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Publisher-Emeritus 1909-1989 Page A-6


Mr. President, time for another race dialogue


By Michael Cottman Perhaps it’s time for Presi-


dent Barack Obama to re-read his speeches and confront the issue of race head-on.


A series of high-profile, ra-


cially explosive issues are caus- ing deep divisions among some Blacks and Whites at a time when Obama was hoping that more Americans would embrace the notion of cultural tolerance during his tenure in the White House.


Two years after Obama deliv-


ered an impassioned speech on race in Philadelphia as a can- didate for office, racial tension in America has intensified, and has arguably worsened since Obama’s historic election, in large part because he’s Black.


talking about race. That’s unfortunate.


For


Obama — who put together an unprecedented multicultural electorate and was sworn in as the nation’s first Black presi- dent — silence on race should not be an option. He promised to help unite Americans of all racial backgrounds and create a bridge of cultural understand- ing through thoughtful and meaningful conversations.


It hasn’t happened. “As we saw a year ago, the


Barack Obama Obama, as usual, isn’t talking about race


right now, but we may get a glimpse into the president’s thinking when he appears on ABC’s “The View” on Thursday, the first time a sit- ting president has shown up for a daytime talk show.


The latest racial firestorm involves Shirley


Sherrod, a loyal Black government worker who was forced out of her job at the Agriculture De- partment after edited video captured her, in a March speech at an NAACP event, allegedly de- scribing how she didn’t lend as much help to a White farmer as she should have 24 years ago. The two-minute video clip was proven later to have been taken wildly out of context.


Obama apologized to Sherrod for the USDA


jumping the gun and seeking her resignation prematurely because they thought she was a racist, and administration officials have offered Sherrod a new job with the Agriculture Depart- ment.


Sherrod, however, insists that the Obama


administration is dodging the issue of race. “What happened to me was an attempt to run away from it,” she told reporters.


She’s right. The White House remained tight-lipped


about Sherrod. Professor Michael Eric Dyson said the administration has a “gag order” on


president is one of the best most effective leaders who could talk about this issue in a constructive way and truth is as a nation we are overdue for a conversation,” Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist and po-


litical commentator for MSNBC, told BlackA- mericaWeb.com. “Not just because we elected a Black president, but because of the dramatic changes we are undergoing.”


So, who is advising the president? The


Sherrod situation — one of those “dramatic changes” — has shined a bright light on the administration’s mishandling of a high-profile race issue and has also raised questions about Obama’s ability — or interest — in navigating the nation through racial turmoil.


It’s also caused some of Obama’s most


steadfast Black supporters to underscore the need for a greater African-American presence at the top echelons of the White House. Simply put, a number of prominent African-American Democrats feel that Obama is disconnected from Black professionals who could offer him sound advice on matters of race — if Obama is willing to listen.


“The president’s getting hurt real bad,” Rep.


James Clyburn, a Democrat from South Caro- lina and the highest-ranking Black member of Congress, told the New York Times. “He needs some Black people around him.”


Clyburn told the Times that Obama’s inner


circle keeps “screwing up” on race. “Some people over there are not sensitive at


all about race,” he said.


Shirley Sherrod seen through Biblical lens


By Larry Buford He was thrown into the dun-


geon. She was thrown under the (proverbial) bus. The similarities of the Bible’s story of Joseph, and the story of now former United States Department of Ag- riculture (USDA) official Shirley Sherrod are uncanny.


Joseph came from a place


of pain. His own brothers sold him into slavery, separating him from the love of his father Jacob. They were jealous of him because Jacob favored Joseph over them, and young Joseph boasted some alarming dreams he had of the future. However, Joseph made the most of the situation, and by demonstrat- ing his godly nature, he was en- trusted to handle all the affairs of his master. Then suddenly, when he refused the advances of his master’s wife, she falsely accused him and he was thrown into the dungeon.


Sherrod also came from a place of pain. She


was separated from her father, Hosie Miller, when he was murdered by a White farmer. How- ever, she too made the most of the situation. She was forced to deal with some understand- able anger and hatred by being challenged to help a poor White farmer save his farm. She often told the story of how it changed her life and her perspective. With faith in God, and years of dedicating herself to helping the poor, she was appointed to a USDA post in the state of Georgia. Then suddenly, when a false report claimed she was a racist based on an edited tape of one of her speeches, she was thrown under the bus. The USDA rushed to judgment and called for her resignation.


While in the dungeon Joseph used the


“press” to plead his case. Both Pharaoh’s chief butler and chief baker were placed in the dun- geon for a spell. Both had disturbing dreams that Joseph accurately interpreted for them — restoration for the chief butler and death for the chief baker. Upon the chief butler’s release, Joseph asked that he remember him and to make mention of his plight to Pharaoh.


While under the bus, Sherrod also used the


press to plead her case. Where conservative agi- tator Andrew Breitbart and Fox News had called for a “death sentence,” she contacted reporters at CNN who probed a little deeper and found the evidence that she in fact was being wrongly


accused. For three days she was on the air telling her side of the story, but the head of the USDA, Tom Vilsack, was unrelenting. The airing of the favorable testi- mony of the White couple, Roger and Eloise Spooner, whose farm Sherrod had helped save, un- doubtedly helped turn the tide.


Two years after the chief Shirley Sherrod


butler was released, Pharaoh had two disturbing dreams that he could not understand and no one could interpret. Then the chief butler remembered Joseph. When Joseph convinc- ingly interpreted the dreams for Pharaoh, he was so impressed that Pharaoh made him gover- nor over all the land of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh him- self.


The final outcome of the Sher-


rod story is yet to be known, but as of this writ- ing she has been vindicated – the head of the USDA has publicly apologized to her and of- fered her a new position within the department that’s on the table for her to decide upon. She also received a personal phone call from Presi- dent Barack Obama expressing his regret over the whole ordeal. With all the publicity, Sher- rod has gotten her message out, and now has a platform that seems to be larger than that of the NAACP, who had also wrongly been against her, and all the churches combined.


Her message is not about racism, but about


helping to bridge the gap between the haves and the have nots. Although her story may have (to a degree) overshadowed President Obama’s signing of the Wall Street Reform Bill, the irony is that it underscores America’s great divide twofold: rich and poor, Black and White (pov- erty and race).


So this was a parallel story about reforma-


tion — Joseph from a boastful young lad to a humbled servant, Sherrod from a perspective of racial divide to a greater calling on behalf of all poor people. The story also parallels redemp- tion as Joseph summed it up so famously, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Hopefully, this “teachable moment” will help break up the political logjams, and our leaders will find some meaningful common ground.


Larry Buford is a Los Angeles-based free-


lance writer and author of “Things Are Gettin’ Outta Hand.”


How To Write Us:


The Michigan Chronicle encourages letters from readers. Expressed opinions must bear the writer’s signature, address and phone number (only the names will published with the letters). Write: Reader’s Speak, Michigan Chronicle, 479 Ledyard, Detroit, MI 48201 or email the editor at chronicle4@aol.com


Right tries to block NAACP criticism of Tea Party racism


By Ron Walters It was another right-on-time moment that


Ben Jealous exercised at the NAACP Conven- tion in calling out the Tea Party for coddling elements of racism within their midst. The convention went on to pass a resolution to this effect, calling on the leadership of the party to repudiate these elements, but it will not become official until approved by the Executive Committee in October.


Right away, Mark Williams, the head of a


group called the Tea Party Express and a Cali- fornia radio host, posted a letter to his website that was aimed at Jealous and dripping with racism.


It said in part, “We coloreds have taken a vote


and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us colored people and we demand that it stop.”


With this racist letter, he made Jealous’ case


and he did it so strong that, flush with sensitiv- ity to the NAACP charges, the Tea Party Federa- tion kicked Williams out.


This was a positive act by the Federation


because the leading lights of the Republican Party still, either said nothing, or defended the movement.


For instance, Mitch McConnell, Senate Mi-


nority Leader, said that he was not “interest- ed in getting into that debate” on CNN. When asked whether he had seen the signs depicting the president as Hitler, etc., he defended it by saying that such extremism exist at the fringe of both parties.


But the usual suspects, Fox people like


Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and others jumped into the fray to defend the movement. Palin, regarded as the mother of the Tea Party move- ment, said that the charge of racism was unfair and Glen Beck, Fox TV show host, said he would repudiate the elements of racism if he knew where they were.


What surprised me was the opposition of


Cynthia Tucker, African-American editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who wrote that the NAACP had no business condemning the Tea Party. Her view was: 1) She did not know what “elements” of racism were; 2) This would confirm that the NAACP was an arm of the Democratic Party; 3) The NAACP did not purge its own ranks; and 4) The resolution just draws attention to the Tea Partiers.


This is very weak stuff for the editor of a


major American newspaper, especially coming an African American. With enough space I, or any one else, could easily prove all of them wrong.


The big push-back from the right, however


(more of a political strategy), has been to raise the New Black Panther Party case from the


Ron Walters grave. On Nov. 4,


2008, some mem- bers of the New Black


Panther


Party went to a polling station in downtown Phila- delphia because they had heard that White people would be trying to stop Blacks from voting for Barack Obama. It was ab- solutely stupid for one of the young men to go down there with a club in his hand and a McCain staffer


photographed him in front of the poll-


ing station. The Bush administration Justice Depart-


ment did not bring suit because although the law (intimidating voters) was potentially broken, no one had been prevented from going to the polls. In other words, there was no in- jured party.


Now the case is in the Civil Rights Division


of the Justice Department and conservatives have charged that Eric Holder is covering it up and a former conservative staffer who resigned said the case was not being pursued because they only want to bring discrimination charges against Whites.


So, Fox and other right wingers have suc-


ceeded in pushing this issue into the spotlight by arguing that the liberal fringe also has racist groups. Most important, they have charged that the left wing media wasn’t carrying the story and the Washington Post, CNN and others have slavishly fallen in line.


So, if some people want to compare the ac-


tions of the New Black Panther Party to those of the Tea Party which, although it is overblown, still has thousands of adherents, it calls into question their motives. Most likely they want to cover up the racism in the Tea Party.


The Panthers have no influence in Black or


Democratic Party leadership circles, but the Tea Party is the main influence in the Republi- can Party at this time.


Still, I am amazed that major news organiza-


tions, so intimidated by the right, will give cred- ibility to this made-up story on the Panthers on equal terms to the NAACP’s criticism of Tea Party racism.


Dr. Ron Walters is a political analyst and


professor emeritus of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland College Park. One of his books is “White Nationalism, Black Interests” (Wayne State University Press).


Jobs and justice, then and now


By Gary L. Flowers On Aug. 28, 1963, during the Civil Rights


Movement, a rainbow of people — Red, Yellow, Brown, Black, and White — traveled to Wash- ington, DC, to protest the lack of jobs and jus- tice for African Americans. Forty-seven years later not much has changed in some ways, but a lot has in other ways.


Joblessness in the Black community may


be worse than the rate in 1963. The number of African Americans unemployed is officially doubled the national average. In many cities and towns across the nation unemployment is 20, 30, 40, 50 and even 60 percent.


In early July, the Congressional Black


Caucus held a hearing citing the national issue of African-American unemployment. According to a report by the Congressional Joint Econom- ic Committee, unemployment rates are at least double to those of their White counterparts.


Similar to joblessness, the lack of justice


in the Black community remains a significant issue. The most widely publicized case was the acquittal of three New York police officers ac- cused of unjustifiably shooting to death Sean Bell on his wedding day three years ago.


The organizers of the 1963 March on Wash-


ington (A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Doctors Dorothy Height and Martin Luther King, Jr.) used the backdrop of President Lin- coln’s Memorial to challenge the United States government to live up to its promise of equal justice for all, regardless of race, religion or re- sources. The issue platform of Jobs and Jus- tice was predicated on the moral injustice of racism and the importance of the federal gov- ernment enforcing the law equally.


For example, when Dr. King said the words


“nullification and interposition” that “dripped” from the mouths of southerners violated Amer- ica’s promise to all of her citizens. Using a states’ rights argument, most southern states (Virginia, Alabama, North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia) viewed federal desegrega- tion laws enforced by the federal government as


a violation of their “sovereign” rights to enact and enforce laws as they chose. In particular, those who believed in states’ rights 47 years ago argued that states had the right to “nullify” federal laws due to “interposition” by “big gov- ernment.”


Today, Glenn Beck and his Tea Party follow-


ers are today’s states’ rights segregationists who believe the federal government has no right to interfere with the right of states to enact and enforce racially and ethnically laws. The most infamous example is the recent law in Arizona permitting police officers to randomly stop per- sons suspected of not being a United States citizen, the effect of which will be to unjustly profile Brown and Black people.


In maybe the most perverse transversal of


good to bad messaging, Glenn Beck has the au- dacity to claim that the spirit of the 1963 march as articulated by Dr. King is consistent with issue platform of Tea Party members. Wrong!


The ideas behind the Civil Rights Movement


— then and now — could not be more polarized to the ones behind the Tea Party movement. Ac- cording to Beck, Tea Partiers believe in states’ rights, weak federal regulations, privatization and “our country back.”


Conversely, today’s civil rights advocates,


such as members of the Black Leadership Forum. believe in a strong federal government that enforces anti-discrimination laws for all people. Not only do we believe “that this coun- try was made for you and me,” those who think otherwise are un-American.


Therefore, when Glenn Beck and his un-


Americans travel to the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, we will pray for their realization that the ideals of America are inclusive, such that one group (White Americans) should not ben- efit from “life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness” to the detriment of people of color.


Let America be America. Gary L. Flowers is executive director and


CEO of the Black Leadership Forum, Inc.


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