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Page 2 The Skanner August 22, 2018 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Is the Black Vote Still Being Treated Like a Political Piñata? Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher W Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2017 MERIT AWARD WINNER The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2018 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar Check out: TheSkannerReport.com ! • L i ke u s on F ebo m me • nts TheSkannerNews o k • learn • co in y o u r c o m m u n y toda ac it Your One-Stop Hub for Community Newspapers Throughout the U.S. y • Opinion hen it comes to poli- tics in this country, there is one thing that seems to be a constant—the Black vote is important and always tends to make a difference. Although Blacks make up roughly 13 percent of the overall population in the United States, Black voters re- main a powerful voting bloc that can change the trajectory of any election. Now, it is no secret that Black people overwhelming- ly vote for Democratic candi- dates in nearly every national election, with identical re- sults being shown in local and state elections. Even in elections where a race is considered to be non- partisan, such as for a May- or or City Council seat, Black people have historically voted for the candidates that have self-identified or campaigned as a Democrat. While this has been the norm for decades, Black peo- ple have been on the receiving end of neglect and disparate treatment by candidates who win with the overwhelming support of the Black vote. It is an interesting phenom- enon to watch, as Black peo- ple are strategically sought after and courted for their vote, with the hope of secur- ing their collective support for specific candidates or certain issues. Black people are typically courted with the same archaic methods to Jeffrey Boney NNPA Columnist get them registered and to the polls, while providing limited resources for voter outreach and education. On the surface, African Americans are marketed to as if their sacred vote means so much, but historically that often changes once their vote is cast. The way African American voters are treated, it is as if they have become a political piñata. You know what a “piñata is right? According to the Merri- am-Webster dictionary, a “piñata” is “a decorated con- tainer filled with candies, fruits, and gifts that is hung up at parties or celebrations and hit with a stick by blind- folded persons until it is bro- ken and the things inside it fall out.” As it relates to voting, Af- rican Americans are often treated like the treats on the inside of a piñata. They don’t care how they get Black votes, they just want that vote no matter how Blacks are treated or handled. Blacks are consis- tently pounded and beat over the head with political mes- sages during campaign sea- son until they give up their precious and valuable vote. Then once that piñata is fi- nally opened, or in this case when the Black votes are fi- nally cast, Black voters are either forgotten or vilified depending on the outcome of the race. The routine is simple. When the results don’t go the “ They don’t care how they get Black votes, they just want that vote no matter how Blacks are treated or handled way those who courted the Black vote wanted it to go, they blame the Blacks for the results. However, when the outcome is favorable to those who courted the Black vote, they celebrate the results, reap the benefits and then essentially ignore those same loyal, Afri- can American voters after the election is over. Because Black voters over- whelmingly vote for Demo- cratic candidates, it would make sense for the Demo- cratic Party to avoid treating Blacks like piñatas and taking them for granted. At a recent plenary session at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Annual Convention in De- troit, Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez emphatically stated that the Democratic Party had become notorious for taking African Americans for granted. “Shame on us for taking Af- rican Americans for granted,” said Perez. “We can’t allow that to happen again and we won’t allow that to happen again under my watch. We can’t criticize Black voters for not showing up, because it’s not on them. It’s on the Democratic Party to show up and put our money where our mouth is to better organize in the African American com- munity.” History shows us that begin- ning with the Civil War era and through the early part of the 20th century, Blacks voted heavily Republican. One key factor for that was the deci- sion for Republican President Abraham Lincoln to push for and pass the Emancipation Proclamation. After the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Ku Klux Klan began to ter- rorize Blacks with threats of violence to discourage them from voting, while strongly putting a fear in Blacks to avoid supporting Republican candidates, unless they want- ed to be lynched. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com Without Heart, America is Heartless H EART (Humanity Equal- ity Acceptance Respon- siveness Thankfulness) is an acronym for the type of heart protections America professes to have in abundance, grandfathered in from our founding fathers’ principles, constitutionalized and “Bill-of-Righted” into our nation’s permanent future, to prevent corporate corrup- tion of her heart health. America, the patient, is approaching the point of no return where companies vote, rig and buy elections wholesale through unlimited funding, lobbying, and a gen- eral ransacking of public elec- tions, the Republic, and our governmental system. The safeguards were put in place to prevent such unfettered greed and gross misman- agement, that could reduce America’s heart to a bottom- less, line-itemized deduction. Are we the nation, that will be forever known as the world- wide leader in military bases that we’ve built, and count- less number of victims along the way we’ve enslaved and “kill’t”? Another HEART is “Humil- ity Equitably Attracting Re- spectful Trustworthiness.” Sean C. Bowers New Journal and Guide That’s where the American Country Club-wanna-be-lead- ership loses the masses, be- coming the endless pursuit of ever over-reaching, too- far reaching, then preaching down at the common man, without the “Common Sense” about which Thomas Paine wrote. “ America is supposed to be the world’s ‘oyster of opportunity,’ taking in the people who are the salt of the earth America’s “vitals,” for far too long, have been pervert- ed to only profitability from providence by charlatans disguised and dressed up as cardiologists. These are witch-doctors, fake-news, wanna-be-cardiologists, who can barely pull their own (hair) plugs. Our Mother Earth is not America’s oyster; America is supposed to be the world’s “oyster of opportunity,” tak- ing in the people who are the salt of the earth. Through the “culturing process,” Ameri- ca helps to heal humanity’s imperfections turning them into spiritual rewards and en- hancing the lives of millions. This is the American HEART that the rest of the world can unite with; unfortunately, America’s current foreign policy makes the country look like we’re “only out for No. 1.” The American HEART I was raised to believe in, strive for and ultimately deliver, is supposed to be the most hon- orable, elegant, accommo- dating respectable truth that can be defended from a moral high ground from on heav- en’s highlands that was “be- queathed” to us (and stolen from the Native Americans). America’s HEART now, more than ever, requires “Honest Egalitarian Activism Remedying Top-down-ness.” The seas are rising; the storms have come and are here and they are more se- vere and more frequent. The droughts have come and food will not grow. Fires burn at the gates, as the ice melts, while those not at sea level do everything but “see lev- el.” Meanwhile, America’s HEART health is at a “C-level,” nowhere near strong enough to lead the world during tough times. America’s heart health must be higher than C-level. Our current path could lead to a potentially catastrophic heart attack, thereby killing the patient. We must know by now, that it’s time to get to work. That means ending bad HEART health practices (“Hoarding Ego-based Apathy Retards Truthful” solutions) nationwide, while promoting good HEART health (“Hon- orable Empathy Accessible Righteousness Triumphs”). Do you have the HEART that it takes to love the world? In the 757 area code, the H.E.A.R.T. (Humanity Empow- erment And Resources Team) consortium was formed to use a business networking approach to community “give-backtivism.” This mod- el is free and can be exported and replicated nationwide and around the world. nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve