"Post-Obama" Politics??
Garcetti replaced Villaraigarosa as Mayor of Los Angeles http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mayor-daily-20130524,0,3008842.storys. Eric Garcetti, the son of Gil Garcetti, D.A. or Los Angeles during the time I was a resident and property-owner, is also the Garcetti of "O.J." notoriety, as I remember. Of course, Bradley, the "first black" (and last?) Mayor, preceded Villaraigarosa .
Garcetti, of mixed Mexican and Jewish descent, continues a pattern begun by the architects of "Backlash" following the riots that sprang up across this nation in the wake of the assassinations of the 1960s. Their theory was to put non-white mayors in office to confuse blacks and make them stop rioting. It worked. We saw a wave of "black mayors" (from Newark to Chicago, to Los Angeles, to Seattle) during the 20 years following the riots. I worked on the election of Norm Rice in Seattle, only to see the "victory" taken away by moneyed interests. The more things change ... as the old saw goes!
But this time may really be different! J-Lo (Jennifer Lopez) has inked a deal with Verizon to capitalize on the burgeoning Hispanic population that "sprang from the dead", politically, during my time in Los Angeles; when Bradley was Mayor. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/23/business/la-fi-verizon-jlo-latino-20130523. They have the twin advantages of country-of-origin and language.
But, most importantly, Lopez will use her connections to community organize the rising Hispanic Juggernaut! This is something the blacks have failed to do throughout their 20-year opportunity! As a result, black political power has diminished; resulting in out-migrations from all of the cities in which there were black mayors. One exception -- Chicago; where Harold Washington was. perhaps, the most successful of all of the black mayors. There may be no accident that the first black president sprang from that political base.
That brings us back to the topic of yesterday's blog THE BLACK "DIVIDE". It can be argued that the post-Obama era will leave black citizens weaker, politically, than at any time since they began their drive (Post World War I) to free themselves from the twin grips of Klan Terrorism and Jim Crow Peonage. The "TOM" side of the "Divide" has been supported and held in place by the architects of Backlash. Young black politicians from the South prefer the "Tom" route to personal wealth and power, eschewing effective community organizing (witness the story of North Carolina).
The new face of Backlash now appears in the quartet of Cruz, Rubio, Graham and Paul. Facin shrinking white voting power, the Tea Party is driving toward an anarchic goal of dividing this country between those who choose to live behind armed walls of "apartheid", and everyone else. Only effectively organized "communities" of voters will defeat them; given the power of gerrymandering and terror politics. Do the "frogs" feel the heat yet?
Stay Vigilant! "Organize" your butts off, if you expect to survive!
Copyright© 2013: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC
No comments:
Post a Comment