Issue 2013: Reality Check

by Nigel Scott

We have a black president!... But wait, we already knew that didn’t we? So why am I writing this now? Because the times, they are a changing. Now that Obama has won his second term of office, I think we’re going to finally see the badass in him (that we expected four years ago!) emerge.  I mean, he has already started to adopt a take no shit attitude with Congress, pressuring them to actually do their jobs. Maybe we’ll see him actually propose helpful reform policies for the minorities of this country too. This might be the year of the POC.

To all of you that don't know what that means, POC is an acronym for People of Color. You all remember the election right? Three out of every ten voters were minorities, and they came out primarily for Obama. Blacks were 93% Obama, Latinos 71%, and Asians 73%. Now, I know it isn’t wise to assume, but I think we can all agree something must be going on when getting the majority of the white vote doesn’t win you an election. And Congress had better pay attention.

For years, the problems of minority voters have been swept under the rug, especially for blacks and Latinos. Now I’m going to throw some crazy statistics out there and wonder how in the hell we’ve let this happen (or maybe not, who knows?). Blacks and Latinos make up about one quarter of the US population; they also happen to make up 58% of the US prison population. About 14 million whites have admitted to using illegal drugs compared to 2.6 million black, but blacks are still sent to jail on drug charges at ten times the rate of whites. And this one I just love. If the current trends continue, one in every three black men born today can expect to serve some amount of jail time.

On top of that you have things like the “Stop and Frisk” tactics in NYC and the “Show Me Your Papers” provision in Arizona that, dare I say, promote racial profiling. Police are using these devices and many others to single out and attack minority groups across the country. Even proposed voter ID laws, while not existing to aid in incarceration tactics, are aiming to take out a huge chunk of potential minority (i.e. Democrat) voters.

But, I think this year, things might start to pick up. Like I said before, the face of the nation is changing; minorities are on the way to becoming the majority, and as we make our way to the top of the political food chain, government reform will be on the mind. Recent developments like the legalization of marijuana in Colorado could lead to at least decriminalization of the drug nationwide, which could get many young black men out of trouble. Another interesting thing is that in Texas District 23, the two candidates opted to have their debate in Spanish, which goes to show that Latinos are being given more and more attention in politics.

Okay, so maybe saying it will be the “Year of the POC” is stretching it a bit, but that doesn’t mean that change isn’t starting to rear its ugly head. The problems of minorities are making their way to becoming the big issues, and hopefully their champion, Mr. President Obama will step up to the plate and give “the people” what they want.