Fixing the Congressional Black Caucus
We lead off this edition of No Fools Allowed with an e-Mail message
from Marcellus Andrews, Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation.
“How to Fix the Fractured Black Caucus” by Glen Ford and Peter
Gamble (April
29, 5005) has it just right: sectors of the Congressional Black
Caucus have drifted away from the progressive concerns of their
black voting base because they have been lured by big corporate
money and a lack of credible political competition n the black
community. Ford and Gamble’s call for a progressive black political
action committees is also just right, though they might want to
think a bit more creatively about funding such a venture. It would
be wonderful if white progressives were to lend a hand by helping
a black progressive PACs get off the ground, but the economic arithmetic
of contemporary black America holds out some promise for truly
independent organizations financed by blacks alone.
How? Consider the arithmetic: if a million black people across
America sent $5 a month to black PACs, that comes to $60 million
each year. Five dollars per month, or $60 per year, per person
is about the cost of a pair of sneakers, or dinner for two at a
fancy restaurant, with one glass of wine each, or the cost of two
mid-priced tickets to a pro-basketball game. So, progressive black
politics could be energized if a city of adults the size of Detroit
spent $60 a year. That’s power on the cheap.
A grass roots fund raising effort of this magnitude would take
time to organize, but once created, would be a powerful force in
support of progressive politics. Black America could run its own
money primary – where candidates campaign for the support of black
PACs, which would in turn have to pay close attention to the views
of their small contributors lest they lose an important part of
their funding base. Black candidates who proved too friendly to
the opponents of working people would suddenly feel two kinds of
political heat: a drop off in financial support and the emergence
of well-funded, black opponents vetted by organizations loyal to
black interests. In time, black America could regain control of
its own politics by wielding the power of the purse as well as
the ballot in the political arena, thereby reducing the attractiveness
of the corporate siren song that lures black elected officials
away from their voter base.
In the end, black America must understand that the CBC is drifting
because its black voter base is seen as trapped, giving self-interested
politicians the leeway to cut deals that sacrifice the interests
of their constituents. Frankly, it is time for black America to
buy as well as vote for its own political voice in the Capitol,
or gradually have its voice silenced by the deep pockets of the
corporate state.
J. Hutton writes to say it’s time to take out the long knives
to change the CBC.
Thank you for the excellent article on the Fractured
Black Caucus. I agree it needs medical attention; radical surgery.
The Caucus needs to be purged. Here is how it is done.
Form a Black Political Hit Team; call it a
Black PAC if you wish. It shall be a standing, amorphous, shadowy
organization. It shall be the function of said team to assault
the traitorous reprobates as eagerly as they are courted by the
political right wing. The minimum assault package should be first,
to strip them of their cover of Blackness, expose the 'thirty
pieces of silver', brand them publicly, then finally to drive
them into the camp of their paymasters and make them remain there;
make them die there; make them be buried there. Let the
slaves be on the hands of their masters.
Beware of Barack Obama; he is a chameleon. Underneath
his charming exterior is another Corey Booker.
Sounds like brother Hutton is proposing something like a combination
of a Black PAC, a think tank and the mongoose squad (mongoose
kill snakes).
The chart we published showing the 15 members of the
CBC who voted with republicans got under the very old white skin of
Marjorie B. Colson in Madison, Wisconsin.
When I read that Sheila Jackson-Lee of TX had voted to cut the
estate tax I thought the world must have just turned upside down. It
isn't that many months ago that I made up my mind that the only leaders
worth
a dime on the U. S. political scene were African American, specifically,
members of the Black Caucus.
I am a very white very old woman who has been hunting for a leader
for a long time. I voted for Ralph Nader for President, for I admire
him, and I believe he has provided valuable leadership throughout his
adult life. But Ralph is getting old, and he is a Party of One. The
Black Caucus, on the other hand, seemed to me to represent everything
I am looking for in Progressive leadership. Until now.
I wish you the best, and I am with you in your demand that African
American leadership consider the wishes and needs of their constituencies. I
believe their constituencies stretch beyond the black community,
to many of us who abhor the behavior of most political leaders. You
are doing the whole nation a favor with your writings and arguments. We
need you and we desperately need honest representatives in government
we can admire and trust.
Musician Keith Benson wrote from Philadelphia to tell us we are
doing a great job in the "solutions" department.
I read your BC magazine, religiously. I think
it is excellent and insightful. I am extremely pleased with you article
posing a solution for the sellout CBC members.
I believe your magazine would really stand out from the rest
if that becomes the majority of your reporting. In other words
- keep reporting SOLUTIONS, in every publication. Become synonymous
with solutions.
I'll help - if need be.
How well we all know the problems.
Everyone reports them. It is the solutions we need.
An Offensive "Pet Negro"?
A BC reader by the name of Tirandaz says
Mark P. Fancher's query ("Is Condi Rice President Bush’s Pet
Negro?", April 21 2005) regarding Dr. Condoleeza Rice is timely.
…However, we need not agonize over the good Doctor. The fact
is, Dr. Rice serves a higher purpose, did she but know it.
So, too, does Gen. Colin Powell. They both allow us Black folk
to understand the type of Africans who participated in rounding
us up, marching us to the slave markets and imprisoning us until
time to be sold.
We now have, thanks to them, the opportunity
to understand the Negro slaves who betrayed many a slave rebellion.
I frankly confess that until I saw these two on the world stage,
I couldn't imagine such a person. Only a person totally devoid
of self esteem could perform as these two have performed, and have
no doubt about it they are performers.
Bolton, to his credit, understood this and felt free to keep
both Powell & Rice in the dark regarding certain facts relating
to their respective jobs. Performers need only recite their lines
and follow the promptings of the director.
Apparently, only Rice and Powell take themselves
seriously. To the white folk around Bush they are simply Uncle
Tom & Aunt Jemima.
That is what they should be to we Black folk.
Rao V Nagisetty believes the problem with Condi is due to the
difficulty of dealing with celebrities.
Once they are a celebrity and they belong to your race, knocking
them even for legitimate reasons shows a certain quality of "foolishness".
It is similar to patriotism, my country, right or wrong.
The credentials of Dr. Rice are impressive but her qualifications
to do the job are minimal. She does not have the attitude necessary
to come to her own judgment. As Fancher says, she is always
waiting for her Master's Voice. That was her career so far.
As far as Dr. Mugabe goes, it is not clear he gets a fair press.
If you can defend Farakhan, I do sympathize with Dr. F, it
should not be difficult to treat Mugabe fairly. That this world
is screwed by the white man, you don't have to be a genius
to see, just look on this world in Africa, Middle East, Far
East , Indonesia, Taiwan etc. So some of us, like judge Thomas
and Dr. Rice sold out and there is no reason to protect them
from our criticism.
I will go so far as to say that these specimens are third
rate, belong in the garbage bin. A race that produced a Marin
Luther King, a Nelson Mandela, a Paul Robeson should not have
to scramble to cherish every celebrated black. Celebrities
are dime a dozen but those that inspire and enliven the human
race for ages are but a few. I say Dr. Rice is unfit for her
current job.
I will not trust her with anything that requires
fairness and nobility.
The publishers agree with you, if you mean
that Rice is culpable for every crime in which she has assisted.
Debra Robinson was offended by Fancher's Think Piece.
Let's call a spade a spade, shall we? The
characterization of Dr. Rice as Bush's "pet Negro" is
offensive, demeaning, misleading and misogynist. Dr. Rice has
played the role of political advisor, analyst, and coach to two
generations of the Bush dynasty. The policies she pursues – in
the name of her boss - are more than likely of her own creation.
Do not imagine that "W" is the mastermind and Rice
is, to use retro-terminology, a running dog lackey. Furthermore,
it would be foolish to downplay her role in masterminding many
of the policies she initiates, whether or not she takes direct
credit for those policies.
While I am no fan of the Bush administration, Dr. Rice included,
I do feel that she should be recognized for the powerful, intelligent,
intense and strong black woman that she is. Any woman who has
an admitted ambition to be NFL Commissioner is definitely a
force to be reckoned with, in “her” own right, and is no one’s
pet dog, or Negro.
Are the brown shirts around the corner?
In her Freedom Rider column on April
21, 2005, Margaret Kimbereley
posed the question: "Fascism: Are We There Yet?".
Gwen Barbour wrote to say she fears we are very close.
Margaret Kmberly's article dovetails with another
that I read recently entitled Facism Anyone? We Americans better
wake up and smell the coffee because we are as close to fascism right
now as we have ever been at any time recently including the McCarthy
era. All this talk of covert surveillance of citizens, RFID chips,
passports to re-enter the country and soon apartheid like ID cards
should make us all ask the big question: While the watchers are
watching us, who's watching the watchers? The lack of integrity,
absence of character and self serving seen in far too many of those
who are "in charge" leaves me deeply troubled for our country.
I recommend the article - Facism Anyone to all who want to take
a serious look at what is happening right now. It can be found
in Free Inquiry Magazine vol.23 Number 2. It outlines 14 common
indicators of a facist regime some of which include:
1) Powerful
and continuing expressions of nationalism;
2) Identification
of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause;
3) A
disproportionate share of national resources dedicated to the military;
4) A
controlled mass media (we're getting there);
5) Religion
and ruling elite tied together;
6) Power
of corporations protected;
7) Power
of labor suppressed or eliminated;
8) Obsession
with crime and punishment;
9) Fraudulent
elections.
Knowledge is power!! Thanks BC for giving a forum to writers
like Margaret Kimberly who always put it out there for us.
Annette
M Klapstein tells us she is preparing to leave the country.
I completely agree with your article, especially the part pointing
out that at some point it will be too late to jump off the runaway
train.
My husband and I are jumping off this summer, and I have made
sure that my two draft-age sons have up-to-date passports so
they can get out of the U.S. quickly when they reinstitute the
draft or at any other time they feel the need to.
I threatened to move to Canada when Reagan was elected, but
I stayed and continued to fight the good fight to the best of
my ability. But this time, I no longer have any hope for this
country. It does indeed seem to me that we're about three-quarters
of the way down the road to full-blown fascism, and I see no
possibility of turning this train around.
Half (or more) of the people in this country seem to be brainwashed
sleepwalkers with no idea of the disaster awaiting them on the
immediate horizon. I will never stop being politically active,
and doing everything in my power to end American imperialism,
but for now at least, I will be doing it from elsewhere.
Thanks for all your good work.
Radio BC You can visit the Radio
BC page to listen to any of our audio commentaries
voiced by BC
Co-Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Glen Ford. We now publish the
text of the radio commentary each week on the Radio
BC
page.
We thank each of you very much for your readership. Please keep
writing.
BC gratefully
acknowledges the following Websites for sending visitors our way
(listing is in no particular order):
http://membersf.blackplanet.com
http://www.democraticunderground.com http://www.informationclearinghouse.info
http://www.bartcop.com
http://www.commondreams.org
http://buzzflash.com
http://www.cursor.org
http://www.liberaloasis.com
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