WHAT ARE WE DOING!!!!

This is probably the biggest voting year for black since the Voting Rights Act passed and they got the chance to vote for the first time. I have never seen so many of my folks eager to have a political discussion or getting involved in the process. That makes me proud and scared at the same time. I am scared because black voters are the most gullible people in the country and sometimes have no idea what their votes mean.

How in the hell is William Jefferson in a run-off for his congressional seat? He will be on the ballot against Helena Moreno on the day when there will be the biggest black voter turnout of all time. Unless a miracle happens he’s going to win and I can’t be more pissed off.

I remember back in 1994 when Marion Barry became mayor of Washington D.C. after he was arrested for and caught on videotape smoking crack. All I could think of was with all the families that have been affected by the selling and smoking of crack, how could they possibly elect a guy that endorses it through his actions. When crack was out of control in D.C. how could you take any cries for help seriously when the mayor was a known user and still got elected? One could assume rightfully or wrongfully that crack was a pretty cool thing in D.C.

Here we are down here in New Orleans bitching and moaning about everything other people have that we don’t. We want better schools. We need some hospitals. We need drug treatment facilities. We need new infrastructure and to fix this blight problem. We need to make the streets safer for our citizens. We need some economic development and more jobs. I could go on. It is obvious even to the most ignorant person that all these issues affect the black community more than anyone else in this city. I know it appears that more white people make their concerns public but the reality of it is that there are no white ghettos and hoods in the city limits. If there is a school with subpar conditions and limited resources I can assure you that ninety nine percent of those kids in there are black. That’s not a racist statement. That’s just the truth and you are in denial if you don’t agree.

All these problems can be corrected but it’s going to take money that we don’t have. We are about to send a representative back to Congress when he and almost his entire immediate family has been indicted for hustling public funds. That’s the person you need to send when you really need some money. The message we are saying to the rest of the country is this:

Hello America! Send us a few billion dollars so we can get things together and give the check to that guy who had money in his freezer and is facing indictment.

It’s just a foolish idea to send him back to Congress. There is no excuse for voting for him and he was selfish to even run again. Even the most pro black/anti whitey black people who vote strictly for a candidate because of his color have no excuse for this. There were five other brothers running! You could have still voted black five different ways and not voted for Bill! You have to know where you live, what you need and vote according to who has the best chance of delivering that. Maybe Congressman Jefferson had a moment of bad judgment and is really a good man. That’s fine but you don’t have to put him back in office to validate your forgiveness. He can be a good guy and rebuild his name from his house while a new, less scandalous person works in Washington.

I love and respect Barak Obama because of what he is trying to do and how he has went about doing it. When he wins it will forever change the game and expectations for every black person and all generations afterwards. However, if he gets in office and falls flat on is face, I will be the first person in line to get him out of there and build up the next brother who can do things the right way. I’m never going to sacrifice the whole community for the sake of one person no matter what he did in the past. You have to do it that way because if you don’t then you can’t say anything when you don’t get what you need.

Now, if anyone has read this and doesn’t agree, please send me an email and I will tell you where to pick me up so you can drive me to the black neighborhood in Congressman Jefferson’s district that is thriving and doing so well that I have to post a public apology. I know one thing; we won’t be driving anywhere close to my house. We don’t have an open hospital.