Posted on 04/05/2006 4:32:42 AM PDT by beaureguard
There is a lot of bad news in black America.
After a decade of rising affluence, poverty (among blacks and whites) is on the upswing. Marriage is out of fashion, but diabetes, hypertension and heart failure are not. We die sooner than whites. And black men remain disproportionately shut out of the mainstream — unemployed, on drugs, in prison.
So if black activists and political leaders are looking for matters crying out for redress or reform or fairness, I could give them a list. Cynthia McKinney's complaints would not be on it.
If you're going to call a press conference and muster such prominent supporters as Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover, you ought to be sure the issue is important enough to command national attention. You should save that sort of clarion call for the most serious matters — renewing the Voting Rights Act or raising the minimum wage so that more black men can support their children. The precious spotlight of national news coverage should not be wasted on a spoiled and demanding congresswoman who thinks she's the Soul Queen of Capitol Hill.
Nor should the Abrams tank of political warfare — the charge of "racism" — be rolled out to fight every minor battle. Racism is a shadow of its former self, but it lives yet. You see it in the high rates of harsh discipline meted out to black boys in public schools. You can also see it in the disproportionate numbers of black men sent to prison for crimes they didn't commit.
Certainly, the legacy of racism is alive and well. You can see it in the self-destructive behavior of so many young black men — the internecine violence, the distorted self-esteem, the worship of thug culture. You can see the legacy of racism in the enduring rates of poverty and poor health among black citizens.
But McKinney's trumped-up charge of racism merely cheapens the term, so that it's less effective when it's needed to discuss genuine discrimination.
Immediately after the episode, McKinney — uncharacteristically, to be sure — issued a statement of regret, saying, "I know that Capitol Hill Police are securing our safety, and I appreciate the work that they do." But within hours, her stance had changed as she rallied supporters to her side to defend her against the depredations of a racist white police state.
(Now, I can understand McKinney's frustration over the fact that she is often unrecognized. I share that frustration. More times than I can count, I've been mistaken for McKinney, criticized for things she said or given advice about my braids. In fact, while McKinney wore braids until recently, I haven't worn them since sixth grade. Still, I've never slapped or slugged anyone who confused me with her. But if this keeps up, that could change.)
Last month, The New York Times ran a front-page story outlining the dire social and economic prospects for young black men. According to a number of recent academic studies, black men, despite the obvious successes of a few, are falling further and further behind, locked in place as a permanent underclass. "Especially in the country's inner cities, the studies show, finishing high school is the exception, legal work is scarcer than ever and prison is almost routine, with incarceration rates climbing for blacks even as urban crime rates have declined," the article said.
I waited for somebody to call a press conference. I waited for Jesse and Al to take to the streets demanding public policies that would bring black men into the mainstream. I looked for responses from the usual suspects — the NAACP, the Urban League and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. I heard nothing.
But a misunderstanding between a second-rate member of Congress and a Capitol Hill police officer has apparently become a full-blown crisis. So maybe I'm wrong about all of this. Perhaps I just need to adjust my perspective.
Perhaps the fact that one-third of young black men have police records is not a problem. Maybe the fact that 70 percent of black children are born outside the bonds of marriage is no big deal, and a 72 percent unemployment rate among black male high school drop-outs in their 20s does not signal a crisis. Maybe the serious decline in the marriage rate among black adults does not suggest the demise of a community.
No, indeed. The biggest problem facing black America involves a white cop who wouldn't give a black woman her props.
This is like having Hillary talk about Diane Feinstein talking about that whale of a senator Ted Kennedy talking about John Kerry who in turn is talking about Al Gore talking about Barf Bill Clinton! (End of BARF PARAGRAPH EXAMPLE)
As I said yesterday, there are only so many Race Cards in the deck. If the racial hustlers want to waste one of them defending Cynthia McKinney, this is a good thing.
Wrong...this is exactly the type of press conference that these buffoons belong at.
Tucker's a lying socialist... what she says about anything is worthless.
Well, except for the part about the poor, defenseless black men who are being shoved under the deep, dark waters of society.
This world is sink or swim, and when you drive by the basketball courts in the middle of the day in the middle of the week, they're filled with 20-something black men who aren't doing anything to help themselves.
The high school where I grew up was 40% black and one of the better funded schools in the state. There hasn't been a black male in the top 10% of our class in over 30 years. A few black girls defintely made it. Why the discrepancy? You can't really blame it on socioeconomics. A large factory employed a broad spectrum at our school, and socioeconomic status wasn't that disparate.
Anything about both Cynthia Tucker and Cynthia McKinney should have BARF ALERT prominent in the head.
True--but this article should have a Popcorn alert. :)
If a lot of folks really are confusing Cynthia Tucker and Cynthia McKinney, I could understand Ms. Tucker getting a little slappy! I know it is difficult for people to differentiate people not of their own race, but these two women look nothing alike.
Sure, Cynthia, that will do it, some more "policies."
Not so sure about that. I suspect they may be dealing from an 8-deck shoe, Mr. Bond.
No, that would be the unintended consequences of LBJ's "Great Society" socialist idiocy.
“the legacy of racism is alive and well.” You have to forgive Cynthia Tucker. She is a young, not very bright, product of MSM indoctrination. She spouts conventional wisdom without realizing how foolish she is. Before the federal government, under the Johnson Administration, adopted the destructive social policies that have literally decimated the black population, our black brothers and sisters were integrating into American society. Family formation among blacks in the 1950s was comparable to whites. Anti-social behavior was not tolerated – by black families or society. It is the Cynthia Tuckers that have led to the self immolation of the black people in this country.
She does, about 1 time out of 10. The rest of the time she's a shill for the Dems and state socialism.
stunning......the AJC got it right for once.
"these two women look nothing alike"
I get the feeling that was tucker' lame attempt at humor. They are much alike in their racist attitudes, but tucker is smart enough not to make an issue over the loser publicity attempt that mckinney tried.
The destruction of Black culture in this country since the 1950s is a clear demonstration of the hazard of government dependency. And yet more and more people want to sign on for this sort of thing every day. It is like they cannot see the evidence before their own eyes.
That was the funny thing about McKinney's complaint. Usually the complaint is that white people think all black people look alike. Now here's a white officer who has McKinney's picture but is observant enough to tell she looks nothing like the picture, and McKinney's complaining about that.
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