workers (read Black men/sharecroppers) were originally excluded from the bill as it passed into law. In so doing, they were also excluded from various attached programs, e.g., Aid to Dependent Children which passed under the act in 1935 as part of the “New Deal” (for whom? Some may have asked). There are those who defend FDR by pointing out that Black people were not specifically omitted, neglecting to acknowledge that Domestics and Farming were the primary work available to that minority group.
Now in 2016, we hear of wonderful promises made this election year. Who wouldn’t want Free Health Care, Free College, Free Childcare, and a living wage for every person working? Many of us would also love to get big money out of our politics as we are aware of how it diminishes our vote. The big banks certainly took us for a ride, and it would be great compensation to watch them sliced and diced into tiny pieces. The issues are excellent; a liberal’s dream! So then, what's the catch? Is this really truly possible, we ask? Because as a people, we learned long ago that there is no such thing as a Free Lunch, even once you are permitted to sit at the lunch counter.
When Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic Socialist, running as President is queried on how all of these promises will be fulfilled, his answer is eerily consistent; there will be a radical Revolution that he will be leading. This term “Political Revolution”, for some of us who have lived that long, harken back to the days of the 1960’s “War on Poverty”. It is a war that we are still fighting today, and in so doing, we are also forced to fight race based stereotypes it put upon us, which have stubbornly lasted to our detriment since. It is the tried and untrue slur of how people of color always seem to want something without working for it, aka, something for nothing. The War on Poverty, while perhaps well-meaning in its intent, left an ugly-spirited stain upon, that we have been trying to wash out ever since. The whole racist connotation of the “Welfare Queen” has, in fact, won many elections, year after year. It is a legacy that may have hurt us more as an entire race of people, than the benevolent benefits it ever intended.
As earnestly as Bernie Sanders may believe in his promises of these great programs to voters, upon closer inspection, there is a solid barrier in achieving the legislation needed for his goals, if he were to be elected. It is an odd but old term called gerrymander. Every decade there is a census taken, and at this time district maps for each state are redrawn. The last Census election was in 2010, which happened to have been the year that Democratic politician all over the nation suffered steep losses countrywide. Pres. Obama used a not so delicate term in describing the loss; a “Shellacking”. Each map is demographically drawn by those in power, and affects exactly how electoral districts within each state are decided. As expected, the Republican majorities in many State Houses managed an artful job of making sure to give Republicans a ridiculous advantage in maintaining their majority. It is an advantage tight as a whistle.
If one is frank and anchored in reality, while reading the fine print of the changes Bernie Sanders offers, it should be known that they do not have any realistic chance of passage until the year 2020, after the next census election (which is a presidential year election, so there is hope there). When asked about the unlikely passage of any of Sen. Sanders’ promises, he does then admit that most likely nothing will likely get through any Congress in his first term. The 75 year old politician does allude to a possible 2nd term and that is when the Revolution, we have to figure, will be in full blast?
It’s hard to believe that those supporting Sanders aren’t aware of this BFD detail, although it may be that some just don’t care. You see, these third party Independents, and Green Party types Liberals (btw, thank you Nader) are ardent supporters who believe deeply in what Bernie Sanders says, regardless of the immediate future outcome.
But what about voters who don’t follow politics closely? Those who simply don’t know the consequences of a gerrymandered Congress and what that truly means; or how it will impact the true realities of this “New Deal”? The working stiff trying hard to make ends meet, but unknown to him/her that their vote won’t change their status anytime soon. They should know the devil in the details, but indeed most are largely unaware of the caveats attached to Bernie Sanders’ plans. Especially since the Media isn’t talking about it? (ask yourself… why?) Guess the corporate media is too busy with Trump’s hair, and Hillary’s emails.
The real question is when hearing all the promises, will the "Revolution of 2016" actually move a Republican Congressional majority to demand that their government administers their constituents’ health care, while doing away with Insurance Companies and Big Banks? Will a Republicans House vote to give young people free college? Because that is who will decide, not Bernie nor his voters. If Healthcare reform was easy to pass, it would have been done long before Obama! Hillary tried it, and they have hated her ever since. Even President Barack Obama couldn’t even get his own party to vote on his original vision, let alone any Republicans! The healthcare fight, as it currently is started in 2009, and generously gifted us with the Tea Party, and is a fight not yet finished, It virtually separated Americans into various groups. Those who are glad to finally get it; those now want something totally different, and those who have attempted to repeal Obamacare 7,000 times, and took it twice to the Supreme Court! Well guess who has the power in congress since 2010, and will most likely have it after the election of 2016?
If, in support of the Revolution, folks are willing to March day after day, while the reportage on Television omits you from our lives, as they did the many marches against the War in Iraq, or the invisible Million Man March just this summer. Are you willing to take a chance to elect a man with flaws not yet uncovered (and there are many, I’ll tell you) nor exposed by either the GOP or the media, only to have to wait until maybe 2020, when he will be nearly 80 years old, or maybe never? Are you willing to hand over your healthcare that we are still fighting for? Are you willing to see the Supreme Court hang in balance? If you are, and you know what you are getting into, then by all means go for it!
In conclusion, ask yourself if there is a lesson learned from past movements and past promises? Back in the days when irresistible offers of 40 acres and a Mule and a New deal was proposed to us? I know what I learned; that progress doesn’t happen overnight, and that anything promised or said is never a given, and that nothing is free.
28 replies
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but I have researched Bernie Sanders. I know what will happen to him during a general election.
I know why the media is silent and the GOP too.
I have watched him give his speeches and I know what he's leaving in and leaving out.
You can think that I am "buying" into something, but that says more about you, than it does about me.
But thank you for your input! 
