Vote… Democrat?
A common refrain in the recent responses to the murder of George Floyd is that systemic racism and police brutality permeates United States society and has for decades. In fact, one can easily find complaints of race discrimination and police brutality dating back as long as such records have been kept. There is no doubt that in too many circumstances people of color are treated differently than are white people by those in positions of authority. This is a problem that truly needs our attention and that must be addressed.
Systemic racism, obviously, is racial discrimination so common in the judicial system, law enactment and enforcement, indeed in the perception of people of color by individuals within those systems at every level of government, that people of color can have no confidence in the equal application of laws or availability of services. They must, in fact, assume that any interaction with a government official may, without provocation, result in harassment, arrest, and/or physical injury. Who are these people who must be feared and who can, with impunity, treat people unfairly and brutally? For the most part, they are local police. The cry of “police brutality” rarely refers to anyone above the state level of government and most often, is the result of some improper action by someone at the local level as in this most recent incident, the brutal killing of a non-aggressive man.
This is why federal government actions have little effect on the continuing issues of systemic racism and police brutality. Congresses have passed, and presidents have signed many laws aimed at relieving the plight of people being treated wrongly. A few have had some marginal effect, but few have operated directly upon local governments or civic entities in a manner that yields the desired result. The government in Washington, DC simply does not have the constitutional authority to determine the make-up of government at the local level.
Neither the president nor Congress has any authority over the election of persons to be town mayors or city council members, for example. The court has some control over how elections are conducted, but it has no power to direct people to vote for any one person over an opponent in any election. No federal officeholder or employee can tell any county how it will choose its sheriff, nor can any such person tell any municipality who may or may not be appointed chief of police, or how the police department will be organized or its positions filled. Not many thinking people would advocate for the federal government to be given that kind of authority.
In the past few weeks, it has been said by speakers at different rallies and protests that the solution to the problems of police brutality and race discrimination is for everyone to vote. Former President Obama and current presidential candidate Biden have both echoed that sentiment. Based on the party affiliation of most, if not all of those we hear this advice from we may infer that they are encouraging us to vote for candidates in the Democrat Party. There is a problem with that.
Given that police brutality and race discrimination have been ongoing problems for decades, and considering that local officials are more responsible for the individuals whose behavior is most often the source of those complaints, perhaps we should consider:
The last Republican mayor of: Chicago-1931, Detroit-1962, Philadelphia-1952, Boston-1930, Newark-1953, Los Angeles-2001, Seattle-1969, Portland-1957 (Elected), Pittsburg-1934 (Appointed), Charleston-1877, Atlanta-1879, Minneapolis-1961 (with the exception of a fellow who was mayor for one day December 31, 1973), and Washington DC- Never
From the 84th Congress to the 103rd Congress (1955-1994) the House of Representatives was controlled exclusively by the Democrat Party. In all but three of those Congresses, the 97th, 98th, and 99th, the Senate was also controlled by the Democrat Party. From the 73rd Congress (1933–1934) to the present, a span of 87 years, the Republican Party controlled both houses of Congress nine times, for a total of 18 years. For only six years, from 1995 through 2000 were those consecutive.
With every protest demanding racial equality and the end of police brutality has come the admonition that there must be change. Change has been the mantra of the civil rights movement from the very beginning to the present. Given the track record of the Democrat Party as previously described, by what logic should anyone who desires change vote for a Democrat?
Wes O’Dell
June 14, 2020
