Pratical Politics

It is not unusual for desperate, put-upon people to flail out and sometimes kill or kick out attempts to help them assuage their difficulties. The results are most often a deepening of the quick-sand surrounding them.
This reflection recently came to mind in observing the continuity of the harsh criticism of the California Legislative Black Caucus’ recent efforts at securing passage of several reparations-related bills. Especially negative comments have been heard from citizens on the popular KJLH radio station (Stevie Wonder’s station) and on popular podcasts/Tik Tok, etc.
The criticism has most usually been about the LBC’s “futile” attempts at getting Assembly Bill 1430 passed and onto Gov. Newsom’s desk (where he would have certainly not signed the bill into law).
For many of us in the Reparations Movement, this situation has been especially traumatic and
worrying. If we continue shooting at our messengers, how can we reasonably expect real progress to be made on our grievances?
This is a specific example of why the reparations movement will continue to fail to deliver solid results—too many of the activists remain ignorant of ‘how the sausage gets made’ and thus they continue chunking rocks and other debris at those who have volunteered to try and do something positive about the situation that steadily harms us.
The reparations chat in the state should now be on getting Proposition 6 approved by the California voters. Clearly it is not, which means another step further back into the hole we continue to dig for ourselves.
As previously mentioned in this column, once the San Francisco City Reparations Commission mentioned the possibility of monetary payments being made to African-American citizens of the state as a result of the commission’s deliberations, the glitter of possible gold has addled the minds of too many who need clear and rational thinking to bring about any positive results from the state’s various reparations studies.
Quietly on the November state ballot is the possibility of another significant victory forward in this movement. This is Proposition 6 (which the Black Legislative Caucus is mainly responsible for), which if approved would put California among several other states that have eliminated “involuntary servitude” (also known as prison slavery) from its state laws.
Passage of that item would be a tremendous victory in the fight for Reparations, but, alas, here we are spending way too much time calling each other nasty names and not campaigning for that item. The involuntary servitude section of the California constitution is part of what author Michelle Alexander has called the “New Jim Crow.” It allows prisons to compel inmates to provide free labor to the state. It is involuntary, unpaid servitude and should be eliminated.
Several states in the recent past have already done so, but so far, not California. We celebrate each year the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, but we do not spend enough time studying how he and his cohorts were able to achieve as much as they did, in spite of violent opposition.
He and his co-planners understood that the noise of battle has never been as important as the meeting-to plan- and- assess moments. That’s where the “make sausage plans” are decided upon.
California needs to approve Proposition 6, and we need to get into the battle to make that so. There are lots of other important items on the November ballot, so we need to carefully partition our efforts for this fall. But the point is—don’t chase the ephemeral winds of change, nor spend any more time cursing allies when things don’t instantly go the way we want. There’s important work to be done, so let’s get to it!!
Get Prop 6 passed!!
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.
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