Obama Snubs The State of the Black Union
H/T to Memeorandum for this story:
The annual State of the Black Union forum boasts a number of famous names as it gets under way in New Orleans, but this year’s event is getting much more attention for who won’t be there…..
…..”I think it’s a missed opportunity on Mr. Obama’s part,” Smiley told CNN. “Now, I am not interested in demonizing him for his choice, but I do disagree with it.”
But Smiley’s criticism has also prompted many people to come to Obama’s defense. The talk show host told The Washington Post he has been inundated with angry e-mails and even death threats.
“I have family in Indianapolis. They are harassing my momma, harassing my brother. It’s getting to be crazy,” Smiley told the newspaper.
He will be busy despite Obama’s absence. Some of the nation’s top black activists and politicians attend the State of the Black Union.
Smiley said he picked New Orleans as the 2008 host city to highlight the continued plight of its residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“We owe it to them, those who survived, those who are still struggling to rebuild their lives,” Smiley said. “We owe it to them to raise these issues louder than ever.”
New Orleans continues to battle problems, including crime and lack of affordable housing. Entire communities still lack hospitals or emergency care.
Obama campaigned in the city before he easily won Louisiana’s Democratic primary on February 9, taking 57 percent of the vote.
But at least one Louisiana lawmaker praised Clinton for being there when the region needed help.
“I don’t support people just because they are black,” said Democratic state Rep. Juan LaFonta.
“I support people because they are qualified and committed to issues that affect my constituent base.”
Smiley criticized Obama for not attending, so he is threatened and harrassed, yet blacks worry about Obama’s safety?
Captain Ed feels that all three candidates should have made the time to attend this. I see this as a snub on the part of the Obama Campaign. I see this as him saying that he is black, but let’s not involve ourselves those kind of people.. I am reminded of a fascinating book by Lawrence Otis Graham, Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class .
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February 23, 2008 - 11:23 AM on February 23rd, 2008
In a letter to Smiley earlier this month, Obama commended the forum for addressing important issues, but explained he needed to focus on his presidential run ahead of the critical March 4 primaries.
“In the final stretch, I will be on the campaign trail every day in states like Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin talking directly with voters about the causes that are at the heart of my campaign and the State of the Black Union forum,” Obama wrote.
“That is why, with regret, I am not able to attend the forum.”
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I like Tavis a lot, but he needs to relax here.
Obama is in the fight of his life, he needs to focus on getting every single vote he can get out of Texans and Ohioan’s (sp?).
Obama can do more for the black american cause by winning the democratic nomination than he can be attending some annual convention.
February 23, 2008 - 11:32 AM on February 23rd, 2008
[...] Right Voices wrote an interesting post today on Obama Snubs The State of the Black UnionHere’s a quick excerpt H/T to Memeorandum for this story: The annual State of the Black Union forum boasts a number of famous names as it gets under way in New Orleans, but this year’s event is getting much more attention for who won’t be there:.. :..â€I think it’s a missed opportunity on Mr. Obama’s part,”Smiley told CNN. “Now, I am not interested in demonizing him for his choice, but I do disagree with it.”But Smiley’s criticism has also prompted many people to come to Obama’s defense. The talk show host told T [...]
February 23, 2008 - 11:53 AM on February 23rd, 2008
Which black Americans?
February 23, 2008 - 11:55 AM on February 23rd, 2008
Oh, the 95% of them that will be voting for him.
February 23, 2008 - 12:02 PM on February 23rd, 2008
Let me ask this a different way..How is Obama going to “help” the 95% of the blacks that vote for him? Will he suddenly become black and sypathetic to their causes, or will he remain the black man that doesn’t really relate to black issues kinda candidate..
February 23, 2008 - 12:30 PM on February 23rd, 2008
How is Obama going to “help”the 95% of the blacks that vote for him?
The fact the he is the first viable black candidate has helped al ot of black folks like me. He is the realization of a dream of many of us. He’s made a lot of us believe in the political process even more. That helps!
February 23, 2008 - 12:46 PM on February 23rd, 2008
And for the record, I do like this site and I’m an Obama supporter. No Obamamania over here.
February 23, 2008 - 01:13 PM on February 23rd, 2008
T-Steel, welcome to the site and I am happy to hear your thoughts. We fight alot so the rule of thumb is to give as well as you get. We all try to learn something from each other, and that is what it is all about.
I can totally understand why the black community supports a black candidate. It is well beyond the time in this nation’s history to finally have the opportunity to elect a black POTUS. I don’t like this particular black candidate for the following reasons:
1. His record is far to liberal for my taste. If he were closer to the middle, I would be happier.
2. He has a spotted record and what is there is not too impressive to me.
3. He has distanced himself publically from the black community
4. Does not have a good grasp on the military, nor foreign policy. He is against the war, and doesn’t address the islamic threat this nation faces. He can be against the war, but to not address the problem with the Islamic threat is naive.
I want to qualify what I mean in # 3:
During a debate, he was asked about the effect that illegal immigration has on the black community…He quickly said it was an excuse, but shortly after that, he tried to correct himself. A man from Chicago said it was an excuse? Did construction suddenly become a job that no one wants? The blue collar blacks in Chicago have been losing jobs to illegals. That’s no excuse, that’s a fact!
In all fairness to Obama, he is caught between a rock and a hard place. We need to address racial issues, but no matter how he answers, he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t, but this is the path he chose. There needs to be some frank discussions. He isn’t going to be given a pass in the general election.
February 23, 2008 - 01:26 PM on February 23rd, 2008
Welcome to RV, T-Steel…
Obama 2008!!
February 23, 2008 - 01:27 PM on February 23rd, 2008
“How is Obama going to “help”the 95% of the blacks that vote for him?”
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For starters, he will give them Hope.
That’s no small thing…
February 23, 2008 - 01:43 PM on February 23rd, 2008
There is that stupid word again! Hope for what? The phrase; “You can wish in the one hand and shit in the other” comes to mind. Will an Obama presidency bring the reading, math and science levels up in the black community? Will it stop the black on black crime? Will it stop the welfare dependency? Drug usage? See, that’s what I am hoping for.
February 23, 2008 - 05:43 PM on February 23rd, 2008
Hope…
that if you too are ABANDONED by your black father, and raised by your WHITE mother, you too can become a neophytic opportunist, trading on the mendacity and sheeplike behaviour of “african americans” to vote for your “black” candidate self..
it’s a walking joke….
hope..
spare me
February 23, 2008 - 07:57 PM on February 23rd, 2008
As a person, Obama seems like a likable enough guy. His patriotism and lack of grasp of how his actions in that regard reflect on him nationally and the US internationally is disgraceful.
His (and for that matter all of the worthless group of candidates) policies on illegal immigration will further depress the wages and increase unemployment among the black community. His energy policies will force those members of the black community who have worked their way out of poverty back into it. His healthcare policies are just plain stupid in their naivete and economic unfeasability.
If the black community wants a GOOD person to represent them, they should be looking to Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas, or Colin Powell. These three were not born with silver spoons in their mouthes. They were born poor and worked their way up from the bottom. Instead, their message of work hard, be responsible, study and learn and strive to do your best are greeted with howls and jeers by the same people who are flocking to Obama’s message of you’re a worthless POS who is incapable of making anything of yourself so we’re going to take care of you. THAT folks is the soft bigotry of low expectations. You want to improve conditions for the black community? Teach them to go back to the strong work ethic and family values that they had BEFORE LBJs war on poverty condemned them to a life of it.
This angry white man doesn’t have a problem with blacks, only with those who use it as an excuse to sit back on their asses and not try to improve themselves and their lives.
February 23, 2008 - 10:09 PM on February 23rd, 2008
T-Steel and SFL, how do you spend “Hope” at the grocery store? Oh, I forgot, you Democrats just grab and run.
February 24, 2008 - 07:56 AM on February 24th, 2008
wasn’t william J. billy blowjob already the “first black president”???
what happened to that 8 years of “hope”????
oh, I forgot, he spent the time HOPING the muslim animals would stop attacking us, and HOPING for more head…
February 24, 2008 - 04:42 PM on February 24th, 2008
“Will an Obama presidency bring the reading, math and science levels up in the black community? Will it stop the black on black crime? Will it stop the welfare dependency? Drug usage? See, that’s what I am hoping for.”
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Possibly. (!)
…all those listed and more. Or, at the very least, begin to make Serious Efforts to resolve those issues.
If you knew and/or often talked with people in those communities…you would be singing a different tune about this “hope” thing you and your ideological ilk seem to be just not getting.
February 24, 2008 - 04:44 PM on February 24th, 2008
“T-Steel and SFL, how do you spend “Hope”at the grocery store? Oh, I forgot, you Democrats just grab and run.”
—————–
Ignorance like that is what keeps 95% of blacks and a growing majority of other minorities from voting for “your” guy.
By all means, keep it up.
You just make it that much easier for us in the long run.
(!)
February 24, 2008 - 06:30 PM on February 24th, 2008
16- Not unless he is willing to be unpopular with the unions and some in the black community. I talk to them more than you realize SFL. Some have money, and some don’t, but all want their children to be educated. All want safe environments for their children’s education. All want the violence to stop. All want the excuses to end..IMO, in order for Obama to really make the changes that are necessary within the black community, he needs to risk being called a white. He will be accused of this for demanding more. It may be an unpopular thing to do, but it is a necessary thing to do. The struggle will be long and it may appear hpeless at times, but it will be worth it in the end. We have so much wasted talent sitting within the black community. Too many young people getting caught up in drugs and violence. Teenagers becoming pregant in order to enter the system for which they have no plans to leave. How many doctors, lawyers, scientist or teachers never make it out alive in some of those neighborhoods? They are worth the fight, but they must be pushed to action…
There is my rant for the evening…
February 25, 2008 - 08:08 AM on February 25th, 2008
17, SFL, thanks for admitting you have no answer to my question in #14. You are just as empty as the empty, anti-american suit called Obama.