Tiffany Cross Crossed Up

I saw this video on MSNBC that features Tiffany Cross, a daily show on the network, calling black United States Senator Tim Scott a sell-out on national TV. Cross went on a tirade after Scott stated that America isn’t inherently racist. Although this is a debatable topic, it is not one that MSNBC should be litigating in any capacity.

Cross was using an exhausted and overused trope that black people tend to use against each other, specifically on mainstream media networks.

It involves white media or infrastructure using black people to attack other black folks using attacks and tropes whites can not use.

It is akin to the rapper Eminem not using the n-word as many black rappers do. Eminem would be destroyed and canceled, but other black MCs are free to tear each other apart. In her confused attack, Cross utilized a misnomer of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by referring to Scott as an “Uncle Tom or a sell-out, (a common charge made by African Americans). In the story, Uncle Tom is a genial soul deeply religious and subservient to his master. Cross was politicizing the race of Senator Scott as a means to attack him, guilt and cancel free. This only works because MSNBC is a Democrat safe space for rhetoric. She is virtue signaling that Scott is a sell-out because of his political affiliation, coupled with his race, again a typical attack. Blacks have voted for Democrats since FDR because of the promises made by leaders from Carter, to Clinton, up to Obama, for a better life in exchange for their vote and a little hope.

Materially African Americans are leading the nation in mass incarceration, poverty, joblessness, and infant mortality rates, naming a few.

So I ask who should be throwing around the trope of Uncle Tom when as I explained, Tom was tirelessly devoted to his master and refused to run away. This description sounds like blacks voting for democrats today.

We allow Ms. Cross to unfairly use nasty attacks on a white network, undergirded by sponsors that often do not support black media and frankly wouldn’t support Ms. Cross if she didn’t stand under the banner of MSNBC.

This adulteration of journalism aimed at blacks that is uncritical and cartoonishly sophomoric helps us not. White liberals have consistently attacked the political structure that opposed them and their issues, from gay marriage to women’s rights, and this is good. But we must remember African Americans have a set of unique problems that need rectification, one that their liberal counterparts may not see as deserving of a spot ahead of their own.

So this leaves us with a problem if the Democrats are not willing to address our plights with substantive legislation, or at the least keep their campaign promises, who will? I believe a soft landing spot for African Americans can be the independent party, which Bernie Sanders unofficially leads. This would ensure our needs are being met because the infrastructure is built on justice for poor black and brown people. In my summation, this is the only option for black people at this point. In all these political games, the ugliness is that the Democrats have run a beautiful sleight of hand and threw a red herring towards Republicans taking our voting rights. This takes our attention from the terrible job that Democrats are doing for their constituents. So we join their “fight” against the Republicans instead of fighting to demand a return on our vote. Let me restate my previous point, protecting our voting rights is essential, but we can undoubtedly multi-task and hold Democrats to the fire simultaneously. Time will tell.