Posted on 07/13/2004 7:54:10 AM PDT by End Times Sentinel
AN UNREPENTENT Mayor Street wants to update the NAACP convention with some hot old news:
In Philadelphia, the brothers and sisters are still in charge.
Street, in welcoming remarks yesterday to the 8,000-delegate gathering at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, recalled how he "got myself in trouble" in 2002.
"I said in the city of Philadelphia the brothers and sisters are in charge," he declared. "They never let me forget it."
Street apologized at the time. But yesterday he brought delegates to their feet roaring approval when he said he "will never apologize" for the appointments and opportunities he has provided for African-Americans.
"We should never be ashamed of supporting African-Americans," he said.
Street said his advice to critics of his 2002 remarks was: "If you don't like the brothers and sisters being in charge, you should register Republican." He was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2003 with stronger white support than he received in 1999.
Street exhorted the delegates, "I will never apologize for [appointing] a black chief of staff, a black police commissioner, a black fire commissioner..."
He went on to cite other city posts to which he has named minority officials. "If I can't provide opportunity for African- Americans in this government, who will?" he asked.
Street made no mention of the federal indictment of former administration officials and political supporters for alleged "pay-for-play" influence peddling tied to city contracts.
But he did say, "We recognize responsible economic empowerment for African-Americans in this city." He said his administration makes sure "minorities do business with the city of Philadelphia."
Afterward, Street said President Bush was guilty of "bad politics" and "bad policy" for refusing to address the convention. He said Bush seemed to be "hijacked" by "right-wing" pressure groups to stay away.
"I think it was a missed opportunity for the president [and] a slight on the NAACP."
NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, in a fiery address, said Bush's absence was a slight that would not be forgotten on Election Day.
"We will be there in every polling place and every battleground state," Mfume said.
The NAACP, he said, will undertake a strategy aimed "entirely at unlikely voters and early voters," meaning those who have skipped past elections and those who can't make it to the polls but are eligible to vote absentee.
Mfume didn't name names but accused Bush of recruiting "ventriliquist's dummies" from minority communities to sing his praises. Mfume said if Bush "were willing to listen, he would hear our opinion of what it really means to be pro-family, why it's really important to save Social Security and why smaller classrooms for students and day care for working parents must be more than a song or dance or a 20-second sound bite."
The local welcomers included U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa.; Bishop Ernest Morris, president of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity; and Minister Rodney Muhammad, of the Nation of Islam.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Street sure likes to be in the same picture when Bush is in town....
Apparently to Street, anyone with a black face is either a "brother" or a "sister," and entitled to a share of the booty.
Liberals and black liberals especially have long contended that large cities with large black populations need to have black mayors, particularly RAT ones.
I believe it was Walter Williams who said, fine, then lets take a look at the results by comparing cities with black democrat mayors and black republican mayors and see which cities are doing better.
Who asked him to apologize?????
What a loathsome city.
I still have not been there, but I would say that Cincinnati has Detroit beat now.
Nice to see that they are so overtly RACIST. Where does this organization get its funding?
Ahhhh .. this from the city where not only do their dead vote ... but they vote in Alphabetical Order
Sorry, I am sure your part philly is well. I have only noticed the high taxes/problems.
Nobody asked him to apologize for hiring blacks ..
Philadelphia is a wonderful city. It just has a loathesome mayor.
What about the brothers and sisters in the Klinton administration?
What about the brothers and sisters involved with the Kerry Kampaign?
Any thoughts about being continuously and unfairly under-represented Mayor???
Probably could be better. I live in NYC, but almost certainly would have avoided it in the 70s when buildings were burned down for insurance.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
I was mainly reffering to downtown amd immediate areas. I hate to see such great city plundered, like DC and NYC were...
Owl, I haven't received my NAACP convention packet yet (I'm sure its just an oversight, since it couldn't be due to the color of my skin!), but are Walter Williams, Ph.D, Thomas Sowell, Ph. D, Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, or sydicated columnist Larry Elder speaking at this year's shin-dig? Or will it be the esteemed (and perpetually available) Chakah Fatah again?
Owl, this year's presidential election is going to put you into a quandry, because historically, the Redskins win championships during GOP administrations (for the most part, although the last four years haven't been so kind to us). However, with the return of Joe Gibbs and the probable (hopefully) re-election of George Bush, this could spell big trouble for your beloved Philly Iggles! What will you do on election day? Eagles success and Kerry, or "Hail to the Redskins" and Bush? You decide!
Imagine if he had said, "you don't like WHITEY being in charge, you should register Democrat." He would have been demonized to the point of being driven from public view (and rightly so). But he's part of a protected class so we just let it go.
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