Hypocritical Al Sharpton……

A funny thing has happened with this gun control debate that I didn’t see coming; but, to tell you the truth, I shoulda seen it coming before now, after all the talk about keeping guns outta the hands of the “bad guys.” I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit that I always thought that translated to keeping guns out of the hands of Black folks. Of course this sounds crazy, but I’ll get to that in a minute — yea, do hold that thought, will ya? As if the gun control debate couldn’t have gotten any more ridiculous beyond the suggestion of giving the teachers guns? It has now taken a racialized turn. What’s bad is that this racial slant is now being used on both sides. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Ann Coulter remark in an interview with racist Sean Hannity, that America’s gun violence problem is more of a problem of Niggers with guns, rather than the notion of it being too many guns in the country. As you can see, she sure wasn’t referring to America’s white population as being the problem. Instead, as pretty much all racists do, they blame every problem in the country on us Black folks, and the evil white liberals who enable us. So with that in mind, you could imagine my astonishment to find out that right-wing pro-gun enthusiasts have launched a “What Would Django Do?” campaign, to counter the advocates for tougher gun laws in the United States. Damn!! Yea, the same fuckin people who are not-so-friendly to us, the descendants of slaves who overwhelmingly voted for President Barack Obama, are now using a movie about a Negro slave with a gun to advance their cause for freedom, as given by the second amendment —yea this really is happening folks!! As absurd as it sounds, you must admit it’s a lot better than the racist Republicans gettin together and hosting a meeting on minority outreach at a former plantation. After all, us Black folks are into that whole idea of having a gun or two or three if the rednecks get the idea to bring back slavery. But nonetheless, there’s a bit of irony that borders on hypocrisy coming from this move. Why? Well for one it’s silly, because back in the day, states did all they could to ensure that African slaves were not armed. Secondly, with recent attempts to infringe upon the right to vote by Black folks with the introduction of Voter ID laws, none of these nutty motherfuckers stood with us Black folks to fight. Yeah, in November, voting was reduced to a privilege, but today, the second amendment is sacrosanct, untouchable, and should not be regulated — yep, equal protection, right? This now brings me to our beloved champion of freedom, justice, and equality…Rev. Al Sharpton! Did you happen to catch Al and Marc Morial at the National Urban League’s press conference on gun control? Don’t worry, if you haven’t, you can look it up on YouTube. But at any rate, it seems that certain Black folk have stepped up to the plate to counter the gun-toting crazies on the right-wing. And of course, the White House’s favorite lap dog mouthpiece when communicating to the Black community was front and center, much to the delight of his handlers at 1600 Pennsylvania Av. Okay, so what’s wrong about what Sharpton said? Well, how about me starting with the obvious hypocrisy of him stating that “People do not have the right to unregulated rights in this country.” Now this is some really funny shit to me. It’s because this is coming from the same man who fought against recent attempts to infringe upon the right to vote by implementing Voter ID laws. Aside from me mentioning this earlier in the post, do you remember that? Yeah, just like we all argued, voting or the right to vote is the most fundamental right protected by the Constitution. I’ve said it, Attorney General Eric Holder has said it, and even Rev. Al Sharpton has said it as well. So, why the sudden flip-flop? I mean, if no Constitutional right is exempt from regulation as Sharpton said, why then did he fight to protect the attempted disenfranchisement of potential voters in the last election cycle? What’s even funnier is how he used the same argument about flying and airports posted by proponents of Voter ID. Maybe I’m wrong, but I remember people like Sharpton arguing the point that entering an airport is not a right, but instead a privilege. See what I’m saying? Hypocritical!! So why would Sharpton make what is possibly the most flagrant statement of his career? Short answer: it’s because the president is Black…In other words, having received a seat at the table otherwise seen as access to the White House. Sharpton, taking up this cause as Obama’s number one ally in the Black community — a community which has seen more than its fair share of gun violence — gives Obama an easy out on addressing gun violence in Black communities. Why? Because if the face of the gun violence victims continues to be twenty elementary school children from Newtown, Ct. as opposed to Black folks, Obama is guaranteed continued majority support for new gun control legislation. The real tragedy here, however, is that much of the proposed legislation will do very little to address the problem of gun violence in cities like Chicago. Why? Because tougher gun laws don’t create jobs or improve the economic opportunities of residents of these communities. And this is particularly sad, when you think about how Black folks are being pimped by both sides in the gun control debate, but hey, don’t tell that to Al Sharpton or the gun nuts that I said so, Okay? Here’s to hoping that Voter ID thing never comes up again…