DarkStar Spouts Off

Black Enterprise: 10 Black Republicans You Should Know, But Don't

[ Update ]

Black Enterprise: 10 Black Republicans You Should Know, But Don't

I don't know the qualifications for this, but it was interesting. A lot of this is insider stuff.

Jackie Robinson Was A Rockefeller Republican

Did you know Jackie Robinson was a Republican?

Did you know Jackie Robinson backed Rockefeller when Rockefeller was running against Goldwater?

Did you know Jackie Robinson had to deal with the racist Goldwater supporters?

If a Republican mentions Jackie Robinson was a Republican, complete the story for them. End it with, "That's right, Jackie Robinson was a Rockefeller Republican!"

See the head spin.

J.C. Watts and the Conservative Black Forum

This can be subtitled Why I Left the Republican Party.

Set aside 30 minutes and listen to the segments I'm going to highlight at the conservative Black forum that took place on January 23, 2012.

Go into the forum at 00:25:00 and listen to J.C. Watts speak. After you stop listening to that segment, wherever that will be, jump to 1:16:00 and listen to J.C. Watts speak again. Also, please note the comments by Starr Parker. From my listening, I think Watts and Parker are doing ideological battle with Watts placing part of the responsibility on the Republican Party while Parker wants to deflect that responsibility to liberals.

Kudos to J.C. Watts.

Tweet Stream

Change of Registration

Going back to "non-aligned." I can't take the sanctioned and cheered insults to Blacks. If I don't take it from Democrats, why take it from Republicans?

Republican official praying for the death of the President vs praying for a change of his mind?

Enough!

Rush Limbaugh Praised Jackie Robinson on Politics, But Did He Know The Full Story?

I was looking to see what Rush Limbaugh had to say about the Herman Cain mess. On Limbaugh's website was posted a transcript of what he had to say. I read it and saw this:

Anything goes, as far as they're concerned, and they cannot allow a black or an Hispanic to rise to the top of a political establishment that is not Democrat.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: You think I'm wrong about this? Jackie Robinson in the 1960s was denounced. Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, was denounced as an "Uncle Tom" because he supported Republicans in the 1960s. Jackie Robinson. The left, the Democrat Party of the day called Jackie Robinson an Uncle Tom.

I remembered Jackie Robinson got slammed for backing Nixon, not Republicans in general. So, I did a search and came up with this, Jackie Robinson, Political Life After Baseball:

In 1964 Governor Rockeller asked me to become one of six deputy national directors of his campaign.  I had spent seven years at Chock Full O'Nuts.  I decided to resign from my job rather than ask for leave.  The knowledge I had acquired about the business world, I considered invaluable.  I had been criticized by some of my fellow officers in the company who genuinely felt I took the part of the employees to often, that I was too soft on them.  Even so I had been given generous raises and benefits, allowed to purchase a healthy bundle of stock, and been elected to the board.  I was becoming restless; I wanted to involve myself in politics as a means of helping black people and I wanted my own business enterprises.  I had been increasingly convinced of the need for blacks to become more integrated into the mainstream of the economy.  I was not thinking merely of job integration.  A statement Malcolm X made was more impressive.  Referring to some college students who were fighting to be served in Jim Crow restaurants, Malcolm said he wanted not only the cup of coffee but also the cup and saucer, the counter, the store and the land on which the restaurant stood.

I believed blacks ought to become producers, manufacturers, developers, and creators of businesses, providers of jobs.  For too long we had been spending much too much money on liquor while we owned too few liquor stores and were not even manufacturing it.  If you found a black man making shoes or candy or ice cream it was a rarity.  We talked about not having capital, but we needed to learn to take a chance, to be daring, to pool capital, to organize our buy power so that the millions we spent did not leave our communities to be stacked up in th downtown banks.  In addition to the economic security we could build with green power, we could use economic means to reinforce black power.  How much more effective our demands for a piece of the action would be if we were negotiating from the strength of our own self-reliance rather than stating our case in the role of a beggar or someone out for charity.  We live in a materialistic society in which money doesn't only talk - it screams.  I could not forget that some of the very ballplayers who swore the most fervently that they wouldn't play with me because I was black were the first to begin helping me, giving me tips and advice, as soon as they became aware that I could be helpful to them in winning the few thousand more dollars players receive as world champs.  The most prejudiced of the club owners were not as upset about the game being contaminated by black players as they were by fearing the integration would hurt them in the pocketbooks.  Once they found out that more - not fewer - customers, black and white, were coming through those turnstiles, their prejudices were suppressed.

When Governor Rockefeller invited me on board his campaign ship, I had no idea of any long-term relationship in politics.  I saw this as a sign that now was the time for me to enter into a new world of political involvement with a man I respected.  At the same time I could be free to pursue some business endeavors that had been proposed to me.  I had been approached about becoming a key organizer in a projected, new insurance company, an integrated firm that, I hoped, could be a force in correcting some of the unjust practices of some insurance firms that treat blacks unfairly.  At this time the group organizing a new bank in Harlem - Freedom National - had asked me to help put it together and to become chairman of the board, and there were other business ventures in which I felt I might be able to play a vital role.  When I submitted my resignation to Bill Black, he understood my aspirations.  He didn't want me to leave, and he was genuinely concerned as to whether I was making the wisest move.  He tried to persuade me to stay.  I appreciated his attitude, but my mind was made up.  I joined the Rockefeller headquarters.

One of the first things that became clear to me was that I had not been called on to be the black adviser to the campaign.  Often white politicians secure the services of a black man and slot him only for appearances and activities within the black community.  Sometimes they do this to avoid letting whites know that they are making a strong pitch for black support.  During the Rockefeller campaign I met with groups and made appearances before audiences which were sometimes predominately black, and other times mainly white.  On several occasions, when the governor came into town for a meeting with politicians or community people, I would accompany him.  At some of the larger meetings, I would be asked to introduce the governor.

I was not as sold on the Republican party as I was on the governor.  Every chance I got, while I was campaigning, I said plainly what I thought of the right-wing Republicans and the harm they were doing.  I felt the GOP was a minority party in term of numbers of registered voters and could not win unless they updated their social philosophy and sponsored candidates and principles to attract the young, the black, and the independent voter.  I said this often from public, and frequently Republican, platforms.  By and large Republicans had ignored blacks and sometimes handpicked a few servile leaders in the black community to be their token "niggers".  How would I sound trying to go all out to sell Republicans to black people?  They're not buying.  They know better.

I admit freely that I think, live, and breathe black first and foremost.  That is one of the reasons I was so committed to the governor and so opposed to Senator Barry Goldwater.  Early in 1964 I wrote a Speaking Out piece for The Saturday Evening Post.  A Barry Goldwater victory would insure that the GOP would be completely the white man's party.  What happened at San Francisco when Senator Goldwater became the Republican standard-bearer confirmed my prediction.

I wasn’t altogether caught of guard by the victory of the reactionary forces in the Republican party, but I was appalled by the tactics they used to stifle their liberal opposition.  I was a special delegate to the convention through an arrangement made by the Rockefeller office. That convention was one of the most unforgettable and frightening experiences of my life. The hatred I saw was unique to me because it was hatred directed against a white man.  It embodied a revulsion for all he stood for, including his enlightened attitude toward black people.

A new breed of Republicans had taken over the GOP.  As I watched this steamroller operation in San Francisco, I had a better understanding of how it must have felt to be a Jew in Hitler’s Germany.

Obama's Miffed, But I Think It's Because of Internal Polling, Not Criticism

Obama is upset that it is being reported that more Blacks are starting to criticize him and his administration because of the unemployment rate of Blacks and the state of the economy?

On BET, he said:

President Obama, slipping in the polls among black supporters and under fire from black Democratic leaders for policies they say fail to address black poverty and unemployment, said Monday that targeting programs to help one community "is not how America works."

...

Obama added, "The other thing I want to make sure you don't just kind of slip in there is this notion that African-American leaders of late have been critical. There have been a handful of African-Americans who have been critical. They were critical when I was running for president. There's always going to be somebody who is critical of the president of the United States."

First, he slammed "whining" by Blacks, most likely the CBC, and now he says this.

The recent polling data has shown Blacks increasing dissatisfaction with Obama. Some are dismissing the polls because there will still be strong support of Black voters for President Obama. I have a strong feeling that it isn't those numbers that is worrying the Obama re-election team. I think they have additional internal polling numbers showing Blacks are now less likely to vote. And I think members of the CBC are seeing the same internal polling numbers whether they are given to them by the DNC or they are doing their own polling.

 

Roland Martin Speaks With Shelia Johnson Newman About Jobs

On the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Roland Martin interviewed Shelia Johnson Newman to discuss what President Obama should say concerning boosting the economy. Here are the take aways, as I heard it:

1. Don't promote another stimulus package.
2. Lower taxes.
3. Taxing the wealthy cannot be the only solution.
4. Her business accountants are telling her they can't plan because of they are unsure of regulations that may come from the Obama administration.

This is Shelia Johnson Newman, the ex-wife of Bob Johnson, founder of BET. This is Shelia Johnson Newman, supporter of President Obama.

 

Black Dem Voters, I Say Unleash The Hounds

This opinion piece sums up nicely how I think Black Democrats can hold the people they elect, accountable, and exactly how they don't. As a result, Democrats take the Black vote for granted and the CBC, themselves, are nothing but paper tigers at best.

When asked why the Black members of Congress don’t pressure the president she replied, “We don’t put pressure on the president because ya’ll love the president. You love the president. You’re very proud to have a black man — first time in the history of the United States of America. If we go after the president too hard, you’re going after us.”

I almost fell out of my chair.  While what she said is absolutely true, I was just shocked to actually hear a Black member of congress say it publicly.

...

But that’s me and just framing your mouth to say anything negative about “the first Black president” around the wrong people could result in exerting the kind of energy I really don’t have to waste in arguing with people—who while they love their “first Black president” haven’t voted since 2008, won’t vote again until November 2012, and couldn’t tell me who their councilmember, Assemblymember, or State Senator is to save their life—but will fight to the death over “the first Black president.”

And no—I am not a Republican, but at the same time, I’m not and haven’t been feeling the Democrats either–who have a tendency to be just as racist as their counterparts—they just hide it better.

...

Now keep in mind that members of the Congressional Black Caucus are themselves member of Congress, i.e. politicians, who like any other politician are concerned with staying in office.  Waters herself knows that as long as Black people continue in this love affair with “the first Black president,” while she might want to say something against the president’s policies, it might not be in her best interest if he wants to get re-elected.

I say unleash the hounds. If the CBC members had stones, they would go for broke and then dare someone to challenge them. But, as I've written, the CBC doesn't know how to play politics.

If Black voters as a whole want to keep on voting for Democrats, then fine. At least vote people in who not only say they will look out for the interests but actually back it up and fight the Democratic masters when necessary.

Black Talk Radio Is Not Happy

Listening to Black talk radio this morning, it appears quite evident that many people are not happy with the "solution" to the funding bill. There are supporters who are calling the president weak and those who opposed him who are asking if Hillary Clinton would have caved.

The Black base of support has been complaining for about a year now, but the media are only now reporting it.

More Baltimore Politician STUPIDITY

I don't live in Baltimore and I suggest, strongly, that motivated and striving young people get out of Baltimore because that city saps your soul. Anyway, some FOOL politician wants to have a $1 per bullet tax as a way of reducing crime.

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/28595846/detail.html 

A mayoral candidate's plan to reduce violence in Baltimore includes a "bullet tax" that he said will increase the cost of committing a crime.

Otis Rolley said he would, if elected, propose a $1 per bullet tax on all bullet purchases in the city.

...

As for the bullet tax, Rolley said the measure would cause a decrease in "random firings that too often happen around holidays" and put a high price tag on the cost of committing a crime.

Does that fool think people are THAT stupid to think that it would help or that criminals won't go out of the city to get the bullets?

 

My Project 21 Experience and a Former Black Republican

Hat tip to Booker Rising for this one:

I was one of those rare species: a black Republican, the guy willing to spit into the wind of conventional thought, who was often showcased on camera at party events to prove inclusiveness.

But as a proud black man, I can no longer be a member of the Republican Party.

...

I have had the pleasure of serving as president of the Sacramento Republican Assembly, a term as a member of the California Republican Party executive committee, and most recently as treasurer of the Sacramento County Republican Party.

Last year alone, I donated more than 400 hours of my time to the Republican Party and made financial contributions to a number of Republican candidates.

As of late, however, when I look at myself in the mirror there is one question which perplexes me: Can I, in good conscience, remain affiliated with an organization whose message purveyors of racism and bigotry find attractive?

Generally speaking, Republicans are decent people, and naturally, many of my closest friends vote Republican. As with any large organization or group, there will always be people at the fringes who hold views that are not representative of the body.

An organization cannot control the behavior of each individual actor, but it can control its response to abhorrent conduct.

The latest incident in a string of tawdry, race-based actions was the promotion of a racist cartoon by elected Orange County Republican Party Central Committee member Marilyn Davenport. The cartoon depicted President Barack Obama and his parents as chimpanzees, while simultaneously implying that the president is not a legitimate American, but rather an African-born interloper.

What does that have to do with my Project 21 experience?

Here is the short version because I'm on a tech blitz to learn something and I'm taking a break.

Some time ago, I started asking questions of the then head of Project 21. After some back and forth, he invited me to be a member of an email list and I accepted. That list had a number of Black Republicans and Black conservatives on it. I lurked for a little be to get an understanding of what was going on before I chimed in. During that time, the FIRST Trent Lott association with the Council of Conservative Citizens came up. The list lit up with people saying they were tired of this kind of crap and the minority outreach group within the Republican party needed to make a public denouncement. Others said nothing needs to be said publicly but something should be done behind the scenes. Others said NOTHING AT ALL should happen and all should move on. That was the position of a person who was chair if the Republican minority outreach "effort" as well as some others.

At that time, I saw accusations of sellout being used and a non-response would be a justification of non-Republican Blacks calling Black Republicans Uncle Tom.  At that time, I was under the idea that all active party Black Republicans were on the same page and considered the charges of Uncle Tom as being unfair. However, some of THEM were calling others names and some of THEM were saying the larger Black community is some what justified in their views of the Republican party.

Since then my approach to public Black Republicans has changed and now that I am one -- at least for now anyway -- my arguments are more nuanced and come from an inside perspective.

The article the quote comes from is, really, nothing. The IN DEPTH thoughts of Ken Barnes are provided in this radio interview. I'm telling you, this interview is SERIOUS and, as I have maintained, once again PROVES the general idea of the Republican party not being hospitable to Blacks, cannot be dismissed. That's even with Ken Blackwell or Allen West or Herman Cain or the likes, taken into consideration.

Listen to the man talk about WORKING FROM THE INSIDE and his frustrations over what continued to happen.

NAACP Makes An Interesting Case For Punishing School Children

In an opinion article that appeared in The Washington Post, Ben Jealous makes an interesting defense of the NAACP for suing the NY school system:

There are two issues we are particularly concerned about.

First, the city has located charter schools under the same roofs as traditional public schools in a way that is unfair and unjust.

...

■ Students in the traditional public school must now eat lunch at 10 a.m. so that charter school students can enjoy lunch at noon.

■ The “regular school’s children” had library access for a little over four hours so that the “new charter school’s kids” could have access for almost seven.

■ “Traditional school students” were moved to a basement, where they were next to the boiler room, to make room for their charter school peers, and teachers of the regular students were forced to teach in the halls due to lack of space.

We are asking that the court require the city to follow state law and handle these shared space situations equitably.

Second, inequitable co-locations exacerbate the problem created by the city’s persistent failure to follow the law and engage parents before making major changes. New York state law requires the city to involve parents before announcing its intention to shut down a school or make way for a charter to share a school’s space.

In Maryland, charter schools, WHICH ARE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, are required to find their own spaces. If they use the space of the school, the school system had to have already closed a school at that location. If what Ben Jealous wrote is accurate, then they have a good reason to sue. If what Ben Jealous wrote is accurate, this is a good defense of their case. HOWEVER, if this is the case, why go in with the  teachers union? The NAACP's case stands on its own merit.

Unfortunately, Ben Jealous raises this question but doesn't address it.

 

What The Cornel West Mess Really Means

Cornel West is blasting President Obama on what he, West, believes is the president's inaction on "Black issues" as well as progressive/liberal issues. As a strong defender of President Obama, Al Sharpton, somewhat rightly, has defended the president by saying he, Obama, is the president of the United States and not just president of Black America.

That last point is something I heard many Black supporters say about Obama soon after he won election and that was something I expected to hear since then candidate Obama couldn't win with just the Black vote.

In 2010, I wrote that I thought the election of Obama as president meant the change within Black America politics was manifesting itself.

West's polemics are a clear indication of a "civil rights agitator/thinker" trying to get a non-civil rights based politician to "get in line." But what, I think, people are missing, is that some so-called "Black leaders" are now calling for accountability. What has been missed in this mess is, even Al Sharpton has criticized President Obama.

Vouchers, Pro and Con

I think the following paragraphs from a Washington Post article lays out the issues involved in the disagreement among Blacks who are against vouchers and who are for vouchers:

On one side are black elders who remember when school choice meant no choice at all because of state-mandated segregation. Many also remember how vouchers were given to white children to attend private academies during "Massive Resistance," when Virginia closed its public schools rather than desegregate as ordered under the Supreme Court's Brown v. The Board of Education decision. Opponents argue that school choice might re-segregate the schools, this time by class and ability.

But on the other side is a younger generation of single parents and working-class black families who are looking for any way out of the state's most troubled schools in places like Norfolk, Petersburg and its capital. Even if it's difficult to rescue all schoolchildren, an effort should be made to save some, they argue.

"This is the 21st century. Go look at the areas where the schoolchildren are trapped and look what the color of their skin is," said Alberta Wilson of Chesapeake, an African American who founded a scholarship organization to help children attend private schools.

And so the struggle has led to scenes like the one in Virginia's legislature last week when Jameera, 18, and 16 classmates - all African American and all neatly attired in navy blue school uniforms - spoke up for school choice, only to be shot down. Riding home on their church bus, they wept in frustration not only at having lost, but because Marsh had lectured them that their best hope lay in the public schools.

"... but because Marsh had lectured them that their best hope lay in the public schools."

How do you tell children this when they are refugees from those public schools and they know, first hand, that those public schools offer little hope?

"Black Leader" Foolishness

I heard about this madness this morning on WOLB:

The long awaited and highly anticipated meeting of Jewish and African American leaders took place last night, without any real black leaders in attendance other than a few select. The meeting organized by Cortly ‘C.D.’ Witherspoon – commonly referred to outside as Mr. Slitherspoon – was the most outrageous and ridiculous atrocity of mismanaged leadership I have ever witnessed in this town. Being a former resident of Park Heights for years, growing up down the street from this planned meeting on Belvedere and Park Heights Avenues, I saw the real leaders of the community I still represent to the fullest, standing outside in the cold, while lacking the proper invitation to this circus of a meeting.

Witnessing countless Jewish leaders enter the building adjacent to the Jewish Community Center located off of Park Heights Avenue, there were little to no real African American leadership present. Banning all media outlets from attendance, only allowing for a brief photo shoot of the attendees in the beginning of the meeting, they [participants] acted as if this was some sort of Fraternity of Masonic Order with secret codes and hidden messages, as no participant spoke as the media were attempting to get the very limited coverage we were allowed. Being disrespected and spoken to as if we were second-class citizens by organizers, the fourth estate that these so-called leaders call on timelessly to get their message out to the mainstream had no hesitation in treating this group of cold and tired hard working men and women as if we were a pestering bunch of parasites.

Here is the situation.

About 2 weeks ago a Black teenager was walking in a predominately Jewish neighborhood. This neighborhood has a watch group. Evidently, 3 men in the watch group saw the teenager, approached him, said he didn't belong there, and roughed the teenager up. The teenager suffered a broken wrist. One of the three men was charged with felony assault. That man happens to be part of the Israeli army.

The story from the man's lawyer charged with the assault has changed a number of times, but a Rabbi close to the situation has said the teenager has a juvenile record. So, many including me, wonder how the Rabbi got that information because only the police should know and the police aren't supposed to give out that information. Also, it was said the teenager was on people's property looking into their homes. Given that neighborhood, I think that's suspect because there would have been telephone calls to the police about that happening.

Some so-called "Black leaders" want the group disbanded. Frankly, more neighborhoods need neighborhood watch groups. This neighborhood actually has two; one run by Jewish people the other a more diverse group of neighborhood people. At this point I need to mention this neighborhood is somewhat mixed; Jewish and Black. I guess another point to be made is the watch group is in close contact with the police. However, from my understanding of how such groups operate, they are instructed to NEVER approach individuals who they think are acting in a criminal behavior. They are to use the communications equipment given to them by the police or use their cell telephones to call it in.

Some Blacks are saying the situation needs to be investigated, and it does. Some Jewish people are saying the coverage is unfair because there is no such coverage or "outrage" when a Jewish person gets assaulted by Black criminals. They have a point but to be complete, there needs to be mentioned the Black criminals attacking Black people as well.

What happened with the "meeting" is a big mess. On WOLB this morning, people directly involved in the meeting, including some people mentioned in the article, called into The Larry Young Morning Show and stated what happened. A respected pastor of a church in that area said, essentially, one group of Black people called a meeting to discuss what happened, relations between Blacks and Jewish people in the area, and a way forward. Another group of Black people then became involved and wanted to discuss other matters that the first may have considered secondary and, thus, the ensuing madness. However, elected officials FROM THAT DISTRICT were excluded from the first meeting. And that, to me, seems strange.

From what I can see, this is yet another data point to show so-called Black leaders really don't lead and should be considered leaders of their own small group but not the greater population as a whole. In Baltimore, so-called Black leaders are paid off to a great extent.

There is not justice in this anywhere to be found.

White Democrats Putting Black Democrats In "Their Place"

Once again Black Democrats in Congress demonstrate exactly how much power the Black Democrats SHOULD have and how they, the Black Democrats, squander it and continue to submit to their white Democrat masters. Yes, that's harsh, but what else can be said for this (H/T Booker Rising):

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi averted a potentially divisive leadership fight between two of her top lieutenants as Democrats prepared for minority status next year.

Under an arrangement reached late yesterday, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the current majority leader, would get the No. 2 job of minority whip come January. Jim Clyburn, now majority whip, would hold the third-ranking position in the newly created post of assistant leader.

“Should I receive the privilege of serving as House Democratic leader, I will be very honored to nominate our outstanding colleague, Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, to serve in the number three House Democratic position,” Pelosi, 70, said in an e-mailed note today to fellow Democrats. Clyburn’s “strategic leadership as whip was crucial to our passage of historic legislation on jobs, health care, veterans and Wall Street reform on behalf of the American people,” she said

I think Clyburn should have stood firm and fought it out with Rep. Hoyer. Why be appeased with a created just for you to keep the Blacks happy position? This is about politics and power and Black Democrats should CONTROL things, but instead, they refuse to step up and stand firm. Again, a bunch of punks. They took a bone when they should be eating steak.

 And then, you have a Carter-ite and a Clinton-ian write an op-ed piece that says Obama:

To that end, we believe Obama should announce immediately that he will not be a candidate for reelection in 2012.

...

It is no secret that we have been openly critical of the president in recent days, but we make this proposal with the deepest sincerity and hope for him and for the country.

I don't recall anyone writing an op-ed piece that says the sitting President of the United States, who happens to be a member of the party the writer belongs, advise the sitting President to not run for the second term.

Again, I think these incidents should be data points that make Black Democrats reconsider their party affiliation or, at least, vote out the current weak kneed Black Democrats and vote in Black Democrats who are willing to stand up to the power structure.

WTH?!?!?!

Just unbelievable.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Former President Bill Clinton’s political bank shot appears to have hit its mark with many black Democrats who were lined up at the polls here Friday.

They were not voting for the Democratic congressman and neighbor they had long supported — Representative Kendrick B. Meek — but rather for Gov. Charlie Crist, a former Republican who is running for the Senate as an independent.

Many of them, like Kevin Roberson, a postal worker from Miami, said they admired Mr. Meek. But when they heard that the former president had talked to Mr. Meek about dropping out to keep the Republican, Marco Rubio, from winning, they said it was time to be practical.

“A vote for Meek is a wasted vote,” Mr. Roberson said as he waited to cast his ballot.

Others agreed. “I would like for him to win, but you know what? He’s behind,” said Betty Chambers, a hospital secretary. “And if Rubio wins, we’re in trouble.”

Wow.

Unbelievable.

Kinda sorta.

Giving Props Where Props Are Due

This was a GREAT move by this organization.

WASHINGTON — In the latest twist involving Rep. Sanford Bishop, Jr., D-Albany, and the questionable awarding of Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarships to relatives or people associated with his wife, Vivian, a Black conservative organization has jumped into the mix.

Timothy F. Johnson, Chairman and Founder of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, yesterday announced that the foundation would offer a $5,000 scholarship to any student who applied for a CBCF scholarship through Bishop, and was denied. The FDF said an unnamed supporter has committed the funds to help a student in need.

Bishop's office has acknowledged awarding scholarship money to relatives and those with connections to staffers in his office. He has since repaid the CBCF $6,350 and the foundation has amended its rules to prohibit the practice.

"Congressman Bishop should be ashamed at himself for funneling scholarship money to relatives and friends, instead of those students in his district who need them most," Johnson said. "And in order for the Frederick Douglass Foundation to truly put our money where our mouths are, we're offering a $5,000 scholarship for any student who comes forward from Congressman Bishop's district and can prove they were denied a CBC scholarship."

The Frederick Douglass Foundation is a Black, conservative faith-based organization, which, according to its web site, focuses on "public policy and educational organization which brings the sanctity of free market and limited government ideas to bear on the hardest problems facing our nation.

"We are a collection of pro-active individuals committed to developing innovative and new approaches to today's problems with the assistance of elected officials, scholars from universities and colleges and community activists."

The Herald is currently awaiting a response from Bishop's office to the FDF offer and will update this report when it becomes available.

Again, this was a great move by the Frederick Douglass Foundation!

H/T Booker Rising

To Those Who Race Bait Over Fenty's Loss

To those who are race baiting over Fenty's loss, here is something for you:

• Fenty and his opponent are both Black.
• Fenty appointed Rhee, but he also appointed a woman as police chief and she is white. If Fenty's loss was due to Rhee not being Black, why doesn't the same apply towards the MPD police chief?
• If Black voters in D.C. didn't want transformation, or don't like transformation, then how is it that Anthony Williams won the D.C. mayoral election two times?
• If the D.C. election were just about Rhee firing teachers who are primarily Black and thus taking food out of the mouths of middle class Black voters in D.C., why is it those same voters support the D.C. charter school movement?

Think about it; or not.

Let The Deaf, Hear

I think many conservative ideas are good ideas. So why do I "spend so much time attacking conservatives"? The answer is simple: your behavior and methodology stinks. Here's a simple anecdote.

When my daughter was at Howard University, she attended a political "discussion." A Black male student, who is Republican, when it was his turn to speak, started off by saying Blacks are on the plantation, and stupid for being Democrats and so forth. His delivery turned off my daughter and most of the audience, who turned negative at the start. Days later, this young man used the negative attitude towards him to buttress the idea that Blacks don't like Black Republicans. But he refused to look at his own negative behavior even though in response to him, someone pointed out how he, according to my daughter, "Showed his ass."

But what do I know?

Off to spend time with the family.

Black Con vs Black Lib: Stupid Reasoning 1

One of the arguments made by Black and non-Black conservatives/Republicans against Black liberals/Democrats is something like the following: major cities have been run by Democrats for the past N  years and they are a mess. Doesn't that prove Democrat failure?

My two part response is, no and that the question, itself, displays faulty reasoning.

To the former, I state no because the question gives no room for consideration of Black middle class and strong working class migration out of the cities.

My mother's peers are, for the most part, in the city. However, their children, including me, who are middle class and strong working class, have, for the most part, moved to counties where the perception is a better quality of life. Those who are still in the city, move to the more stable and functioning sections of the city. They are not a part of the problem.

This migration of the Black middle class and strong working class out of the cities have left those who are less functional and has caused a concentration of those who are less functional in the cities. Changing the world view and the actions of those who are less functional is not a matter of politics. The scourge of conservatives and Republicans, the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Sr, Al Sharpton, et al, have never supported, for example, "Stop Snitching" and I know they have blasted that concept. 

A good example of the results of this migration, besides unemployment and crime, is education. Many Black people left Baltimore City and moved to Baltimore County. If you look at the Maryland Report Card website and select white and Black subgroups for Baltimore County, you will see the white graduation rate is 84%. The Black graduation rate is 83%. For Baltimore City, the Black graduation rate listed is 66%. For the record, a lot of Blacks have also moved to Howard County, specifically Columbia. In Howard county the white graduation rate is 95% and the Black graduation rate is 90%.

At this point I mention that Baltimore City is controlled by Democrats as is Baltimore County. And that points directly to my statement that the question, itself, is faulty reasoning.

Email Exchange: I Got Your Plantation Right Here!

From an email exchange, today:

I'm Black and I'm a Republican. What I hate is Black Republicans and Black conservatives, alike, LIE about the progress that Blacks have made.

Did you know that for the past few years, Blacks have been leading, proportionally, in creating small businesses?

When listening to public Black Republicans and public Black conservatives, people would never know that 20-25% of Blacks are on welfare vs. MOST which people like [ public Black conservatives/Black Republicans ] would have you believe.

A serious side note: the same public Black conservatives/Black Republicans say that Al Sharpton is a race hustler and leader of most Blacks. Yet, Sharpton won ONE mostly Black voting district [ in the Democrat Presidential primary race he ran ] and at "his rally" this past weekend, less than [ a couple of thousand ] people who showed up. And the NAACP membership has been dropping since the 1980s!

But pointing that out takes away from talking points.

But I didn't write anything new.

Some black conservatives question tea party's inclusiveness

The title of this post came from the title of this article.

I must say this is a good exercise in media representation or misrepresentation. I'm going to pull out selected quotes:

A year ago Brandon Brice was one of the primary speakers at the tax day "tea party" rally in New York. The 27-year-old African American, who calls himself a hip-hop Republican, felt at home with the fairly diverse crowd of protesters, shouting into the microphone: "We tell the federal government that it does not tell us what to do!"

Today, Brice says he is worried about the movement.

"It's strayed away from the message of wasteful spending and Washington not listening to its constituents, and it's become more of this rally of hate," he said. "The tea party leaders should apologize on behalf of the irresponsible comments that were made, but they should also stand very firm on where we stood and where they stood in 2009."

...

Yet Lenny McAllister, a Republican commentator and author, said he has seen racism within the tea party and has confronted it -- approaching people with racially derogatory signs of President Obama and asking them to take the signs down. Like Brice, he said leaders of the movement must not ignore the issue.

"I feel like the tea party movement is at its core a good thing for America. It is a group of citizens that have not been previously involved," McAllister said. "The people are speaking up and becoming more educated on the issues, but you have fringe elements that are defining this good thing with their negative, hateful behavior."

McAllister, who has spoken at several tea party gatherings, said the movement is more diverse than news clips show. "There is this perception that these are all old, white racists and that's not the case," he said.

...

Jean Howard-Hill, a moderate Republican who leads the National Republican African American Caucus, wrote that she is "not sure what's in the cup of tea."

"Any movement which cannot openly denounce racism, calling it out as wrong troubles me," she wrote. "To attack President Obama on his policy is one thing, but to do so on his race or some hysterical pretext of socialism is yet another."

I selected these quotes, and not those from Black conservatives on "the opposite side", because I think it's important to see Black conservatives who are making an oppositional stand to other Black conservatives which is somewhat in line with what the media is presenting as the "mainstream Black opinion". By this I mean, some Black conservatives seeming to agree with "mainstream" Black opinion.

And, at least for The Washington Post, since when have so many self proclaimed Black conservatives been mentioned in one article?

Presented Without Comment

Presented without comment:

If this is true, black leaders need to do more than carp at the president. We need to address the problem ourselves. A good first step is to hold congressional leaders accountable by putting into legislation the tenets of the "Covenant with Black America," a document (turned best-selling book) formed by Smiley and others during the Bush presidency. The "covenant" proposed a "black agenda" and pledged to hold the winner of the 2008 presidential campaign accountable to its principles. So why now do those same black leaders find it unconscionable for black people to question a black president or hold him accountable?