By Lucius Gantt
Add Chicago to the growing list of cities that have had extremely low voter turnout and especially low turnouts of Black voters in elections since Barack Obama’s historic election a year or so ago.
These dismal turnouts in Chicago, Boston, Detroit and Atlanta can be blamed for a variety of reasons including a dearth of credible candidates.
One thing for certain is the Black candidates who thought they could generate the voter enthusiasm and voter support that Obama received, so far, have been sadly disappointed.
I’ve said it over and over again and instead of getting recognition for prophesy or credit for political prognostication many political pundits think I’m crazy. But the fact of the matter is that we have a new generation of Black voters.
Black voters of today don’t care anything about your political party affiliation. They don’t care anything about your skin color and they damn sure don’t care about or believe your false promises about making things better for America’s poor, oppressed and exploited Black citizens!
Black and non-Black candidates don’t talk to, or listen to, Black political professionals. Instead they suck up to modern-day political vampires that suck the political contributions, political expenditures and the life blood out of every Black and well wishing non-Black candidates they can find.
These “True Blood” and “Vampire Diary” rejects encourage Black candidates to turn away from their own kind, disbelieve their own kind and to do what they can to not spend money with their own kind.
The message to Black candidates is, “Black people will vote for you anyway. You need a white person to get you white votes. The Black media will endorse you anyway. You need me to get white media support.”
Yes, the political vampire is tricky and they will suck the life out of a campaign in daylight or the darkest of night!
What are we waiting on? Betting that any candidate will love, cherish, respect and support Black communities is like going to a casino crap table and betting on the “come”, a sucker bet that seldom if ever pays off!
Just sit tight. Time will tell if your candidate is an Oscar winner, for example, or merely a washed up, poor version of a “Roots character” posing as your political friend, benefactor and savior.
Don’t rush to political judgment if the candidates you are considering doesn’t rush to support you, your issues, your concerns, your businesses and your aspirations.
