Leadership in the Black community
I found your recent article dealing with black leadership and their fear of losing “their voice” to be remarkable on many levels. As a former school board member in Colorado Springs District I would like to encourage the black constituency out there to not worry so much about who represents you but how they represent you.
For decades the black leadership in this country has been monolithic in its support for the Democrat Party despite that Party’s destructive track record when it comes to issues impacting the black community. In no other instance is this more the case then public education. Here the Democrat Party and their union masters’ track record is so abhorrent and undeniable that it simply begs the question: Why do you have such fidelity to such a ruinous ideology? In my school district 7% of black children are proficient in math while less than 50% graduate. Of those who do graduate most will be functionally illiterate. When myself and other reform minded members of the board, including the only black member (a Republican), tried to change the failed status quo by implementing things like rigorous curriculum, merit pay for teachers and school choice, we were viscously attacked by the teacher unions and their left-wing allies who spent millions of dollars to kill any hope for these students. Where was the “black leadership” in all of this?
They were right there to carry the union’s water for them making sure that nothing changed.
The problems facing blacks today stem from the breakdown of the family (70% of black children are born out of wedlock) and the failed K-12 public education system which is more interested in maintaining the system then it is in educating students. The problem with black leadership is not how many leaders there are at various levels of government but their unquestioning affection for a Democrat Party that has destroyed both of these institutions resulting in millions of lives being destroyed.
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Eric,
This is what the current GOP candidates who support the NAACP (black community) look like.
There's only one....the caveat being as long as they are American citizens.
http://jeffrey-feldman.typepad.com/frameshop/2007/07/frameshop-a-p-1.html
Take a good hard look at what party has suppressed the black vote either by 'removing' them from the voter rolls or keeping felons from voting. You cannot tell me that how the then republicans in charge and the idiot in chief reacted to both Katrina and Rita won the hearts and minds for the black population in this country.
There are many issues that hinder a childs performance in school and in life no matter what color, but to blame a political party who in reality has done more for civil rights and the advancement of all people while ignoring your own party who sets about destroying those less fortunate really shows how blind you are to what is really going on around you.
Michelle, given the antipathy the NCAAP has shown towards the GOP why bother showing up? This political organization is owned lock, stock and barrel by the Democrats and it shows no signs of changing anytime soon. Kudos to Tancredo for showing up.
The idiot you linked to is a partisan hack. He might try asking why the Democrats refused to appear on a BLACK CAUCUS sponsored Democratic party debate that was to be held on Fox News. But he won't because it doesn't fit his template. They were afraid of Fox News. But the Dems dissed the Congressional Black Caucus in the process.
The GOP did appear on a debate held on the anti - GOP MSNBC where they had to field a myriad of loopy questions like "what do you most dislike about America?" or "What is the biggest mistake President Bush has made?"
The GOP is not afraid to actually discuss the real issues. The Dems are afraid of facing tough questions about their policy views on terrorism, the war, etc.
You want to talk about voter fraud? Try Chicago and the Democrat Daley political machine going back decades. It is so ingrained, that it's become a local joke. This is not to say that voter fraud doesn't occur today but to absolve the Dems and claim it as exclusively a GOP perpetuated issue is dishonest if not delusional.
As for Katrina, the state and local Democrat leadership in Louisiana and New Orleans should shoulder every bit as much blame as the lame FEMA response for failing the citizens of New Orleans. The governor failed to ask for federal help even after she was told that is the procedure that must happen. The mayor's performance was even more dismal. Ray Nagin is black and seems to escape much of the blame for the disaster that befell his city. Why is that?
I'm not defending FEMA but that was a bureaucracy failure and yes, it happened on Bush's watch. He should be held responsible but to lay the entire fiasco of Katrina on Bush is laughable. I'm not a fan of Bush/Cheney, in case you're wondering.
You really need to research civil rights and if you do, you will find that the GOP has done far more than the lip service that the Democrats have paid it for generations. Somehow, I doubt you will. Here's a clue - check into how John and Bobby Kennedy felt about MLK and what they did.
Posted by RU Serious on July 14, 2007 08:29 PMRU Serious,
I will be more than happy to look into what you have posted. I do find it interesting that you have no linkees to your claim on JFK, MLK and Bobby Kennedy or even this GOP debate on MSNBC, nothing pops up when googling.....
How about this, how about we talk about what is/has been going on recently.
You want to debate about Katrina this is what it boils down to: A NATURAL DISASTER OVERWHELMS THE LOCALITY AND THEREFORE BECOMES FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY.
Katrina was a national emergency and a national failure.
An overwhelming amount of poor/disadvantaged people (ie people of color) lost their lives and their beings because of what happened. Can we blame Bush for the hurricane, no. We can blame him for the response or lack thereof.
In the dimwits own words:
Four years after the frightening experience of September the 11th, Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency. When the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, I, as President, am responsible for the problem, and for the solution.
paragraph 31 for those who can't read the whole thing
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050915-8.html
then read this.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050915-8.html
yep, pretty much says it all right there. If your not white and rich and donating (of course) to the GOP you mean nothing, because you, well, your nothing to the Bush administration.
Please site links to where the GOP "has done far more than the lip service that the Democrats have paid it for generations" I am willing to reevaluate my thoughts, but I really doubt there is enough evidence......
Posted by Michelle on July 15, 2007 01:48 AMSo, Michelle, you are saying that placing a link to a blog that has a few pictures with comments under it makes it credible??
Where are your credible links. I recall the incident and unlike the bloggers statements, the news media did carry this story, but it was not given the level of attention some people believe it should have.
But I notice your attempt to sway the focus away from the original topic....education.
The writer makes a very good point...there is a vacuum of leadership in the black community and the Democrats are not getting the job done. This is not to say the Republicans have done anything either.
The problem resides within the black community. Save your phony, politically slanted blog links for the uniformed. If you really want to contribute something worthwhile, then stay off those blog sites and go into your school districts and see for yourself why the black community (as a whole) is not benefiting from America's Education System, a system bought and paid by the Democratic political machine and Americas Education Unions.
Don't you find it ironic that the Democrats have had control of the educational system through the unions since the late sixties, but the schools have continued to decline for the last 40 years.
Neither political party has an answer to this problem as it resides with you, the public. I would suggest that you get into your schools get to know the students, parent and teachers and you will see the real truth.
nice job of typing from the sand pile michelle. how far down is your head? the GOP debate on MSNBC was big news for a long time because of the stupid questions the leaders of msnbc asked. the best one was what do you dislike the most about America.
Posted by on July 15, 2007 07:19 AMPublic Education is and has been in a swamp of ineptitude since the government decided all children must be educated en masss through a system designed around the lowest common denominator. It was inevitable that would become swamp bound because children are as different as snowflakes and no one criterion fits all their needs. That said, the blame for the failure of public education to get out of that swamp lays within political power's ignorance of what makes an educational system work.
It is axiomatic that anytime any system becomes absorbed by the confussion and incompetence of governmental bureaucratic regulation it is doomed to fail. The only answer is a system wherein the teachers and the students educate each other as to what system will produce the best good. That is not to say, students should decide what they want to learn or not learn. Teachers need to learn how to teach the individual within the body of students thereby creating a workable and adjustable model that can fit the need of any student.
And no matter what anyone says,education does not create a 70% unwed mother rate. The lack of education does.
Posted by Allen Campbell on July 15, 2007 07:41 AMMichelle is right when she says that you Republicans are trying to suppress the Black vote by"Keeping felons from voting". In the Democrat party we believe that most criminals are Black and therefore if we let felons vote we can win more elections.Blacks vote 90% of the time for us.Also we are sure we will get at least 90% of the murder,rapist,people that have been convicted of having sex with children, vote.These people have values more like the Democrat Party.LET THEM VOTE!!!!!
Posted by True on July 15, 2007 10:49 AMNew Orleans was not the only state that got hit by Katrina.It's Mayor and Governor have alot to do with what happened afterwards.
Yes,major mistakes were made,yes the response of FEMA was slow.
One thing that I've noticed is the people of Other areas of Louisanna and ,Mississippi,did one thing the people of New Orleans didn't .
They started to clean up and rebuild or moved. They started taking control of what happened to their homes and rolled up their sleeves and got to work.I didn't hear alot of complaining from other people that were affected by the hurricanes.
What we did hear is the mayor and the people of the chocolate city sit on their asses and wait for the government to come in and do the work. Their is so much work there now and the people who live their wait for their government checks instead of working to rebuild. They are bringing thousands of workers from outside the area to do the jobs that the people of New Orleans don't want to do.
Instead they sit around in their Fema trailers complaining about the government not doing enough to help them.They have gangs that are back in business and shootings everyday.
I watched in horror as they people were stranded on the bridge and in the horrible conditions in the Astrodome,but their mayor told them to go there. He didn't let buses evacuate people without transportation.I also saw the looting and shooting at Coast Guard Helicopters who worked day and night to rescue people who had at least 4 days notice that this hurricane was coming.
The people of New Orleans and their chocolate city mayor are now responsible for their own lives. Someone needs to tell them to get off their asses and work.Stop sitting around complaining about where the government money is. Also they should be asking all the Hollywood Liberals that raised millions of dollars where that money went.
Houston took alot of people under their wing and tried to help them. Now they have a souring crime rate being committed by Katrina people who went to Houston.
Let's start looking at what really is going on and stop playing the race card.
Black people should be representing themselves and working to bring themselves up,not waiting for the government.
Eliminate the National Education Association, and give all school control to the locals, and most things will improve.
Teach all children respect for their elders, and much more will improve.
Eliminate 1 parent households by eliminating their causes, and you will be surprised at how many problems of society disappear and thus education will improve.
Posted by Jay on July 16, 2007 12:58 PM"Can I get an AMEN!" is an idiot. Not only is he wholly wrong about the details of what occurred during Katrina but he is wrong about the recovery as well.
I was on the MS coast last week ( July 26th, 07 ) and it's still in ruins. There are entire stretches where the houses are just GONE. Few have even bothered rebuilding. Bay Saint Louis is a shell of what is used to be.
Take a ride to Pearlington and tell me that MS is "back".
"Can I get an AMEN!" is simply a hater and a closet racist.
Posted by on July 26, 2007 12:46 AM"Can I get an AMEN!" is an idiot. Not only is he wholly wrong about the details of what occurred during Katrina but he is wrong about the recovery as well.
I was on the MS coast last week ( July 26th, 07 ) and it's still in ruins. There are entire stretches where the houses are just GONE. Few have even bothered rebuilding. Bay Saint Louis is a shell of what is used to be.
Take a ride to Pearlington and tell me that MS is "back".
"Can I get an AMEN!" is simply a hater and a closet racist.
Posted by nolalocal on July 26, 2007 12:46 AM