Do Black Americans care about the State of the Union Address?
By Roger Caldwell
President Obama gave his sixth State of the Union address, and only 31.7 million Americans watched the speech on television. This was the lowest number on record according to Nielsen, and the Obama Administration is trying to increase that number of viewers on 12 networks. During the first State of the Union address there were 59 million viewers and it appeared that the American public was more engaged.
Americans in 2015 do not trust politicians and it is reflected at the ballot box, and when the president makes a speech. During the 2014 election, many of the voters left early in Maryland, when the president gave a campaign speech. The Republicans won the majority in both Houses in 2014 because the Democrats never showed up at the ballot box. Ninety-three percent of Blacks are Democrats, and it appeared they thought the 2014 election was not important.
Everyone in the Democratic Party is making excuses for the beating they took in that election, but it seems that no one cares. Starting with the Chairlady of the party, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz acts like it is okay to lose, and quite frankly she needs to be fired. But the leadership of the party looks the other way and the party operates as an exclusive social club.
Somewhere in their $2,500 dinners and long gowns, they have forgotten the grass root folks who get the people out to vote. When the Democratic leadership is always asking for money, and refusing to fund Black candidates, many Black Democrats argue that the party is racist.
At the State of the Union address last week, the President was charged up, and he laid out a number of proposals, but Blacks are starting to think that he was just talking. Many Blacks believe, based on their mistreatment by police and the president talking about there is only one America, “The United States of America,” something is fundamentally wrong. Maybe when President Obama gives a State of the Union address, he puts on his blinders and tries to find a middle ground.
“Understand—a better politics isn’t one where Democrats abandon their agenda or Republicans simply embrace mine. A better politics is one where we appeal to each other’s basic decency instead of our basest fears. A better politics is one where we debate without demonizing each other; where we talk issues, and values, and principles, and facts, rather than ‘gotcha’ moments, or trivial gaffes, or fake controversies that have nothing to do with people’s daily lives” says the president at his State of the Union address.
On paper these words sound great, but everyone knows the Republicans have waited six years to control both Houses, and they are not planning to be civil, or compromise with the Democrats. They plan to push their conservative agenda forward, and Blacks and poor folks are the first to be eliminated in their policies.
There are no excuses for Blacks who did not show up at the polls in 2014 to vote. The Republicans have the country on lock-down, and their policies will force Blacks to unite and mobilize. When we show that we don’t care about the ballot box, and we don’t listen to the president, we must place the blame on our shoulders.
The new Jim Crow will raise its ugly head and the abuse and mistreatment of Blacks and the poor will be monumental. Voting levels the playing field in America and in 2014 Blacks did not honor our elders, and forgot that many of them died for the right to vote.
