[Choux]

Jesse Jackson: "Can Democrats get the votes they need simply because they're not Republicans? You might think so in this presidential campaign. African-American and urban votes are critical to any Democratic victory. Bill Clinton won two terms without winning the most white votes. His margin was the overwhelming support of black voters. George Bush learned that lesson; that's why his campaigns spent so much effort suppressing the black vote in key states like Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. His victory margin was the tally of votes suppressed or uncounted.

Yet the Democratic candidates -- with the exception of John Edwards, who opened his campaign in New Orleans' Ninth Ward and has made addressing poverty central to his campaign -- have virtually ignored the plight of African Americans in this country. The catastrophic crisis that engulfs the African-American community goes without mention. No urban agenda is given priority. When thousands of African Americans marched in protest in Jena, La., not one candidate showed up......"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



I hadn't noticed that issues concerning Black Americans were ignored by the Democratic Candidates. Did you?

Do you have any comments about Jackson's views explained here?
Comments...

[tomder55]

Hillary has done come too farrrrr but ain't no ways tarrrrred to be accused of ignoring the blacks .

The Democrats have always taken the black vote for granted. I'm surprised this is news to the Reverend. Black voters continue to vote for Democrats at every political level by higher than 90% during each election. Why should either party court their vote when it is not in play ?

The Dems are concentrating on Iowa and N.H. right now . They will get back to pandering to the blacks when South Carolina comes into play. No one went to Jena because it was an invented controversy .

I strongly recommend the Reverend that he spear-head with his rainbow coalition a 3rd party candidacy. I will even send a donation .

[speechlesstx]

Tom's right, the Dems have taken the black vote for granted. In fact, I believe the "catastrophic crisis that engulfs the African-American community" is that they keep voting for these Democrats that would rather keep them as oppressed "victims" than help them succeed.

[ETWolverine]

First of all, there is no reason for Dems not to take the black vote for granted. For the past 60 years, blacks have consistently voted Democrat by something like 90%. That isn't going to change any time soon. Even if Jesse Jackson were to come out publicly and tell blacks to not vote for the Dems because they are ignoring the black vote, they would STILL vote Democrat.

Second, I had no idea that George Bush's campaign actively tried to suppress the black vote in Florida, Ohio or anywhere else. That seems like a very provocative statement by Jackson. Dems actively tried in court to suppress the military votes in Florida in 2000 (a fact that is a matter of court records and available for public consumption), but we won't go into that now.

As for the idea that Edwards is running on a platform of poverty relief, that is total cr@p. He's running on a platform of racism, trying to split the country down the middle between the haves and have-nots. He's running on a platform of rich vs. poor and black vs. white. He speaks quite openly of "Two Americas", whereas I happen to believe that we are all ONE America, with the haves having a responsibility to help the have-nots... a single family where those who are successful help out those who have not yet reached success. And they do so without the government forcing them to do it. In Edwards' two Americas, those who have will be forced to protect themselves from the have nots as a matter of survival rather than helping them out. The haves will not reach out to the have-nots to help them out, because they will be too busy trying to hide what is left of their money from the government. Edwards' two Americas is a pretty dangerous place to live, both for haves and have-nots.

As for the catastrophic crisis that engulfs the African-American community, I agree that it exists. But when people like Bill Cosby try to show African-Americans how to avert the crisis without relying on government intervention, he gets shouted down by the likes of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and other Balck "leaders" who make a living off perpetuating that crisis.

When the idea of the traditional nuclear family, education, an end to the misogony of the hip-hop culture, an end to drugs and gangs, and embrace of moral and religious values are put on the table as possible ways of averting the crisis of Black America, they are rejected in favor of a culture of victimhood, government intervention, welfare, social engineering, and taxation of everyone else who has made good on the American dream.

So who and what is the cause of the crisis in Black America? And who is trying to avert that crisis, and who is getting rich off it?

Jesse Jakson is the epitome of the pot calling the kettle African American. He is more problem than solution for the Black community.

Elliot