O'Reilly, Criticism, Blacks

I found this quite interesting. Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly had interesting comments related to what has been happening in Ferguson, Mo.

This is how he was quoted by Media Matters:

O'REILLY: Do we as a society -- what do we do? Do we weigh in as the boy's father -- and if it were my son, I probably would have said same thing, but he's obviously talking through an emotional prism. His son is dead. He believes, probably -- I know he believes -- that it was an injustice, that it was done for nothing, it was a murder. And many, many African Americans believe that without knowing the facts. Do we criticize them, or do we remain silent?

O'Reilly has never really been shy about criticizing black folks. So, it's hard to understand where he's coming from with this one.

President Obama, Dems Are Wrong About Jesse Jackson

Editor's note: This blog will surprise some people who think that I am never critical of Democrats, in general, and President Obama, in particular.

I could not agree more with a particular portion of a column I saw written by Boyce Watkins on Black Voices.

Now, there was a lot to the column written by Watkins, but one part I want to point to was a part where the author discusses how the Rev. Jesse Jackson seems to have become an outcast for some in the administration of President Obama. These days, it's difficult to earn a lot of friends defending Rev. Jackson.

I'm not altogether sure why, but I've been reading and studying more about Rev. Jackson to try and understand him a little more. Currently I am reading a biography on him, and I've listened to several of his speeches, including his 1988 speech at the Democratic National Convention as he had again attempted to run for president.

In 20 years, however, Rev. Jackson has gone from being one of the most important black figures in America to largely marginalized (sadly, even by a large number of Democrats).

I find it disappointing and sad. For a lot of people, Rev. Jackson is associated with the so-called "race card" and is accused of trying to essentially make up racism to profit from it (if you believe far-right commentators like Bill O'Reilly, who I strongly believe has a personal disdain for Rev. Jackson). Still, I had not written about it for some reason. Then, this weekend, I read an article by Watkins in which this excerpt caught my attention.

Making matters worse is the Obama Administration's commitment to continued marginalization of Rev. Jesse Jackson. I am not sure if Jackson was marginalized for his verbal mishap on Fox News two years ago or something else. Either way, Jackson should be brought back into the fold of the administration and appreciated as a significant figure within the African American community. With all due respect to Obama, I am not sure how his conscience can allow him to undermine 40 years of committed service just because Rev. Jackson has become an inconvenience to him. If there is room in White House meetings for unqualified Harvard chums like Elena Kagan and Lawrence Summers, then there must also be room for committed Civil Rights veterans like Jackson, who've put their lives on the line to protect American freedoms.

For the record, here is the "mishap" that Watkins mentioned.

That aside, Rev. Jackson has meant too much to the black community to be kicked aside as has been done by Democrats. I don't agree with Watkins that Elena Kagan is unqualified, but he is entitled to his opinion. But I do think Watkins has a great point about the White House wrongly turning its back on Rev. Jackson, who is a good man and who has done so much for the good of people of all races.

I echo Watkins' call for the Obama Administration to bring Rev. Jackson into the fold. However, I do not plan to hold my breath until it happens. These days, Rev. Jackson is not too popular and is seen by some Democrats as political poison. That is sad and perhaps shows Democrats are not strong enough to stand up against that kind of B.S.

Republicans can stand up for Rand Paul, but Democrats will not stand up for Rev. Jesse Jackson. That is sad.

A good man, and Rev. Jesse Jackson is, is being treated like yesterday's news by a new age of people who fail to appreciate his outstanding contributions to society and are instead paralyzed by fear of how Rev. Jackson is perceived by conservative haters.

Black Voices:
http://www.bvonmoney.com/2010/05/22/jesse-jackson-aiyana-jones/

Black Tea Party Activist Is Living Foul With Ridiculous Attack On Rep. John Lewis, A Civil Rights Hero

Kevin Jackson, one of a few black people who attend and are sort of designated to defend the Tea Party activists against charges of racism, had some interesting words to say about Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon. Rep. Lewis, a man who fought so that people like Jackson could have the right to go on a far-right television network and smear him, has rock solid credibility on any number of levels. Jackson, however, used his appearance on Bill O'Reilly's right-wing program as a platform to launch an attack on Rep. Lewis using out-of-context comments as his weapon of choice.

Below is a transcript from Jackson's segment on The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, Wednesday, March 31:

O'REILLY: "Personal Story" segment tonight, the far left is making a big deal out of the Tea Party movement being almost all white, implying it's a racist situation. Joining us now from St. Louis, Kevin Jackson, Tea Party member and the author of the book "The Big Black Lie." So, Mr. Jackson, how long have you been associated with the Tea Party and why did you get involved?

JACKSON: I emceed the first Tea Party in St. Louis on April 15, the Tax Day Tea Party of last year, and for a lot of the reasons that other Tea Party people got involved – tired of runaway government and, you know, seems like the government’s gone wild. So I decided I’d get involved and have appeared at approximately 80 since then headlining most of them and just found these people to be the salt of the earth.

O'REILLY: Now, are you a conservative man?

JACKSON: I am indeed conservative.

O'REILLY: Okay, so your conservative principles of smaller government, less government intrusion led you to the Tea Party.

JACKSON: Absolutely.

O'REILLY: Why don't we see more Africans-Americans at the rallies?

JACKSON: Well, there are more, but, you know, black people in general do not go, we're not really politically charged. I think Obama was able to bring a little bit more of that out. But we're not rally types to begin with.

O'REILLY: Well, we see the 20,000 show up for Farrakhan in Chicago.

JACKSON: Well, with Farrakhan, it's probably a different dynamic. But I think, as a rule, we're not really the type to go out and rally for things such as this, even though in many cases we believe a lot of the same principles. I mean, when you look at things like the Department of Energy who’s got 16,000 employees, was supposed to be set up in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, half a trillion dollars later we’re no less dependent on foreign oil. I mean, people want to see where their money is being spent. And that's blacks as well.

O'REILLY: Okay, now obviously you know the controversy. There have been a number of commentators that have called the Tea Party people racists, branded them, you know, a white power organization or whatever you want to call it. So you hear that and you say what?

JACKSON: I say it's completely bogus. There’s been zero racial incidents at a Tea Party with me. And as I said, I’ve been to dozens. I’ll be speaking with a Tea Party express at a few here coming up, and I’ll be headlining a couple of Tea Parties in Houston. And I can tell you, I'm looking forward to going. And I look at it as the left is just trying to demonize a movement that, quite frankly, I consider the re-emancipation of America. I call it "Emancipation II." This time everybody gets freed.

O'REILLY: Now, do they pay you to go to these rallies? Do you get paid by the Tea Party?

JACKSON: More recently, I'm getting paid because I obviously I’ve sort of cut my teeth on them. But at the beginning, the majority of the Tea Party rallies, I was not getting paid.

O'REILLY: All right. Now, so they hire a bunch of speakers. We know Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck and, you know, big names like that have come in, and so a cynic might say hey, they bought Mr. Jackson. I'm not saying that because I think you’re a sincere man. I wouldn't put you on the air. But you know the charges that are being thrown around here. The Tea Party, for whatever reason, has angered, angered the far left in this country more than anything that I’ve recently seen except for Fox News Channel. I think we’re probably the only ones that anger them more. And so there’s a lot of stuff flying around.

JACKSON: Well, the reason for the anger is like I said, you’ve got the Congressional Black Caucus who’s now the new hit man for the Democrat Party who says that the Tea Party is racist. Yet, I would defy you to find any of them that have ever been to a Tea Party. You’ve got John Lewis who says-

O'REILLY: No, but they say that they got assaulted verbally when they came into the Capitol for the health care vote. That really lit the fuse on this latest thing.

JACKSON: Well, it's interesting to me that the symbology of what happened where you’ve got this very wealthy white lady leading a group of black, you know, men up to the thing with her gavel in her hand. It would have been more symbolic had she had a whip. And as far as John Lewis's credibility is concerned, this is a man that said about McCain on October 11 of 2008, that McCain was the equivalent of a racist Democrat Governor George Wallace who would keep blacks out of school. So I find a lot of the comments and things very disingenuous and very one-sided with respect to what they’re trying to accomplish by demonizing the Tea Party movement. But, in the same sense, they’re scaring black people off of something that none of them have ever been to. These guys have not been to Tea Parties, yet they’re willing to say Tea Parties are racist. Well, how about you come to one?

O'REILLY: All right, Mr. Jackson, we appreciate it very much. Thank you.

I will take a few of these points in order (since I don't want to waste too much time talking about Kevin Jackson). He says that there have been zero instances of racial incidents at Tea Party gatherings. Just because he has not been involved in any does not mean it has not happened or that the racism does not exist. It also does not mean that all people who attend the Tea Party events are racist (contrary to what right wingers like O'Reilly would like you to believe that liberals are charging).

Now, the attack on Rep. Lewis is reprehensible.

First, lets reexamine the context of what Rep. Lewis actually said.

“What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse,” Lewis said in a statement.

“George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights.

Rep. Lewis was not implying that Sen. John McCain or former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin were segregationists or a racists (contrary to what Jackson would like people to believe with his out-of-context summary). Rep. Lewis was talking about the climate of hostility he felt was being revved up at McCain-Palin campaign rallies where a lot of hateful and sometimes borderline violent rhetoric was being used to attack and demonize then presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Jackson purposely took Rep. Lewis's comments out of context to try and win favor with the Fox News conservative audience.

Notice that Bill O'Reilly allowed Jackson to get away with it, completely unchallenged.

It was disgraceful and reprehensible.

My fellow blogger, Field Negro, had it right when he labeled Kevin Jackson as "House Negro of the Day" for his words and actions:

(KEVIN JACKSON) NOT BECAUSE YOU ARE THE NEGRO OF THE MOMENT WITH THE TEA PARTY FOLKS. BUT BECAUSE YOU HAD THE NERVE TO DISRESPECT JOHN LEWIS ON NATIONAL TELEVISON. A MAN WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR YOUR BLACK ASS TO GET PAID WHILE YOU PIMP YOUR WINGNUT FRIENDS.

Too bad Jackson will never understand.

Today, At Ferris State University, We Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today, as a campus community here at Ferris State University and around the nation and the world, we celebrate Martin Luther King Day.

MLK Day is not just a day off of work or school. It is, and should be, far more than just another day off of work or school.

Today, is a day we remember and continue to never forget the great sacrifices that Dr. King made to allow so many of us, today, to enjoy freedoms he never had the privilege to fully enjoy during the far-too-few 39 years he lived. Many of us were born with these freedoms and did not have to fight for these freedoms. Indeed, for so many of us, it's easy to take so much of what we have for granted and not appreciate the sacrifices of Dr. King, and countless others, who battled through the painful and deadly days of the modern Civil Rights Era in the United States of America.

The above quote was important to me because it emphasizes that the fight Dr. King and others waged was no easy one - it's was never promised to be easy.

It was, in fact, a deadly fight. Still, Dr. King and others battled against the threats and acts of violence and intimidation.

Dr. King believed in the deep-rooted goodness of his enemies even when his enemies saw nothing but the worst in him and what they believe he represented:

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King chose to love his enemies and to did his best to work with those who both loved and hated him to make the world a better place for people of all genders and races.

Indeed, Dr. King made the ultimate sacrifice as he paid with his life when he was struck down by an assassin's bullet on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. As a result of his sacrifice, and all that he did as he lived, it is important that today we continue to fight to live up to his Dream.

Here is an excerpt from Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech:

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

Dr. King's Dream still lives, and we must continue to work toward the goals of that vision. The progress we've made, since his death in 1968 is tremendous, but the work is not finished.

Take time out of your schedule this week to attend events related to Ferris State University's 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. If you're outside of Big Rapids, find a place where Dr. King's life and Dream are being celebrated or research on your own about his messages to better understood what he stood for, lived for, fought for, sacrificed for and died for.

In closing, here again is the list of this year's 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration activities on the Ferris State University campus:

MONDAY-January 18th 2010

Tunnel of Oppression Exhibit 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Rankin Student Center Rooms 153 & 155
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Jim Crow Era Videos 11 a.m. to 2p.m.
Rankin Student Center Atrium/Art Gallery
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

MLK Faculty & Staff In-Service 10 a.m. to12 p.m.
Rankin Student Center Founder's Room 238

OMSS Annual MLK Freedom March 3 p.m.
Merrill/Travis Residence Hall to Rankin Lobby
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

OMSS Annual Student Tribute 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Rankin Student Center Dome Room
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

TUESDAY-January 19th 2010

Tunnel of Oppression Exhibit 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Rankin Student Center Rooms 153 & 155
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Jim Crow Era Videos 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Rankin Student Center Atrium/Art Gallery
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Privilege Activity: Breaking Down Barriers 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
University Recreation Center
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

MLK Celebration featured Speaker:
Dr. David Pilgrim 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
IRC Auditorium 120
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

WEDNESDAY-January 20th 2010

Tunnel of Oppression Exhibit 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Rankin Student Center Rooms 153 & 155
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Jim Crow Era Videos 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Rankin Student Center Atrium/Art Gallery
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

MLK Celebration featured Presentation & 5-Star Event: The N*W*C* Show 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Williams Auditorium
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

THURSDAY-January 21st 2010

Tunnel of Oppression Exhibit 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Rankin Student Center Rooms 153 & 155
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Privilege Activity: The N*W*C* Show Reactions/Hateful Words
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. University Recreation Center
FREE and OPEN TO STUDENTS

MLK Legacy Dinner 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Rankin Student Center Dome Room
INVITATION ONLY

For information about all events, please contact the Office of Multicultural Student Services at (231) 591-2617.
Co-sponsors include:
Office of the President
Diversity & Inclusion Office
Office of Multicultural Student Services
V.P. of Student Affairs
V.P. for Administration and Finance
V.P. University Advancement and Marketing
Admissions & Records
Entertainment Unlimited
Office of Equal Opportunity and Governmental Relations
and General Counsel
College of Arts & Sciences
Student Government
Political Engagement Project
Williams Auditorium
Residence Life
Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning
Student Leadership & Activities
The Finance Division of Student Government
and the 2010 MLK Celebration Planning Committee.

Clarence Thomas Reminds Us Of The Pain Of Losing Thurgood Marshall

The more I think about it, it’s sad to think that someone who has done so little for civil rights (Clarence Thomas) replaced someone so great (Thurgood Marshall) who did so much for civil rights. It’s almost unforgivable that George H.W. Bush, in 1991, nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court to replace one of the important figures in black history, Thurgood Marshall.

Here is a lengthy excerpt from Wikipedia:

Marshall won his very first U.S. Supreme Court case, Chambers v. Florida, 309 U.S. 227 (1940), at the age of 32. That same year, he was appointed Chief Counsel for the NAACP. He argued many other cases before the Supreme Court, most of them successfully, including Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649 (1944); Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948); Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950); and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 U.S. 637 (1950). His most famous case as a lawyer was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), the case in which the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” public education was unconstitutional because it could never be truly equal. In total, Marshall won 29 out of the 32 cases he argued before the Supreme Court.

During the 1950s, Thurgood Marshall developed a friendly relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 1956, for example, he privately praised Hoover’s campaign to discredit T.R.M. Howard, a maverick civil rights leader from Mississippi. During a national speaking tour, Howard had criticized the FBI’s failure to seriously investigate cases such as the 1955 killers of George W. Lee and Emmett Till. An FBI informant reported that Marshall had “no use for Howard and nothing would please him more than to see Howard completely crushed.” Ironically, two years earlier Howard had arranged for Marshall to deliver a well-received speech at a rally of his Regional Council of Negro Leadership in Mound Bayou, Mississippi only days before the Brown decision. ^[4]

President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1961. A group of Democratic Party Senators led by Mississippi’s James Eastland held up his confirmation, so he served for the first several months under a recess appointment. Marshall remained on that court until 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him Solicitor General.

On June 13, 1967, President Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Tom C. Clark, saying that this was “the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place.” Marshall was confirmed as an Associate Justice by a Senate vote of 69-11 on August 31, 1967.^[5] He was the 96th person to hold the position, and the first African-American.

Meanwhile, Thomas fought against civil rights and continues to fight against civil rights.

From The Daily Voice:

In an 8-1 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Justice Clarence Thomas cast the lone vote against a key provision of the Voting Rights Act on Monday (June 22).

The Court, in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder (PDF link) declined to overturn the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has often been challenged by conservative critics as unnecessary. Instead it avoided the “difficult” question about the constitutionality of the law. But the Court did allow a tiny Texas municipality to be exempted from a requirement to provide advance notice before making changes to its election procedures.

In his dissent, Thomas seemed to argue that the Voting Rights Act is no longer necessary because the explicit racial segregation of the Jim Crow era is gone.

”The violence, intimidation and subterfuge that led Congress to pass Section 5 and this court to uphold it no longer remains,” Thomas wrote. He admitted that in 1965, “Congress had every reason to conclude that States with a history of disenfranchising voters based on race would continue to do all they could to evade the constitutional ban on voting discrimination.” But, Thomas added, “The extensive pattern of discrimination that led the Court to previously uphold Section 5 . . . no longer exists…And the days of ‘grandfather clauses, property qualifications, ‘good character’ tests, and the requirement that registrants ‘understand’ or ‘interpret’ certain matter,’ are gone.”

Some things change, but other things remain the same.

It hurts to think this man replaced the great Thurgood Marshall.

Field Negro Takes On Clarence Thomas

I would encourage readers to check out one of my favorite blogs on the Web, Field Negro. In one blog I just took an opportunity to read, Field takes on Clarence Thomas for yet another inexplicable slap in the face to black people.

Here is an excerpt:

Some sister must have really done Clarence wrong back in the day, because that Negro seriously hates his people. I bet he vowed to get the entire Negro race back for those black folks who dissed him in his early life.

Honestly, how could Uncle Clarence be the only one of the Supremes to vote against not scrapping a certain provision of the Voting Rights Act? (He even went against his closet lover, Antonin Scalia, on this one) A provision which pretty much insured that certain states would not be messing with the civil rights of minority voters? Has this Negro taken leave of his senses? Does he just do this kind of shit to get attention? Folks, believe me, in spite of what some folks in certain states would have you believe, that provision is still needed today. Those pesky little literacy tests could come back faster than you can say Jig Clarence, Jig.

Field Negro:
http://field-negro.blogspot.com/2009/06/most-dangerous-negro-in-merry-ca.html