"MORE POWERFUL THAN THE MARCH OF MIGHTY ARMIES IS AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME... (Victor Hugo)
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In the spring of 1968, less than four months before his death, in a speech at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke about the importance of remaining awake through a revolution and the dangers of neglecting socio-political movements of great importance. He said:
"One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change."
Six years earlier President John F. Kennedy reminded us that:
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - (March 13th, 1962, Speech, First Anniversary of The Alliance For Progress.)
During this year of Presidential election primaries, the Republican and Democratic Party "Establishments" should reflect on the advice of Dr. King and President Kennedy. There are major political, economic, social, cultural and foreign policy issues confronting both parties now and in November 2016.
If, for example, the "Establishment," leadership of the Republican Party is able to successfully prevent Donald Trump from being selected as their nominee, after winning the most votes during its primaries, this will undoubtedly provoke a major riotous push back from Trump supporters.
If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic Party presidential nominee, the Democratic party "Establishment," through its National Committee, after rigging the primary voting selection process so patently in favor of Secretary Clinton, will face the daunting task of persuading supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders to vote for her in the general election.
If Trump is the Republican nominee, (in the absence a VP choice that would be worst than John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin in 2008), it is my belief that Trump will defeat Hillary Clinton next November.
The toxic mix of anger and disillusionment among a large number of Trump supporters and the likely "holding your nose" syndrome on the part of Sanders supporters who vote, several of whom may not vote, will insure Hillary Clinton's defeat.
I can hear the responsive arguments dismissing my belief: "Hillary Clinton will join together a coalition of women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, etc. who "will never vote for Trump", thus, assuring her of victory".
Underlying my thesis is the belief that the percentage of the demographic groups who will actually go to the polls and vote for Hillary Clinton will be insufficient to offset the voter base of Donald Trump, many of whom will be firs time voters. Moreover, Hillary's African-American leader-advisors, based on what I have read and listened to, believe, contrary to the reality I hear as I travel to different places across the country, that a large segment of African-Americans WILL NOT vote for Donald Trump. At best, this is wishful thinking.
Re-read my quotes above from Dr. King and Pres. JFK. Both the Democratic and Republican party "Establishments" have underestimated the impact that illegal immigration has had on the domestic employment of African-American men, between the ages of 18-34 and the consequential impact of a racial biased criminal justice system upon the African-American community.
For those who read this blog and doubt what I say about the impact of our racist criminal justice system upon the African-American community, I recommend they read Michelle Alexander's book "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness". Professor Alexander writes:
More African Americans are under the control of the criminal justice system today - in prison or jail, on probation or parole - than were enslaved in 1850. Discrimination in housing, education, employment, and voting rights, which many Americans thought was wiped out by the civil rights laws of the 1960s, is now perfectly legal against anyone labeled a "felon."
Until the "Black Lives Matter" movement confronted both Clinton and Sanders campaigns about this issue, neither of them made it an important part of their respective campaign speeches or Policy Statements.
As I have said at the end of several previous blogs, quoting Pulitzer author, Alice Walker's book: "We Are the Ones That We've Been Waiting For"