Mastodawn

The criticism of Ice Cube coming from many white folk, vs Black folk, is different in important ways.

When Biden stresses "Bipartisanship" and says that he will work with people from both parties to get things done for the American people, he's praised. If I criticize his centrism, y'all yell at me.🤷🏿‍♂️

When Ice Cube says we don't know who's going to win the election: if it's Dems I'll work with them, if it's GOP I'll work with them, to get things done for Black people...y'all call him a fool.🤡

I disagree with Ice Cube's tactic (as do most Black voters), but he has not "turned right wing," and he is not "unaware that he's being used by right wingers"

He's making the very specific point that most Democrats take the Black vote for granted. They expect Black folk to work harder than everyone to elect Dems, and then do nothing to prioritize the issues most important to Black people. Because they say, "What're you gonna do, vote GOP? Ha ha! They hate you even more!!! You have no choice!"

Biden wants to *increase* police funding. Even after we've all seen how ineffective that is at anything but increasing the harm experienced by Black men and boys.

Governor Hochul wants to *bring back* prison labor and reinstate cash bail, to resupply the required prison slavery workforce. Even though she knows how racist and harmful that is to Black folk. This is cartoonishly evil and racist. Slavery in NYC.

Progressive candidates that run on anti-racism are *kneecapped* by centrists.

Ice Cube is practicing a very dangerous form of brinkmanship.

He understands that if the GOP wins, Black folk will be more screwed than if Dems win.

He also knows that white Dem voters and politicians will be significantly impacted if the GOP wins, and that the Dems cannot win without the Black vote. It's "If you take the Black vote for granted, I will sink this whole ship. Yes, I will drown first because I'm on a lower deck, but we will all drown. I don't care. Try me."

Ice Cube doesn't need to convert every Black voter for his threat to be successful. He doesn't even need to convert every Black man. If he gets an incremental 10% of Black men to either vote GOP, or more realistically, just not fight the voter suppression and stay home on election day, then the Dems have zero chance of winning in 2024. None. We welcome president Trump/DeSantis/Ramaswamy.

So Ice Cube and other Black celebrities are incredibly valuable to GOP campaigns.

Most of the people mad at Ice Cube haven't even listened to what he is asking for. Because they just do not care what Black voters have to say, or why Black men in particular are disillusioned with the Democratic party. They are precisely the people taking Black voters for granted. "Vote and shut up. We're not literal Nazis, so you have to vote for us. If you don't vote for us, you ain't Black!"

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/politics/biden-charlamagne-tha-god-you-aint-black/index.html

@mekkaokereke
#Biden is from the same generation and area I am, so I want to share what I thought he was saying.
I'm from Philly, and have known of Joe Biden since the 70s. Prominent white guys from Delaware who were considered genuine by Black men were rare and word spread quickly when such a person was elected, then his wife and kid died, then he went to DC...When he says something like, "You ain't Black", I hear an old white guy who was comfortable around us way back in the day.

He was comfortable with Black people and segregationists. That's his whole thing. I don't like that.

He was comfortable with Strom Thurmond. Comfortable enough to speak at his eulogy!

Comfortable enough to be against busing.

Comfortable enough to pass the crime bill.

Hey, I voted for Biden! And likely will again. Like 95% of Black voters. But we can't gloss over or minimize his awful choices. Not even his providing a sound bite for taking the Black vote for granted.

artisanrox Jul 26, 2023

@mekkaokereke @MsSmartyPants

I agree. The beauty of the US Left is that we can vote for someone imperfect, but absolutely teachable...like Biden, and also realize that this ain't it either and we need to demand/help BETTER people to eventually take over for them in the future.

Humble Fan of Atty. Woo Jul 26, 2023

@mekkaokereke @MsSmartyPants

I'm gonna hope that he has some misgivings about some of those bad choices in history, and that he has seen the error of his ways as he represents us today. Sure does beat the other alternatives. carry on

@BillMcGuire @MsSmartyPants

I don't believe in hoping.

I believe in accountability. I still haven't seen him change his tune on Criminal Justice Reform.

He's still on that "tough on crime" talk, which is how Tyree Nichols happens. We only hear about the ones that cause death, but millions of people have bad and traumatic experiences that don't result in death.

MsSmartyPants Jan 28, 2024

@mekkaokereke @BillMcGuire
I owe you an apology.
I really believed @POTUS was a decent human being. But my opinion was based on what I knew about him in the 70s and 80s, when I lived in Philly.
Your opinion is bearing out as true. #GenocideJoe has broken my heart.
All the best.

Humble Fan of Atty. Woo Jan 30, 2024

not sure what you are apologizing to me about, but I am confused by your post where you say "I really believed @POTUS was a decent human being." Do you mean Joe Biden? The situation in Gaza is unbelievably bad, and Netanahu is a very bad man who should be removed, but he is the head of a bunch of hardliners. He is not listening to anyone from America to include Joe Biden, and most sensible people, as I do myself, believe the Palestinian people should be able to live in peace in Gaza MINUS Hamas of course. I think it is time Netanahu is given an ultimatum (problem with that is that we need Israel on our side in the Middle East). I do not believe Joe Biden wants unnecessary killing to continue, but it is a tricky situation, not easily solved. UN Peacekeepers could be sent in, but even that could be iffy with Hamas not giving in either. Take care. I yield back my time.

MsSmartyPants Nov 1, 2023

@mekkaokereke
#Biden has been in politics for 50 years. During that time, he has made decisions that were bad, even harmful to visible and ethnic minorities. But unlike most politicians, I have seen him evolve. I've seen him make mistakes, acknowledge them, and change, giving him the reputation of being "untrustworthy" with white politicians. He has been the most trustworthy for Black Americans, so far, and again I say, there's no one better. He has earned my vote and proven his sincerity.

MsSmartyPants Jul 26, 2023

@mekkaokereke
Remember, in the 50s, when Biden was going into politics, there was still segregation and Jim Crow, no social media, etc, but Biden was hanging out with Black politicians. When he said that to Charlemagne in 2020, he probably thought he was using the expression to signal his familiarity with Civil Rights issues.
White folks never heard such expressions in his day, except when Black folks were comfortable around them.

MsSmartyPants Jul 26, 2023

@mekkaokereke
If young Black people can't tell the difference between Biden and a pretender, they should consider how the technology with which you've been raised has made you incapable of knowing genuine people from fakes.

Please let me know your thoughts on the crime bill. Or busing. Or Strom Thurmond.

MsSmartyPants Nov 1, 2023

@mekkaokereke
When #Biden was a jr senator, he had little to do with the Crime Bill and nothing to do with how it was used against Black people. That was 1 of thousands of bills he voted on, and when he was Obama's VP, he acknowledged that it was wrong. With the help of Congress people like #Rashida_tlaib and #ilhanomar, he's getting a perspective he never had before and we are again seeing him evolve.
Read "Black AF History" by Michael Harriot for more.

🤦🏿‍♂️ Involved? Biden drafted the Senate version of the Bill.

He literally sat with Tom Scotto, who was the National Association of Police Officers president, and wrote the thing. Biden doesn't deny this, and at the time, bragged about it. The meetings as they were putting the bill together literally happened in Biden's conference room. This is not debatable.

🤔 Bigger question, why is this coming up again now? I haven't even mentioned Biden in months. What's this all about?

MsSmartyPants Nov 1, 2023

@mekkaokereke
🙃 A while back you asked my opinion #Biden's part on the Crime Bill, Thurmond and desegregation initiatives.

I check my Mastodon account in fits and starts, so sorry for the late response.

I hope you're well.