EMAIL SENT TO LA TIMES COLUMNIST
- By MR-D-ROB
- The Cookout
- 21 Replies
Below is an email I sent to an LA TIMES COLUMNIST.
Link to her article is at the bottom.
I'd like to take a moment to explain a perspective that you and the Democrats don't seem to get very well.
Black men just like any other voter want to be represented. We want something more than just a black face in office in return for our vote!
Long gone are the days of just voting blue no matter who. Long gone are the days of voting for a candidate just because they are black.
What should we vote for people like Manchin and Sinema? They are Democrats. Obviously, we would want better candidates.
Should we vote for Tim Scott just because he is black.
In your article you paint black men in the worst light. You point out the homelessness issue. While that is a problem that disproportionately affects us it isn't the majority of black men.
In your article you talk about increased police hiring and tough on crime policies failing to realize that most black men aren't criminals.
According to some statistics on Pew Research Center and aei.org 57% of black men make it to middle class and only 18% are at or below the poverty line.
That's a far cry from how you painted us. You literally cited a guy who was selling bootleg DVDs. There are far better representations of us you could have used and I'm certain it wouldn't have been that difficult especially when you consider that over half of black men are middle class.
Instead you find one of the worst examples and talk about crime and police as if those are our only concerns.
I have two young daughters. One of them is in high school and sometimes she walks to school. I want more police for her safety.
Black men just like everyone else just don't want bad police and want the bad ones punished and held accountable!
Another point Democrats bring up commonly when talking to black men is marijuana laws as if all or a majority of black men use marijuana.
That's a false narrative. According to an article by statista.com only as of 2019 only 26.9% of black people aged 18-25 use marijuana. For age 26 and older that statistic drops to 12.2%. That's for black people as a whole so those numbers include women too. So it's apparent that most black men aren't going around breaking the law using marijuana!
Black men aren't naive and unintelligent as you suggested.
We're smart and ambitious. Unfortunately, we live in a country that undervalues us and paints us exactly as you did in this article. The Democrats do this constantly. They talk as if prison reform, marijuana laws and police misbehavior is all we care about. They act like the only thing that affects black men is crime because we're all criminals.
Then even when elected they don't do anything about any of these issues. It's just a talking point to get our vote. Quite frankly I along with many other black men are sick of it.
It's not the Ice Cube effect. It's the quit painting us as uneducated, homeless, criminals and actually address us the way you do the rest of your constituents effect!
Just a thought.
Very Respectfully,
Deshon L Robinson
Licensed Practical Nurse
U.S Army Veteran
Former Federal Law Enforcement Officer
www.latimes.com
Link to her article is at the bottom.
I'd like to take a moment to explain a perspective that you and the Democrats don't seem to get very well.
Black men just like any other voter want to be represented. We want something more than just a black face in office in return for our vote!
Long gone are the days of just voting blue no matter who. Long gone are the days of voting for a candidate just because they are black.
What should we vote for people like Manchin and Sinema? They are Democrats. Obviously, we would want better candidates.
Should we vote for Tim Scott just because he is black.
In your article you paint black men in the worst light. You point out the homelessness issue. While that is a problem that disproportionately affects us it isn't the majority of black men.
In your article you talk about increased police hiring and tough on crime policies failing to realize that most black men aren't criminals.
According to some statistics on Pew Research Center and aei.org 57% of black men make it to middle class and only 18% are at or below the poverty line.
That's a far cry from how you painted us. You literally cited a guy who was selling bootleg DVDs. There are far better representations of us you could have used and I'm certain it wouldn't have been that difficult especially when you consider that over half of black men are middle class.
Instead you find one of the worst examples and talk about crime and police as if those are our only concerns.
I have two young daughters. One of them is in high school and sometimes she walks to school. I want more police for her safety.
Black men just like everyone else just don't want bad police and want the bad ones punished and held accountable!
Another point Democrats bring up commonly when talking to black men is marijuana laws as if all or a majority of black men use marijuana.
That's a false narrative. According to an article by statista.com only as of 2019 only 26.9% of black people aged 18-25 use marijuana. For age 26 and older that statistic drops to 12.2%. That's for black people as a whole so those numbers include women too. So it's apparent that most black men aren't going around breaking the law using marijuana!
Black men aren't naive and unintelligent as you suggested.
We're smart and ambitious. Unfortunately, we live in a country that undervalues us and paints us exactly as you did in this article. The Democrats do this constantly. They talk as if prison reform, marijuana laws and police misbehavior is all we care about. They act like the only thing that affects black men is crime because we're all criminals.
Then even when elected they don't do anything about any of these issues. It's just a talking point to get our vote. Quite frankly I along with many other black men are sick of it.
It's not the Ice Cube effect. It's the quit painting us as uneducated, homeless, criminals and actually address us the way you do the rest of your constituents effect!
Just a thought.
Very Respectfully,
Deshon L Robinson
Licensed Practical Nurse
U.S Army Veteran
Former Federal Law Enforcement Officer
Column: These Black men say they'll vote for Caruso, not Bass. Is it the 'Ice Cube effect'?
In a new poll, roughly half of Black men said they want the billionaire developer to be L.A. mayor. The reasons why could have big ramifications.
www.latimes.com 
