Talk about racism...

[Guest]

"If there’s anything close to a political certainty in 2012, it’s that Barack Obama will get more than 90 percent of the African-American vote"

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/62284.html

What is interesting is the turn of a phrase in this sentence...

"“You can spend a lot of time trying to win over white independents, but if you don’t pay attention to your base, African-Americans, if you have not locked up your base yet, you’ve got a serious problem,” said CNN contributor Roland Martin."

I was struck by the phrase calling HIS BASE to be African Americans ,,,also found it interesting that he WILL get the 90% no matter what....would appear that the vote will be based on something other than who is best.

"But that doesn’t mean every black Obama supporter will vote for him happily — nor does it guarantee that turnout will approach the stratospheric levels of 2008, even though Obama needs a huge showing from his base to offset the expected loss of swing voters in states like North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania."

[Guest]

It is really sad to me to see this kind of thinking.

"Some Obama defenders say that what they regard as his reluctance to tout his work on behalf of blacks reflects an essential, if unfortunate, reality of America’s not-so-very post-racial politics.

“ 'If the president were to start speaking directly to African-Americans about what he’s doing for them, what he has done for them as the first African-American president, that during a general election campaign … could have very adverse [effects],' Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed told MSNBC on Monday.

“ 'I believe that black people understand that. I think they understand it well. … And I’d also like to talk to my friends in my own community who are raising these issues to make the point that if you weaken President Obama in the black community, you seriously hamper his chances of being reelected. A small depression among the African-American electorate could be devastating to this president. And I’d also like folks on the other side of the conversation to tell me who the alternative is that’s going to do such a better job for black people. Will it be Michele Bachmann? I mean, will it be Mitt Romney? Rick Perry?' ”

I don't think that is what Martin Luther King, Jr's Dream was about. It was about not seeing the color of someone's skin and doing what is right for humankind.


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/62284_Page3.html#ixzz1WYSAxgBm

[Guest]

It is really sad to me to see this kind of thinking.

"Some Obama defenders say that what they regard as his reluctance to tout his work on behalf of blacks reflects an essential, if unfortunate, reality of America’s not-so-very post-racial politics.

“ 'If the president were to start speaking directly to African-Americans about what he’s doing for them, what he has done for them as the first African-American president, that during a general election campaign … could have very adverse [effects],' Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed told MSNBC on Monday.

“ 'I believe that black people understand that. I think they understand it well. … And I’d also like to talk to my friends in my own community who are raising these issues to make the point that if you weaken President Obama in the black community, you seriously hamper his chances of being reelected. A small depression among the African-American electorate could be devastating to this president. And I’d also like folks on the other side of the conversation to tell me who the alternative is that’s going to do such a better job for black people. Will it be Michele Bachmann? I mean, will it be Mitt Romney? Rick Perry?' ”

I don't think that is what Martin Luther King, Jr's Dream was about. It was about not seeing the color of someone's skin and doing what is right for humankind.


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/62284_Page3.html#ixzz1WYSAxgBm

It is sad. I dont think that MLK had a dream of political power at all. He would not be happy at this time with a Black Caucus in congress...he was for equality and he felt it worked both ways.

How do we ever get to that equal plane as long as this continues.

[Guest]

for you sudden MLK experts if he didn't believe in political power what was the reasoning behind massive black voter registrations , boycotting businesses that did not serve blacks and on and on. It was all political. He stressed peaceful means but to say he was not political is simply wrong.

[Guest]

for you sudden MLK experts if he didn't believe in political power what was the reasoning behind massive black voter registrations , boycotting businesses that did not serve blacks and on and on. It was all political. He stressed peaceful means but to say he was not political is simply wrong.

First of all, I am not a SUDDEN MLK expert......lived it closely !

Secondly, he did NOT want political power except to gain equal rights for all, and if you dont believe that then you cannot believe in what he stood for

There is no logical reason today for a Black Caucus

[Guest]

wrong on all counts.
he did want political power,not for himself but for blacks and the poor. He saw the power of the vote.He led thousands of voter registrations and not because he had nothing bett He also recognized economic power hence boycotts. As for the black caucus why not there is a caucus for every other group.

[Guest]

What if 96% of whites voted for McCain --just like 96% of blacks voted for Obama? Which race is really the racist? Nobody likes to say it but.....Just thinking, that's all.

[Guest]

wrong on all counts.
he did want political power,not for himself but for blacks and the poor. He saw the power of the vote.He led thousands of voter registrations and not because he had nothing bett He also recognized economic power hence boycotts. As for the black caucus why not there is a caucus for every other group.

I respect what you are saying but respectfully disagree on what MLK wanted in the long term.

Why no black caucus....because in my heart and mind, blacks should not be singled out as different. That distinction should be mute today. What the black caucus wants, should be the same as white americans. Congress makes the distinction, the difference remains.

Sorry..just how I feel

[Guest]

what MLK wanted and what he got were 2 different things. He became a very powerful political force courted by all Presidents and many others looking to be elected and used his power to promote his agenda.He bacame so powerful thay he was investigated by the FBI.
Now to the caucus issue.
Caucus-a group of members in the House of Reps that share some commonality either personal(Hispanic caucus)district(Rural caucus) or substantial interest(congressional progressive caucus) Michelle Bachman just started the Tea Party caucus. There are over 100 different caucuses in the House. You may not like the idea of the caucus but to single out and question why the black reps need a caucus seems unfair and rather shortsighted on your part.

[Guest]

b

[Guest]

what MLK wanted and what he got were 2 different things. He became a very powerful political force courted by all Presidents and many others looking to be elected and used his power to promote his agenda.He bacame so powerful thay he was investigated by the FBI.
Now to the caucus issue.
Caucus-a group of members in the House of Reps that share some commonality either personal(Hispanic caucus)district(Rural caucus) or substantial interest(congressional progressive caucus) Michelle Bachman just started the Tea Party caucus. There are over 100 different caucuses in the House. You may not like the idea of the caucus but to single out and question why the black reps need a caucus seems unfair and rather shortsighted on your part.

you surely are entitled to your opinion.

The black caucus was the subject because the subject of the thread was an article and comments on the black community and their feelings on the President and voting in 2012.

I am sorry for speaking to the thread...wont let it happen again.

[Guest]

If you are insinuating that I am not speaking to the thread wrong again. You brought up the black caucus not once,not twice but three times stating that King would not be happy with it,that there is no logical reason for a black caucus and that blacks should not be singled out. My post was in response to those statements trying to point out your mistakes. It sems you don't like the facts about caucuses so the snide remark about not speaking to the thread. MLK was a political animal and would support the black caucus if he thought it would spread his agenda easier. Logically,a black caucus makes great sense just by definition of the word and finally minorities have always been singled out in America from the first wave of the 1870's to the next giant wave in the 30's to today with illegal immigration. It is our history. I hope this clears up any misunderstandings

[Guest]

I am a current federal employee. We just got a memo yesterday requesting us to complete a survey that indicates our race. The memo went on to say the information we provide will be permanently attached to our official personnel file. The stated purpose is to assure diversity. A chill ran up my spine as I read the memo and realized what it was asking.

Several days ago I read somewhere that the president is directing the managers of all federal agencies to assure diversity. I put 2+2 together and realized that the directive and the memo are likely related.

Taken together I find these activities very troubling.

[Guest]

This is the Congressional Black Caucus' Mission Statement:

Since 1971, the Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (at times referred to herein as the “CBC” or “Caucus”) have joined together to strengthen their efforts to empower America’s neglected citizens – including but not limited to Americans of color – by more effectively addressing our legislative concerns. The Congressional Black Caucus is committed to utilizing the full Constitutional power, statutory authority, and financial resources of the Government of the United States of America to ensure, insofar as possible, that everyone in the United States has an opportunity to live out the American Dream.

The legislative agenda of universal empowerment that the Members of the Caucus shall collectively pursue shall include, but are not limited to: the creation of universal access to a world-class education from birth through post secondary level; the creation of universal access to quality, affordable health care and the elimination of racially based health disparities; the creation of universal access to modern technology, capital, and full, fairly compensated employment; the creation and or expansion of US foreign policy initiatives that will contribute to the survival, health, education, and general welfare of all peoples of the world in a manner consistent with universal human dignity, tolerance, and respect, and such other legislative action as a majority of the entire CBC membership from time to time may support.

Now with that in mind, consider the organization's no-white's policy. Remember House member Stephen I. Cohen from Tennessee who represented a 60 percent poverty stricken black district? Cohen said if he was elected he would become the "first white member" of the CBC. He was told by one of the CBC member William Lacy Clay, Missouri, whites need not apply.

"Mr. Cohen asked for admission, and got his answer...It's time to move on...It's an unwritten rule. It's understood. It's clear."

http://www.factcheck.org/2008/01/congressional-black-caucus-for-blacks-only/

More food for thought on this exclusive club who claims to want to live out the dreams of Martin Luther King and fight to ensure "that everyone in the United States has an opportunity to live out the American Dream."

"From 2004 to 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus’s political and charitable wings took in at least $55 million in corporate and union contributions, according to an analysis by The New York Times, an impressive amount even by the standards of a Washington awash in cash. Only $1 million of that went to the caucus’s political action committee; the rest poured into the largely unregulated nonprofit network. (Data for 2009 is not available.)

"The caucus says its nonprofit groups are intended to help disadvantaged African-Americans by providing scholarships and internships to students, researching policy and holding seminars on topics like healthy living.

"But the bulk of the money has been spent on elaborate conventions that have become a high point of the Washington social season, as well as the headquarters building, golf outings by members of Congress and an annual visit to a Mississippi casino resort.

"In 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation spent more on the caterer for its signature legislative dinner and conference — nearly $700,000 for an event one organizer called 'Hollywood on the Potomac' — than it gave out in scholarships, federal tax records show."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/us/politics/14cbc.html?pagewanted=all

Now, perhaps you personally knew or have received an education on Martin Luther King, Jr., waynet and you can school us all on what he stood for and what he acheived before his death. But I ask what do you think Martin Luther King, Jr., woud say about the recent scandals of the CBS members like NY's Charlie Rangal, California's Maxine Waters, Illinois Rep. Jessee Jackson Jr. California Rep. Laura Richardson, Florida's own Kendrick Meek and Eddie Johnson of Texas.

All under the flag of the exclusive Black's only Democrat Congressional Black Caucus who will keep another black and Democrat in office without any consideration for another candidate.

I think Shelby Steele Steele sums it up in a 2001 interview: "Martin Luther King was speaking to an America that had not yet fully acknowledged its wrong in slavery and segregation. And so it became a major theme in the civil rights movement to lead with our humanity, to lead with what we have in common, to deemphasize race because race is a barrier to our rights. After America admitted its wrong in the 1964 Civil Rights Bill, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and so forth, it gave blacks moral authority. And all of a sudden the very racial identity that we had deemphasized because it kept us behind the walls of segregation we now embraced because it brought us social programs, affirmative action, and advantages in American life that other groups did not have. That’s how I think it happened.

"We made a mistake when we based our claim on American society on our race rather than on our humanity. We reestablished race as a powerful force in American life, and since that time we’ve all been preoccupied with what we created, an identity politics, in which each group pursues its rights based on its race rather than on its citizenship as Americans. It wasn’t wrong for us to expect that after four centuries of repression there would be some assistance. But it was profoundly wrong of us to turn around and embrace race ourselves because we thought it would bring us certain advantages."

http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/6285

[Guest]

This is the Congressional Black Caucus' Mission Statement:

Since 1971, the Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (at times referred to herein as the “CBC” or “Caucus”) have joined together to strengthen their efforts to empower America’s neglected citizens – including but not limited to Americans of color – by more effectively addressing our legislative concerns. The Congressional Black Caucus is committed to utilizing the full Constitutional power, statutory authority, and financial resources of the Government of the United States of America to ensure, insofar as possible, that everyone in the United States has an opportunity to live out the American Dream.

The legislative agenda of universal empowerment that the Members of the Caucus shall collectively pursue shall include, but are not limited to: the creation of universal access to a world-class education from birth through post secondary level; the creation of universal access to quality, affordable health care and the elimination of racially based health disparities; the creation of universal access to modern technology, capital, and full, fairly compensated employment; the creation and or expansion of US foreign policy initiatives that will contribute to the survival, health, education, and general welfare of all peoples of the world in a manner consistent with universal human dignity, tolerance, and respect, and such other legislative action as a majority of the entire CBC membership from time to time may support.

Now with that in mind, consider the organization's no-white's policy. Remember House member Stephen I. Cohen from Tennessee who represented a 60 percent poverty stricken black district? Cohen said if he was elected he would become the "first white member" of the CBC. He was told by one of the CBC member William Lacy Clay, Missouri, whites need not apply.

"Mr. Cohen asked for admission, and got his answer...It's time to move on...It's an unwritten rule. It's understood. It's clear."

http://www.factcheck.org/2008/01/congressional-black-caucus-for-blacks-only/

More food for thought on this exclusive club who claims to want to live out the dreams of Martin Luther King and fight to ensure "that everyone in the United States has an opportunity to live out the American Dream."

"From 2004 to 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus’s political and charitable wings took in at least $55 million in corporate and union contributions, according to an analysis by The New York Times, an impressive amount even by the standards of a Washington awash in cash. Only $1 million of that went to the caucus’s political action committee; the rest poured into the largely unregulated nonprofit network. (Data for 2009 is not available.)

"The caucus says its nonprofit groups are intended to help disadvantaged African-Americans by providing scholarships and internships to students, researching policy and holding seminars on topics like healthy living.

"But the bulk of the money has been spent on elaborate conventions that have become a high point of the Washington social season, as well as the headquarters building, golf outings by members of Congress and an annual visit to a Mississippi casino resort.

"In 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation spent more on the caterer for its signature legislative dinner and conference — nearly $700,000 for an event one organizer called 'Hollywood on the Potomac' — than it gave out in scholarships, federal tax records show."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/us/politics/14cbc.html?pagewanted=all

Now, perhaps you personally knew or have received an education on Martin Luther King, Jr., waynet and you can school us all on what he stood for and what he acheived before his death. But I ask what do you think Martin Luther King, Jr., woud say about the recent scandals of the CBS members like NY's Charlie Rangal, California's Maxine Waters, Illinois Rep. Jessee Jackson Jr. California Rep. Laura Richardson, Florida's own Kendrick Meek and Eddie Johnson of Texas.

All under the flag of the exclusive Black's only Democrat Congressional Black Caucus who will keep another black and Democrat in office without any consideration for another candidate.

I think Shelby Steele Steele sums it up in a 2001 interview: "Martin Luther King was speaking to an America that had not yet fully acknowledged its wrong in slavery and segregation. And so it became a major theme in the civil rights movement to lead with our humanity, to lead with what we have in common, to deemphasize race because race is a barrier to our rights. After America admitted its wrong in the 1964 Civil Rights Bill, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and so forth, it gave blacks moral authority. And all of a sudden the very racial identity that we had deemphasized because it kept us behind the walls of segregation we now embraced because it brought us social programs, affirmative action, and advantages in American life that other groups did not have. That’s how I think it happened.

"We made a mistake when we based our claim on American society on our race rather than on our humanity. We reestablished race as a powerful force in American life, and since that time we’ve all been preoccupied with what we created, an identity politics, in which each group pursues its rights based on its race rather than on its citizenship as Americans. It wasn’t wrong for us to expect that after four centuries of repression there would be some assistance. But it was profoundly wrong of us to turn around and embrace race ourselves because we thought it would bring us certain advantages."

http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/6285

Thanks for the post BK....this is one of those subjects that you need to walk lightly..appreciate the sharing of FACTS !

[Guest]

I am a current federal employee. We just got a memo yesterday requesting us to complete a survey that indicates our race. The memo went on to say the information we provide will be permanently attached to our official personnel file. The stated purpose is to assure diversity. A chill ran up my spine as I read the memo and realized what it was asking.

Several days ago I read somewhere that the president is directing the managers of all federal agencies to assure diversity. I put 2+2 together and realized that the directive and the memo are likely related.

Taken together I find these activities very troubling.

You ain't seen nothing yet. If B. Hussein gets in for a second term.Boy Howdy!!!!

[Guest]

Howdy!!!!!

[Guest]

"And all of a sudden the very racial identity that we had deemphasized because it kept us behind the walls of segregation we now embraced because it brought us social programs, affirmative action, and advantages in American life that other groups did not have."

Thanks, bkcunningham1.

[Guest]

"If there’s anything close to a political certainty in 2012, it’s that Barack Obama will get more than 90 percent of the African-American vote"

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/62284.html

What is interesting is the turn of a phrase in this sentence...

"“You can spend a lot of time trying to win over white independents, but if you don’t pay attention to your base, African-Americans, if you have not locked up your base yet, you’ve got a serious problem,” said CNN contributor Roland Martin."

I was struck by the phrase calling HIS BASE to be African Americans ,,,also found it interesting that he WILL get the 90% no matter what....would appear that the vote will be based on something other than who is best.

"But that doesn’t mean every black Obama supporter will vote for him happily — nor does it guarantee that turnout will approach the stratospheric levels of 2008, even though Obama needs a huge showing from his base to offset the expected loss of swing voters in states like North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania."

I am sorry to say but this is a logical progression for blacks, asians and hispanics

The population is shifting and whites are becoming a minority. The day will come that this will cause whites to vote for white just to hold some political power (voice) It would be naive to think otherwise. This is no different than that of the 1900's when Irish voted for Irish, etc. Every ethnic group fought for political power some more overtly than others

[Guest]

BK good post filled wih facts. However I never stated that a caucus any caucus was good or bad. I did state that the Black caucus has a purpose and should not be singled out and other caucuses ignored. Thed black caucus for better or worse has every right to exist.

[Guest]

The Democratic party will never let go of the race issue. It is necessary to cause and maintain division and to prepetuate the victim mentality that keeps the African American dependent upon the Federal government and the nanny state. They cause the problem so they can come in and save the day!

[Guest]

and as for "I read it somewhere" and then accusations please stop.

[Guest]

Thank you wayne. Just out of curiousity, I thought I'd see if there was a list of every caucus in the US Senate and US Congress. OMGoodness. I had no idea. Take a look at this list for the Congress!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucuses_of_the_United_States_Congress

Congressional Horse Caucus. Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus. Congressional Ski and Snowboard Caucus. The list is longer than the list of clubs in TV. Do they get paid extra for attending caucus meetings?

[Guest]

The Democratic party will never let go of the race issue. It is necessary to cause and maintain division and to prepetuate the victim mentality that keeps the African American dependent upon the Federal government and the nanny state. They cause the problem so they can come in and save the day!

KatzPajamas You are on point. Well stated thank you

[Guest]

The Democratic party will never let go of the race issue. It is necessary to cause and maintain division and to prepetuate the victim mentality that keeps the African American dependent upon the Federal government and the nanny state. They cause the problem so they can come in and save the day!

That is the most honest truthful statement that I have read on this board.
:BigApplause::BigApplause::BigApplause::BigApplaus e::BigApplause: