The Politics of Politcs

I was listening to the radio recently and I heard about this website which talked about buying the presidency of the United States. At first I really dismissed the idea because I was just driving home and to me it represented talk-radio fodder. But suddenly, it dawned on me. This election is a little bit different because for the first time, an African-American realistically has an opportunity to be president. This dilemma haunted me further because my mother called wanting to know who my household was endorsing. I really couldn’t answer the question. As a feminist, I wanted to back Clinton. As an African American I wanted to back Obama. Even McCain is likable. But of all the three in the national election thus far, I can relate to none of them. This disconnect, regrettably, extends even to my local candidates. Then the light bulb came on. As I see it, there is this elite minority who control a lion share of the wealth in this country. These same minority elite, who in may cases are backed by corporate interests, in turn make policy for the majority: majority meaning us folk who make up the middle, lower and underclass sects of society. To me, this just doesn’t seem too equitable. Watching an excerpt form the Michael Moore film Sicko, Tony Benn a former member of Parliament made a statement which still resonates with me. He raised the question of why power is held by the minority and not the majority. Why is it that people are afraid of the government and not the other way around? Not that I am looking for a Marxist revolution; but, how can I cast my vote for anyone who is so far removed from my perception of reality? Obama collects one million dollars per day while Clinton easily shells out a cool five million to keep her campaign a float. What does this all mean you may ask? Two things: One, if an individual has enough money and corporate sponsorship, one can run for president. Two, with that type of money, one is insulated from the “real issues” of the majority they wish to govern. They lack experience living as members of the middle and lower classes. I just don’t see any of these candidates, national or local, wondering how they are going to pay for college tuition in 18 years. I fail to see any of their children weighing college vs. the selective service. These and many other types of issues formulate the reality of which you and I experience daily and to me, this signifies a negligent disconnect within our existing political structure. In the grand scheme of things, what is my vote really worth? Our current slate of candidates is so far removed from the gravity of our social and economic plights, that to me, their campaigns translate into sound bites which, “will return after these messages and station identification.” Why don’t we see these candidates actually doing grassroots work on the campaign trail? We here the discussions on health care, but how many of them have actually waited in an emergency room for three to eight hours to be seen? In the most recent debate, Clinton’s attempt to identify with the soldiers from Iraq is emblematic of a performance. Did she have to wonder if Chelsea would injured in combat let alone come home from Iraq? Of course not; she is a member of the social elite. Does McCain have to worry about paying $4.00 per gallon for gas? No. My students even attempted to pull the race card with me saying I should support Obama because of his ethnicity. My response was a simple no. He doesn’t have to worry about cutting a check in excess of $1000.00 for child care yet I do. Obama and I just don’t travel in the same circles and that’s sad. So if we (any of the candidates) don’t travel in the same circles, how can I be sure that be sure that they have an accurate road map to get me to where I need to be? Every candidate has been talking about change. News flash: change is going to happen because Bush is leaving. (Hopefully he will go to Iraq and finish what he started!) But back to being on message, the change we need doesn’t just need to be a changing of the guard. I need to see a change in politics of politics: those who I elect to govern me, should come from the experiences of the majority and not the minority elite. So until then and to answer my mother’s question, none of my candidates have yet to appear.

Egregious Assemblies

Shock and awe! Those are the two words that best describe my reaction to the egregious actions of Dillard Drive Middle School principal Teresa Abron. When first informed of the segregated meetings involving children of color, I strongly felt that the Wake County school board would swiftly respond with strong disapproval. Hearing that the board endorsed the action tells me that the Wake County school system operates in a state of disrepair.
When I was a middle school student at West Millbrook, when two students argued beyond their limits, the teachers either quashed the beef promptly or the students were properly disciplined even if the altercation crossed racial boundaries. Unfortunately, because some administrators embrace criminalized racial stereotypes about students of color, letters like this have to be written.
Excluding Caucasian children, post Jena 6, lacks the basic common sense and racial sensitivity needed to model for students how to function in a 21st century post-modern globalized culture.
W. Russell Robinson
Durham

Published In Ralegh, News and Observer 2/22/08

More Educational Racisim-- Eeeh

Shock and awe! Those are the two words that best describe my immediate reaction to the egregious actions of Dillard Drive Middle School principal Teresa Abron. When first informed of the two segregated meetings involving children of color, I strongly felt that the Wake County School Board would swiftly respond with strong disapproval. Today, hearing that the board endorsed the actions tells me the Wake County School System operates in a state of disrepair. When last I was a middle school student at West Millbrook, when two students argued beyond their limits, the teachers either quashed the beef promptly, or the students were properly disciplined even if the altercation crossed racial boundaries. Unfortunately, because administrators such as Abron and others embrace the criminalized racial stereotypes about students of color, letters like this have to be written. At the risk of sounding flippant, anybody with two functioning brain cells, enabling racially segregated assemblies, excluding Caucasian children, post Jena 6 lacks the basic common sense and racial sensitivity needed to model students to function in a 21^st century post modern globalized culture. Unequivocally, this principal as well as members of the wake county school board should resign while they still have some quasi level of respect.