Zonkerbl wrote:As far as Republicans being worse than Democrats - despite having the full advantage of living in the United States and having access to all the institutions that make this country great, blacks haven't been able to catch up to whites in terms of income or wealth. That has to do with institutional racism like the War on Drugs, which the Dems embraced wholeheartedly. Yes it's better to not be beaten up and lynched, but it's like choosing between getting your face punched and getting sat on by a 400 lb gorilla. The latter is somewhat preferable but... I mean, are you really better off rewarding the Dems for patting themselves on the back for not setting crosses on fire but still supporting the institutional racism that keeps blacks cordoned off in a separate and unequal economy?
The only way to really start fixing institutional racism is to first address the criminal justice system, and the only way to fix that is through near abolition of the industrial prison complex and associated institutional mechanisms, which includes the police. Biden's refusal to endorse defunding the police makes me think he just doesn't get it and at his age maybe he never will. And his refusal to endorse legalizing marijuana, the prohibition of which is enforced in a flagrantly racist way, doesn't fill me with confidence either.
You know how I complain that passing minimum wage laws only after the market wage has risen above the minimum wage is complete hypocritical horsecrap? I feel that way about a lot of these marginal little things that Democrats have done to pay lip service to civil rights, while ignoring the policy changes that would actually make a difference.
See I never understood the line of thinking in the bolded. Ignoring away the fact that the war on drugs was started by Republicans and support for the crime bill was in a completely different time than we have now, comparing Democrats in the 90’s to Democrats now is like saying the Bulls were a championship team in the so that means the current Bulls are now a championship team because the owner is the same and some of the people from the 90’s are still in the organization. Kamala Harris and Corey Booker do not represent the same positions as the party did in the 90’s.
It’s a very straight forward analysis. In the last 20 years the Democrats have only controlled all 3 parts of Congress for 2 years. What have Republicans done for criminal justice reform in those 18 years where they had control of all 3 branches of government? I’m genuinely asking show me all the laws and bills that have been passed in that case?
Here’s just an example of the differences in the party under Obama and everything that Trump has done to dismantle the reforms he put in place. There’s a theme developing here:
https://www.motherjones.com/anti-racism-police-protest/2020/06/barack-obama-criminal-justice-reform/Finally let’s focus on today Zonks. Which party just passed a sweeping police reform bill that sites collecting dust in the Senate? Which party has been making reforms at the state and local level and which party is passing laws making it easier for people to kill protestors. Focus on right now, instead of falling into the same Establishment trap, it’s about having power vs not having power. Republicans have had way more power in the past 20 years and have actively made things worse. Instead of just pissing and moaning about Democrats, talk about how to get them back in power, show what has already been done and how much more can be achieved if they’re given as much power over the next 20 years as Republican have been given.
