Jae Ali on Elvis Piggot, Asher Edelson and the DEC

This is a response to address racism within the DEC, Elvis Piggot's recent claims, Angela Birdsong, and Asher Edelson assessment of it all. Ok so first out the gate let's address Asher's claims in response to Elvis. Asher took the position that the DEC isn't racist (a claim as a white man in America he has no authority to determine and only shows the tone deafness and white privilege rampant within the Democratic Party as a whole) He goes on to try to compare him having Tourette's and not being treated differently as the same as black members of the DEC, again completely of the mark. This country was built on white supremacy and patriarchy what that means is society and its structures were built to accommodate those systems of oppression. When white people with disabilities try to compare the fair treatment they get and discount discrimination against able bodied black and brown folks not only are they participating in the erasure of black and brown disabled folks, but they are complicit in white supremacy. So, Asher's stance on the DEC and racism was not only incorrect because he is not able to make the determination given his white privilege, but his stance inadvertently shows the real problem with race relations within the party. 

Angela Birdsong and her valid concerns with the DEC is troubling to say the least. For a great majority of her campaign Angela mostly floated on the fact that she was the only Dem on the ticket. She wasn't a dynamic speaker, very soft spoken at times. She didn't speak about her actual platform enough or even energize voters by speaking on the past of Ken Hagan enough. It was a weak campaign from the beginning but she did make strides more and more towards the end. 

Elvis' live Facebook videos and new persona as a political truth teller is not only a shock but comical. For months on his campaign trail Elvis became a political minstrel. At one time I was his opponent, not only did he try to paint me as the "Angry Black Lives Matter" candidate who hates white people, he tried to present himself as the better option. A calm, cool, collected alternative. Diet negro if you will. For some reason Pastor Piggot couldn't or wouldn't stop going around letting white democrats know, that not only am I too radical but he prefers the company of white people more than black people because they're more relatable. I was fed up with the slander (from a pastor at that!) and called Elvis to ask him why he would keep trying to manipulate racial issues, why is he lying about me saying he wasn't "black enough", and how he could call himself a pastor while doing it all. I don't think Elvis ever thought he would be confronted for his lies. He hung up flustered after acknowledging his lies, then followed up via text to wish me Merry Christmas. I responded to the text letting it be known if he were to continue to spread untruths about me in hopes of gaining support from white people I would show everyone the screenshots. Elvis is a manipulative opportunist. He's not wrong about the DEC being racist because he wanted to capitalize on it to ostracize me and present himself as the only viable candidate. All in all Elvis isn't wrong about the racism within the DEC and Democratic Party as a whole, but he cares nothing about the injustice or neglect Angela faced. His motives are to create enough buzz to mount another (failed) political run. 

The DEC is a political machine within America. For those who face oppression under white supremacy they understand what that means. For those who don't, black people and black candidates are not treated the same as white people. Also, it is not the job of black people to recruit more black people to the DEC to cut down on racism by providing more representation. The DEC needs to reach out to black led orgs and PAY THEM to give them classes on racial bias, systemic oppression, and white privilege. The DEC needs to do better.

 All in all like my granny says "A broke clock is right twice a day". Elvis is right about the DEC and racism. However, he is only "exposing" wrongdoing in this way to draw attention towards himself to further try to make a name for himself. All done.

Jae Ali