Joe Biden 'Flakes' on Apartheid
Today, we explore the bounds and meanings of rejecting "Trumpism"
Today news stations have projected Joe Biden to be the winner of the Presidential election. Amidst the liberal euphoria about defeating “Trumpism,” I am afraid that people will lose track of one of the most important jobs of a President: picking members of his cabinet. Earlier, Politico released an article where they looked at some names being “floated around” for possible cabinet posts.
Among the names being floated for possible Biden Cabinet posts are Meg Whitman, the CEO of Quibi and former CEO of eBay, and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, both of whom spoke at August’s Democratic National Convention. Massachusetts GOP Gov. Charlie Baker and former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) have also been mentioned, as has former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), who resigned from Congress in 2018 and became a lobbyist.
I expect ghouls to fill the cabinet of President-Elect Joe Biden, but the president-elect has said that Black Americans who don’t vote for him “aren’t really black.” After the South Carolina primary, Democratic-friendly punditry purposefully conflated “people in South Carolina” with “Black voters.” They also implied that any opposition or critique of Biden was a form of “anti-blackness.” His staff was also very sanctimonious when they claimed that the Black voters stood with Joe Biden.
Call me old fashioned, but if a group of voters are this loyal to the Democrats and Joe Biden, then the Democrats owe the group a minimal semblance of respect. That is, not appointing former lobbyists for Apartheid in South Africa to key cabinet posts.
Team Biden can’t even signal the most minimal standards in reward for the persistence and loyalty of the “black voter.” They have enthusiastically embraced former Sen. Jeff Flake as a potential cabinet member. His name is being floated ahead of any progressive name like Bernie Sanders or Pramila Jayapal.
The barest minimum of standards should involve blacklisting everyone who supported the ghastly ethnostate. Upon being elected to Congress, then Rep. Jeff Flake admitted to working for a lobbying firm that was registered on behalf of Apartheid South Africa.
In 1987, Jeff Flake testified in the Utah Senate about the strategic importance of Apartheid South Africa in the US cold war efforts. His exact words: “If the South African government were to fall to the Left (non-apartheid government) it would deprive the Free World of these important minerals.”
Jeff Flake’s first experience with South Africa was in the early 1980s when he did missionary work in South Africa. He spent much time with the white majority population evidenced by the fact that Jeff Flake speaks fluent Afrikaans.
South Africa has a majority of black South African population, but those in power were part of the minority white South African population. In order to stay in power, the white government created extremely draconian racial classification laws between 1948-1955. Each citizen was issued a document with their racial identity. Many Black South Africans were evicted from their historical homes to make room for the growing white population. Here is an example of an eviction notice from 1969.
During the same time, US and UK stood with it by using the fear of communism to garner support. In 1949, the State Department communicated that South Africa’s mineral resources such as uranium made it a “strategic ally” to protect.
The US cooperation with Apartheid South Africa ran deep. In the 1960s, the CIA helped the apartheid regime hunt down and arrest Nelson Mandela. However, during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, America’s consciousness was awoken. Many Americans were horrified to see the brutal tactics of the police, the violence against civil rights workers and the absolute racial terror.
In 1972, a former medical student named Steve Biko organized a Black People’s convention. It lead to outpouring global support from leftist groups around the world. However, in 1977, Steve Biko was arrested by the brutal police in South Africa. During his arrest, he was heavily beaten and thrown into a jail cell. He died later, naked and shackled. His death lead to global protests around the world.
Anti-apartheid protests emerged throughout South Africa to protest the state-murder of Steve Biko. The Afrikaner government responded with unseen brutality. The police killed over 2000 Black South Africans. According to some human rights groups, at least 30,000 Black South Africans were arbitrarily detained and ‘disappeared’ between 1977 and 1986. For the first time, Americans saw on TV white police forces responding to innocent black protesters with war-like violence. Many Americans started to pressure the US government to withdraw any support for the apartheid regime.
The South African Government responded by hiring an assortment of lobbyists to confound the situation. Their argument was the worst form of concern-trolling: “Sanctions only hurt Black South Africans” and this was the argument from Jeff Flake.
In 1990, Jeff Flake became an official registered agent for Rossing Uranium. Rossing Uranium's parent company was Rio Tinto, which owned many mineral interests across Apartheid South Africa and its supporter state Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). In 1972, Rossing Uranium paid Black miners only 10% of the wages they paid White African people. After the end of the white rule in Namibia in 1989, Rossing Uranium still did not pay a living wage. Even as recently as 2014, uranium workers are dying of uranium poisoning and cancer in Namibia.
Sen Jeff Flake loyalty to his former employer has been steadfast. As recently as 2015, he co-sponsored a bill that legalized selling holy land from the Apache Nation to these mining interests.
Opposing Jeff Flake’s nomination to a cabinet position is a no-brainer. Even taking for granted that Biden’s cabinet would be filled with corporate ghouls, the Biden campaign owes black America a modicum of respect. Corporate America would prefer to do its ghoulish extraction business without the stain of an apartheid lobbyist.
Lastly, every corporate Democrat has been saying that we can “pressure Biden to move left” as a reason to vote for him. To test this out, let’s pressure Biden to not nominate someone who advocated apartheid.
Ideally, Biden would come out with a statement disabusing all news agencies of the idea that Jeff Flake would be considered for a cabinet position. Here is a sample statement for members of Biden’s communication team to copy and paste:
President-elect Biden stands against racism. He has always been an opponent of Apartheid South Africa. Rejection of Trumpism means rejecting all forms of racism. There is no room for a lobbyist for Apartheid South Africa in his cabinet. Mr. Flake will not be considered for any position in the Biden administration.
Update: An astute reader just sent me this interesting article: Cruelty Case Against Jeff Flake’s Son Dropped In Arizona Dog Deaths
Tell 'em, Esha!
Well said, Flake is not the horse to bet on for progress.