Florence Democracy Center Issues Wake Up Call

In the political realm, do you ever get that feeling you’ve seen a movie before and although the plot changes from time to time, the intentions don’t? The movie scenario right now is the one where the goal is always to undermine whatever Black person is in charge. That's real talk and I would like to point to two examples, actually one example and the second more of a Deja Vu in the making.

There was Mitch McConnell saying he would make President Obama a one-term President. Think about that. His number one priority wasn’t to legislate fairly, it was to make President Obama a one-term President. So that means he was determined to undermine everything President Obama tried to do. Now, although McConnell wasn’t successful in keeping President Obama from being re-elected, his attempts to undermine President Obama’s Agenda was. McConnell’s efforts were successful because we (black people) failed to vote during the midterm elections. Just look at the black turnout when Obama was on the ticket compared to the midterm elections. The numbers don’t lie. So give yourself an “assist” if you didn’t vote. But that’s a story for another day.

Now let's look at our local politics. Florence saw the election of not only the first Black person, but the first female Mayor in the city's history. You would have thought this to be a glorious time with a groundbreaking mayor and a majority black council.

But remember, we’ve seen this movie before. The puppet masters rear up and throw money the right way and the backstabbing and undermining starts. How do I know? Because they used the same dog whistle -- “She’s gonna be a one-term mayor.” In order to do that, you have to undermine her. What is it about black people being in charge that causes other people to try and undermine them? Is it jealousy, hatred or is it fear that they might do the job better?

Next, they have to cast suspicion to do this. They need to find the right black person or persons to carry out the assignment so as to not make it look racial. They need to find the right buzzwords and words like “finance committee” suggests that something inappropriate might be happening that needs investigating. Is that good governance, or a different kind of black-on-black crime?

What is obvious is that there seems to be a lot of fighting going on in public view. Please don’t be fooled by any of this. Those folks are not working in your best interest and they certainly don’t represent the kind of black leadership we need. We can look at a neighboring community as an example of what happens when cliques or personalities land in office – you end up with a city government that does not necessarily represent or which disproportionately reflects the make-up of the community it’s supposed to serve.

Tell me, then, when do we stop working against each other? When do we Cease Fire?

Wake Up!

Anthony Hall, Florence Democracy Center