Coard: Is President Biden Black enough?

by Michael Coard

Well, first of all, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. ain’t Black. And he never said he was.

He’s also not a revolutionary and never said that either.

I make those points because I am Black and I am a revolutionary. And as such, I relentlessly advocate for reparations, criminal justice reform, affirmative action, voting rights expansion, D.C. and P.R. statehood, gerrymander abolition, HBCU funding increase, defunding/defanging the police (by redirecting their bloated budgets to mental health, drug rehab, and other social services), mass incarceration eradication, livable minimum wage mandate, Medicare for All, environmental justice, and promotion of the Black Lives Matter agenda as well as the Black Panther Party Ten-Point Platform and Program.

Before I go any further, I must be clear that by citing that “art of compromise” language, I am not promoting milquetoast moderation. Instead, I am promoting radicalism and I am promoting revolution as not only a present possibility but also as a soon-to-be probability and ultimately as an absolute certainty.

But I am doing so pragmatically. In the process, I am adhering to the revolutionary call by Malcolm in 1965- and by Frantz Fanon five years earlier- for racial justice “by any means necessary.” In other words, do whatever the situation dictates and do it strategically. For example, do what Nat Turner and Gabriel Prosser and Harriet Tubman did during slavery and do what MLK and Huey Newton and Shirley Chisholm did during the Civil Rights Era. Drastic times call for drastic measures and not-as-drastic times call for not-as-drastic measures. I want to explain more here about drastic measures, but I’ll end it with this: “Those who know, don’t say. And those who say, don’t know.”

So how does all of the aforementioned pertain to President Biden? Good question. Here’s the answer.

In the 2020 presidential election, 159,633,396 Americans voted. Blacks constitute 13.4% of the American population. Assuming, for the sake of this discussion, that that’s the same percentage of Blacks who voted, that means 20,752,341 of us cast our ballot. There’s no way in the world that approximately 21 million Blacks (who, by the way, are not a monolith) can impose their political will upon approximately 139 million non-Blacks.

Although we can’t impose our will, we can make strong demands. As Darrell Royal, the legendary Texas Longhorn coach during the 1950s-1970s used to say, “You gotta dance with them what brung ya.” And Black folks “brung” President Biden to the White House. Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, put it this way:

“Black voters decided who the Democratic nominee would be. They played a major role in that nominee getting elected and made it possible for that nominee to have a senate that would help him get through an agenda of issues… [that Blacks] were organizing around. Saying ‘Thank you’ to Black voters… is great. [But] following through on the issues… [that Blacks are] passionate about that- that would be the biggest thing.”

The dance is the presidency. And Black voters were the chauffeur, the chaperone, and the companion. So President Biden better dance with us- at least during most of the songs.

We understand that he also has to dance with some others because they helped pay for gas or provided some directions to assist in getting him to the party. And that’s cool, assuming their music is not grating to our ears or disruptive to our rhythm since we played the biggest role.

Now how do we make sure President Biden follows through on the issues we’re passionate about? Well, since there’s strength in numbers, we need to build or continue to build alliances. And we do that by giving something to get something. That’s called strategically compromising- which is not to be confused with spinelessly selling out or unprincipledly caving in.

For example, if liberal whites are afraid of supporting the “Defund The Police” rallying cry, we Black revolutionaries can be less strident by rephrasing it to “Defang The Police” or “Cut Wasteful Spending.” And we can focus on the amount of money taxpayers would save by utilizing mental health professionals and social service workers to do at a much lower cost (in a nonviolent manner) what cops are doing at a much higher cost (in a violent manner). Shakespeare was right. “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” If stridency is required, so be it. But if it’s not and if strategic compromising would be more effective, then strategically compromise, dammit.

In addition, we must build close alliances with the Brown, Red, Islamic, women’s rights, and LGBTQIA communities. We must explain to them exactly what we want and find out from them exactly what they want. Determine where political agreements exist and also where political disagreements exist. And in the spirit of principled compromise, focus on the agreements and put the disagreements (if any) on the back-burner, thereby creating a massive and broad-based coalition.

For more information about revolutionary political strategizing (stemming from revolutionary community organizing), an excellent starting point is “Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals” by Saul D. Alinsky.

Appointed at least six Black women to influential positions

Officially used the phase “white supremacists” to condemn racists

Rescinded publication and distribution of the racist “1776 Commission,” which is a pro-white supremacy, anti-academic project concocted by illiterate MAGATs

Removed the Oval Office portrait of Andrew Jackson- the most genocidally racist president in American history

Ended the Muslim travel ban (primarily affecting Africans)

Broadened Census inclusion

Extended moratorium on evictions and foreclosures

Expanded existing pause on student loan repayments

Halted construction on the Keystone XL Pipeline that would’ve desecrated sacred Sioux land in Montana

Scrapped all efforts to “Build That Wall”

Laid the foundation for a $15 federal minimum wage

Sped up COVID vaccine delivery

Required mask-wearing at airports, on trains, and in federal buildings

In conclusion, dear Black revolutionary comrades, we all know President Biden ain’t Malcolm. Neither is he John Brown. But he ain’t no disenfranchising Republican fascist either. So let’s work with him.

Correction: Let’s work on him!