Garvey's Ghost: Black Talk

To Vote or Not Pt 2

"The Question is, Do you know why you are here?"

".. The Keymaker, of course.

":But this is not a reason. This is not a why. The Keymaker himself in his nature is a means it is not an end. So, to look for him is to be looking for a means to..do..what?" says the Merovingian

"You know the answer to that question." Says Neo

"But do you? You think you do but you do not. You are here because you were sent here. You were told to come here, and then you obeyed. It is of course the way of all things. You see there is only one constant...one universal. It is the only real truth. Causality. Action, reaction. Cause and effect. "

"Everything begins with choice." Says Morpheus.

"No. Wrong. Choice is an illusion created between those with power...and those without."

"... Casuality. There is no escape from it. We are forever slaves to it. Our only hope, our only peace, is to understand it, to understand the why. "why" us what separates us from them... you from me. "why is the only real source of power. without it, you are powerless. And this is how you come to me, without why, without power. Another link in the chain."

Matrix Reloaded
Scene 17: Taste of the Merovingian.

Causality. the "why. If any one scene in this episode of The Matrix summarized the plight of black people world wide, this scene was it. Most of the voting population comes to the polls without power. They come without knowing why they are there. They do not understand the causality that got them there. They fail to realize that they are at the polls because someone told them to go there and they did. They are sheep. One who carries out the wishes and instructions of another. Indeed, I believe that the vast majority of people are in the situation described by the Merovingian. They are caught in the illusion of choice set up for them by those who have power.

Let us consider how Black people came to vote in the United States. Having arrived here as other peoples property, you would recall that after the Civil War, Black people; men in particular, found themselves in positions of power and the ability to vote. But they had no means to preserve this position. They did not understand as Martin Delany and later Booker T. Washington did, that one must a have an economic foundation on which to exert political power. Not long after massive 'gains" in stature, the black population found themselves again under the heel of legal oppression. And they were powerless to stop it. The period from then until the present has been marked by getting the basics and of following white people around.

One of the clearest example of an exercise of power by blacks that had nothing to do with voting was the Montgomery bus boycott. The bus system in that city depended largely on black ridership. Once that source of income dried up, the only rational action was for a change in the rules. Indeed in the movie Deacon's for Defense (out on DVD) the Mayor of the town in Louisiana had to come to grips with the fact that a good portion of the town's income came from "colored folks."

It should be easily apparent that black people in the United States are used by the political power structure as a means of putting whites into power, or at the minimum, malleable blacks. The Democratic party knows that 90+ percent of Blacks will vote Democrat simply because of "appreciation" over the Civil Rights Act(s). Remember that Blacks used to vote Republican due to President Lincoln. In other words Blacks vote largely out of sentimentality and emotion and not issues. Over at Black Commentator it was reported about a black employee being referred to as a "tar Baby" due to the fact that regardless of how badly blacks were treated they would continue to "Stick" around. Unfortunately this is right on the mark as far as the voting procedure works. Blacks act like tar babies to the Democratic Party. Indeed many blacks act like tar babies in regards to the larger society also, but that's for another post. It should be noted that during the last presidential campaign, with the exception of the National Action Network, The candidates addressed blacks at churches. Now what is wrong with this? I'll tell you. Church is where blacks folks put aside much of their rational thought and by and large indulge in white deity worship, sing songs and generally get themselves worked up emotionally. This breaks down the conscious barriers to psychological suggestion and candidates are able to shoot messages directly into the subconscious mind of black people. Any competent psychologist will tell you that when people are in heightened emotive states they are more susceptible to messages, which they may otherwise have rejected. It should be noted that in general white churches are less emotive in their activities and as such emotive appeals are not as effective. Thus black ministers, in trying to boost their own power, hand over control of their congregants minds to these candidates. It is quite shameful, but it is how the black vote is put on lock. Carter G. Woodson made it plain. What you should ask yourself is how many black business organizations, and civic organizations are courted by these same candidates? How much money can black business groups funnel into the coffers of elected officials to guarantee that regardless of who is in office, black interests are looked after? I fear that these are few if any.

Many politicos will tell black people that by not voting they are doing what the Republicans want. Let's get it straight, Republicans get voted into offices regardless of the black vote. They will continue to get into office regardless to what voting patterns blacks follow. Take the 2000 election. The issue in the 2000 election was not whether the votes in Florida would have gone to Gore. The issue is why Gore lost his home state and many others. Gore lost because white voters didn't want him and Gore knew it. That is why he did not stand up against the blatant voter discrimination going on in the state. The Democratic establishment knows that the future of their party is NOT with the black vote but with the white vote. Howard Dean knows this and said so.

Why don't you hear about Asian or Indian candidates for office? I'll tell you why, they control their local representation and they are organized economically so that they are protected regardless of who is in office. You want proof? I remember when walking down 125th Street, you had vendors on every side walk. In this black neighborhood, outsiders who had economically colonized the neighborhood were able to get the state to dick over and remove black vendors in a black community represented by black people who were voted into office.

Imagine that.

Now you walk down 125th street and you may see a vendor here or there but nothing compared to what was there before. Now look at Chinatown in downtown Manhattan. storefronts with illegal, counterfeit goods everywhere. Sure there is a bust here or there but by and large Canal Street is still packed. Why is that? Clearly there is some level of organization that has come to some agreement with the city of New York that allows this activity to continue on.

They key here is organization and economic power. Voting is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. You might be able to get the enemy with a lucky shot, but you'd be better prepared if you bought the bigger and more powerful gun. So as the Merovingian said: you come to me without power. Why should I give you what you want when there is nothing compelling me to do so?