Nina Simone recorded a song called “Mr. Backlash Blues.” It describes the old rich white men who run the United States of America opposing the passage and implementation of the 1963 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Here in St. Louis, we have witnessed over the last four years the “Old Rich White Man’s Backlash” against four strong Black women elected to office by the people of the city.
The first was Kim Gardner, Circuit Attorney for Implementing Criminal Justice Reform, who declared that no one is above the law, including the governor of Missouri. The context was that the newly-elected governor of Missouri, Eric Greitens, faced charges of blackmailing his mistress. Greitens ran on a campaign of removing corruption from state government, but once elected he was the subject of his own criminal investigation.
Instead of facing the charges, Greitens decided to resign, and the big-time lawyers who financed his election campaign and control the legal establishment, as well as attorneys’ employment and judicial opportunities, vowed to destroy the duly elected Circuit Attorney, Ms. Gardner, for doing her job.
The first piece of legislation Greitens signed as governor was to make Missouri a “Right to Work” (for less) state. Missouri voters had defeated a similar anti-worker legislation attempt back in 1978.
Because of Greitens and the Republicans’ anti-worker actions, unions and working families of Missouri started a statewide initiative petition to repeal “Right to Work.” In a landslide result, 67% of voters in the state of Missouri chose to kill the law in August 2018.
As for Kim Gardner, she was forced out of office by those who control the judicial system in the state.
The mega Republican donors who forced Gardner out of office then spent $25 million to defeat Congresswoman Cori Bush.
Among her offenses in their eyes was the fact that she sat on the steps of the United States Capitol and forced the Republican Congress to continue a moratorium to stop the evictions of working families from their homes at the height of the pandemic, thus saving thousands of men, women, and children from becoming homeless in this country.
The U.S. Capitol, of course, is the same building Trump supporters attempted stormed on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to the United States Senate from certifying the results of the November 2020 elections. They were trying to do nothing less than overthrow the government and steal the election from the people of this country.
Congresswoman Bush, by contrast, stood up for democracy and also vehemently opposed U.S. military aid to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has been used to kill over 50,000 innocent men, women, and children in Gaza.
The third and fourth of the strong Black women who have been targeted for removal are former Mayor Tishaura Jones and former Comptroller Darlene Green. When in office, they refused to give away St. Louis citizens’ tax dollars to the rich under the guise of “development;” instead, they chose to use public money to improve city services for all residents of the city, not just the rich and powerful.
Jones and Green led the fight to raise the minimum wage for city workers to $15.00 an hour, stood up for women’s right to control their own bodies, provided cash assistance to the most vulnerable families during the pandemic, and took many more initiatives contributing to the quality of life for residents and visitors of this city.
For many years, working families in St. Louis have been under the control of the rich and powerful, who continue to use racism and sexism to divide us while enriching their own coffers.
One thing the shot callers at the top of St. Louis society believe is that the poor have too much, and the rich do not have enough. We now have two strong Black women who were political victims of this philosophy and who lost their re-election bids in April; this is a tremendous loss for the city and our region.
Those behind the scenes, with their money, power, and influence, sent out negative messaging through social media, TV, radio, and massive mailings. It has been said that some small business owners were told that if they were found to have contributed to Mayor Jones’ re-election campaign, they wouldn’t be able to do business with the Big Boys in St. Louis anymore.
Misinformation and miseducation of Blacks and whites alike had us hating on each other and on the four Black women working to eliminate the 200-year-old tool of “divide and conquer.”
Sometimes we are so focused on the little picture that we don’t see the big one. The real question and task before us now is to begin working together in preparation for the 2026 mid-term elections.
Now is the time. Don’t be fooled by “Don the Con” Trump and poli-tricksters. Those who finance his campaign are the same ones who bankrolled the electoral assaults against Gardner, Bush, Jones, and Green.
Let’s get busy working together, NOW. United we stand, divided we fall. Call me, and we can all get started now to win in 2026—here’s my number: 314 435 1752.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, this article represents the views of the author.
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