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ellenrr

(3,864 posts)
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 04:27 AM Oct 2015

If This is a War, Then Black Lives Matter is Losing



That tells us that our conditions – or real material conditions – have not changed substantially for over ½ century – over 60 years.

Indeed, in many ways, those conditions have worsened, such as the phenomenon of mass incarceration.

Why? Because the material conditions of millions of Black folk have changed due to de-industrialization, the resultant loss of the tax base, the corporatization of the public school systems, and the explosive expansion of the imprisonment industry – the creation of what I call the White Rural Jobs Program – prisons.
...
As the late historian Howard Zinn (1922 – 2010) has written in his book The Twentieth Century:

‘despite his lofty rhetoric, Clinton showed, in his eight years in office, that he, like other politicians, was more interested in electoral victory than in social change.

To get more votes, he decided he must move the party closer to the center. This meant doing just enough for Blacks, women, and working people to keep their support, while trying to win over white conservative voters with a program of toughness on crime, stern measures on welfare, and a strong military.’ (Zinn, 428)

The neoliberal Clinton regime ushered in a program of repression that included the scuttling of habeas corpus via the anti-terrorism and effective death penalty act; the closing of the courthouse doors to prisoners via the Prison Litigation Reform Act; and the notorious 1996 Crime Bill, which spent billions on new prisons, and added some 60 new death penalties to the books.


http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/10/16/if-this-is-a-war-then-black-lives-matter-is-losing/
14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Chitown Kev

(2,197 posts)
1. For one thing, The Crime Bill was in 1994
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 04:38 AM
Oct 2015

not 1996...which is actually a pretty critical difference.

2) "the creation of what I call the White Rural Jobs Program – prisons"-lol, since Sanders touts so much that he's from a rural and nearly all white state, does that explain his "yea" vote for the 1994 crime bill?

or does the fact that he was "more interested in electoral victory than in social change" explain it?

Oh, and please explain why Bernie Sanders endorsed the "neoliberal Clinton regime" for reelection in 1996.

Tarheel_Dem

(31,237 posts)
2. Did you lose a bet? You post Counterpunch in here? The people who raise money on Obama hate?
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 04:46 AM
Oct 2015
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM COUNTERPUNCH! Politically, these are treacherous and uncertain times. A discredited president is saddled with a listless economy and a slew of unpopular and illegal wars. The voters rightly hold both parties in contempt. The corporate press is similarly disgraced. Thousands of readers around the globe are flocking to CounterPunch because they know we aren’t in the pockets of corporations or their foundations, and we aren’t beholden to any political party. That’s why you come to CounterPunch and that’s also why we need YOUR support. The need is real. The time is now. Please make a tax-deductible donation today by credit card through our secure online server, via PayPal or by calling 1(800) 840-3683. Note: This annoying box will disappear once we reach our fund drive goal. Thank you for your support!


Oh, and in case you guys didn't notice over at CP, Bill Clinton hasn't been POTUS for almost 20 years.

Cha

(297,503 posts)
3. More people showing up to use the AA Group for their agenda or is this a regular poster?
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 05:07 AM
Oct 2015

Freaking counterpunch hates our First Black President Obama. is right.

Tarheel_Dem

(31,237 posts)
5. I'm not familiar with the poster, but I certainly am familiar with Counterpunch. Some of it's....
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 05:29 AM
Oct 2015

"contributors" (if you want to call them that), are associates of Julian Assange. That tells me everything I need to know about them as a journalistic outlet, and why they're always begging for money.

Response to Cha (Reply #3)

ellenrr

(3,864 posts)
4. I posted the article because Mumia Abu Jamals' thought is valuable
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 05:27 AM
Oct 2015

apparently not on DU.
fine.
adios.

PS instead of assaulting the messenger or the poster--
does it ever occur to anyone to read the content and reply to that?

Tarheel_Dem

(31,237 posts)
6. I take it you don't think sources are important? If not, why don't you post some redstate.com for..
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 05:30 AM
Oct 2015

shits & giggles?

Cha

(297,503 posts)
7. Really. too many have been posting anti-Hillary OPs from rwinger sources..
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 05:50 AM
Oct 2015

counterpunch fits right in.. they both raise money off of President Obama hate. And, for that alone I doubt their veracity.





 

1StrongBlackMan

(31,849 posts)
9. While I have much respect for Mumia Abu Jamal's thoughts ...
Sun Oct 18, 2015, 10:00 AM
Oct 2015

I can't agree with his logic or his conclusion here ... He uses 150 years of history to conclude that the (less than) 2 year old BLM Movement is losing in it's efforts ... despite its introducing the murder of Black people into the mainstream of political discussion?

It seems he thinks/thought that the war would be over with a single, well placed shot.

randys1

(16,286 posts)
13. I wrote much more than that and deleted it, remembered where I was, your link
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 01:17 PM
Oct 2015

is amazing.

Yes, if you own a BMW then you arent really Black.

And you have no business being concerned about non economic issues while there are white people not as well off as you.

ding ding ding

 

1StrongBlackMan

(31,849 posts)
14. I think there are really folks here ...
Mon Oct 19, 2015, 01:53 PM
Oct 2015

that want me to apologize, or feel guilty, because I have attained a measure of affluence!

Ain't gonna happen!

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