Erik Fleming delivers a solo episode responding to the Supreme Court's recent decision that weakens protections under the Voting Rights Act, using the Louisiana case as a springboard to explain historical roots, gerrymandering, and the broader threat to Black political representation.
He mixes legal context, personal reflection, and a call to action—urging listeners to stay engaged, support independent media, and keep fighting for voter protections.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:06 Welcome. I'm Erik Fleming, host of A Moment with Erik Fleming, the podcast of our time.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 I want to personally thank you for listening to the podcast.
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00:01:15 --> 00:01:20 The following program is hosted by the NBG Podcast Network.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:04 Hello. Welcome to Another Bone with Erik Fleming. I am your host, Erik Fleming.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:10 So, I don't have any guests this week, so it's not my fault.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:18 You know, and that's, I guess that's just something I have to deal with.
00:02:19 --> 00:02:24 But, you know, I think we've gotten to a point where,
00:02:26 --> 00:02:32 We've forgotten everything about etiquette and rules and consideration.
00:02:33 --> 00:02:40 And that's going to lead to my commentary later on. But from a personal aspect, I think that,
00:02:41 --> 00:02:48 you know, if people cannot fulfill obligations, then they should be courteous
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 enough to let you know. Some people did.
00:02:50 --> 00:02:58 Some people do. Some people don't. and then they take umbrage if you reach out
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 to them to try to find out what happened.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:07 You know, I don't know. You know, I was just brought up to be considerate of people's time.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:14 What you might not think is important is probably greatly important to the person
00:03:14 --> 00:03:15 that you're disrespecting.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 And, you know, it is what it is.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:24 I just think, and that's endemic of the political climate that we're in.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 I think people have just lost respect.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:33 But again, I'll get into that, into the commentary. Right now,
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 just want to reach out to folks.
00:03:36 --> 00:03:40 And for those of you who do listen and those of you who respect this podcast,
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 please show some support.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:49 You know, share with your friends on social media. support the podcast through
00:03:49 --> 00:03:55 Patreon or directly on www.momenteric.com.
00:03:55 --> 00:04:02 And, you know, and not just my podcast, but other people who have taken the time,
00:04:03 --> 00:04:13 and who are putting themselves out there to try to counter what we're seeing on a daily basis.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 Anyway, so please do that. All right, let's go ahead and kick this off.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:23 And as always, we kick it off with a moment of news for Grace G.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:36 Thanks, Erik. The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority weakened a key
00:04:36 --> 00:04:41 provision of the Voting Rights Act by blocking a second Black majority district in Louisiana.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:48 Governor Jeff Landry suspended Louisiana's May 16th congressional primary to
00:04:48 --> 00:04:53 allow the Republican-led legislature to redraw voting boundaries after the U.S.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 Supreme Court ruled the state's map illegal.
00:04:56 --> 00:05:01 Florida Republicans approved a new congressional map designed by Governor Ron
00:05:01 --> 00:05:07 DeSantis to significantly bolster the GOP's chances of keeping control of the U.S. House.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:12 President Trump signed a funding bill ending an 11-week partial shutdown for
00:05:12 --> 00:05:18 non-immigration-related DHS agencies like the TSA and FEMA, though funding for
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 border enforcement remains excluded from the deal.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:26 President Trump and the First Lady were evacuated from the White House Correspondents
00:05:26 --> 00:05:31 Association dinner after a gunman opened fire on security personnel at a checkpoint,
00:05:31 --> 00:05:35 leading to the suspect's arrest and the event's cancellation.
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 King Charles addressed the U.S.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 Congress to assert that the U.K. and U.S.
00:05:40 --> 00:05:46 Remain steadfast allies dedicated to democracy, even amid significant diplomatic
00:05:46 --> 00:05:50 friction regarding the conflict with Iran. The U.S.
00:05:50 --> 00:05:54 Justice Department has filed criminal charges against former FBI Director James
00:05:54 --> 00:06:00 Comey, alleging he threatened President Trump through a social media photo of seashells.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:05 Federal prosecutors in Chicago have dropped felony conspiracy charges against
00:06:05 --> 00:06:10 four immigration protesters, though the defendants still face misdemeanor charges
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 for their actions at a detention facility.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:17 The Trump administration has announced plans to introduce firing squads,
00:06:17 --> 00:06:23 electrocution, and gas asphyxiation as alternative federal execution methods.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:28 Maine Governor Janet Mills ended her campaign for the United States Senate,
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 citing a lack of financial resources.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:36 And the U.S. Department of Justice is fast-tracking the reclassification of
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 marijuana to a less restrictive drug category.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 I am Grace G., and this has been a Moment of News.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:57 Thank you, Grace, for that moment of news. And now stay tuned for my hot mic
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 on the Supreme Court decision.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:24 All right. So I'm back.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:31 And so, of course, everybody has been talking about this Supreme Court decision,
00:07:31 --> 00:07:40 which has basically put the final nail on the coffin with the Voting Rights Act.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:48 Now, when we say that, people can say that's hyperbole because the act is still law.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:52 The problem is, is that we have a mindset,
00:07:52 --> 00:07:59 especially in the court system, that has been building since 1965 when this
00:07:59 --> 00:08:03 passed to figure out a way to take the teeth out of it.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:08 And one person in particular is the Chief Justice, John Roberts,
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 who it's been his lifelong crusade.
00:08:12 --> 00:08:21 It's almost like his whole legal journey has been to be put in a place where
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 he could defang the Voting Rights Act.
00:08:24 --> 00:08:31 And he started it in 2013, his first opportunity, and he's been on the court
00:08:31 --> 00:08:36 long enough now, the chief justice long enough now, to, as we say,
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 put the final nail on the coffin.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:46 What the court did was it basically said that majority-minority congressional
00:08:46 --> 00:08:52 districts created with the intent of ensuring minority voters could elect candidates
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 of their choice was unconstitutional.
00:08:56 --> 00:09:01 It violated the spirit of the 14th and the 15th Amendment.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:10 So those were the amendments that gave Black people citizenship and the right to vote, right?
00:09:12 --> 00:09:18 And this district that they were talking about was a district that was created
00:09:18 --> 00:09:22 because a judge, a federal judge in Louisiana,
00:09:22 --> 00:09:28 felt that Black people were not being fairly represented in Congress.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:36 Her argument over the basis of her ruling was that one-third of the state's
00:09:36 --> 00:09:41 population in Louisiana is black, and they have six congressional districts,
00:09:41 --> 00:09:45 and there was only one black congressional district.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:52 So her instruction was, whatever map that you present from this point forward,
00:09:52 --> 00:09:53 because I'm throwing this one out.
00:09:55 --> 00:10:02 Whatever map you present has to have the opportunity for two African-Americans
00:10:02 --> 00:10:06 to be elected in the state of Louisiana.
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 And so Louisiana did that.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:16 They came up with a map which created two black districts.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:22 And the 6th District, which is the one that's in question, is almost like a
00:10:22 --> 00:10:27 straight line right in the cutting diagonal across the state of Louisiana, right?
00:10:28 --> 00:10:38 And that created enough of a Black voting age population to elect a Black person
00:10:38 --> 00:10:43 to serve in Congress, and that person is serving right now.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:52 So the Supreme Court has, over these last few years, figured out a way to,
00:10:53 --> 00:11:00 under the guise of constitutional law, figured out a way to carry out an insidious
00:11:00 --> 00:11:06 plan that started in a memo in 1972, right?
00:11:07 --> 00:11:11 If you don't understand what I'm talking about, look up Powell Memo 1972.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 That's where all this stuff, and by the way, Powell ended up serving on the
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 Supreme Court, this guy.
00:11:18 --> 00:11:25 So from that moment, about a year after he wrote the memo, he got appointed to the Supreme Court.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:31 So from that moment, that's been the playbook as far as policy,
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 judicial appointments, right?
00:11:34 --> 00:11:42 The voting strategy started in 68 after George Wallace secured a lot of Southern
00:11:42 --> 00:11:48 whites who were disenfranchised by the Democratic Party because of Lyndon Bain
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 Johnson and the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act.
00:11:54 --> 00:12:00 And those Democrats switched and became Republicans in the South.
00:12:01 --> 00:12:06 And you already had a division between Northern and Southern Democrats anyway.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 Well, now that division was gone because the Southern Democrats,
00:12:11 --> 00:12:17 the Dixiecrats, the state's rights folks, they signed up with the Republican Party.
00:12:17 --> 00:12:23 And by 1980, their plan was complete when Toronto Reagan won.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 The president's, right?
00:12:26 --> 00:12:33 And in 1984, he had this incredible 49-stake landslide, right?
00:12:34 --> 00:12:43 So, but the policy part and the legal packing of the courts and all that stuff started in 72.
00:12:44 --> 00:12:48 So all this was under Richard Nixon, right?
00:12:49 --> 00:12:56 Nixon won in spite of votes being siphoned away that he thought he could get.
00:12:57 --> 00:13:01 But since a lot of those votes had traditionally voted Democrat,
00:13:02 --> 00:13:06 Hubert Humphrey probably thought those votes were being siphoned away from him. Nonetheless.
00:13:08 --> 00:13:12 So what we are seeing now in 2026 is a culmination of all that stuff.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:22 So it's been years and years of planning and strategizing and map drawing and
00:13:22 --> 00:13:27 legislative creating, all that, you know,
00:13:27 --> 00:13:31 crafting legislation, however you want to put it, all this stuff, right?
00:13:32 --> 00:13:41 And there's only one root for all of this, and that is white folks wanting to
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 maintain control, especially in the South.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:48 Not frowned upon in the North and not frowned upon in the West,
00:13:48 --> 00:13:58 but it's definitely because if there wasn't a crusade to protect white power,
00:13:58 --> 00:14:03 then more black people would be elected to office than they are now.
00:14:03 --> 00:14:09 The majority of the black population lives in the South, right?
00:14:09 --> 00:14:14 You take away the urban centers like Chicago, New York, L.A.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:19 You take away those cities, this is where black people are concentrated.
00:14:20 --> 00:14:23 And that's the way it was enslavement.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:29 That's why the compromise in the Constitution was the three-fifths clause.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:36 So for those arrogant white folks that want to spout to their constitutional
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 lawyers or historians and all that,
00:14:39 --> 00:14:45 and then, like, try to ignore the history and the constitutionality of this
00:14:45 --> 00:14:46 bullshit that they've been doing,
00:14:47 --> 00:14:48 then they can miss me with that.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 And they can miss all of us with that.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:55 Doesn't matter if you're black, white, Asian, Latino. You know,
00:14:55 --> 00:15:03 there's some folks out here that are saying that this court ruling and everything
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 else that's led up to it is legitimate.
00:15:05 --> 00:15:10 They're just feeding you bullshit, wrapped up in white privilege intellect.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:14 That's all it is. For...
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 You know, I'm not a lawyer. I don't pretend to be a lawyer.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:24 But having the privilege of, for nine years, being in a position to actually
00:15:24 --> 00:15:29 make laws, you kind of get someone, and being involved in lawsuits,
00:15:29 --> 00:15:34 you kind of get a working man's understanding.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:41 And the thing that kills me about this Louisiana case that challenged the new
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 map, because that's how we got this case.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:50 After that judge forced the legislature to do that, then they had the elections in 24.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:54 Now, they tried, this group of folks tried to stop the election in 24.
00:15:56 --> 00:16:00 And Supreme Court said, well, no, we're not going to deal with it now because
00:16:00 --> 00:16:01 it's too close to the election.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:09 So they wanted to revisit it, and they had two sets of oral arguments for this in 2025.
00:16:10 --> 00:16:13 Normally, it's just one day set aside for the oral arguments,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:21 get that documented, and then the lawyers and the law clerks and the justices make their decisions,
00:16:21 --> 00:16:25 do their research, allegedly, whatever. Yeah.
00:16:27 --> 00:16:32 And the issue about standing because
00:16:32 --> 00:16:38 they said it was a group of non-African-American voters in Louisiana.
00:16:40 --> 00:16:47 So let's narrow that down. If it was a group of Asian and Latino voters that
00:16:47 --> 00:16:51 said that there shouldn't be a second black congressional district,
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 that'd be an interesting.
00:16:54 --> 00:16:58 And it'd be an interesting to understand that they feel that they should have
00:16:58 --> 00:17:04 it or creating a new black district, but deny them the opportunity to even run. I don't know.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:11 But anybody white that was a party to the lawsuit didn't have standing.
00:17:12 --> 00:17:16 See, at least the Asians and Latinos would have standing because they are actually
00:17:16 --> 00:17:21 a minority that covers and falls under the protection of the Voting Rights Act.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:27 But any white person in Louisiana that filed a lawsuit, they don't have standing
00:17:27 --> 00:17:32 because the provision was designed for protection of minorities.
00:17:33 --> 00:17:38 And as of right now, the majority of the population in the state of Louisiana is white.
00:17:40 --> 00:17:45 So if black people were fighting and saying we don't need this black district, they had standing.
00:17:46 --> 00:17:52 If Latinos or Asians said they don't want this district, they have standing.
00:17:52 --> 00:17:57 But white folks do not because they're not a minority in any state,
00:17:58 --> 00:18:01 not even Hawaii, not anymore.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:06 Right? They might be still a minority in Hawaii. But in the mainland United
00:18:06 --> 00:18:10 States, every state, white people are the majority.
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 Like you said, in the South, high percentages.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:20 Mississippi has the highest percentage. It's basically at 40%. Louisiana is a third.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:28 Alabama is 30%. Georgia is in the 30s. Right? South Carolina.
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 If they're not in the 30s, they're in the high 20s.
00:18:33 --> 00:18:40 Southern states, the descendants of slaves, whether the kids moved north and
00:18:40 --> 00:18:43 the grandkids came back, pretty
00:18:43 --> 00:18:47 much the epicenter of black culture in America comes from the south.
00:18:47 --> 00:18:52 So if, based on the political climate,
00:18:53 --> 00:18:59 the New York Times projected that if southern leadership,
00:18:59 --> 00:19:05 which is primarily Republican in the Southern states as far as the governatorial,
00:19:05 --> 00:19:10 the governorship and the majorities in the legislature,
00:19:11 --> 00:19:12 Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia,
00:19:14 --> 00:19:20 South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, all them in Florida, they're all majority
00:19:20 --> 00:19:24 Republican and have a Republican governor, all of them.
00:19:25 --> 00:19:31 And so Georgia's the only state that's purple. It used to be Florida,
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 now it's Georgia, right?
00:19:33 --> 00:19:43 Because they have some statewide people or have had within the last decade statewide Democrats.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:48 Georgia has two U.S. senators. They got seven white men in the state constitution
00:19:48 --> 00:19:52 offices, but they have two U.S.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:55 Senators, somebody of Jewish descent, and somebody black.
00:19:56 --> 00:20:00 So the senators are not impacted by the U.S.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:05 Senators because they have to run statewide. So there's no district defining them.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 I remember when I ran for the U.S. Senate, people could have asked me,
00:20:08 --> 00:20:12 are you running for the northern half or the southern half? I had to break it
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 down. No, no, it's statewide.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 All the counties vote.
00:20:16 --> 00:20:25 Congressional district votes for the U.S. senator. So, gerrymandering doesn't impact U.S.
00:20:25 --> 00:20:30 Senators, but gerrymandering impacts are the House of Representatives and the
00:20:30 --> 00:20:33 state legislatures, right?
00:20:34 --> 00:20:38 Some states get around it at the state level by saying they just draw Senate
00:20:38 --> 00:20:45 districts and then you pick so many representatives out of that Senate district to comprise the House.
00:20:46 --> 00:20:51 But then the gerrymandering falls into the Senate, right?
00:20:51 --> 00:20:58 Nebraska, they only have their unicameral. They only have one chamber, and that's the Senate.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:05 So it is what it is there. But everybody else is what we call bicameral.
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 They have a House and a Senate.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:14 And so most of those states draw the lines for the House districts and the Senate districts.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:19 And then they draw the lines for the judicial districts, whether it's state
00:21:19 --> 00:21:24 courts or the state Supreme Court or the appellate court.
00:21:24 --> 00:21:27 In Mississippi, the appellate and, well,
00:21:27 --> 00:21:33 it used to be the appellate and Supreme Court had different districts because
00:21:33 --> 00:21:39 the appellate court still drew their lines based on when Mississippi had five
00:21:39 --> 00:21:40 congressional districts.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:45 Supreme Court devised the state up north, south, central.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:52 And then it's always kind of the game, which counties are determined southern
00:21:52 --> 00:21:57 and which counties are determined northern and that the rest of the counties
00:21:57 --> 00:21:59 fall into central. Right.
00:22:01 --> 00:22:06 Because of those maps, we've managed to get, because Mississippi is the only
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 state that has a transportation commission.
00:22:09 --> 00:22:12 So now there's a black person on the transportation commission.
00:22:12 --> 00:22:16 There are black people on the appellate court. There are black people on the
00:22:16 --> 00:22:20 Supreme Court. And we have a black person on the public service commission.
00:22:20 --> 00:22:26 All of those folks come from the central district, which is the blackest district of the three.
00:22:26 --> 00:22:32 But now they can play with that based on this Supreme Court ruling.
00:22:33 --> 00:22:36 And what I was getting ready to say when I went down this rabbit hole was that
00:22:36 --> 00:22:38 the New York Times came up with a map.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:46 It said, but based on this ruling, 13 districts that have Democratic representation
00:22:46 --> 00:22:53 can be wiped out by the state legislators in the South. 13.
00:22:54 --> 00:22:57 Mississippi would not have one. Alabama would not have one.
00:22:58 --> 00:23:03 Georgia would have maybe two African-American districts.
00:23:04 --> 00:23:09 And I think it's either North Carolina or South Carolina would have one.
00:23:10 --> 00:23:16 That's it. Because as the old saying goes, Katie barred a door because it's
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 open. And that's what they wanted.
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 This is what they've always wanted.
00:23:22 --> 00:23:27 They wanted to be able, just like they did after Reconstruction,
00:23:27 --> 00:23:30 to wipe out black political power.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:38 Us having any say-so in any political affairs. None.
00:23:38 --> 00:23:42 I don't care if they tell you they got black friends. I don't care if they try
00:23:42 --> 00:23:46 to flip it around and say, well, you know, black folks didn't support black
00:23:46 --> 00:23:52 Republicans that ran, which I responded to one guy when he said that.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:55 I said, you know, black folks fought for the British in the American Revolution.
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 And there were some black folks that fought for the Confederacy and the Civil War.
00:23:59 --> 00:24:03 So you can miss me with that historical gaslighting.
00:24:04 --> 00:24:06 Nobody cares about that.
00:24:07 --> 00:24:10 Because if you're a Black person that supports what Donald Trump wants,
00:24:11 --> 00:24:15 that's not in the interest of Black people. It doesn't matter if you are my neighbor.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:21 If you support the policies of Donald Trump, no diversity, equity,
00:24:21 --> 00:24:27 or inclusion, no safeguards for voter protection, no representation in Congress
00:24:27 --> 00:24:29 or in the state legislature.
00:24:30 --> 00:24:34 You support that. I don't care what color you are. I'm not on your side.
00:24:35 --> 00:24:36 No, I'm not going to support you.
00:24:37 --> 00:24:42 Now, what you as the listening audience do or what other people do, that's on you.
00:24:42 --> 00:24:51 But I'm not going to do that because my generation was like all skin folks ain't kin folks. Thank you.
00:24:52 --> 00:24:56 That. We took pride when people got elected to office.
00:24:57 --> 00:25:03 We understand that our grandparents voted Republican, so a lot of our pioneering
00:25:03 --> 00:25:06 Black elected officials were Republican. We get that.
00:25:07 --> 00:25:09 But that was history, and this is now.
00:25:09 --> 00:25:13 And in the political climate we're in now, if you're Black and you're Republican,
00:25:14 --> 00:25:17 then I am not the spokesperson for Black people.
00:25:18 --> 00:25:25 I can only speak for myself and what I believe is the best interest for black people and you're not it.
00:25:26 --> 00:25:30 When you're one of four black Republicans and by the way they're all leaving
00:25:30 --> 00:25:37 because two of them at least two of them ran for higher office one has a chance
00:25:37 --> 00:25:39 to win the other one did not win in the primary,
00:25:40 --> 00:25:43 and the other two just said enough of this I'm out.
00:25:45 --> 00:25:49 As a matter of fact The one in California might have been drawn out when they
00:25:49 --> 00:25:54 voted to redo the lines there, which I'll get to in a second.
00:25:55 --> 00:26:00 So the four black Republicans are going to be gone next session.
00:26:01 --> 00:26:05 Now, if somebody black Republican gets elected in the 26th election,
00:26:05 --> 00:26:11 which is kind of looking like a long shot at this point based on the dynamics.
00:26:13 --> 00:26:20 But if nobody gets elected, then there will be no black Republicans in the next session of Congress.
00:26:21 --> 00:26:26 So the black Republican that ran for U.S. Senate in Texas, Mr.
00:26:26 --> 00:26:32 Hunt, was asked about this decision.
00:26:32 --> 00:26:37 And somebody brought up the fact that, well, there's not going to be any black
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 Republicans next time around.
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 His exact words were, I don't care.
00:26:42 --> 00:26:45 This is a black man. You don't care.
00:26:47 --> 00:26:51 A black Republican? I can understand if you don't care about Democrats because
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53 you don't agree with what we say.
00:26:54 --> 00:26:58 But you don't care if there's not another person like you carrying the torch?
00:26:59 --> 00:27:04 See, that's why I say those folks missed the assignment, right?
00:27:05 --> 00:27:11 Because Maka Evers' brother, who was a big supporter of Robert F. Kennedy Sr.
00:27:12 --> 00:27:17 When he ran for president in 68, basically became a Republican later on in life.
00:27:18 --> 00:27:25 But his mantra always was, I'm a black man first, then I'm a Republican.
00:27:26 --> 00:27:31 And his mission was, if you want black votes in Mississippi,
00:27:32 --> 00:27:34 you got to address some needs.
00:27:34 --> 00:27:39 And when we would come on his show, he would ask us as Democrats,
00:27:39 --> 00:27:41 what are you doing to help black folks?
00:27:41 --> 00:27:45 Period. and he would support some of us, right?
00:27:46 --> 00:27:51 Primarily the ones that were invited to come on the show. You know, he liked us.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:56 He didn't agree with us all the time, but he knew where our heart was.
00:27:58 --> 00:28:02 And that's the mission. The reason why we're in the Democratic Party is because
00:28:02 --> 00:28:06 for some reason, especially since 1965,
00:28:08 --> 00:28:14 seems like we get more of a response from the Democratic Party than we do the Republican Party.
00:28:14 --> 00:28:20 Now, an ideal situation would be that we would be able to walk in any Oval Office,
00:28:20 --> 00:28:26 Democrat, Republican, Green, it don't matter, and say, this is what Black folks
00:28:26 --> 00:28:29 need right now. This is what we need long-term.
00:28:31 --> 00:28:35 To walk up to any member of Congress and say, this is what we need.
00:28:35 --> 00:28:40 We need you to vote for that bill, or we need you to kill that bill, right?
00:28:41 --> 00:28:46 Any state legislature, black folks ought to be able to walk in their Capitol
00:28:46 --> 00:28:49 building in their respective states and say, hey, look, this is what we need.
00:28:49 --> 00:28:54 But when you got one party that's not making any effort to even acknowledge,
00:28:55 --> 00:28:57 let alone listen, it kind of narrows the options.
00:28:58 --> 00:29:03 But even with that dynamic, we had four. And one of them said,
00:29:03 --> 00:29:06 I don't care if there's ever another one.
00:29:06 --> 00:29:10 You missed the assignment, brother. You missed the assignment.
00:29:11 --> 00:29:14 You should always care about a black presence. As a matter of fact,
00:29:15 --> 00:29:19 you should want the majority of the black caucus to be like you.
00:29:20 --> 00:29:25 I get the argument, oh, it's all about merit. It's not about the color of the
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 skin. It's the content of the character.
00:29:28 --> 00:29:32 It's also about life experience and culture and history.
00:29:33 --> 00:29:40 When you look at the dynamics of what has been happening in America since the
00:29:40 --> 00:29:45 1660s, when they came up with this concept of race, right?
00:29:46 --> 00:29:51 All this time, laws have been formulated based off of that concept.
00:29:52 --> 00:29:57 And if the less pigmentation you had, better off you were going to be,
00:29:57 --> 00:30:00 the more privilege you were going to have.
00:30:00 --> 00:30:04 That's where we get this term white privilege from. It's based off of the dynamics
00:30:04 --> 00:30:10 that started after Bacon's rebellion in the 1660s.
00:30:10 --> 00:30:14 Look that up, right? I was in Virginia.
00:30:14 --> 00:30:20 Before we were, before the British and the French, the French Indian War,
00:30:20 --> 00:30:27 before that happened, race was on the books in what we now call America.
00:30:28 --> 00:30:34 And everything stems from that, the justification for chattel slavery.
00:30:35 --> 00:30:42 All that derives from creating this false superiority argument.
00:30:42 --> 00:30:47 And everything, every ruling that this conservative court makes.
00:30:49 --> 00:30:55 Terms of voting, you know, as a matter of fact, this is how crazy they are.
00:30:55 --> 00:31:03 They made a ruling that Alabama should have two congressional districts, right?
00:31:03 --> 00:31:10 And now based on this ruling, that might overturn that one that they just made a year earlier.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:17 They said, based on the population Alabama should have two, they agreed with
00:31:17 --> 00:31:19 the court, the lower court on that.
00:31:20 --> 00:31:24 And Alabama, their legislature has been openly trying to defy the Supreme Court
00:31:24 --> 00:31:28 ever since they said, no, they should have to.
00:31:28 --> 00:31:34 But when Louisiana said it, I know, no. That's going too far.
00:31:35 --> 00:31:41 Now, Clarence Thomas, a black man, has been consistent because he dissented,
00:31:42 --> 00:31:49 against the ruling for Alabama. he co-authored the majority opinion.
00:31:51 --> 00:31:59 In this last case the official name of it is Louisiana versus Calais it's the
00:31:59 --> 00:32:01 official name of this decision that just happened,
00:32:03 --> 00:32:06 you know he was down with Shelby versus Holder,
00:32:08 --> 00:32:14 he didn't even want to have the second oral argument for Louisiana versus Calais,
00:32:15 --> 00:32:19 They voted on whether they should do it, and he was the lone dissenting vote
00:32:19 --> 00:32:22 on having a second day of oral argument.
00:32:22 --> 00:32:24 That's how made up his mind was.
00:32:28 --> 00:32:34 So, and Ann Clarence just took me off of a track just thinking of that, right?
00:32:34 --> 00:32:38 But that's another guy who doesn't understand the assignment.
00:32:39 --> 00:32:43 You know, and they all say, well, what about people like Thomas Sewell and...
00:32:45 --> 00:32:51 They get the assignment. None of us said that there's not a conservative argument
00:32:51 --> 00:32:54 for black liberation. None of us said that.
00:32:54 --> 00:33:01 They try to make it. Whether we agree with that, that's a philosophical difference.
00:33:02 --> 00:33:10 But they always got the assignment. They knew that black folks have to do better in this nation, period.
00:33:11 --> 00:33:15 And they felt that a conservative argument was the way to go.
00:33:15 --> 00:33:18 There's us that believe a liberal argument, just like Booker T.
00:33:18 --> 00:33:24 Washington believed that there was a need for us to be segregated so we could
00:33:24 --> 00:33:26 thrive in peace. And W.B.
00:33:26 --> 00:33:31 Du Bois was like, I know if I want to go to Harvard, I should go.
00:33:32 --> 00:33:36 If I want to go to Woolworths and eat at the counter, I should.
00:33:36 --> 00:33:41 But I also have the choice if I just want to support black businesses, I can. man.
00:33:42 --> 00:33:47 And Booker D was like, nah, brother, just stay at home. Don't even worry about them white folk.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:51 We can do it. Whatever we need, we can make happen. And they're both right.
00:33:54 --> 00:34:00 Tuskegee Institute is still open. Fiske University is still open. They're both right.
00:34:00 --> 00:34:04 Clark Atlanta, still open. They were both right.
00:34:04 --> 00:34:11 We can do our own thing, but we have the right to choose whatever path we want
00:34:11 --> 00:34:18 to go, which is why it's okay for Black people to be Republican.
00:34:19 --> 00:34:22 That's a choice. You have the freedom to do that.
00:34:23 --> 00:34:29 My challenge to anybody that wants to identify with any political party is that
00:34:29 --> 00:34:31 keep the main thing the main thing.
00:34:32 --> 00:34:36 How is this going to help Black folks? How is it going to help my Black family?
00:34:37 --> 00:34:41 Period. because when I was saying that the Republican Party...
00:34:45 --> 00:34:49 You can make the case that the Democratic Party takes us for granted because
00:34:49 --> 00:34:53 we're going to give them 80 to 90% of the vote every election.
00:34:54 --> 00:34:57 But that's not given willy-nilly.
00:34:59 --> 00:35:03 Again, if I reach out to a Democratic elected official and say,
00:35:03 --> 00:35:07 hey, I need you to look at that, it's going to be looked at.
00:35:07 --> 00:35:12 They might try to tweak it, might try to curry some favor and compromise with
00:35:12 --> 00:35:16 their Republican friends to get some semblance of what we want done.
00:35:16 --> 00:35:19 But at least we'll get the audience.
00:35:21 --> 00:35:26 Gotten so bad that if you're not Republican, period, doesn't matter if you're
00:35:26 --> 00:35:29 black, white, purple, or green, they're not going to give you the time of day.
00:35:30 --> 00:35:36 They literally now have it set up where lobbyists only talk to Republicans in
00:35:36 --> 00:35:37 Republican majority states.
00:35:38 --> 00:35:43 They don't want 100% vote. They just want something passed.
00:35:44 --> 00:35:49 When I was in the legislature, they talked to all of us, each and every one of us.
00:35:49 --> 00:35:55 Now, there's strategies. You've got to get the chairman to bring it up and blah, blah, all that.
00:35:55 --> 00:35:58 But it's kind of embarrassing.
00:35:58 --> 00:36:03 You bring something to get the chair to bring it out in committee and you ain't
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 talk to none of the Democrats.
00:36:05 --> 00:36:11 And they all saying horrible things about the bill. And most of those committee meetings are public.
00:36:11 --> 00:36:17 So now the press and citizens are going to hear that, wait a minute,
00:36:17 --> 00:36:21 this thing is not what they said it was going to be, and that raises doubt.
00:36:22 --> 00:36:28 But if you're a good lobbyist, you try to convince folks on both sides, it's really a good idea.
00:36:29 --> 00:36:33 Not going to get everybody, but you might if you make an effort.
00:36:34 --> 00:36:38 But that's not the political climate we're in, which is even more reason why
00:36:38 --> 00:36:40 this judicial decision,
00:36:41 --> 00:36:49 no matter how my so-called white intellectual conservative friends want to spin it, is dumb as hell.
00:36:49 --> 00:36:53 Because it goes against the very premise of their argument.
00:36:53 --> 00:36:57 They want to say that America has evolved in such a way, John Roberts actually
00:36:57 --> 00:37:03 said that, that America has evolved such a way in race that we don't need these
00:37:03 --> 00:37:06 protections anymore. You don't need that.
00:37:07 --> 00:37:12 You, the same court, had to make a decision to,
00:37:13 --> 00:37:19 a president. Now, I want them to understand, I know they were doing it for Donald
00:37:19 --> 00:37:25 Trump, but the way it's worded, it's a president, because they couldn't word it any other way.
00:37:26 --> 00:37:31 So, if a Democratic president comes in after Donald Trump and does exactly the
00:37:31 --> 00:37:35 same thing that he does, they can't say anything. They'll try.
00:37:36 --> 00:37:40 People will file lawsuits and all that stuff, but you gave them immunity.
00:37:41 --> 00:37:47 So if you gave somebody immunity to do whatever they want, and then you weakened
00:37:47 --> 00:37:52 the laws to protect the people that probably be the targets of his illegal acts,
00:37:53 --> 00:37:55 has the climate changed?
00:37:56 --> 00:38:00 No. And if it had changed, you just set it backwards.
00:38:01 --> 00:38:06 But anyway, like I was saying, these folks that filed a suit didn't even have
00:38:06 --> 00:38:09 standing to bring it. but it was entertained.
00:38:09 --> 00:38:14 And once the court entertains it, then the argument is standing, doesn't matter.
00:38:15 --> 00:38:21 We literally had the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court, make a decision on a
00:38:21 --> 00:38:25 lawsuit filed based on a hypothetical situation.
00:38:26 --> 00:38:31 No tort was committed. There was no harm at all.
00:38:32 --> 00:38:38 What if such and such happened and the Supreme Court made a ruling on that.
00:38:39 --> 00:38:42 That's how crazy the times that we're in.
00:38:43 --> 00:38:48 They always used to say when, even with the Warren Court, they would say,
00:38:48 --> 00:38:52 oh, you know, these are activist judges and we got to get away from them and da-da-da-da.
00:38:53 --> 00:38:56 The initial GOP stands for.
00:38:58 --> 00:39:00 Games of Projection.
00:39:02 --> 00:39:08 Because what they say that they're against, the truth of the matter is,
00:39:08 --> 00:39:13 is that they actually afford, they're just mad that they're not the ones doing it.
00:39:13 --> 00:39:18 If you hear Republicans say, oh, I'm tired of these activist judges,
00:39:18 --> 00:39:22 what they're really saying is, I really wish one of our people was in there
00:39:22 --> 00:39:26 to do exactly the same thing for our folks. That's it.
00:39:27 --> 00:39:32 Anytime the president says something, accuses somebody of something, he's done it.
00:39:32 --> 00:39:39 He's upset because a grown man, for whatever reason, assembled seashells on
00:39:39 --> 00:39:43 the seashore and spelled out the numbers 8, 6, 4, 7.
00:39:44 --> 00:39:47 He took that as a threat. Why?
00:39:48 --> 00:39:51 Because he has said 86 somebody.
00:39:52 --> 00:39:57 That's what he, when he says it, he means do harm to him.
00:39:58 --> 00:40:02 That's not what the connotation means.
00:40:03 --> 00:40:07 It's a restaurant term that's gotten into the lexicon.
00:40:08 --> 00:40:12 But he said that's what gangsters say. No, no, that's what you say.
00:40:12 --> 00:40:17 That's your interpretation of it. So when somebody throws it back at you, you get offended.
00:40:17 --> 00:40:21 Now you're saying he's trying to kill me. That's crazy talk, man.
00:40:22 --> 00:40:29 And we got folks, people that some of us used to respect, saying,
00:40:29 --> 00:40:31 that's right, Mr. President, you go get them.
00:40:32 --> 00:40:34 That's insanity, bro. That's where we are.
00:40:35 --> 00:40:39 Behavior that wouldn't have been tolerated when I was elected.
00:40:40 --> 00:40:44 Frowned upon. You couldn't even make it out of the primary. You probably wouldn't
00:40:44 --> 00:40:45 even be allowed to qualify.
00:40:46 --> 00:40:49 Now it's like, oh, God.
00:40:50 --> 00:40:54 Do what you want. And this is the environment where the Supreme Court is making
00:40:54 --> 00:40:58 an argument and saying, yeah, well, we don't need any protections at all.
00:40:59 --> 00:41:04 Everything's fine. They're just like the dog sitting at the table when the house is on fire.
00:41:05 --> 00:41:06 Everything's fine. We're good.
00:41:07 --> 00:41:19 Craziness, you know? But I just, I just wish that, well, let me say this. I shouldn't say wish.
00:41:20 --> 00:41:29 I pray that people are paying attention and they will act accordingly, right?
00:41:30 --> 00:41:35 When the season first came out, I posted a couple of Bible verses,
00:41:36 --> 00:41:41 one from 2 Corinthians, not 2 Corinthians, Mr.
00:41:41 --> 00:41:45 President, 2 Corinthians, and from Galatians.
00:41:45 --> 00:41:50 The one from 2 Corinthians, people are familiar with, the battle is not yours, it's the Lord.
00:41:51 --> 00:41:58 And from Galatians, it was the verse that says, basically says,
00:41:58 --> 00:42:02 if we don't get weary, we'll win.
00:42:03 --> 00:42:07 And so Galatians 6.9 is more relevant,
00:42:07 --> 00:42:13 even to those who are not spiritual, because what
00:42:13 --> 00:42:20 this group of people that have spawned out of the 68 Southern Strategy and the
00:42:20 --> 00:42:27 72 Power Memo have evolved into is a group of folks that want us to get tired
00:42:27 --> 00:42:30 of fighting and just submit,
00:42:30 --> 00:42:35 just say we can't win and we'll just do whatever you want,
00:42:35 --> 00:42:41 man, just so I can watch my ESPN and go to work, drive my.
00:42:43 --> 00:42:48 Take my kid to a ball game, whatever. Get to eat a Nobu once a year or something,
00:42:49 --> 00:42:53 you know, or the varsity, whatever your pleasure is, right?
00:42:53 --> 00:42:57 That's what they want us to do. They want us to just say, oh,
00:42:57 --> 00:43:00 well, I guess that's that.
00:43:01 --> 00:43:02 Keep our head down and keep moving.
00:43:03 --> 00:43:08 But Galatians 6.9 basically reminds us that as long as you keep fighting,
00:43:09 --> 00:43:12 as long as you don't get tired, as long as you don't get weary,
00:43:12 --> 00:43:15 The reward is coming. You're going to win.
00:43:15 --> 00:43:17 Victory is on the way.
00:43:18 --> 00:43:25 So, you know, I'm a believer, so that's what keeps me going.
00:43:26 --> 00:43:31 You know, I think, you know, people disappoint us. Yeah.
00:43:34 --> 00:43:37 Because familiarity breeds contempt among people.
00:43:38 --> 00:43:43 But you cannot let it stop you from doing what you're doing.
00:43:44 --> 00:43:49 If they don't buy in the vision, that's their loss. They don't want to get on
00:43:49 --> 00:43:50 the train, they've missed it.
00:43:51 --> 00:43:56 So that's something I have to always remember, and I hope that's something that you take to heart.
00:43:57 --> 00:44:00 But when it comes to fighting for our freedoms and our rights,
00:44:01 --> 00:44:06 and it's pretty obvious that people that you're around don't respect those freedoms
00:44:06 --> 00:44:10 and your rights, you have the right to kick them to the curb.
00:44:10 --> 00:44:12 You have the right to tell them to step off.
00:44:12 --> 00:44:18 You have the right to tell them don't cross that line. It's time now.
00:44:20 --> 00:44:26 And I think it's up to individuals whether they want to forgive them afterwards or not.
00:44:26 --> 00:44:29 I'm not. I'm too old.
00:44:30 --> 00:44:33 I don't need a whole lot of friends at this particular point.
00:44:33 --> 00:44:35 I don't know if I'm going to outlive
00:44:35 --> 00:44:39 people to come to my funeral or if anybody ever is going to show up.
00:44:39 --> 00:44:42 It's not going to matter because I'm going to be gone and I won't know.
00:44:43 --> 00:44:51 But too old to worry about friendships and alliances and being popular with
00:44:51 --> 00:44:54 the next guy, being the cool kid. I'm too old for that.
00:44:55 --> 00:44:58 But since I'm still alive, I still want to have freedom.
00:44:59 --> 00:45:05 I still want to be able to make choices, whether that's in my lifestyle or at
00:45:05 --> 00:45:08 the voting booth. I want to be able, or what I eat.
00:45:09 --> 00:45:12 I want to have choices. I want to have the freedom to do that.
00:45:13 --> 00:45:17 I don't want the government. I don't want any obscure white person.
00:45:18 --> 00:45:21 I don't want anybody telling me what I can or cannot do.
00:45:22 --> 00:45:27 You can advise me like you probably don't want to go skyjumping,
00:45:27 --> 00:45:29 Eric. Okay, I'll take that advice. with.
00:45:32 --> 00:45:38 I can't do it. And there's no restriction other than you saying I can't.
00:45:38 --> 00:45:42 If I want to sit at this counter and eat, I'm going to sit there.
00:45:43 --> 00:45:47 Now, unless the Department of Health has shut it down, I'm going to eat there. Right?
00:45:48 --> 00:45:53 If I want to vote by mail, I'm going to do that. You can't tell me I can't.
00:45:54 --> 00:46:01 If I want to celebrate Kwanzaa and Hanukkah and Christmas at my house,
00:46:02 --> 00:46:05 I'm going to do that. You can't tell me I can't.
00:46:05 --> 00:46:12 And when these people finally get it in their thick skulls, they can't tell people what to do.
00:46:12 --> 00:46:15 They can't subjugate people. They can't bully folks anymore.
00:46:16 --> 00:46:22 America will be way better off. We really will be the shining city on the hill.
00:46:23 --> 00:46:28 But the hill that these people want to die on has many labels.
00:46:29 --> 00:46:32 Some people call it fascism. Some people call it authoritarianism.
00:46:33 --> 00:46:35 Some people call it Christian nationalism.
00:46:35 --> 00:46:37 Some people call it white supremacy.
00:46:38 --> 00:46:41 They're all interchangeable for me. It's all the same thing.
00:46:42 --> 00:46:46 Other people can compartmentalize that. That's fine. It's all the same for me.
00:46:47 --> 00:46:53 If you want to deny me my opportunity to either be a representative elected
00:46:53 --> 00:46:57 official, or to vote for somebody that looks like me to be one,
00:46:57 --> 00:47:00 we're not good, and never will be.
00:47:01 --> 00:47:04 And folks say, well, that sounds like an emotional argument.
00:47:04 --> 00:47:12 Yeah, it is, because I've had relatives fight for the right for me to be in
00:47:12 --> 00:47:13 the position that I was in.
00:47:14 --> 00:47:18 Yeah, it's emotional because, and I've told this story before,
00:47:19 --> 00:47:22 that when my great-aunt passed, and.
00:47:23 --> 00:47:27 I presented a proclamation at the funeral. People
00:47:27 --> 00:47:30 applauded because most of
00:47:30 --> 00:47:33 them had left Mississippi under the
00:47:33 --> 00:47:41 cloud of Jim Crow and to see somebody in their family as an elected official
00:47:41 --> 00:47:46 that looked like them present a resolution from the state that they fled from
00:47:46 --> 00:47:51 to honor this relative who had passed on. Yeah, it's emotional.
00:47:52 --> 00:47:58 There's a tie to this. And we can get in the weeds about legality and legislation
00:47:58 --> 00:47:59 and all that stuff. It's great.
00:48:00 --> 00:48:04 I'll go toe-to-toe with anybody. I don't have to go to law school to understand
00:48:04 --> 00:48:08 bullshit when I see it. But, yeah, it's emotional, too.
00:48:09 --> 00:48:14 People died for this, man. We had a man in the United States Congress that still
00:48:14 --> 00:48:18 has a scar on his head, fighting for the right to vote.
00:48:19 --> 00:48:24 And now the very state where he was from and the very state that he represented.
00:48:25 --> 00:48:29 We got people saying, we got opportunity to take away their vote again.
00:48:31 --> 00:48:34 That's craziness, man. That's a sickness.
00:48:35 --> 00:48:38 You can couch it however you want. You can puff up your chest.
00:48:38 --> 00:48:40 You can be mad. You can be hostile.
00:48:40 --> 00:48:44 You can, whatever. You can call me everything and anything.
00:48:45 --> 00:48:49 You the one in the mirror that's looking at the silly person.
00:48:50 --> 00:48:53 I'm not. And these other black folks are not.
00:48:53 --> 00:48:58 Some folks are going to keep it close to the vest. Some of us are going to have a podcast.
00:48:58 --> 00:49:03 Some of us are elected officials and are having press conferences and Zoom calls.
00:49:04 --> 00:49:10 But you're going to know that we're tired of this mess. We are tired of it.
00:49:11 --> 00:49:18 My generation is supposed to be the first ones to benefit, and we did. Imagine,
00:49:19 --> 00:49:25 a black mayor in Chicago. My generation participated in the first black man
00:49:25 --> 00:49:26 being president of the United States.
00:49:27 --> 00:49:32 My generation participated in the first black person, black woman being vice
00:49:32 --> 00:49:35 president of the United States. My generation did that.
00:49:35 --> 00:49:40 My generation has put two U.S. senators, female senators in at the same time.
00:49:41 --> 00:49:46 Black women, all six of them have been in my lifetime.
00:49:47 --> 00:49:51 All the members of the Black Caucus was in my lifetime.
00:49:51 --> 00:49:55 The Black Caucus was formed in my lifetime.
00:49:55 --> 00:50:01 So yeah, it's emotional, and we're not giving it up without a fight.
00:50:01 --> 00:50:05 No matter how you skew it, no matter how you try to divide us,
00:50:05 --> 00:50:12 you can stick all the faces that look like us out there on Fox News and Newsmax and OAN.
00:50:13 --> 00:50:20 You can get arrogant people like Scott Jennings and others to smirk their way
00:50:20 --> 00:50:24 through an argument, but it is not going to get us to end our fight.
00:50:25 --> 00:50:27 We will not lose our resolve.
00:50:28 --> 00:50:31 Y'all done overplayed your hand. I told a guy, you've played your hand.
00:50:32 --> 00:50:33 Now it's time for us to play ours.
00:50:34 --> 00:50:40 And if you hurt once we play it, If you've been taken down a notch,
00:50:41 --> 00:50:43 once we play our hand, so be it.
00:50:47 --> 00:50:51 See, Malcolm X gave you an option. He gave you an option.
00:50:52 --> 00:50:55 And it seems like you want to choose the latter, right?
00:50:56 --> 00:50:58 Remember the option, the ballot or the bullet? Y'all remember that?
00:50:59 --> 00:51:01 He gave you the option. Now,
00:51:02 --> 00:51:09 Like, you accepted the ballot option. But then, that black man got elected president.
00:51:10 --> 00:51:15 Y'all tolerated us being in Congress. You tolerated us being in state legislatures.
00:51:15 --> 00:51:18 You tolerated us getting a few governorships.
00:51:18 --> 00:51:21 You definitely tolerated us being mayors.
00:51:21 --> 00:51:25 But that black man got to be president. And then, that black woman came,
00:51:26 --> 00:51:29 got to be vice president. And y'all lost y'all shit.
00:51:29 --> 00:51:34 And y'all are willing to tear this whole thing.
00:51:34 --> 00:51:41 On the 250th anniversary of American independence, y'all ready to tear it all down, destroy it,
00:51:41 --> 00:51:49 because the descendants of slaves and African immigrants ascended to positions
00:51:49 --> 00:51:52 of power. That's trifling, man.
00:51:53 --> 00:51:57 So when people say the American dream is a lie, why do y'all get upset?
00:51:58 --> 00:51:59 Y'all are the ones that make it a lot.
00:52:00 --> 00:52:05 If you leave us alone, and I've made this appeal ever since I've had this podcast,
00:52:05 --> 00:52:10 if you just leave us alone, let us live our lives, let us pursue what we're
00:52:10 --> 00:52:15 going to pursue, whether we want to be a star in the National Basketball League or an astronaut.
00:52:16 --> 00:52:22 Leave us alone and let us do our thing. If we can make it, we'll make it. If we can't, we can't.
00:52:23 --> 00:52:29 If we get accepted to Harvard, cool. If all I want to do is go to Heinz Community College, great.
00:52:29 --> 00:52:31 Just leave us alone.
00:52:32 --> 00:52:37 If I could just sum up all of this stuff,
00:52:38 --> 00:52:45 whether it's dealing with taking away historical landmarks or changing the rules
00:52:45 --> 00:52:55 about voting or taking away hiring practices or just arresting us while we're driving.
00:52:57 --> 00:53:02 Or mistakenly using a counterfeit bill instead of a regular bill,
00:53:02 --> 00:53:04 regular dollar bill, right?
00:53:06 --> 00:53:10 Would just stop messing with us, if he would just leave us alone.
00:53:11 --> 00:53:17 See, because Booker T wanted us to just go on and just do our thing.
00:53:18 --> 00:53:22 But what he didn't realize was that they were still going to mess with us, right?
00:53:22 --> 00:53:26 Because when he spoke at the Cotton Exposition here in Atlanta,
00:53:26 --> 00:53:31 he was saying, And if you let black folks do their thing, we can get along.
00:53:33 --> 00:53:39 And 30 years later, a black business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is burnt to the ground.
00:53:40 --> 00:53:43 We're doing our own thing. But you wouldn't leave us alone.
00:53:44 --> 00:53:48 Around that time, Marcus Garvey was like, well, look, you know,
00:53:49 --> 00:53:53 we've seen Liberia happen. We've seen Sierra Leone happen.
00:53:53 --> 00:53:58 How about we just gather all the black folks up and we just leave.
00:53:58 --> 00:54:02 We go back to that continent called Africa. That'll be our message.
00:54:03 --> 00:54:07 We just go on and leave. Let y'all have America.
00:54:08 --> 00:54:13 You put the brother in jail. Said he was defrauding on stocks.
00:54:14 --> 00:54:18 Kind of like what they're saying about the SPLC, right? That they're defrauding
00:54:18 --> 00:54:20 donors. And that's the same kind of argument.
00:54:21 --> 00:54:24 And you put the brother in jail in Atlanta.
00:54:25 --> 00:54:26 Because you won't leave us alone.
00:54:27 --> 00:54:32 If you let Marcus Garvey do his thing, I'd be doing my podcast probably somewhere
00:54:32 --> 00:54:38 in Ghana, Liberia, I don't know, somewhere. I wouldn't be here.
00:54:39 --> 00:54:40 But you wouldn't leave us alone.
00:54:41 --> 00:54:44 If you want power, ask for it.
00:54:45 --> 00:54:51 Don't take it. Ask. We might vote for it. But we got to get something in return.
00:54:52 --> 00:54:55 Every black person I know wants to live in a crime free neighborhood.
00:54:56 --> 00:54:58 They want their kids to go to good schools.
00:54:59 --> 00:55:06 They want to be able to afford to eat and pay rent and go to the dock?
00:55:07 --> 00:55:11 I don't know black folks that don't want that. Why is that hard to do?
00:55:12 --> 00:55:16 Because some of your rich folks says, let them eat cake.
00:55:17 --> 00:55:21 Got more important things to do, like build a ballroom, right?
00:55:22 --> 00:55:26 You want to listen to those people instead of listening to us.
00:55:27 --> 00:55:32 Again, man, when the Supreme Court makes decisions like this,
00:55:32 --> 00:55:39 when Congress passes laws and then says stupid stuff like we're the grown-ups in the room,
00:55:39 --> 00:55:43 I guess because you're punishing us, I guess that's why you make us grown-ups,
00:55:44 --> 00:55:47 make ourselves grown-ups. Just understand.
00:55:49 --> 00:55:54 And I'm, who was that? Who said that? I can't remember.
00:55:55 --> 00:55:59 Was it Wesley Snipes? Said always bet on black? Yeah.
00:55:59 --> 00:56:04 You can put that on Cal Shee, you can put on prize picks or whatever.
00:56:04 --> 00:56:07 Bet on black. We're going to win.
00:56:07 --> 00:56:12 I don't know how long the fight's going to be. It's been ongoing.
00:56:13 --> 00:56:19 We've won some battles, some major battles. Now, y'all trying to negate those,
00:56:19 --> 00:56:24 force us to retreat, force us to shrink, but we won't.
00:56:25 --> 00:56:28 We're not going to get tired. We're going to keep coming.
00:56:29 --> 00:56:34 And the sooner that you understand that, the sooner that you embrace the concept
00:56:34 --> 00:56:39 that it's best to leave these folks alone, I promise you, America will be a
00:56:39 --> 00:56:42 much better place. So like I.