Don't talk about it, be about it

That's what I did.

I phonebanked, raised money, canvassed, blogged and all-around did all I could to get out the NC vote for Barack Obama.

Leading up to the contest I was under a self-imposed media ban. I could not take it. If one more white guy told me about the intricate workings of the African American's voter's mind I was going to put a hit out on somebody. So, it was best that I turn it off.

But, now the real race is on and I've got some stuff to get off my chest.

Let's start with the Mammy Bitch Award. Yes, I said it, but don't be mad at me for calling it, be mad at Stephanie Tubbs Jones for making it true.

I understand that for some of the black "leaders", the safe bet seemed to be with the white woman. I did not call anyone out for being a traitor or any such foolishness *cough* Maxine Waters *cough*, because I have respect for colored people as individuals. But, Stubby and all those gums went too damn far. Every time I turned around there she was, allowing herself to be trotted out as the "black supporter" with all those black gums and loud guffaws and inane chatter and ridiculous soundbites. She made me want to pick cotton and shuck corn. She did it all - from repeating, verbatim, the Clinton spin regardless of how ridiculous it sounded to muttering, in all seriousness, jewels like, "I'm gonna ride with Hillary to the end! That's what politics is about, having your friends' back!"

No, you dumb bitch, politics is actually about the will of the people. You know, those minions who made you relevant. I don't know what HIllary promised you in exchange for your dignity and your soul, but I hope it's worth it for you. I would caution, however, that they say one can never come home again because it's true.

Whew. I'm feeling better already.

Now, let's talk about "bitter" and Hillary's base.

Apparently you can't tell the truth in American politics. Obama did not create the idea that poor, uneducated, disenfranchised citizens tend to be more religiously devout and distrustful of "high-faluting" concepts and those who espouse them. In fact, that little nugget of truth has made the Republican party the Republican party. These are the voters who rely more on "gut" feelings than reasoned logic, thus, they have been more susceptible to the political leaders who convince them to vote against their own personal best interests.

Their existence is pretty well-documented. Obama did not create them. Quiet as it's kept he comes from them - why do people keep forgetting his white grandparents? So, there was no malice in the statement, only an example of his understanding of that part of the electorate.

HRC, on the other hand, has called her supporters everything but the Klan, but she is considered more viable by "blue collar workers." To date, she has noted her supporters are "less educated", "low wage earners" and my favorite "low class, hardworking whites". Cause, you know, us coloreds ain't never done a lick of hard work. Thus, the building of the white house and the industrial revolution, but I digress. The fact that these folks don't mind a woman who went to blue blood schools, married up and has amassed a fortune in excess of $100 million condescending to them can ONLY be attributed to the fact that she is white.

Which is cool. People can vote on whatever basis they want.

But, I find it important to point out that the white vote is an endangered species. We have maybe two more elections before the white vote becomes the minority vote. At that time does the Democratic party really want to be known as the party of poor, uneducated whites? We now stand at a juncture in history that allows us, for once, to get out front ahead of change. In an increasingly diverse, multi-cultural country with diverse interests but one common interest - the security and viability of America - doesn't it seem odd to anyone else that HRC would hang her hopes on a dying constituency?

And while I'm at I feel it necessary to say I never hated Hillary.

I wasn't going to vote for her, but I did not hate her.

But then she went and did what is, for me, the unforgivable.

No, it's not that she wrote-off the black vote or allowed Bill to condescend to us, even as he tried to bully us into voting for her.

It's not that she made the old school mistake of underestimating the black guy.

It's not even that she lied about her experience and overstated her record.

Nope, Hillary shot the shit with me when she voted against the hope that America has changed for the better.

See, Hillary's campaign makes perfect sense if we were still the emotionally-driven, divided electorate of the past.

Hillary took a hard, jaundiced look at America and figured we would need a woman President to ease us into a black President. She figured she could play the numbers, blues against reds, educated against uneducated, black against white, and build the kind of numbers that have always been amassed - enough to win.

She never accounted for the American people growing wise to political pandering, the destructiveness of racial politics and our distaste for disingenuiness.

She did not count on an electorate that has, finally, gotten hip to the divide and conquer strategies of the past.

That is, to me, unforgivable. And that's why I will not vote - as much as it pains me - before I will vote for HRC, for anything, ever.