District 18 candidates don’t care, why should you?
Let’s look at the numbers, according to Ballotpedia.com, of the 40,720 residents in District 18, 47.2% are male, and 52.8% are female; 72.3% White, 11.8% Black, 7.5% Latino, 4.4% Asian, 0.6% Native American, and 0.1% Pacific Islander. The median household income is $74,364 which includes a high school graduation rate of 95.6% and a college graduation rate of 44.1%. Frankly, in comparison to residents living in North Omaha and South Omaha, these statistics are not that bad.
On Tuesday, May 3. 2022 I drove to the City of Omaha’s solid waste disposal site in Bennington, Nebraska and I enjoyed the expanse of open sky, rolling hills, and farmland. As represented by the above map of District 18, this is primarily a rural area where you’re very unlikely to see too many people who look like Clarice Jackson and Michael Young, a Black woman and Black man respectively, candidates competing to fill the Nebraska Legislature seat vacated by state Senator Brett Lindstrom. Likewise, Christy Armendariz, a Latina candidate for District 18 won’t find too many people of her demographic flourishing in District 18 either. It’s great for the electorate to be exposed to political diversity! The problem?
It appears the candidates are primarily focused to represent residents of metro Omaha, and not the greater portion of District 18 that is rural. That’s a problem.
I invite you to look closely at the web sites for each candidate, conduct your own keyword search, and there’s absolutely no mention of Bennington, or rural, or farming, etc. Although I’m not a farmer, I’ve spent my entire life growing up and living in the mid-west states of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, etc., and my in-laws are farmers, so I know most of those city slickers don’t have clue about raising wheat versus beans versus corn or whatever, or understanding what’s required to raise livestock, chickens versus pigs versus beef. It’s blatantly disingenuous to run for elective office when you don’t know the electorate you’re going to represent. It does not benefit the electorate of District 18 to elect another “token” like Barack Obama.
Disingenuous? Clarice Jackson sent campaign literature to her electorate without her photo. Being Black should not be the issue, but intentionally refusing to reveal herself as a Black person immediately makes race "the" issue. It's a sham(e) so many pseudo-elite Black people (Negroes, African-Americans, etc.) are ashamed of and disdain being "Black and Proud," and they intentionally hide their “blackness” in hope of being elected by White folks with a generic focus on education, public safety, and tax relief (yada, yada, yada). What about residents in rural areas of District 18?
Disingenuous? Christy Armendariz also takes a generic focus to cut waste, lower taxes, and improve education, (yada, yada, yada), but without a plan to actually accomplish anything; and again, absolutely no reference to rural areas in District 18.
Disingenuous? Michael Young’s has a great multifaceted platform for an “urban” electorate, which could have an impact on rural areas in District 18, but there’s absolutely no reference of how economic development, transparency, technology investment, equity, and justice reform will positively impact rural areas in District 18.
Let’s face a political fact, today’s cronyism essentially requires incumbent’s to name their successor, but Bret Lindstrom, who’s running for Nebraska’s Governor has not “anointed” his successor for Legislative District 18. Why not? Doesn’t Lindstrom care about the constituents he’s leaving behind in District 18? Equally important, given that 17% of the registered voters in District 18 are Black and Latino, why are there absolutely no successful or prominent Black women and Latina women publicly "endorsing" Clarice Jackson and/or Christy Armendariz? Maybe, considering the candidates running to replace Lindstrom, District 18 doesn’t really matter to Brett Lindstrom or to anyone else?
Eureka! That must be it.
I welcome your feedback.
Trip Reynolds
trip.reynolds@yahoo.com
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Reynolds' Rap First Amendment to the United States Constitution - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. |