Urban Thought Collective

Are Black people stupid? And if so, I didn’t get that memo. The reason I ask is because I’ve noticed in politics, whenever a Black runs for office, it is naturally assumed that Black people will ALWAYS vote for Black candidates, simply because they are Black. Now, it doesn’t matter if the person isn’t qualified for the job just as long as he/she is Black and that and ONLY that reason is necessary to gain the votes of other Blacks.

Since I live in the New York City area, I am being told, indirectly, that I HAVE to vote for Comptroller William Thompson for mayor because, as a Black man, I have to support him. And although Governor Patterson is not doing such a great job, I MUST vote for him for re-election because, hey, he’s Black! And you do know that Barack Obama is a Black man, so we MUST continue the trend of electing Blacks to office!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a GREAT supporter of Black people, but, I am a BETTER supporter of people who will do a great job for me when they get in office. If I had a choice to vote based on race versus based on getting the job done, I am voting based on the latter, but hopefully, the candidate would be both.

So, all I am saying is, we, as Black people, are being viewed as not being smart enough to make the right choice for ourselves. It seems that even Black politicians want us to vote simply based on the pigment of the skin or the cultural aspects of the candidate. I say, as I do, base any vote on who you feel would do the best job out of the candidates and with all things being equal, then racial pride would win, otherwise, we can’t let people do our thinking for us! We need to research and listen and read up on ALL candidates for any office that is being pursued as all decisions based on the winning candidates WILL affect our lives, which makes it that much more important to be educated, not forced to pick our own candidate.

So, all I am asking is for Black candidates to not anticipate just getting our votes based on the fact that you are Black as well and put forth the effort to prove to us that you are qualified for the job. And Black people, stop going with the theory of voting based on skin color because, believe it or not, there ARE stupid black politicians out there….

BIG CED is the founder/owner and visionary for The Industry Cosign and has been involved in the entertainment field for over two decades. His rants on music and the industry-at-large are exclusive to Urban Thought Collective.