Voting For White Multimillionaires

The new “political fad� nowadays is for Black people to be seen on television “grinning� at press conferences, while standing behind White multimillionaires who win elections. Since Black people in recent times couldn’t even enter the building where such press events were held, their presence presumably coveys a public showing of equality and inclusion

(Of course Davis would have made an excellent President).

To rousing applause, Bill Clinton remarked at Ossie Davis’ funeral that Davis: “Would have been a very good President of the United States.�  Although he “would have,� the question is “could he have� been president? 

Despite this worthy praise of Davis, the record shows Black men are routinely shutout from winning high-elected offices of governors and senators – So forget about “president.�  Just ask Jesse Jackson,  Kweisi Mfume,  Al Sharpton, Lynn Swann, or Michael Steele to name a few.  If 50 of the most prominent Black people were glued together, they wouldn’t comprise a candidate worthy enough for Euro-Americans to elect to the White House. 

On Chris Matthews’ Decision 2006: Battleground America, an all-White panel discussed what they defined as “A hidden vote against African Americans.� Translation: “Whites rah-rah-rah in popular public support for Black candidates, like Harold Ford Jr., but secretly vote for White candidates instead.� 

They represent a very real, but largely unacknowledged segment of Whites, who are psychologically incapable of voting Black people—regardless of qualifications—into high-elected offices.  Nevertheless, Black America is not in short supply of intelligent and fully capable men and women who should be, and probably would be, elected to such offices – If they were the right color and class. 

Former Governor of New Jersey, Richard Codey, called the U.S. Senate a “Club of multimillionaires.�  More specifically however, it is a “Euro-American club of multimillionaires.�  Those who are not, certainly have future options to rake-in multimillions.  While in office they sit on key committees and enact favorable legislation for corporate interests, which ultimately lead to cushy jobs and corporate board appointments that guarantee them multimillions when they leave. 

A thriving “Plutocratic Culture� exists between Blue-chip corporations and Blue-blooded Euro-Americans, where hundreds of millions of dollars change hands annually that impact campaigns, candidates, and election outcomes.  America is a “Pay-to-Play Democracy� where members of this culture commonly hedge their odds by making hefty donations to both parties and both candidates in elections.  

Plutocrats do not make generous contributions because of patriotism or kind-heartedness.  They do so in exchange for political favoritism and privileges, and to influence policies that safeguard and advance their interests.  When they sip champagne and eat caviar while attending black-tie fundraisers for $10,000 a plate, they do not discuss solutions to the proliferation of handguns and homicides in Black communities.  They discuss issues that fatten their corporate coffers, like oil and natural gas reserves; the FED and interest rates; FDA approval of new drugs; genetically modified agriculture; and defense contracts.

Long before you supposedly “make your voice heard� on Election Tuesdays, a more authoritative voice has already spoken—The dollars and support from this culture pre-select and pre-determine who is, and who isn’t, a viable candidate.  Once you trace the major funding sources of a viable presidential, gubernatorial, or senatorial candidate, you can then largely pinpoint the issues/causes they’ll be pre-obligated to support while in office – Yet, voting is hyped and hailed as an instrument that makes American democracy so pristine and honorable.

Because of Black America’s long history of being forcibly denied the right to vote, we understandably attach great value and have deep reverence for the people and events that made voting possible.  Even though we possess the right to vote and the right to run for offices, the contrived political engineering to fund and support select Euro-Americans, works like a well-oiled machine to systematically eliminate otherwise qualified Black candidates. 

This does not however deter certain Black people from loading their pockets with “payoff� money from the very same political and corporate coffers that knowingly thwart their political rise.  Realizing fully-well that they can never become a senator or governor, they cash-in as “party consultants� whose job is to endorse and campaign for White multimillionaires to increase Black voter turnout.  This adds expanded dimensions to the act of “Pawned Sovereignty.�  If there was such a crime as “political prostitution� some Blacks would be doing “life without parole.� 

The new “political fad� nowadays is for Black people to be seen on television “grinning� at press conferences, while standing behind White multimillionaires who win elections.  Since Black people in recent times couldn’t even enter the building where such press events were held, their presence presumably coveys a public showing of equality and inclusion, when in fact, there’s only been just 2 Black governors in all of history (Duval Patrick included); just 3 Black senators since reconstruction; and never more than 10 percent of Blacks in the House.  

This constitutes a sophisticated modern-day form of repression, disguised in the notion that voting (for pre-selected White multimillionaires) somehow symbolizes freedom and equality.  If the disproportionate numbers above exemplify political equality – What numbers would exemplify a case of inequality?  

 Two similarities in U.S. history standout.  When Euro-Americans faced “Taxation without Representation,� they deemed it insufferable and eventually declared war against their British blood-relatives.  When slaveholders lacked political representation, the infamous Three-Fifth Clause was enacted to count every 5 slaves in the census as 3 free people, thereby padding the population to increase the number of Congressmen in the South.  Both objectives, by the way, were achieved at the expense and inhumanity of Black lives.

Some might contend that “we are all Americans,� and therefore, the color and multimillionaire status of candidates “do not matter.�  But in any case, Black America is still underrepresented in high-elected offices when in reality we should rightfully have our own government and make sovereign decisions for ourselves. Therefore, to some of us “it does matter.� 

Especially during these chaotic political times, as the U.S. government’s protracted legacy of decimating people and cultures now extends into Iraq.  So the next time you’re waiting in line to vote the next White multimillionaire into office, make sure you ask yourself – Does it matter?

Copyright © 2006 Ezrah Aharone

Ezrah Aharone is a Scholar of Sovereign Studies and the author of “Pawned Sovereignty:  Sharpened Black Perspectives on Americanization, Africa, War and Reparationsâ€? http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/18126 .  He can be reached at [email protected]

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