Black Extremists Protest President Obama; Some Conservatives Label Them ‘Leftists’

Originally, as I heard the story of a group of 200 black protestors marching on the White House, my sense of interested became elevated. Contrary to popular belief, not all black people like President Obama (as you will see below). Perhaps naturally, I wanted to learn a little more about the topic to try and understand the motives of these protestors. It was at that point I saw an Associated Press story that described the protestors as seeing President Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States of America, as “white power in black face.” So, like a good number of people, I shook my head in disappointment. I was not shocked, but I was fairly disappointed with such a march (even though there are marches of all kinds that take place in Washington D.C.) as the one that took place on Saturday.

This group views the president as largely continuing policies it deems to be “imperialist” by nature and symbolic of the way this group seems to view the United States of America.

Here is one quote (of many) that grabs attention from the story:

“We recognize that Barack Hussein Obama is white power in black face,” civil rights activist Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the Black is Back coalition which arranged the protest, called into a megaphone as the group marched outside the mansion’s gates.

“He is a tool of our imperialist enemies and we demand our freedom. And we demand that Obama withdraw all the troops from Afghanistan right now.”

The story goes on to talk about how protestors want the president to pull troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan (among other issues members of this group were upset about). Now, these individuals representing extremist groups are entitled to their Constitutionally-protected opinion, but they are not entitled to our approval.

Here is another passage that is amazing:

Charles Baron, a New York city councilman and former member of the Black Panthers, a Black Power movement in the mid-1960s and 1970s, attacked the president for turning a cold shoulder to the plight of African-Americans.

“We’re not satisfied with him, and… this hope and change rap has not been a reality for black people,” Baron told AFP during the demonstration.

“We are glad that Barack Obama broke up the white male monopoly on the White House, but we were not looking for a change in the occupant of the White House from white to black, we were looking for change in foreign policies and domestic policies,” he added.

“To have a black person exploiting me just like a white person, that’s no easier pain.”

Wow, that is enough to make you want to shake your head and wonder what if anything could possibly satisfy some people.

So, what about the reaction of some people who read this story (people who might have had a different take on the issue). So, I stumbled upon this headline from the blog Booker Rising:

Black Leftist Protesters: “Obama Is White Power In Blackface”

So, again, I became curious. By the way, we should be cautious with those kinds of labels.

The blog entry starts off with this passage:

Decrying U.S. President Barack Obama as “white power in blackface,” hundreds of leftist African-Americans marched on the White House today to protest policies of America’s first black president, and demand that he bring U.S. troops home (hat tip: Robert Oliver). More than 200 people gathered for the first public demonstration by African-Americans against the Obama administration since his historic inauguration in January, and slammed the president for continuing what they described as Washington, D.C’s “imperialist” agenda around the world.

In the words of the ESPN Monday Night NFL Countdown crew, “C’mon, man!”

This is not about left or right. Is a Ku Klux Klan march or a neo-Nazi rally automatically symbolic of right-wing values (because they may share some basic beliefs)? Of course not. I realize there are some who want to desperately show that not all black people love President Obama, but this was the wrong case at the wrong time to make such a disappointing statement.

Is Fox As Concerned With Murdered Doctor As It Is With Black Panthers?

Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who performs abortions, was murdered in a Kansas church on Sunday where he was serving as an usher.

Here is an excerpt from a story on the Fox News Web site:

Fox News has been going nuts about an isolated case that involves three members of the New Black Panther Party allegedly intimidating voters at a polling place. Based on the racial angle, it’s obvious to me why Fox News would focus on such a story.

WICHITA, Kan. — Dr. George Tiller, who remained one of the nation’s few providers of late-term abortions despite decades of protests and attacks, was shot and killed Sunday in a church where he was serving as an usher.

The gunman fled, but a 51-year-old suspect was arrested some 170 miles away in suburban Kansas City three hours after the shooting, Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said.

Here is an excerpt from the story posted on the Fox News Web site:

Charges brought against three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense under the Bush administration have been dropped by the Obama Justice Department, FOX News has learned.

The charges stemmed from an incident at a Philadelphia polling place on Election Day 2008 when three members of the party were accused of trying to threaten voters and block poll and campaign workers by the threat of force — one even brandishing what prosecutors call a deadly weapon.

The three black panthers, Minister King Samir Shabazz, Malik Zulu Shabazz and Jerry Jackson were charged in a civil complaint in the final days of the Bush administration with violating the voter rights act by using coercion, threats and intimidation. Shabazz allegedly held a nightstick or baton that prosecutors said he pointed at people and menacingly tapped it. Prosecutors also say he “supports racially motivated violence against non-blacks and Jews.”

I wonder if Fox Nation and Fox News will be as outraged about a doctor being murdered at church for doing a job as it is about three thugs at a polling place. We’ll see how the outrage over this murder matches other outrage over far less significant issues.

I don’t condone either, but if there is outrage about these three Black Panthers then even the far right should be going nuts about a doctor murdered in church forhelping women exercise their constitutional rights.

There is no justification for this cold-blooded murder.

Fox News (Dr. Tiller’s murder):
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523581,00.html

Fox News (Black Panthers):
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/05/29/charges-black-panthers-dropped-obama/

Fox News, Washington Times Highlight Black Panther Voter Intimidation, But What About The Reverse?

I was reading an editorial from the Washington Times (reported on the Fox News Web site) about alleged voter intimidation on the part of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense. Now, it’s blind-as-a-bat obvious why Fox News would highlight such an editorial (it attempts to paint President Obama and his administration in a negative light, it highlights black extremists and it attempts to frighten white conservatives). It’s very likely this is the same reason the Washington Times, a very conservative-leaning newspaper, also would run such an editorial. Trust me. You do not have to read too deep into the editorial to see the strong right-wing lean of the paper (or, at the very least, its editorial board).

Now, that being said … I do not in any way, shape or form condone acts of voter intimidation or acts to purposely and unfairly disenfranchise voters. I didn’t like it when it happened in Florida and elsewhere in 2000, either. However, it’s difficult to respect the Washington Times editorial since it flat out poo-poos voter intimidation and voter disenfranchisement in Florida in 2000 (as one example) and throws a fit about the Black Panthers.

The editorial would have far more credibility if it did not go out of its way to blow off all the people who were blown off in Florida in 2000 (including thousands who were inaccurately labeled as criminals and were not allowed to vote). Voting intimidation is wrong … whether it favors Democrats or Republicans.

Lets balance it out.

Consider this (as just one small example from the Web site Project Vote):

The most flagrant example of voter intimidation is the commission of violence, or the threat of violence, against a particular group of voters. Polling places in low-income, minority, and heavily Democratic areas may be targeted for vandalism or destruction, causing both psychological and physical impediments to voting. Voters are also intimidated when they are informed falsely that, for example, they will be arrested at the polling place if they owe child support or have outstanding parking tickets.

Economic voter intimidation also exists, where an employer or supervisor threatens a person’s job if he votes for a particular candidate or party against the wishes of the company or union. Former felons suffer intimidation when they are told that they are ineligible to vote when they are eligible or banning non-felons due to record-keeping errors. Conversely, in Florida during the 2000 presidential election, almost 20,000 people with names similar to felons were disenfranchised when an error-ridden list of “felons” was used to bar them from voting. In the 2004 presidential election, voters received phone calls with false information about changes in voting locations or misinforming them that they should vote on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

Here is another example from Project Vote:

The 2008 presidential election was one of the most competitive elections in our history, which led to many instances of voter intimidation. For example:

• In October 2008, the ACLU of New Mexico and Project Vote filed a lawsuit charging a Republican New Mexico State Representative and a private investigator with voter intimidation and invasion of privacy. Newly-registered minority voters were declared in a press conference by the NM State Representative to have fraudulently voted in the state primary elections. A private investigator was later hired by a party official to go to the homes of these voters and interrogate them about their citizenship status.
• After a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, supporters of Barack Obama went to a nearby early voting center, where they were heckled and harassed by a group of protesters as they went in to vote. Nearly all of the early voters were black, and nearly all of the protesters were white.
• In Virginia, students at Virginia Tech were told that if they registered to vote in Virginia, it could affect their scholarship or tax dependency status and would obligate them to change their car registration and driver’s license to their permanent address.
• Finally, a poll worker in Dearborn, Michigan was perceived to be intimidating Muslim Americans, of which Dearborn has a large concentration. Two Michigan precincts also reported the presence of police scanning the long lines for voters with outstanding warrants, with one person being arrested.

It happens all the time, but Fox News and the Washington Times should be more consistent and balanced in coverage and opinion

Fox News:
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/05/29/obama_new_black_panthers_voter_intimidation/

Washington Times:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/29/protecting-black-panthers/

Project Vote:
http://www.projectvote.org/voter-intimidation.html