Letters from Our Readers

Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor

03 Feb 2021

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The federal government’s stimulus payments and the role of black police officers were on your minds. We share your letters for “Billionaire Wealth Breaks All Records in Crisis” and “We Have to Stop Valorizing Black Cops.”

In radio segment “Billionaire Wealth Breaks All Records in Crisis” researcher Omar Campo discusses a new report showing that America’s elite increased their wealth by over a trillion dollars and discusses policy solutions to undo such concentration of wealth.

Reg Callaway writes:

“Keep in mind what is going on before our eyes. The government is giving us a window into a better world without worrying about the uber-rich. The feds are transferring (apparently) trillions of dollars to Mainstreet to cover some of the damage of Covid. This is unprecedented. I personally think the payout needs to be much larger and over a longer period of time, but we are still trying to kill off Reagan's ghosts of starving the public sector. Not an easy feat because many in Washington believe in ‘Cruelty First’ policy.

“The feds are cutting checks without a single cent coming in the door in revenue. In fact, in the last 10 months or so the government pushed trillions onto the economy without any concern about how any of it would be paid for. They passed an NDAA, Covid packages, etc., without a sweat. And the sky did not fall. And no tax money came in.

“There is no scarcity of money. The government can print, print, and print money as long as there is a demand in the economy. We could all be living a better life. We don't need the filthy rich money at the federal level to pay for things as the speaker indicated.

“Any wealth tax will not rest just on the uber-rich. It will filter down to modest earners. If people want to know how a wealth tax works they should live in the Netherlands. It is one of the worst places in the world to earn a living. The Dutch also has one the worst wealth inequalities in the OECD, right up there with the US. The wealth tax did not fix anything for them except make the middle-class poorer.”

“We Have to Stop Valorizing Black Cops” Mary Retta argues that the purpose of police, incarcerating and killing black folk, remains the same regardless of the officers’ race.

Wallace Nixon writes:

“Although there are black police organizations with strong racial consciousness in the United States most black police have become just like their white colleagues. If my memory serves me well there was a time when black policemen were not nearly as vicious or murderous as white police. That is no longer true. When we see groups of police involved in abusive actions today blacks are there in significant numbers. In fact, all too often black officers appear to be more afraid of losing their well paid jobs than reporting inappropriate behavior. This is inexcusable cowardice considering that they allow white officers to crack humiliating jokes and other ugly remarks in their presence.

“Apart from police we must scrutinize all black public officials because they tend to be handpicked individuals chosen for their allegiance to the country rather than their people. People like the Obamas, Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and now Lloyd Austin are or were only in high positions because they have little or no real connection with their own ethnicity. The exact same thing is true of other minority members who attain high posts when they show unconditional loyalty to the empire. It is just like life in corporate environments where you can easily advance when you love the company more than you love yourself. Law enforcement types, like Lori Lightfoot in Chicago or now Kamala Harris as vice-president, are emotionally incapable of putting black interests ahead of the will of their white masters and mentors!”

The struggle against the black misleadership class and all other purveyors of neoliberal identity politics remains key to the struggle ahead. The struggle for ideological clarity in this moment is a great imperative.

Jahan Choudhry is Comments Editor for Black Agenda Report. He is an organizer with the Saturday Free School based in Philadelphia, PA.

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