By Vincent L. Hall
As we stand on the precipice of yet another Black History Month, I would desire that we as a people Quit Playin’ like so much has changed. Someone removed the “White Only” signs, but they left you the signals.
Last week the Dallas Republican Party shuttled out their handpicked “Black” again! But, the Grand Old Party’s message has not changed. “Getting tough on crime” is still afresh on their lips and psyches. The taglines change, but their views on solving crime are nothing more than reiterations of the same old “ish!”
You can pluck a few lines from a recent Dallas Morning News article and quickly understand my distrust for the party, especially the Black folks who tether their reputations and political hopes to the Trump’s train.
“Faith Johnson, the Republi- can candidate for Dallas County district attorney, vowed Wednesday to roll back one of John Creuzot’s hallmark policies if she is elected in November.
“As your chief law-enforcement officer of this county, I want you to be able to count on me,” said Johnson, who was Dallas County’s DA from 2016 to 2018. “I want the shop owners to be able to count on me. I want the large grocery chains to be able to count on me.”
As we stand here in the throes of yet another variant of a historic pandemic, the GOP wants business owners to know that their position has never changed.
They always promise to prosecute Blacks and ne’er-do-wells without regard to the cost or consequences. “Lock ‘em up” is simple and portable enough for their followers.
Last week the Dallas Republican Party shuttled out their hand- picked “Black” again! But, the Grand Old Party’s message has not changed. “Getting tough on crime” is still afresh on their lips and psyches. The taglines change, but their views on solving crime are nothing more than re- iterations of the same old “ish!”
The county jail boasts a larger population than 90% of the towns in Texas, and the Dallas Police Department is understaffed and overwhelmed.
Omicron is raging so high that judges cannot impanel juries. But let’s lock ‘em up!
However, you resurrected this candidate and this plank be-cause the GOP will always place personal possessions at the top of their list.
To hell with rehabilitation, mental illnesses, and homelessness. We rank in the bottom five in education and that says it all.
This clan is the same swath of the population who don’t want you to embarrass them or their children with Critical Race Theory. So instead, they define CRT to include any history that calls out White Privilege.
We have grown weary of Governor Abbott and his ilk, who want to blame all of racism’s ills on their parents and forbears; when in truth, Jim Crow passed the baton to James Crow Esquire, and the team has never lost a step.
What is worse is that they can always buttonhole a Negro to “legitimize” their platform. The 14th Amendment forbade the sale of Negroes, but renting has always been an option. They can always find a Herschel Walker or an Allen West to do their bidding.
You can be Black and a fiscal conservative? Go ahead and wrap yourself in the flag. Both are personal prerogatives.
However, these washed-out, lukewarm, middle-of-the-road Negroes, who abhor BLM and criminal justice reform are un-bearable.
Our schools are in a mess, and Black income is still less. Police brutality is still a reality, and our HBCUs still need charity.
Did I bust a rhyme? LOL
We are as lost in America today as we ever were. The only difference is that a few more of us navigate this wilderness in exotic cars and live in bigger tents than our parents did.
Yet, sadly, we own little of what we have and typically pay higher interest rates than anyone else pays for the dubious privilege.
We are co-stars in a movie that we did not audition for. We sing in a choir whose songs don’t stir our souls. We play in a game where the rules are constantly changed to our disadvantage.
As a result, most of us bear distrust and resentment for capitalism, the justice system, and anything else that we consider to be controlled by or governed by the rule of racism.
Quit Playin’ like you can relax just because they took down the sign.
Unfortunately, the signals are still there, and they still appear to be red.
Vincent L. Hall is an author, activist, and an award-winning columnist.
