mekka okereke Jul 26, 2023

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.🤡

Show threadmekka okereke Jul 26, 2023

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!"

Show threadmekka okereke Jul 26, 2023

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.

Show threadmekka okereke Jul 26, 2023

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."

Show threadmekka okereke Jul 26, 2023

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.

Show threadmekka okereke Jul 26, 2023

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

Show threadMsSmartyPantsJul 26, 2023
@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.
Show threadMsSmartyPants
@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.
Jul 26, 2023 at 4:48pmWeb
Show threadmekka okereke Jul 26, 2023

@MsSmartyPants

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

Show threadMsSmartyPantsNov 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.
Show threadmekka okereke Nov 1, 2023

@MsSmartyPants

🤦🏿‍♂️ 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?

Show threadMsSmartyPantsNov 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.