Democrats Disrespect Black Voters; Republicans Ignore Us—It’s Time for Change
Dallas City Council is almost entirely controlled by Democrats who refuse to give Black students school choice or to fund police and public safety in our neighborhoods
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson’s switch from Democrat to Republican was met with racist attacks from white Democrats
Amidst that backdrop, Republicans can compete for Black voters but they must focus on education, public safety, and jobs which matter most to black voters.
It is to our advantage to make BOTH parties compete for our vote
In the political chessboard that is Dallas, Black voters find themselves pawns in a game where both major parties seem to have forgotten that we, too, have the power to declare checkmate. The Dallas City Council, a stronghold of Democrats, has consistently turned a deaf ear to our calls for school choice and adequate funding for police and public safety in our neighborhoods. On the other side, Republicans seem to think they can afford to ignore us, as if our votes are inconsequential. Well, it’s time to set the record straight.
Let’s start with the Democrats, who control the Dallas City Council and yet refuse to give Black students the educational freedom they deserve. Their refusal to fund police and public safety in our neighborhoods is not just a policy failure; it’s a betrayal of the very people they claim to represent. And when Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson decided he’d had enough and switched from Democrat to Republican, what did he get? Racist attacks from white Democrats. The message is loud and clear: loyalty is expected, but respect is not reciprocated.
Meanwhile, after a certain time in many areas of Dallas, instead of having stores and shops that could be open for business and thriving with markets and parks open at night, we get waffle houses, liquor stores, smoke shops and IHOPs. There is a reason for that; people are afraid that if stores are open that late, criminals will be the ones who dictate the cadence and tempo of the exchanges. It’s bad for business, and until the powers that be see the light and stop giving the DISD 47% of the property and sales tax, while the rest of the support systems for the city function off of 30% of that revenue, the situation is a difficult one to change.
The disrespect of this party that quite arrogantly assumes that we will vote for them 9 out of 10 times is found in the fact that they are ok with letting crime run down our neighborhoods, they look forward to introducing all kinds of legislation to make certain we are dependent on the government, and when we are old and spent, we look at our homes and our streets and the blight is allowed to creep all around us as they excessively spend money on development versus safeguarding what should be vibrant, thriving regions where people looking forward to visiting and trading with us for an ample palette of services.
In the DFW region since Sunday, six people lost their lives to gun violence, along with more overdoses and horrific traffic accidents. In one apartment complex, thieves broke the windows to ten cars. Just tonight as a dear friend of mine was in a car accident, the driver was undocumented and was so afraid, so concerned with his own safety that he abandoned the pregnant woman who may have been his partner but was definitely his passenger…his dangerous illegal driving left my friend with a broken leg and now she has to figure out she is going to get to and from work each and everyday until she is healed. Thankfully she had the good sense to have full coverage, yet it really feels that nobody except us and the victims bring themselves to take a pause and care about how the instability and lack of public safety affects our ability to grow and make money in the days ahead.
Now, let’s talk about the Republicans. Amidst this backdrop of Democratic disrespect, the GOP has a golden opportunity to compete for Black voters. But to do so, they must focus on what matters most to us: education, public safety, and jobs. No more empty promises or pandering; we want concrete plans and decisive action. No more knee jerk racism of thinking that all of us fit into any kind of stereotype. Black people and Black culture is not some monolith and no one is a defect ambassador for everything Black. If you find someone who states that they are, kindly smile with compassion and slowly back away from them because we never know what might come up next.
If the proposed solution to our crisis of education is free market via a system of vouchers and ESAS, then what provisions are being made to ensure that the funds are not only focused on families and the education they need for their children, but also what safeguards are in place to prevent a rugpull, where in which a certain amount is granted, but over the course of time it is not expanded to meet the needs of the public, or the even worse the initial amount is rescinded and only meant to suite wealthy property owners. We want accessible, specialized education that addresses the diverse needs and of families and for everyone to appreciate the fact the one size fits all under ISD conglomerate citadels of government education cannot serve everyone. With church attendance at its lowest in generations it is time to open the door to the idea that microschools combined with congregations can give better results than a government regulated public school. Our people deserve to have an ample palette of accessible option in education that is geared to achieve better, more sustainable outcomes, which we see in successful adults who are ready to prosper as functional members of society. We need to get our young people to isolated environments so they can have the opportunity of getting a “reset” and being in environments that foster growth and heal trauma so that the setbacks and hurdles can become as asset instead of an impediment. Public education simply cannot handle that kind of order because our youth require community and spiritual grounding. The issue is that far too many politicians, superintendents and administrators see them as property to be used to associate public tax revenue owed to a system. It is unfair to provide the student with a system that will accelerate the process of them falling through the cracks leave on a school to prison pipeline.
Lastly, we need access to good jobs that can lead to success, wealth and more time spent with the people we care about the most; our families. This idea of being worked to half to death on unfulfilling jobs while the government looks after our children is part of a twisted reality that we need to leave behind. It is not enough to be employed with jobs that lead to government assistance, we need an ample array of real incentives that encourage us to define our financial future on our own terms. Anyone who says that we are incapable of doing so is either racist or harboring internalized apathy that succumbing to racist half measures install within them. We should embrace the free market and we should also remind ourselves that we consistently give more than is recognized to this country by way of our heritage.
When it comes to public safety, we need a police force that is there to serve and protect the community, rather than being functionairies of elected officials. We need to do everything we can to encourage our young students to become public safety officers and work in law enforcement so that they have access to a well paying jobs that we can associate with dignity instead of fear and mistrust, and no we cannot backslide into this idea that the less police there are, the better because if you pay attention to the headlines like we do, we don’t see crime as something that is on the decline, and with the current framework for dealing with the crime surges and spikes, we all must realize that it is best to have the recommended alottment of 4000 police officers.
Here’s the bottom line: it’s to our advantage to make BOTH parties compete for our vote. For too long, Democrats have taken us for granted, and Republicans have written us off. It’s time to remind them that our votes are not just tokens to be collected but are tied to real issues that affect our lives and our futures. We are not a monolithic group; we are a diverse and dynamic community with a range of concerns and aspirations.
So, to the politicians in both parties, hear this: if you want our vote, you’ll have to earn it. Show us policies that address our needs, listen when we speak, and—most importantly—act on your promises. Until then, consider yourselves on notice. We know our worth, and we won’t settle for anything less than the respect and attention we deserve.
