CASH IN THE APPLE FOR
08-31-16
By Cash Michaels
WHAT YOU
STAND FOR - Up until Monday morning when I was asked to comment on the Colin Kaepernick controversy, I was familiar with the story in
passing. A black NFL superstar quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, who for the pass several exhibition games, has
refused to stand with the rest of the
stadium in honor and respect for the playing of the Star Spangled Banner, our
national anthem.
Needless to
say, when a multi-million dollar star athlete refuses to join the rest of his
countrymen in paying tribute to the nation that has given him the opportunity to be rich beyond anyone’s
dreams, that’s going to make news, and it has.
Just like
Colin Kaepernick wanted it to.
By now
you’re very familiar with argument against what Kaepernick is doing. As an
American citizen of some privilege, CK has the gall to disrespect the very
symbols of American freedom others fought and died for. This country has always
prided itself for standing for freedom no matter what trials and tribulations
it was going through…including slavery.
Being an
American was, and is, many maintain, the greatest blessing any human being can
be bestowed with, because no other country in the history of man has been a
beacon of freedom, justice and opportunity as American has been. Home of the
greatest military fighting force in history, home of the greatest democracy
ever, home of where, with hard work and sacrifice, an individual’s dreams can
come true.
How dare
Colin Kaepernick turn his back on America, refuse to bow down to its greatness
and blessings. He should be punished,
CK’s critics insist. He should be made to understand how selfish and unjust
he’s being.
But all of
that brings us to the other side of the argument…the side Kaepernick says he
represents.
CK says he hasn’t “turned his back” on America,
on his country, but rather his country has turned its back on him and people
like him.
True, America is the “land of promise,” but CK says his
country is not living up to its promise of freedom, justice and equality when
black people are being shot down in the street like dogs by police officers,
and our criminal justice system little to hold them accountable.
CK says its
hard to honor America’s promise, when the nation routinely refers to its
citizens of color as less than all other citizens, by calling them “minorities”
The word
“minority” has only one meaning – less than. Black, yellow and brown American
citizens are just that – American citizens, and nothing less. So why is it
acceptable to routinely remind everyone that there are less of them, and more
of whites, if everyone is a full citizen deserving of equal rights and
protection?
And CK says
despite lots of lip service about how blacks and Latinos have a fair chance of achievement
and accomplishment in American society, then why do many still find it almost
impossible to find meaningful employment, or assistance in opening small
businesses?
Yes,
refusing to stand in solemn silence is a slap in the face to other Americans,
but allowing one group of Americans to pass laws to deliberately deny another
group of Americans their right to vote and fully participate in this nation’s
democracy is also a slap in the face….to all Americans, and should not be so
readily accepted.
Colin Kaepernick says if his silent protest and high
visibility brings attention to these hypocrisies, then so be it. He’s willing
to take his punishment, just like Muhammad Ali did when he gave up his championship
title after refusing to serve in the US Army, or when Tommie Smith and John
Carlos stood strong with their Black Power salutes at the 1968 Olympics.
CK is making us think….what is the
value of citizenship if the same Americans who insist on standing at attention
for the pledge and national anthem out of respect for our war dead and ideals
of freedom, conveniently ignore the indignities and injustices burdened by other Americans, just
they’re “minorities” and don’t have the privileges of the majority.
And for the record, CK is free to
express his concerns in the peaceful manner that he chooses.
Afterall,
Colin Kaepernick is an American.
Cash in the Apple - honored as the Best Column Writing of 2006 by the
National Newspaper Publishers Association. Columnist Cash Michaels was also
honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story Journalist of 2009, and was the
recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s President’s Award for Media Excellence in
Sept. 2011.
Until
next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in
your life. Bye, bye.
-30-
WOULD BLACKS BENEFIT
FROM
NONPARTISAN VOTING
MAP?
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
On Monday,
several retired state Supreme Court justices and judges – co-led by former Chief
Justice Henry Frye of Greensboro - along with the nonpartisan advocacy group,
Common Cause, released their simulated version of what a nonpartisan
Congressional map of North Carolina could look like if state lawmakers stopped
using redistricting for partisan advantage.
The result
– the 13 congressional districts were fairer, and more competitive.
In the
simulation, Mecklenburg constitutes the 13th District. In the latest
legislative rendering, Mecklenburg is the Twelfth.
If state lawmakers employed the
nonpartisan approach to redrawing all thirteen voting districts for 2020, when
the next redistricting is scheduled, not only would NC’s congressional
districts be constitutional, but African-American voters would still be able to
elect black representation to Congress not only from the First and Thirteenth
Districts (which are covered by the 1965 Voting Rights Act), but possibly also
the Fourth District as well, says Bob Phillips, executive director of Common
Cause.
And that’s because all three
congressional districts, which would be predominately Democratic, would produce
black-white coalitions of voters that could readily elect an African-American
to Congress.
It could be done, Phillips says, if
the state legislature would adopt a nonpartisan redistricting commission to
draw the maps. Members of both parties have expressed interest in establishing
such a panel in the past, but the lure of controlling the redistricting process
exclusively for partisan goals has always won out in the end.
Several weeks ago, the US Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the 2011 NC Congressional maps, drawn by the
Republican-led NC General Assembly, to be unconstitutional because the First
and Twelfth districts were drawn to “stack and pack” black voters, meaning that
they were moved out of swing districts in order to give white Republicans a
better chance of winning close races with white Democrats.
In doing so, Republicans were able
to dominate the North Carolina Congressional delegation 10 – 3 over Democrats,
with Rep. G. K. Butterfield in the First, Rep. Alma Adams in the Twelfth, and
Congressman David Price in the Fourth.
Because of the appellate court
ruling, the March congressional primaries had to be postponed until June with
no runoff races while the legislature redrew the maps supposedly to ignore
race, instead putting a premium on Republican partisanship, maintaining the 10
to 3 congressional ratio.
The 2016 map has also been
challenged, but will stand until the federal courts say otherwise, if they do.
According to Phillips, the First,
Thirteenth and possibly the Fourth are drawn to be Voting Rights Act [VRA] compliant
in the new simulated nonpartisan map. Black Democratic voters in those
districts control the primary process.
In the First District, black voters
are 42 percent; the Thirteenth blacks are over 34 percent, and in the Fourth,
blacks are over 31 percent.
Coalition voting is feasible in
these areas, as proven historically elsewhere prior to the 2011 redistricting
by the re-election of Sen. Dan Blue in Wake County and Sen. Floyd McKissick Jr.
in Durham.
In the
simulated version, because of how people are clustered across the state, says
Phillips, there are several congressional districts that are decidedly
Democratic, some that are predominately Republican, and possibly a handful that
are considered tossups, meaning candidates from either party could win.
“At least
that would be map that is more in line with where we are as a state,” says
Phillips.
Instead
lopsided congressional delegations like 10-3, congressional elections could
easily produce more even results like 7-6. But again, state lawmakers would
have to commit to establishing a nonpartisan redistricting commission.
Phillips
says the next step is to continue to educate the public about the possibilities
of nonpartisan redistricting, so various sessions will be held across the
state, in hopes of convincing lawmakers that this is something North
Carolinians want.
Republicans
may pay more attention, says Phillips, especially if Democrats this fall
successfully make considerable election gains in the state House and Senate,
not to mention other key offices. The GOP may not want to be targeted by
Democrats, Phillips says, the way Republicans targeted them when the 2020
redistricting rolls around.
-30-
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