Harold Ford, Jr., the Black Congressman
from Memphis, Tennessee, is a clear and present danger
to African American political cohesion. As such, he
represents a grave threat to progressive politics in
the United States, because fully half of Americans who
can reasonably be described as progressive, are Black.
African Americans are the bulwark of what's left of
the Left in America. That's why the corporate Right,
assisted mightily by the corporate media, has for the
past ten years been working furiously to subvert Black
Democrats. They have found a willing accomplice in Harold
Ford, who this month kicked his campaign for the U.S.
Senate into high gear. That makes Ford an extremely
high profile Black Democrat - although his positions
on key, "bright line" issues are at great
variance with Black voters, including his own constituents.
Harold Ford this month made his fourth
trip to Iraq, the country he and three other Black congressmen
voted to give George Bush powers to invade. On his return,
Ford wrote a letter to George Bush, a man he says he
loves "personally" and considers a "friend."
Ford virtually begged Bush to resist pressures to withdraw
any troops, any time soon. "Don't withdraw prematurely"
from Iraq, said Ford. He went on: "We've made great
progress there. General Eikenberry and the team are
doing a great job…."
Back in July of last year, Congressman
Ford was calling for more U.S. troops in Iraq.
Before he left for Iraq, Ford complained
that his opponents in the Tennessee Senate race will
try to call him "some kind of liberal" - a
word he uses with disdain. Well, that would be wrong,
because Ford is no liberal, much less a progressive.
And he is wholly unrepresentative of the broad Black
Political Consensus.
But so what, you may ask? He's just one
congressman. What's the big deal? The reason Harold
Ford is dangerous does not lie in his person, but in
the uses to which he is so willing to be put by forces
that are hostile to Black interests. They
desperately want to create the impression that Black
progressivism is passé, and that a new, more conservative
Black leadership is on the rise. They contribute lots
of money, and the corporate media donate free publicity
to make their wish a reality. Harold Ford may not be
that smart, but he is slick. Ford presents himself as
the Black star of that right-wing vision. He is a corporate
funded cancer on Black politics. There are about five
Black congresspersons who are just as politically corrupt
as Harold Ford. But, for the most part, they're not
holding themselves out as high profile role models.
We at The Black Commentator don't want Harold Ford in
the Senate under any circumstances. Black America cannot
afford to be misrepresented at such a level. For Radio
BC, I'm Glen Ford.