It’s intensifying. I’m referring to
what Peniel Joseph calls the backlash to the
Third Reconstruction. His latest book of the
same name chronicles the cyclical and
violent white backlash to Black progress in
this country. You can see the highly
coordinated, racist strategy being conducted
across the country as I type - just as it
has been in previous periods - to prove that
Black people are unworthy of citizenship and
incapable of governance. This is the
unadulterated justification for upholding
white supremacy by any means necessary.
Missouri and Mississippi are the
latest targets of the rightwing steamroller
in state legislatures. With Republicans
totally dominating these legislatures, they
are aggressively carrying out the calculated
plan to derail the political and economic
agenda of Black folks. All that cannot be
taken back will be discredited or destroyed.
What’s happening in St. Louis, MO
and Jackson, MS is almost identical because
it’s coming right out of the same GOP
playbook. The two cities are the blackest in
their respective states so it’s no accident
that they are in the crosshairs.
Both
have
Black mayors struggling to implement
progressive agendas in a hostile, anti-Black
environment. Both cities are plagued by high
crime rates whose root causes can be found
in the capitalist features of poverty,
broken educational systems and income
inequalities. Mayors Tishaura Jones and
Chokwe Antar Lumumba are constantly being
battered by the white establishment for not
controlling crime. Or as I say, for not
having a safe space for whites when they
want to come into the urban center.
In Jackson, MS - home of the
man-made water crisis - House Bill 1020 was
passed by the white House of Representatives
and if it becomes law, the white chief
justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court
would get to appoint two white judges to
oversee a new white district within the
city. The white state attorney general would
appoint four white prosecutors, a white
court clerk, and four white public defenders
for the new white district. The white state
public safety commissioner would take over
an expanded Capitol Police force, currently
run by a white chief. They can use their
white power to neutralize the blackity Black
scene they find so repulsive. The white
attorneys general stand ready to reinforce
or intervene with white heavy-handed
authoritative action.
In St. Louis, woke voters have been
consciously dismantling the white power
structure of a southern kind. Now the mayor
is Black. The prosecutor attorney is Black.
The comptroller is Black. The congresswoman
is Black whose district covers the city.
This is an unacceptable situation for white
folks who need to be in control.
The white Missouri House of
Representatives voted for a bill that allows
the white governor to appoint a white
special prosecutor to take over the duties
of the democratically elected city
prosecutor when violent crime reaches a
certain threshold. HB 301 states that the
white governor gets to determine that “a
threat to public safety and health exists”
based on reviewing certain crime statistics.
Translated, this means when white folks feel
unsafe coming into the city for their
recreation and socializing.
The persistent struggle of African
Americans for racial equity, inclusion and
prosperity continues to elude us. The
factors that led to the failure of the first
reconstruction were racist violence (by
white citizens and police), suppression of
the Black vote, the removal of
democratically-elected and appointed Black
officials, the enactment of repressive laws
and policies, the lack of enforcement of
existing laws to protect Black citizens and
the indifference of white people to the
horrifying situation.
It’s past time for Black people and
our allies to intensify our struggle to
defend our rights and our progress. It’s
time to seriously engage is direct action
and disruption. It’s time to make the lives
miserable for those who are stripping us of
our power because they can. The white state
rep who introduced the house bill in
Missouri lives on the other side of the
state. Why is he acting like he’s concerned
about safety in a St. Louis?!
The carefree lives of people who
are depriving and denying Black
self-determination must suffer some
discomfort and a whole lot of inconvenience.
Commerce must be disrupted - no more
business as usual. Literally.
The millions of dollars made when
white folks come into the cities for sports,
concerts and conferences must be blocked. We
will not concede to this modern day states’
rights agenda of white supremacy that takes
the power from Black elected officials and
leaves them with a title and no authority.
History can repeat itself and those
who don’t know their history are often
doomed to repeat it. We know what happened
after the first and second reconstructions.
It’s time to write an ending that gives life
and meaning to Black citizenship and Black
futures.
