This is why the 2% of blacks who support Bush are confused

[ProSense]

article | posted February 8, 2006 (February 27, 2006 issue)

A New Black Power

Walter Mosley

This article is an excerpt from Walter Mosley's Life Out of Context, just published by Nation Books.

Most black Americans have been Democrats for at least the fifty-three years that I've been alive. What have the Democrats done for us in all that time? We have the lowest average income of any large racial group in the nation. We're incarcerated at an alarmingly high rate. We are still segregated and profiled, and have a very low representation at the top echelons of the Democratic Party. We are the stalwarts, the bulwark, the Old Faithful of the Democrats, and yet they have not made our issues a high priority in a very long time.

Why should we be second-class members in the most important political activities of our lives? Why shouldn't the party we belong to think that our problems are the most important in this land?

I'm not saying that we should become Republicans. The Republicans don't care about us either. But at least they don't pretend to be on our side. And you have to admit that, of late, the Bush Administration has put black faces into high-profile jobs that carry clout on the international playing field. I don't have to like Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice to appreciate that once a black person has been put into a position of power, the second time around is much, much easier.

We are a racial minority in a country where racism is a fact of life, a country that was founded on economic and imperialist racism. Taking this into account and adding it to the fact that our issues are regularly put on a back burner, I believe that it is not out of order to send out a call for the formation of an African-American interest group, or maybe a political unit, that would bring our issues, and others, to the forefront of American political discourse.

more...


http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060227/mosley

So fill the supreme court with Clarence Thomases. Power for who? Fuc ing idiot!



And another idiot:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2456587&mesg_id=2456587

[TheDebbieDee]

1. "The Republicans don't care about us either.........

But at least they don't pretend to be on our side."

So, we should align ourselves with a group of people that openly despise us? What do we look like? Log Cabin Repubs?

Mr. Mosley should put the blue dress back on that devil and stick to writing FICTION novels.

[Hippo_Tron]

2. The Democrats speak to these issues but rarely can solve them

There's a reason that Bill Clinton was incredibly popular with black voters, he spoke to their issues. Unfortunately speaking and doing are two totally different things and Clinton was unable to actually do a lot of what he wanted.

[MadMaddie]

5. You raise a very good point.....He was unable to do what he wanted

Because he faced opposition from the Republican party every time legislation was introduced!! I would say this guy has a short memory but you know what he is an idiot!!

Log Cabin Republicans, African American Republicans....I don't get it either!!

[MadMaddie]

3. Well that 2% is Colin Powell and Condi Rice....

I am African American,
Nonsense like this hurts black America more than anything else.

To elevate Condie, Clarence and Collin as the epitomy of who African Americans should consider our role models in achievement is bullshit. And Lynn Swann we wouldn't even know about him unless he had the football career he did. So I guess we should look at these guys as the House Servents and wish that we could achieve the same appointments to move up to plantation house,No Thanks!!

Clarence Thomas, Condi Rice and Collin Powell achieved their level of power through the Democrats pushing for equal rights. Clarence Thomas and Condi piss me off the most, they believe they received their roles out of pure achievement. Hmmm..

They still haven't learned the lesson that Collin Powell did...When it is convenient for * to play the race card they pull out their "house servents and say lookie here we got us some colored folks up in here".

When it is inconvenient to have an uppity, knowledgable colored person they back stab them and make them the scapegoat of their screwups-AKA Colin Powell.

<snip>
Taking this into account and adding it to the fact that our issues are regularly put on a back burner, I believe that it is not out of order to send out a call for the formation of an African-American interest group, or maybe a political unit, that would bring our issues, and others, to the forefront of American political discourse.
<snip>

If he is so concerned then he should set up the formation of an African American interest group or political Unit. There is the NAACP? Why not work within existing African American organizations and make them have the impact they did in the 60's?

Whew...:rant:

[Popol Vuh]

29. Hi MadMaddie..

:hi: I agree with you.

And in my opinion Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell & Clarence Thomas are nothing but modern day uncle Toms.

Advance this mp3 file to the 27:10 min mark and listen through to the 32:10 min mark. This is how I see Condi, Powell and Tomas.

Malcolm X

[KingFlorez]

4. He makes no sense

His logic is one big contradiction of the point he's trying to make. The Republican civil rights record is horrible and they have zero black members of Congress and barely any at other levels. With the Democrats we have several members in Congress and a better civil rights record, which equals more clout for African-Americans. And besides that, Republicans record on jobs, economics and education is horrible for all races, so that's reason enough to reject them.

[MadMaddie]

6. Thank-you!!

Republican Civil Rights? Is there such a thing?:sarcasm:

[ProSense]

7. Republican civil rights efforts amount to giving speeches on MLK day,

which they voted against when it was first introduced.

[Hope springs eternal]

8. Black America's worst ememy is...Black america

Sorry, but a "whitey" didn't cock the gun and make you shoot it. Fact is, as long as inner-city youth continute to not grow up and get some smarts, the same ol' shit will keep on happening.

[qanda]

11. Crime is not the only problem that black America is facing

Your post is very ignorant. Many black don't even live in the inner city. Perhaps you can explain your point a little better before I say something that I may regret.

[beaconess]

12. Yeah - let's just abort all the black babies so crime will go away and

we won't have to worry about that annoying race problem anymore.

Jeez.

[KingFlorez]

14. Just how is this relevant?

Not all black youths commit gun crime and I see this characterization you are using as very wrong.

[More Than A Feeling]

15. Dismissing racism adds little to the discussion.

[ismnotwasm]

16. Well, as once violent WHITE inner city youth

With a lot of the right ingredients to build a proper anti-social teenager---
I can tell you that color had nothing to do with my behavior.
Being white and female though, I got away with a lot more than if I had been male and black.

[Justpat]

9. This kind of thinking needs to be challenged with the facts.

Bush has put several Black Americans in high profile places.
But he has cut those without already high paying jobs and
good educations out of any avenue of escape.

This rich son of unearned privledge has demanded that minorities
pull themselves up by their bootstaps and then pushed policies that
cut the straps off their boots. His few Black cabinet officials
will never make up for what he has done to the rest of them.

[bread_and_roses]

10. I think this is an excellent article

The author neither calls on Black Americans to become Republicans nor does he hold up Condi/Powell as role models, as I read it.

He makes an arguement that supporting Democrats has not much improved the status/poverty rates/incarceration rates/living conditions/opportunities for vast numbers of Black Americans - an arguement that doesn't seem to me to be hard to substantiate.

Door to door in the Black community I am told again and again that it doesn't matter who's in office - they won't respond to the needs of the Black community. The candidates seek out the Black vote and are never seen or heard from again. Yes, sometimes people will in the end go out to vote because they know that the Republican will be worse. But we should know from voter turnouts that many have given up on the process alltogether.

Memory is fallible, and I can be sure people here will correct me if mine is in error, but I do not recall any great gains for Black Americans under Clinton. Did the incarceration rate drop dramatically? Was a more sane approach taken to the malevolent "war on drugs?" Did we have the Marshall Plan we need for our inner cities? Were inner-city schools given the money they need to fix the holes in the floor and give everyone current text-books? The poverty we saw in Katrina didn't just appear since 2000.

[ProSense]

18. I disagree, and the article also states:

And you have to admit that, of late, the Bush Administration has put black faces into high-profile jobs that carry clout on the international playing field.

The entire article rings false:

IT'S the hottest story to come out of Washington since Bill Clinton broke the 12-year Republican lock on the White House. For the first time in history, four African-Americans--Ron Brown, Mike Espy, Jesse Brown and Hazel O'Leary--will hold seats in the president's cabinet. That's the largest number of Black cabinet officials ever.

Just how significant are these appointments? Never before has a president appointed so many Blacks to the highest ranks of the executive branch. In fact, with the exception of Jimmy Carter, since Lyndon Johnson became the first president to appoint an African-American to his cabinet in 1966, the number of Black cabinet officials in any administration has never exceeded one. One.

But it isn't just the unparalleled increase in number that makes Clinton's selections so historic. Never before has a Black American headed any of these departments: not Commerce, not Agriculture, not Energy, not Veterans Affairs.

What's more, with the appointment of Clifton Wharton Jr. as the No. 2 man at the State Department, Black America has achieved yet another historic first.

In the White House, two Black women--Maggie Williams and Alexis Herman--hold two of the most powerful jobs in Washington. Williams is the first Black chief of staff to a first lady--a first lady who, insiders say, is the second most powerful person in the government--while Alexis Herman directs the White House Office of Public Liaison.


http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_n7_v48/ai_13698296

NBC News quantified the dramatic increase in minority cabinet and court appointments under Clinton in December 2000:

Where his predecessor, George (H.W.) Bush, could find only one qualified woman, one African-American and two Hispanics for his Cabinet, Clinton nominated three black men, a black woman and two Hispanic men to join nine white Cabinet nominees -- three of them women. George W. Bush's push for diversity in his own Cabinet this year (2000) can be seen as an affirmation of Clinton's work on that front. ... In (former President Ronald) Reagan and (George H.W.) Bush's 12 years in office, of the 545 federal judicial appointments, 65 were women, 22 Hispanic, two Asian American and 17 African American. In Clinton's eight years, of 366 federal judicial appointments, 104 were women, 23 Hispanic, five Asian American, one American Indian, and 61 African American.

Further, although George W. Bush has nominated minorities for some of the highest positions in government (such as former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, former national security adviser and current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales), a Newsday analysis of federal personnel records for September 2000 and September 2002 concluded that when political appointments that don't require Senate confirmation are counted, "(b)lacks held 7 percent of administration jobs under Bush, less than half of the 16 percent they held under Clinton," and blacks held only 6 percent of "senior executive posts" under Bush, compared to 13 percent under Clinton.

When co-host Alan Colmes mentioned that Clinton appointed an African-American as secretary of labor (Alexis Herman), Meyers refused to acknowledge that as a "real job," even though he included similar Cabinet-level positions such as secretary of transportation and secretary of commerce as examples of "real jobs" to which Bush has appointed minorities. When Colmes noted that Clinton also appointed an African-American as commerce secretary (Ron Brown), Meyers downplayed the appointment: "You've got one black."

Meyers, a former assistant director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has clashed with the organization on multiple occasions and called the group "a satellite of the Democratic Party" (The Washington Post, 3/3/02). He also is a former columnist for the New York Post


http://mediamatters.org/items/200506020005

These are/have been the African Americans in the Bush administration:

Secretary of State
Colin L. Powell

National Security Advisor
Dr. Condoleezza Rice

Secretary of Housing & Urban Development
Alphonso Jackson

Secretary of Education
Rod Paige

Deputy Secretary Health & Human Services
Claude Allen

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Kay Coles James

Administrator of General Services
Stephen A. Perry

President Bush Declines BET Invitation to Address African-American Voters in BET NIGHTLY NEWS Interview
BET CEO Johnson Appeals to Top African Americans in Bush White House

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- After more than a month of waiting, BET finally got an answer from President George W. Bush to a formal invitation to address African-American voters in his own primetime BET NIGHTLY NEWS interview on the network. The answer is no.

BET Founder and CEO Robert Johnson first issued invitations to both President Bush and Democratic Presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) on September 14. He asked each of them to appear on the network to discuss issues of relevance to BET viewers during this crucial stretch of the 2004 Presidential Election campaign. Senator Kerry accepted, and his half-hour interview was televised on October 7. But according to representatives of the White House, President Bush's current schedule will not allow time for him to appear on BET, and they asked that the network approach him again, "after the election."

In response to the Bush decline, Mr. Johnson has sent an open letter to top African Americans in the Bush Administration -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Education Rod Paige, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson; along with former Oklahoma Republican Congressman J. C. Watts, who is leading a grassroots group of African-American Republicans supporting the Bush reelection effort.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-19-2004/0002288226&EDATE=

Bush's low approval rating among African-Americans is based on the fact that African-Americans are worse off under this President," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. "Rhetoric is no substitute for action. Time and time again, Republicans have made empty promises about outreach while continuing to make decisions that have been disastrous for the African-American community. America can do better."

African-Americans' Household Incomes Have Declined by More than $2,000 Under Bush. Real median household income did not increase between 2003 and 2004 for African-Americans. African- American households had the lowest median income, at $30,134 - down by $2,273 since Bush took office. (U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table A-1)

Disproportionately High Number of African-Americans Live in Poverty. Nearly 25 percent of all African-Americans (9 million) lived in poverty in 2004, an increase of over 250,000 over the past two years. (U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table 3)

In 2004, the number of African-Americans without health insurance remained at about 7.4 million. This is an increase of almost 770,000 people since 2000. (U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table C-1 )

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=55028

[bobbieinok]

33. Kay Coles James U.S. Office of Personnel Management

she was a major administrator at Regents University, Pat Robertson's school

putting her in charge of personnel helped make sure religious wrong true believers would be hired

[Doctor_J]

20. If it weren't for Dems, blacks wouldn't even have the right to vote yet

so WTF is this guy talking about? LBJ gave away the South to the GOP by forcing the Voting Rights Act. Nixon locked in the South for the GOP by his racist "Southern Strategy". Trent Lott belongs to the White Citizens Council. Rhenquist made his GOP bones trying to keep blacks from voting in AZ. The Reoukes are STILL spending great time and energy trying to keep blacks from voting.

This is horseshit.

[bread_and_roses]

23. That Dems are far better than Rs is not the issue

The issue is that Dems count on the votes of Black Americans without being particularly responsive to the enduring problems of being Black in America.

The Voting Rights Act was forty years ago.

Bill Clinton's Welfare Reform, which has inflicted enormous hardship on America's poor - and the poverty rate among African-Americans is around 25% and has been for a long time - is still inflicting harm and hardship today.

The Democrats are as likely to be spouting "tough on crime" - and is it roughly something like 1/4 of Black men who will spend time incarcerated?

Where are the Dems calling for anti-poverty policies? Where are the Dems calling for the abandoned inner-cities to be a National priority, given that they are a National disgrace?

The author did not sing the praises of Rs, he did not say that Black Americans should look to Condi/Powell as role models: he called for some fundamental changes that would actually improve the lot of the majority of poor of any color/race/ethnicity. He called for a group who's interests are being under-represented to use a democratic mechanism to insist that Politicians be accountable to them.

What on earth is so illegitimate about that? It's what everyone else does.

[rucky]

13. I don't think you're getting the message. n/t

[NoFederales]

17. When children can see black faces, latino faces, asian faces, white faces,

etc. dispersed throughout the many social settings of our culture inclusion is evident. It would be wonderful if all people were superb and honorable at their jobs, but they are not. Ours is not a colorblind society and racism/bigotry is with us for many reasons. Ms Rice, Mr Gonzales, Mr Bush are not disagreeable because of their color, but because of their abilities.
If the US will ever be a successful pluralistic society, it will have to be colorblind.

NoFederales

[tritsofme]

19. I agree, but I don't think the problem for people like Rice or Gonzales

is ability, it is their radical ideology.

I'm sure they understand their job very well, and are qualified to carry out the duties of the office.

It is however their neoconservative agenda that makes them unacceptable.

[NoFederales]

22. Yes, Ideology is a much better word.........I should start sleeping with a

Thesaurus, maybe osmotic pressure, or leaching of some sort would aid me?

NoFederales

[Doctor_J]

21. WHy the The Nation publishing swill like this?

Shouldn't they have kicked this over to Regnery?

[ProSense]

24. Walter Mosley is an idiot! n/t

[Totally Committed]

25. Maybe he's just tired of waiting for promises to be kept?

I wrote this in another thread about this subject, but it needs to be here, too:

When I worked for the Civil Rights movement back in the late 60's, I remember the promises made to Blacks on behalf of this Party. For years I tried to tell myself that the only reason none had been kept was because of the Republicans. Then, Katrina happened, and the epiphany I should have had earlier came... The Democratic Party had not kept any of its promises to the Blacks, mionorities, women, and the poor. NONE. The only reason ANY of these entities still votes with us is because (as we have cynically lazy enough to believe) where else are they going to go?... who else would they vote for? We need to start keeping promises made long ago or we are at risk of losing the votes of Blacks, minorities, women, and the poor. AND WE WILL DESERVE TO LOSE THESE VOTES.

Incidentally, those posting here may not be aware of it, but this thread (the progression of posts in it) comes off particularly racist. "'They' wouldn't have the right to vote, but for the Democrats..." They? Again, WE would not have won the elections we have managed to win without them, because we made sure they could vote and then abandoned our responsibility to them, and don't you forget it! Please think of that before you see that as a "Them" vs. "Us" thing.

TC

[ProSense]

26. The Republican Party should never, never ever be used

to criticize Democrats for the plight of African Americans.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2463738&mesg_id=2463738


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2456587&mesg_id=2456587

[ieoeja]

27. Right! When are Democrats going to end segregation?

Didn't Democrats promise Affirmative Action programs? They had plenty of opportunity to pass Affirmative Action, but where is it?

:sarcasm:

[cindyw]

28. They used Powell for his credibility and his skin. Why do I say that?

They took this man, made him lie and spit him out. Where is he now? Where is his credibility now? Gone. That's where. They used him and ruined him and don't even care. What they did to him, they do to everyone. Black, brown, white.... They respect money, not people.

[NJCher]

30. why the vitriol?

I don't understand the negativity to Walter Mosley's ideas. The Democratic party isn't doing it for any of us and most people on this board admit it. Why, then, do you take exception when Walter Mosley says it isn't doing anything for African-Americans, either?

The people on this thread act like we should be immune to criticism. Taking criticism and using it makes institutions and organizations stronger.





Cher

[MadisonProgressive]

31. Mr. Mosely fell for the BIG LIE

If any one could possibly think the pubes are better than the dems, I just feel sorry for them.

[0007]

32. Ron Christie is so confused his eyes don't know where to focus

http://64.207.154.178/backend/speakers/310/Christie,%20Ron.jpg