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Rep. Allen West's Chick-fil-A Treat Gnaws at Black Caucus By Amy Bingham | ABC OTUS News – 1 hr 13 mins ago Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have lunched on their fair share of fried chicken, but when the group's only Republican member, Rep. Allen West of Florida, brought Chick-fil-A for his turn to provide lunch, "every member" of the group was offended, caucus member Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., told the Huffington Post this week. West provided the now-controversial chicken sandwiches about six months ago, but Hastings' recollection of the delivery carries fresh potency in light of Chick-fil-A CEO...

Florida Republican Rep. Allen West said liberal Democrats in Congress — including many members of the Congressional Black Caucus — who walked out on the bipartisan votes to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal and civil contempt of Congress did so because Holder is black. “Today the Congressional Black Caucus and other liberal Members of Congress judged the Attorney General by the color of his skin, and not by the content of his character,” West said of their walkout in a Facebook post. “I am disappointed my colleagues would rather engage in a political stunt to distract the American...

The Congressional Black Caucus has called a members-only "emergency" meeting on Thursday to plot a "walkout strategy" ahead of the scheduled contempt vote of Attorney General Eric Holder later in the day. The plans, detailed in an email from the executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus obtained by the Alley, include circulating a letter disapproving of the vote and having lawmakers walk out of the Capitol to hold a press conference during the roll call. The letter, a draft of which is being circulated for signatures, accuses the GOP leadership of "rushing recklessly to a contempt vote." The letter...

Race riots could ensue if George Zimmerman -- the shooter in the Trayvon Martin case -- is found not guilty of second-degree murder by a Florida jury, the Congressional Black Caucus' executive director allowed yesterday. "I think a 'not guilty' verdict is extremely problematic in 2012," said Angela Rye, the Executive Director and General Counsel for the Congressional Black Caucus. She said, "I don't know," when asked what would happen in the event of an acquittal. "I know that folks have talked about race riots -- I don't know that. I think that we live in a day and...

Angela Rye, Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus, argued that President Obama has struggled during his first term due to racially-motivated opposition from conservatives who dislike having a black president. "This is probably the toughest presidential term in my lifetime," Rye said during CSPAN's Q&A yesterday. "I think that a lot of what the president has experienced is because he's black. You know, whether it's questioning his intellect or whether or not he's Ivy League. It's always either he's not educated enough or he's too educated; or he's too black or he's not black enough; he's too Christian or...

The CBC is planning some counter-programming for female non-hockey fans who might be forced to tune into the Stanley Cup final next week. Viewers can go online to listen to an alternate commentary from Lena Sutherland and Jules Mancuso, who run WhileTheMenWatch.com. They describe their site as a sports talk show for women, “Sex and the City” meets ESPN, with banter “from a woman’s point of view.” “One afternoon while (our husbands) were both watching the same game on TV Jules and I were on the phone and we started just making comments to each other like, ‘Did you see...

The Socialist Party of America announced in their October 2009 newsletter that 70 Congressional democrats currently belong to their caucus. This admission was recently posted on Scribd.com:

In the wake of the slaying of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, House Democrats are drafting legislation designed to prevent similar tragedies in the future. The lawmakers want to adopt tougher rules for neighborhood watch programs, eliminate certain state gun laws, rein in racial profiling and require an examination of racial disparities nationwide. The Democrats behind the legislation – all members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) – say the steps might have prevented last month's fatal encounter between Martin, 17, an unarmed African-American walking home from a convenience store in Sanford, Fla., and George Zimmerman, 28, a Latino neighborhood watch...

WASHINGTON – Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) plans to send a “friendly, hand-written” note to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) asking him to enforce the House dress code across the board, he told Fox News Wednesday night. Cleaver says he made the decision to contact Boehner after the incident where Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) wore the hoodie to the House floor today. Rep. Rush was escorted from the House floor because the House dress code prohibits hats. Cleaver says that some CBC members believe that Rush was unfairly singled out because the House routinely allows other members to...

The Congressional Black Caucus wants the Justice Department to investigate the shooting death of a 17-year-old, unarmed black Florida high school student as a potential hate crime. “This case compromises the integrity of our legal system and sets a horrific precedent of vigilante justice,” Congressional Black Caucus Chair Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said in a statement. “Members of the Congressional Black Caucus stand together in the name of justice for Trayvon. As a nation we cannot, should not, and will not ignore, Trayvon’s brutal murder and the inconceivable fact that his killer remains free. Contrary to the flippant way this case...

Odd question? Well yesterday Daniel Burke’s article in the Washington Post titled, “Will Mormons’ racial history be a problem for Mitt Romney?” tried to tarnish Romney with the brush of past discrimination in the Mormon priesthood. Burke states that “Until 1978, the LDS church banned men of African descent from its priesthood.” But if the actions of others in a group you belong to reflect on you then should Obama be tainted with the racial bigotry of the Democratic Party. For none other than Bull Connor was a Democrat and the history of many elected Democratic who were historically significant...

WASHINGTON — Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday are expected to publish a report on the disputed gun trafficking investigation called Operation Fast and Furious, concluding that agents in Arizona — not Obama administration officials — were responsible for the tactics used in the inquiry and for providing misleading information relayed to Congress. In an 89-page report, titled “Fatally Flawed: Five Years of Gun-walking in Arizona,” the Democratic staff portrays Fast and Furious as the fourth investigation, dating back to 2006, in which Arizona-based agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives employed...

If elected in November, Love would be the first black Republican woman in Congress and Utah's first black representative. She said she would join the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C., should she win. "Yes, yes. I would join the Congressional Black Caucus and try to take that thing apart from the inside out," she said.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) said Tuesday that President Obama "absolutely" should use his executive power to continue the unemployment benefits and payroll tax cut extension and said she hoped to discuss the option with the White House later in the day. "It is extraordinary, don't get me wrong. But I'm feeling the pain of the constituents I left [at] home," Jackson Lee said, speaking on the progressive Ed Schultz's radio show. "I consider this a crisis. I consider leaving Americans without unemployment insurance for January and February a crime. I consider not extending the payroll tax cut ... a...

When the Civil War ended, and after Republican President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, Democrats initiated Jim Crow laws to keep the black man down. Democrats didn’t much like blacks. In fact, the KKK, as you know, was founded as the the terrorist wing of the Democrat Party. Setting the Record Straight A group of black activists led by Wayne Perryman has filed a brief against the Democrat Party for its long history of racism and discrimination of the black community.

A Democratic lawmaker said Wednesday on the House floor that Republican legislators around the country are purposefully trying to deny blacks the right to vote by pushing for voter identification laws. “It’s no coincidence that a disproportionate number of these affected voters come from communities of color as well as the poor, the elderly and students,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. “Having been born and raised in Texas, this certainly looks like a poll tax to me, which those of us remember as a way to prevent African Americans from voting. These...

I understand that the NAACP opposes voter-ID laws. Given the long history of fighting against uses of state law to deny blacks and other minorities the franchise until the Civil Rights Movement prevailed, their deep skepticism over proposed stricter enforcement of eligibility laws can’t help but recall echoes of voter suppression in their communities, even if the new laws are innocent of any racial animus. We still have plenty of mistrust that will take generations to undo, especially given that we still have those with living memories of having been denied the right to vote. Still, if the NAACP wants...

I just finished listening to President Obama’s speech at the Congressional Black Caucus dinner and I’m still reeling with anger. Honestly, I’ve never been more afraid for my country or my people than I am right now. In his speech, Obama told the mostly black audience; “Take off your bedroom slippers. Shake it off. Stop complainin’. Stop grumblin’. Stop cryin’. We are going to press on. We have work to do.” As writer Charing Ball noted, Obama may as well have said “take off your head scarf and wave caps, put away the jug of Kool-Aid and grape drink, stop...

MRC visited the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Dinner in Washington to ask attendees if the tea party is racist. The attendees are also asked about Allen West and Herman Cain and what they think of black members of the tea party. One man says they can go to hell, another lady calls them 'oreos.' Here's the video

Barack Obama speech reopens rift with black criticsBy JOSEPH WILLIAMS | 9/29/11 5:03 AM EDT It was a speech intended to be a rousing call to arms for his 2012 re-election campaign and his jobs bill. But when President Barack Obama told a gala dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus over the weekend that it was time to “stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying” and get to work, he instead gave new ammunition to some prominent African American critics who say the nation’s first black president gets tough only when he’s talking to other black people. **SNIP** By the middle...