Posted on 04/15/2005 10:09:05 AM PDT by natelivingston
I guess this should be filed in the "Washington Politics" thread ... I'm an African American registered Democrat. I don't mind giving conservative Republicans hell when they deserve it. But unlike many conservative, I don't mind speaking out against my Party when I think they are wrong and encouraging them to do the right thing.
Anyway, white liberals are having fits about the article posted below, which was written by me and published on my blog, in Black newspapers across the country, and at the liberal Daily Kos blog.
I'm posting the article here because I'd like to have some feedback from a more conservative audience. (I also sent it to Mr. Hannity. Who knows, he may do something with it one day.)
ETHNIC CLEANSING AT AIR AMERICA RADIOWhen liberal Air America Radio Network yanked hip-hop legend Chuck D, a member of Public Enemy, off the air on April Fool’s Day and replaced him with Jerry Springer, they made fools out of Black Democrats, especially those in the hip-hop community who believed Air America would serve as a shining example of the Democratic Party’s purported commitment to tolerance, diversity, and partnership.
When the Coalition For A Just Cincinnati -- the group leading the economic boycott of Cincinnati -- decided to protest ethnic cleansing at Air America by picketing a live Springer broadcast, Jerry showed us just how intolerant he was. Like a scab, he crossed the picket line. Then he ordered a member of his all-white “Team Springer” clan to call the cops on us. In contrast, conservative Republican Sean Hannity welcomed protesting of his appearance in Cincinnati last summer. Who’s intolerant?
After being on the air for a year, Air America finds itself struggling to attract and keep listeners, just as the Democratic Party struggles to gain and keep voters. The removal of Chuck D -- one of only two daily African American talk show hosts -- represents much more than just the “whitening” of Air America, it symbolizes just how far the Party has drifted away from the Black community, it’s most loyal support base.
White liberals’ support for racial, ethnic, and viewpoint diversity appears nonexistent when it’s them, and not the government, being challenged to diversify. Air America passed over hundreds of qualified and experienced African American talk radio hosts i.e., Tavis Smiley, Bev Smith, Ed Gordon, Raqiyah Mays, and Joe Madison, for such no names as Ed Schultz, Mark Maron, and Sam Seder. But it’s not like we weren’t warned.
In announcing his debut on Air America, Springer said the radio network had cornered the “wine and cheese” crowd but needed to reach out to the “beer and pretzel” market. If you think these sentiments mirror Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean’s belief that Democrats should quit placating African Americans and start recruiting “white guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks” into the Party, you aren’t alone.
Even beyond racial diversity, Air America’s white overseers have done little to foster an ideologically diverse listener base or allow all voices within the Democratic Party to be heard. Air America has turned into an endless stream of boring bellyaching, where so much time is spent responding to conservative talking points that we can’t push an alternative agenda. This isn’t the best our Party has to offer, it is the worst. The notion that a few elitist reactionaries represent the Party of Roosevelt and Kennedy is preposterous. Springer and the rest of the second-tiered talk show hosts don’t speak for me, and I don’t think they speak for Latinos, Women, hard-working union members, or other African Americans either. Air America represents the hijacking of the Democratic Party, silencing of minority voices, and destruction of a common sense agenda.
Every election cycle, Democrats run through Black neighborhoods preaching partnership, but the alliance between Blacks and Democrats resembles less a partnership, and more a master-slave relationship where African Americans work like slaves to increase voter participation while whites reap all the benefits. Remember last year’s “voter empowerment” effort where Russell Simmons and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs were dispatched around the country and assigned to lure young African Americans into the election process? At the same time Combs was preaching “Vote or Die”, former Senator Carol Moseley-Braun and Rev. Al Sharpton were being killed off in the Democratic primaries. And right after the election Ron Kirk and Wellington Webb were looked over for the position of DNC Chair in favor of Dean. What does it take for Blacks to get the message that once Democrats have no further use for Blacks, they dispose of them. They did it to Combs, Simmons, Moseley-Braun, Sharpton, Kirk, and Webb. And that’s exactly what Air America did to Chuck D.
“Fight the power” is my favorite Public Enemy song and the movie it appeared in “Do The Right Thing” is my favorite Spike Lee movie. One of the movie’s main characters, Buggin’ Out, wants the pizza owner, Sal, to put some pictures of African Americans on the wall. Lee’s movie and Chuck D’s lyrics inspired a generation to stand up to those in power and declare “…got to give us what we want; gotta give us what we need. Our freedom of speech is freedom or death; we got to fight the powers that be.” I know I’m not alone when I say white liberal Democrats need to live up to their promises on tolerance, diversity, and partnership. And Air America needs to put some African Americans on the air.
-----
Nathaniel Livingston, Jr., publishes the Cincinnati Black Blog which is available online at
Anyway, white liberals are having fits about the article posted below, which was written by me and published on my blog, in Black newspapers across the country, and at the liberal Daily Kos blog.
I'm posting the article here because I'd like to have some feedback from a more conservative audience. (I also sent it to Mr. Hannity. Who knows, he may do something with it one day.)
ETHNIC CLEANSING AT AIR AMERICA RADIOWhen liberal Air America Radio Network yanked hip-hop legend Chuck D, a member of Public Enemy, off the air on April Fool’s Day and replaced him with Jerry Springer, they made fools out of Black Democrats, especially those in the hip-hop community who believed Air America would serve as a shining example of the Democratic Party’s purported commitment to tolerance, diversity, and partnership.
When the Coalition For A Just Cincinnati -- the group leading the economic boycott of Cincinnati -- decided to protest ethnic cleansing at Air America by picketing a live Springer broadcast, Jerry showed us just how intolerant he was. Like a scab, he crossed the picket line. Then he ordered a member of his all-white “Team Springer” clan to call the cops on us. In contrast, conservative Republican Sean Hannity welcomed protesting of his appearance in Cincinnati last summer. Who’s intolerant?
After being on the air for a year, Air America finds itself struggling to attract and keep listeners, just as the Democratic Party struggles to gain and keep voters. The removal of Chuck D -- one of only two daily African American talk show hosts -- represents much more than just the “whitening” of Air America, it symbolizes just how far the Party has drifted away from the Black community, it’s most loyal support base.
White liberals’ support for racial, ethnic, and viewpoint diversity appears nonexistent when it’s them, and not the government, being challenged to diversify. Air America passed over hundreds of qualified and experienced African American talk radio hosts i.e., Tavis Smiley, Bev Smith, Ed Gordon, Raqiyah Mays, and Joe Madison, for such no names as Ed Schultz, Mark Maron, and Sam Seder. But it’s not like we weren’t warned.
In announcing his debut on Air America, Springer said the radio network had cornered the “wine and cheese” crowd but needed to reach out to the “beer and pretzel” market. If you think these sentiments mirror Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean’s belief that Democrats should quit placating African Americans and start recruiting “white guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks” into the Party, you aren’t alone.
Even beyond racial diversity, Air America’s white overseers have done little to foster an ideologically diverse listener base or allow all voices within the Democratic Party to be heard. Air America has turned into an endless stream of boring bellyaching, where so much time is spent responding to conservative talking points that we can’t push an alternative agenda. This isn’t the best our Party has to offer, it is the worst. The notion that a few elitist reactionaries represent the Party of Roosevelt and Kennedy is preposterous. Springer and the rest of the second-tiered talk show hosts don’t speak for me, and I don’t think they speak for Latinos, Women, hard-working union members, or other African Americans either. Air America represents the hijacking of the Democratic Party, silencing of minority voices, and destruction of a common sense agenda.
Every election cycle, Democrats run through Black neighborhoods preaching partnership, but the alliance between Blacks and Democrats resembles less a partnership, and more a master-slave relationship where African Americans work like slaves to increase voter participation while whites reap all the benefits. Remember last year’s “voter empowerment” effort where Russell Simmons and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs were dispatched around the country and assigned to lure young African Americans into the election process? At the same time Combs was preaching “Vote or Die”, former Senator Carol Moseley-Braun and Rev. Al Sharpton were being killed off in the Democratic primaries. And right after the election Ron Kirk and Wellington Webb were looked over for the position of DNC Chair in favor of Dean. What does it take for Blacks to get the message that once Democrats have no further use for Blacks, they dispose of them. They did it to Combs, Simmons, Moseley-Braun, Sharpton, Kirk, and Webb. And that’s exactly what Air America did to Chuck D.
“Fight the power” is my favorite Public Enemy song and the movie it appeared in “Do The Right Thing” is my favorite Spike Lee movie. One of the movie’s main characters, Buggin’ Out, wants the pizza owner, Sal, to put some pictures of African Americans on the wall. Lee’s movie and Chuck D’s lyrics inspired a generation to stand up to those in power and declare “…got to give us what we want; gotta give us what we need. Our freedom of speech is freedom or death; we got to fight the powers that be.” I know I’m not alone when I say white liberal Democrats need to live up to their promises on tolerance, diversity, and partnership. And Air America needs to put some African Americans on the air.
-----
Nathaniel Livingston, Jr., publishes the Cincinnati Black Blog which is available online at
"But unlike many conservative, I don't mind speaking out against my Party..."
Um, hang around a bit. We're not the automatons you've been led to believe. Cheers.
LOL! Haven't been around FR for very long, have you, Nate?
Well, welcome anyhow. If what you're used to is the Daily Kos, this place is going to seem like a breath of fresh air.
I know this looks terrible. Is there a way to edit it?
What, the format of your post? Looks fine to me.
Well, I never really equated the "wine and cheese" crowd with African Americans, but I haven't been watching MTV much lately.
True enough. The Dems anymore are only opposed to Bush - and they don't stand for anything but their own return to power. As long as you are willing to help get them there, they'll say they love you. But if you want some of that power for yourself, they'll kick you in the teeth.
Yeah, the format of the post. Some paragraphs are repeated.
bump
Oh, that. It seems you posted the article in both posting windows. You could have split your post into the article and the commentary. The article goes in the top window, the commentary in the lower one.
Wha!!
They've currently got one black person on Air America? OK...Now, how many different shows are there? Can't be more than 10?
Well...That's 10%.
Seems about right to me considering the black population is about 12-13%.
Wha!!
So is this about race? Or class? Plenty of working-stiff whites pulled the donkey lever for years, but stopped when the Dems no longer listened to their interests as well.
There's no way to edit posts, but maybe Admin Moderator will take care of it for you. All that needs to be done is to remove the comments section, where you posted the article again.
You can put "administrator' in the To box, and ask if they would delete the double posting or perhaps putting a message by hitting the 'abuse' button would get faster results.
Neat that you use a 'name', and aren't afraid to speak your mind. I am white. I am conservative. I read your article. I grew up near Nicodemus, Ks, one of 3 ALL BLACK towns in America. Racism was never seemed to lurk in my friends. We shared hotel rooms together on State Bank trips, and worked together, bought each others' homes, etc. I've been reading lately the books of Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, Booker T. Washington, and often wonder what happened to GOOD ideas about personal responsibility. Booker T was a real hard nut to crack, he felt that any ethnic group that worked hard, lived respectable, wouldn't need any protection of Congress to get around in life. I wonder why his name is not immortalized, and lifted high? I sometimes looked in the mirror and wanted to be 'black', as I would be the type that would rise above all of the negativism and harsh spirited people and laugh at adversity. I wonder if Condoleeza does this?
P.S. I hope that someone in the major media pays attention to your work on your blog.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "Billybob's Speech for FR's March for Justice II"
It reads okay to me, nate.
I've been saying for years that Democrats have been playing African Americans for suckers. Once used up. Or at the Point of Diminishing Returns, the Dems seek another "minority". To offer money and perks with one outstrectched hand. While taking their future and dreams with the other.
Which may explain the Dem's focus on Gays during the Clinton years. And "disenfranchised" convicted felons during the 2004 race.
Good post!
Jack.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.