The Black Stake in Iraq Withdrawal and Bush Impeachment
"If the Iraq war is allowed to continue, none of the economic issues on the Black political agenda can even begin to be achieved."
There is no ethnic group in the United States that has a greater interest in immediate withdrawal from Iraq and impeachment of George Bush, than African Americans. And, based on voting patterns, there is no doubt that more Blacks than anyone else would favor impeachment and immediate Iraq withdrawal, if asked. Nevertheless, most whites and far too many Blacks would fail to list impeachment and Iraq withdrawal as critical Black issues - right up there with Katrina and the bread-and-butter issues of jobs, housing, health care, and education.![TOPIX_IRAQ_US_MILITARY_WAR_143200349[1]](images/stories/019/TOPIX_IRAQ_US_MILITARY_WAR_143200349[1].jpg "TOPIX_IRAQ_US_MILITARY_WAR_143200349[1]")
The imperative to "ghettoize" Black issues derives from two, parallel sources. Whites generally tend to claim all issues as their own, by default, unless dramatically and indisputably linked to African Americans - such as the emptying out of Black New Orleans. Among a certain proportion of Blacks, a lingering Jim Crow-era mentality continues to confine their political vision to issues directly related to racial segregation and specific Black problems of upward mobility. Thus, in such afflicted and conflicted Black minds, the prospect of a Barack Obama presidency rates higher on the Black issues scale than immediate withdrawal from Iraq or impeachment of the current thief in the White House. Barack Obama, of course, shows no interest in either impeaching George Bush or getting out of Iraq any time soon.
"The Constitution is all that stands between Black folks and unfettered white majority rule - a regime in which majorities can do whatever they want to minorities."
Yet, if the Iraq war is allowed to continue, none of the economic issues on the Black political agenda - the rebuilding of the cities, massive job creation and training, a thorough overhaul of education, truly universal national health care - none of these goals can even begin to be achieved, because the national treasury will have already been stolen. The longer the war lasts, at a cost that could reach one-and-a-half trillion dollars, the more radical a social and economic transformation will be required to address even the most basic social needs. The system as it currently exists will have to be turned inside-out and upside-down to churn out the revenues to make up for that which has already been lost to Bush's imperial crusade. Although the system definitely needs to be turned inside-out and upside-down, there is no reason to believe the current array of political forces is capable of bringing about such a transformation. Instead, whenever this war is over, they will simply accept that the country is broke, and that national expectations must be lowered. Goodbye, Black political and economic agenda.
Impeachment must be seen as a constitutional issue, not just a George Bush problem. Bush has shredded the Constitution every day since his party stole the election in the year 2000. No one - no group in the country - has a larger interest in constitutional government than African Americans, the group that was originally left out of the Constitution. In every national election since 1964, a majority of whites have voted Republican - and that white Republican majority has been built on racism. The Constitution is all that stands between Black folks and unfettered white majority rule - a regime in which majorities can do whatever they want to minorities. George Bush brings that day closer every hour he remains in office. Therefore, his impeachment is a critical Black issue - an issue of Black survival.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
To listen to this Black Agenda Radio commentary, click on the mic at right.
Qiana Arnold is a birth justice associate and a full spectrum doula at Support Your Sistah at the Afiya Center in Dallas, Texas.
Forrest Palmer is a native of Los Angeles, California who is now an electrical engineer residing in Houston, Texas.
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