When Both Parties Count Politics As More Important Than People, Something Isn't Adding Up

By Nadra Enzi —— Bio and Archives October 9, 2022

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I've learned that, so long as they aren't being disrespectful, I can converse with partisans on the Left and Right sides of the political aisle. When helping crime victims, doing security assignments or appearing on other platforms, I've engaged liberals, conservatives, libertarians, moderates, Black nationalists and everything in-between and beyond. I use this graphic of both parties symbols behind bars because I see them imprisoned by rhetoric designed to crank out votes and donations not necessarily improve things in society, not even for party members who aren't within respective inner circles.

Neither party cares about our body count because they're too busy counting campaign contributions, political advertising dollars and votes to look up at carnage we face

My safety advocacy opposes Democratic enabling and Republican indifference to the crisis of murdered Black youth and brutalized women of all colors within mostly blue cities. This includes opposition to a Democratic mayor who refuses to "embrace" New Orleans title of "Murder Capital of America" and a local Republican Executive Committee pretending they live in a lily White suburb of the fictional town of Mayberry from the old Andy Griffith television series. Neither party cares about our body count because they're too busy counting campaign contributions, political advertising dollars and votes to look up at carnage we face. I keep repeating this message in different ways because when both parties count politics as more important than people, something isn't adding up. And what is adding up is less safety and economic stability for folks on both sides of the aisle. Misery, ultimately, is nonpartisan.