The Vice Presidential Debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris aired Live last night was better than the first Presidential Debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Interruptions were fewer, conversations more civil even though both debaters disagreed over and about everything that was up for debate. Somehow I missed out on the fly that perched on Pence' head for about two minutes only to find that it became a sensation on social media. That just showed how calm and collected (hardly making forceful head movements) he was, while the debate lasted. Hopefully, the next Presidential Debate will be better, assuming President Trump will truly want to clearly spell out the direction his government wants to drive America in the next four years.


The only reason why I called it for Kamala Harris was because she did better than I expected, and please don't take that as sexist. It is also not surprising, seeing as she is a senator and would of course, be in the know about happenings in the country. Mike Pence I'd listened to severally and didn't also come out beyond his ordinary self, in his characteristic mien and demeanour. Sadly, he doesn't seem like one whose voice matters that much in Trump's administration, even though the same may not be the case should Biden win the next elections.


The topics for debate this time around was as varied as can be, from the traditional, economy, abortion, and this time in relation to Supreme Court nomination (pending by the Republicans, and possible expansion by the Democrats should Biden win, should Trump have his way, in getting his nominee onto the bench), to race relations at this time of Black Lives Matter, BLM, to the Pandemic of the hour, Covid-19 and Trump's response to it, not forgetting the associated issue of vaccines and what not, then healthcare and the efforts of the present administration to water down its provisos, amongst several others.


Though in democracies, majority carry the votes, the minority can at least have their voices heard. Had the present circumstances not presented itself, I'd have thought the United States have a full proof electoral system, where its truly one man one vote for eligible voters, and that minorities can have their voices heard, even if they do not hold the reins of power. Sadly, considering the oppression of black people in America, politics which remain a veritable tool, and a means for their voices to be heard (and not just about protestations and demonstrations which as soon as everything dies down, the status quo is once again reinforced than it was before), is cleverly kept at arms length to even the best of them.


The Electoral College isn't new to me, and that's not where I have qualms with America's electoral system, rather it is with the other inner workings of the system, that Trump's rantings (questioning the fidelity of votes), laid out bare for all to see. While he talked about the inadequacies as it would affect him, in doing so the other inadequacies as it affected others also came to light, revealing more sinister moves by both parties, that change political landscapes (like how Democrats, by locating Somali refugees in Minnesota skewed votes in some counties there for a long while to come) for electoral gains. Some of these activities peculiar to the United States make one wonder if America isn't akin to a third world nation, when it comes to elections.


Gerrymandering pales in comparison to other efforts the organized political parties in America, especially when they are in power, go to ensure a perpetuation of their party in power. The electoral college system and gerrymandering you will not find, even in those countries America is quick to scold for not adhering to Democratic principles enough. Now, we have heard to what lengths powers that be in states can go to ensure that votes don't count. Early voting doesn't even help, as most of the votes can end up finding destination in the bottom of lakes rather than getting counted.


How about Voter Suppression? The work that is put into actualizing this in the states, the efficiency and efficacy appears not to be equaled anywhere else in government business. This is why I feel that for now, not much can be achieved for black emancipation in the United States, unless African Americans get organised enough to change the status quo politically. Protests, whether violent or not will not and cannot cut it, because whatever shift is engendered by protests such as this one by the BLM movement, will be immediately reversed because of the political element of things that American blacks have yet to wrap their heads around.


More blacks and minority groups in the United States need to get more involved in politics. Apparently, that's the only way to bring about change over there. The days of counties with larger population of blacks with whites running the political end of things must pass, because no matter how whites can be empathic to and with black causes, there's just so far they can go, and so much they can do (even Clinton was considered blacker than Obama as president), if they do not have a personal experience of the issues blacks deal with. In fact, not even all blacks (ask Li'l Wayne) experience what the majority of blacks pass thorough from the institutionalised racism, as it seems to be practiced in the States.


The battle remains a hard and long one. It is sad to see how in just a few years in this administration, years of gains have been eroded. The signs were there, even while the Obama administration subsisted, and have now become so entrenched that President Trump couldn't bring himself to denounce White Supremacist groups or their activities in the last Presidential Debate, and as it stands, no backlash came his way, and none is expected. And if you thought the Democratic Party could help, you'd want to ask how their many years in power had left blacks not any better than when Republicans reigned.


Even I, a non-Trumper could mention the many instances when Trump fulfilled campaign promises, compared to many episodes when Democratic Presidents as well as establishment Republican Presidents reneged on their promises, especially to blacks. Today, though blacks are a minority group in the United States, they form a significant number of those incarcerated, while the majority of blacks outside the prison system are in one kind of probation or another, wearing ankle monitors, and being in prisons within their homes, or within certain limits around their homes, or half way homes, and of course denied voting rights, a requirement necessary as a tool to bring about the much needed political change, if the fortunes of ordinary black people (apart from the sportsmen and women, and entertainers amongst them) are to be turned around in the United States.


When blacks who have none of these restrictions endeavour to vote, they are faced with certain obstacles that make that simple process, even in the backwaters of Africa, a most arduous task. Names on Identity Cards matching the names on official records etc, employment records (for people who are the least to be gainfully employed) amongst others continue to deplete the numbers, ensuring that in the end, black votes hardly matter. Forget what you see in movies, because that is just Hollywood's effort to promote diversity. Watch reality TV shows and news stations in America, and you can count the number of times black people appear on your screen. That is where the truth lies, African blacks aren't there, because they don't matter in the scheme of things.


Don't even mention Obama, his father isn't black American (white mother, raised by white grannies), but Kenyan. Ever wondered why the standard of living of African immigrants is far better than that of African Americans? The former haven't had to endure the institutionalised racism that the latter have faced and have had to live with over the years, since slavery days, to the abolition of same, for all or most of their lifetimes. Psychology and philosophy, with their ideologies is different between both groups, yes as far as day is from night. It must be a study of the summation of these discrepancies in America's electoral processes that must've informed the recent statement by a Nigerian government official, that the government should send election observers to the US to monitor elections there, like American civil society bodies are wont to, and fond of doing in and with African countries, because apparently there's absolutely nothing that's free, fair, and credible about the American elections.


'kovich


PICTURE CREDIT:
- https://journalistsresource.org


AMERICAN ELECTIONS AND AFRICAN AMERICANS https://madukovich./2020/10/08/american-elections-and-african-americans/