They say change is inevitable…you just can’t stop the moving finger of time that “writes and moves on”. Wasn’t it fella Zeno who said you can’t stick your toe into the same river twice? Your toe mightn’t have changed but the flowing river certainly did!! So your Eyewitness is quite hip to change. You get it? “Hip” …which now has to be explained because our language has changed and “hip” ain’t what it used to be. It dates the user as being from another era – or maybe even a different age!!
But while there’s change, there’s also continuity. While some things may change, it’s essence remains constant. And this brings your Eyewitness to the topic du jour…race/ethnicity voting holding sun”down”. In our dear mudland, race and ethnicity are used interchangeably – and maybe for good reasons. While race refers to the way we “look” ethnicity lumps together folks according to the way they “act”. So we can see why most times race and ethnicity represent distinctions looking for a difference!
Take for instance our “Mixed” folks. Most (but not all) of the “mixing” is the presence of African genetic elements. But in everyday life, the American “one drop of Black blood” curse wasn’t explicitly enforced here. Papa Doc’s quip about “one drop of White blood” making folks “white” rang truer!! But when it comes to culture/“acting” and voting while Mixed folks might’ve once done their own thing, for the longest while, they’ve generally cleaved to the PNC with its “African” core! The Amerindians usually split their votes pragmatically while everyone else voted “ethnically”!!
For decades we’ve been promised that this “albatross” of race and ethnicity will go away for any number of reasons…but mostly because of “education” and “progress”. So we’re more educated nowadays, aren’t we? And in place of “hip” most folks are more “woke” no? Your Eyewitness certainly hopes so. But more than education and progress, there’s the role of “circumstance” in generating change. And when it comes to voting behaviour there’s one playing out big time!!
So what’s the new “circumstance”? Well for the first time in a long time we’ve just completed a decade (2011-2021) where no one ethnic/racial group’s an absolute majority. And the small numbers of folks who march to their own drummers and vote for their own interests have formed a “swing vote” block. The PNC’s African/Mixed/Amerindian block is now almost evenly countered by the PPP’s Indian/Amerindian/Mixed block!! So there you have it folks…we’ve now entered the promised land.
And if the two behemoths have any sense they’ll hit those racially/ethnically moderate notes not to drive away anybody!!
…with the Opposition Leader?
It used to be said, “another day, another dollar” but of recent it’s become, “another day, another confusion in the opposition camp”. It’s providing so much grist for your Eyewitness’ mill that it’s in no danger of grinding to a halt!! So what’s the latest dirt? To everyone’s shock this newspaper quoted a “source” from the PNC camp claiming that two newbie PNC MPs were being considered as Opposition Leader!!
Now your Eyewitness immediately took this with a large grain of salt – maybe even several!! So what was this – misdirection? Then the following day, another source claimed that in the near term – which means by Wednesday for the Budget debate! – the APNU Chief Whip’s gonna “act” as Opposition Leader to deliver the initial response to the Finance Minister’s Budget Speech. Now the two “leaks” aren’t necessarily contradictory – and may actually be complementary.
The holding action gives some more time for the intense behind-closed-doors horse trading going on.
The long knives are out for Norton?
…in US race relations?
Biden had promised to appoint the “first Black Supreme Court Justice” in the history of the USA. And it looks he’s gonna keep his word.
But with a conservative majority it’s more symbolic than substantive
