Dr. Brooks Robinson\Black Economics
Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons
The brief analysis that we released on June 21, 2024, included a reminder from Malcolm X (aka El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) that northern and southern Whites (non-Blacks) are the same. They have a common agenda—to ensure their continued domination of Black Americans. No one wants to be at the bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy. However, we should not forget that Malcolm X said and meant the same thing concerning the two primary political parties operating in the US (Democrats and Republicans).
It is no secret that a “big election is scheduled for this coming November;” at least that is the picture and story that the media is painting. The media has created the divide and is whipping up controversy and anxiety, which is expected to motivate the unknowing to rush out to the polls to vote on November 5th. However, the media failed to inform its audience concerning two important facts: (1) Oligarchs and plutocrats (the less than one percenters) have already decided who the next president will be; and (2) it does not matter who the newly elected president is because the president can make no laws and has very limited spending powers relative to Congress, which controls the nations purse.
The president heads up the “Executive” branch of the US government meaning that he/she is a CEO. Like all CEOs of major corporations, presidents are required to implement actions that are agreed by the board of directors (BOD). In this case, the BOD is akin to the US Congress. And many of those sitting in the House and Senate formulating policy and spending actions are beholding to oligarchs and plutocrats too—at a minimum, wealthy business interests that wield power in their states, districts, or any domain where the legislator has oversight.
Of course, you know all of this. So, what does any of this have to do with the “New Political Economy of the Black Vote?” In a word, “lots!” Because of the increasing heterogeneity of the nation’s population and because White votes no longer determine election outcomes (to the extent that votes are actually counted and matter), wealthy White oligarchs and plutocrats must find ways to
punish those who do not acquiesce to their desired status quo. Black and other Americans have found ways to tie oligarchs’ and plutocrats’ hands over the years so that it is somewhat difficult for opposers to be shot down in the street as justifiable murder. Therefore, controlling interests punish those who oppose their egregious acts through political actions.
How is that done?
Consider that media sources have drawn a line in the sand. Either you are on the left (Democrat) or right (Republican). The media is billing the election as a fight, even creating parallels between this 2024 election and the 1860 election.[1] Given that it is a fight (a war), expect the winner to take the spoils. Consequently, if you are on the losing side, you must expect to receive painful punishment.
What type of punishment and pain?
Well, in America, the dollar rules (for now). So, expect to be hit in your pocketbook.
Depending on the winner of the election, the areas that may be targeted for inflicting punishment and pain include:
• Access to economic opportunities (including inaction on the adoption of new technology that can be employment reducing; assistance with small business formation; reductions in the availability
of subsidies and grants; adjusting regulatory requirements; revisions to the tax code; access to government contracts; adjustments to the minimum wage and compensation during unemployment
spells; and relaxation or rollback of civil rights in the form employment, housing, and other equal treatment under the law).
• Social protections (to include modifications to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs; reductions in programs that affect access to, and the quality of, education at all levels; and the
levels of assistance to households in the form of nutritional and housing assistance).
• Rules and laws that facilitate the smooth functioning of the socioeconomic system (to include inaction on controlling police violence, the profile of those providing oversight in the courts, and revisions to regulations).
Knowing this, Black Americans must call for our best scientists in all fields to come forward with truthful analyses of the issues so that we can be fully informed.[2] Not only about which candidate is likely to be the most favorable, but also about which candidate is most likely to win, which was complicated by last Thursday night’s Presidential Debate.[3] It is important that we unify our votes and align ourselves with the likely win and avoid being the target of what may be billed as “justified” punishment and pain. This is not to say that punishment and pain will not arise.
However, Black Americans must become AWAKE to the fact that—as Malcolm X stated clearly—it does not matter very much who is sitting in the various seats, and that we should make strategic decisions that are aligned with our interests. Once Black Americans come to grips with the reality that we will never be fully welcomed in America, then we will see the need to take purposeful action, do for self, unify, and adopt a plan that will be transformative for Black Americans for generations to come.[4]
Dr. Brooks Robinson is the founder of the Black Economics.org website.
References:
[1] See Francis Barry (2024). “In 1858, Lincoln Made a Mistake. President Biden, Don’t Make the Same One.” The Washington Post; https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/06/1 9/biden-lincoln-house-divided-lessons/ (Ret. 062324).
[2] We developed a “scorecard” for the election. See B. Robinson (2024), “Voting from Black Political Report Cards,” BlackEconomics.org; https://www.blackeconomics.org/BEFuture/vfbprc01
2624.pdf (Ret. 062824).
[3] It is instructive that, even with Kamala Harris as his Vice President, Biden is said to have a core group of advisers (his brain trust) that excludes her. See Katie Rogers and Michael Shear (2024). “The Insiders: The 3 Men at the Core of Biden’s Brain Trust.” The New York Times; https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/22/us/politics/klain-kaufman-biden-campaign-election.html searchResultPosition=1 (Ret. 062324).
[4] Of course, BlackEconomics.org recommends adoption of the Long-Term Strategic Plan for Black America.
