Another (Democrat Led) Blue Wall That Prevents Justice

The continued rioting, looting and arson in Minneapolis is horrendous. Citizen’s and outsiders have flocked into the heart of the City of Minneapolis to take out their anger and frustrations on a city they feel has failed them.

While their anger is justified, based on the video released to the public surrounding the death of George Floyd, that anger does not and should not justify the absolute decimation of a city. Entire blocks of buildings are being burnt to a crisp, business owners who invested their entire life into their business are now being hit with the double whammy of the virus lockdowns and now their businesses being left in ash. As one reviews the literature coming out about this very emotionally charged situation, one hears about how this is “white people’s fault,” “Trump’s fault,” “Republicans fault,” or even “systematic and widespread racism’s” fault. All of these accusations beg the question: Who exactly is in charge of Minneapolis and how can we understand those statements in light of the present leadership?

A quick review of the City Council of Minneapolis yields very interesting results. The city is broken down politically into thirteen districts, known as wards. These wards all have a seat at the City Council’s table and are the local legislators that would determine policy, city priorities and the path forward for their population.

In what was in fact a stunning find, the thirteen member City Council is broken down as follows: twelve Democrats and one Green Party Member. Not one member of the City Council is Republican, Conservative or even something that represents a ‘right of center’ political philosophy. As seen in their Council photo, they would be hard pressed to say that the Council is also not quite “diverse:”

This group of legislators is in fact a melting pot of races and genders. One may argue that it is the exact makeup that many of the Left’s persuasion would embrace. So to review, not one Republican or Conservative is part of their local city government and this diverse group of legislators cannot be said to be racially one-sided.

Minneapolis legislators are responsible for setting policy and establishing law that is supposed to shepherd the city forward. They are responsible for the “rules of the game” that are meant to ensure their constituents are living in a safe community that ushers in the economic opportunity that we all seek.

One wonders how this group of Left and Far-Left leaning individuals has not been able to create a more promising environment for their constituents? Is this not the exact makeup that one would expect to usher in the economic prosperity and social justice reforms that are generally sold to us as solutions to the woes of “underprivileged” groups? Could it be that the message that only the Left’s policies encourage upward mobility and social justice is empty? One cannot in any way blame the Right for the woes of the City of Minneapolis because, as has been clearly outlined, they are no where to be found in that city’s legislative body.

What have we heard so far from the City Council so far? Well Council VP Andrea Jenkins, a transgendered black woman, stated that, “the black community in Minneapolis has long felt like it’s had a knee pressing on its collective neck. A knee that says black lives don’t matter.” Not exactly a statement that is meant to quench violence and promote peace in a time of heightened emotion. This also begs the question, “what has the current council, elected as of 2017, done to promote economic prosperity for this community?” Economic prosperityhas always been linked to justice and as such, why has an entire group of Left Leaning politicians been unable to tip the scales toward “justice” in during their term. One might say, “well a group of legislators is only able to do so much, it must be the Mayors fault.” That could be the case in certain jurisdictions but not in Minneapolis.

In case anyone is curious, the Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, is also a Democrat and a far-left one at that. Frey ran on a platform of more affordable housing and to improve police-community relations, which was reflected in his 2020 budget. In no way could it be said that this politician is a stumbling block to putting in place the policies and reforms that seem to always be the solution. One cannot imagine a scenario where an all Democrat Legislative body and a Democrat Executive would not be able to reshape the law and city’s policies such that they could create the environment they seem so eager to achieve.

The local government in Minneapolis is clearly not a denizen of right-wing conservatism. It is filled to the brim with Left Wing politicians who seem to run on changing the current state of affairs and after years of being in charge, with no opposition, they never seem to achieve their left-wing utopian vision. No one can say while looking at this particular local government’s makeup that it is “Republican’s fault,” “Conservatism’s failure,” or, “institutional racism found in government.” You have a melting pot of people representing their citizens in a great American city. The only lack of diversity you see in their local government is, lack of diversity of idea.

Right now, Minneapolis needs to find peace in this storm. The citizens anger needs to be acknowledged and their violent outrage must be quenched. When the smoke clears however, one has to look at leadership and ask, “What have you done to make this better?” Only a fair review of the political makeup of this locality can yield the conclusion that the policies sold to citizens from the Left do not in fact change their lives. Maybe, just maybe, it is time to consider that the Right, may in fact be right for those who are down and out. For now, this city and many other major metropolitan cities live behind the Blue Wall of Democrat dominant government.