RACISM in the US Congress

Politics International Politics
1

Here it is, 2007 and still the ugly face of racism is allowed, condoned at the highest level, in the US government.

[quote]Black Caucus: Whites Not Allowed
By: Josephine Hearn, January 23, 2007 12:32 PM EST

As a white liberal running in a majority African American district, Tennessee Democrat Stephen I. Cohen made a novel pledge on the campaign trail last year: If elected, he would seek to become the first white member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Now that he’s a freshman in Congress, Cohen has changed his plans. He said he has dropped his bid after several current and former caucus members made it clear to him that whites need not apply.

“I think they’re real happy I’m not going to join,” said Cohen, who succeeded Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., in the Memphis district. “It’s their caucus and they do things their way. You don’t force your way in. You need to be invited.”

Cohen said he became convinced that joining the caucus would be “a social faux pas” after seeing news reports that former Rep. William Lacy Clay Sr., D-Mo., a co-founder of the caucus, had circulated a memo telling members it was “critical” that the group remain “exclusively African-American.”

Other members, including the new chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., and Clay’s son, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., agreed.

“Mr. Cohen asked for admission, and he got his answer. … It’s time to move on,” the younger Clay said. “It’s an unwritten rule. It’s understood. It’s clear.”

The bylaws of the caucus do not make race a prerequisite for membership, a House aide said, but no non-black member has ever joined.

Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who is white, tried in 1975 when he was a sophomore representative and the group was only six years old.

“Half my Democratic constituents were African American. I felt we had interests in common as far as helping people in poverty,” Stark said. “They had a vote, and I lost. They said the issue was that I was white, and they felt it was important that the group be limited to African Americans.”

Cohen remains hopeful, though, that he can forge relationships with black members in other ways.

“When I saw the reticence, I didn’t want anyone to misunderstand my motives. Politically, it was the right thing to do,” he said. “There are other ways to gain fellowship with people I respect.”

Cohen won his seat in the 60 percent black district as the only white candidate in a crowded primary field. If he faces a primary challenge next year from a black candidate, as expected, some Black Caucus members may work to defeat him.

A similar situation arose in 2004 after redistricting added more black voters to the Houston district of former Rep. Chris Bell, D-Texas.

Although House tradition discourages members of the same party from working against each other, about a dozen black lawmakers contributed to Bell’s opponent, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, the eventual victor. Even Bell’s Houston neighbor, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, campaigned against him.

One black member who criticized his colleagues for sandbagging Bell was Cohen’s predecessor, Harold Ford.

“You have an incumbent, and you don’t support an incumbent? It was inappropriate,” Ford told Congressional Quarterly in 2004.

Cohen has won high marks for hiring African Americans. A majority of his staff is African American, he said, including his chief of staff.
politico.com/news/stories/0107/2389.html[/quote]

I’m not sure where in Africa all these folks are from…and why they are voting in the US elections…?

2

Yes, of course in the Republican view, racism is only “terrible” when it involves minorities leaving the majority out. It’s the same sort of logic that leads Republicans to irrationally fear that “Christmas” is under attack despite Christians constituting the vast majority of Americans.

Of course, having Confederate-flag wearing hasbeen rock stars at GOP-sponsored events to rally the partei faithful against the dangers of latinos is a treasured part of the way the Republican party now operates. Lincoln must be spinning in his grave.

3

Being a white member of the Congressional Black Caucus makes as much sense as being a male member of the Girl Scouts or being a Hooters Guy.

4

Racism, religious bigotry, and smear tactics too.

[quote=“CBC”]Early last week, an e-mail circulated among a loose network of like-minded voters here in the Washington area. They routinely trade humour, news alerts and commentary on subjects dear to their political hearts, especially anything related to Islam.

This particular alert, titled “A little scary to think about,” was about Senator Barack Obama, the mixed-race, preternaturally charismatic Illinois Democrat who is gearing up to run for his party’s presidential nomination.

Beware, said the e-mail: “Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim.”

It went on to explain that the Senator’s birth father, a Kenyan, was a Muslim — something Obama has clearly acknowledged in his own autobiographical writings. (His mother was a white Kansan or, as the e-mail put it, “a white atheist.”)

The e-mail then “revealed” something else Obama has acknowledged: When he was a young boy, his mother remarried an Indonesian man and Obama attended a predominantly Muslim school, as well as a Catholic school, in Jakarta.

The e-mail, though, upped the political ante. Obama’s stepfather, it said, was a “radical Muslim.”

“Osama,” it read, shifting the spelling of Obama’s name, “was enrolled in a Wahhabi school in Jakarta.”

Wahhabists, of course, are the Saudi fundamentalists who chart the harshest, most aggressive path of Sunni Islam and seek to export that philosophy throughout the Muslim world.

The e-mail’s message was unsubtle: If America’s not careful, jihadists might even infiltrate the White House itself. “Let us all remain alert concerning Obama’s expected presidential candidacy,” the unsigned e-mail concludes.[/quote]
It goes on about the Moonies, Clinton campaign, Fox News… I’m glad no one around here is at all interested in this kind of foolish identity politics and low-blows.

5

Except in this case Rep. Cohen, the one who sought admission, is a liberal Democrat.

On the outset it would appear that way, but if you consider that Cohen was elected by a primarily black constituency, his voting record is very much in line with his constinuency, and that his job is to represent this very constinuency, then it does make sense on some level.

Besides Chris, what’s wrong with having Hooter’s guys? That’s a great idea. As a liberated gal, I believe in the equal sexploitation of genders. Of course those guys would have to have some pretty big chest muscles to pull that off. 914, now he could prolly do it.

6

I don’t know…it’s become customary in a lot of contexts for various race/ethnicity based organizations to open up to concerned people who aren’t technically a member of the racial/ethnic group. For instance I believe the United Negro Scholarship Fund doesn’t automatically exclude solely on the basis of race. On college campuses student organizations typically are required open up to the University as a whole. For instance I became a member of the Chinese student association at my university. In the employment context, even with affirmative action, an employer presumably would have to give equal consideration to minorities from other ethnic groups (for example the NAACP would have to give equal consideration to a hispanic/non black applicant). Why should Congress be the only place where these customs don’t apply?

7

[quote=“redandy”]Why should Congress be the only place where these customs don’t apply?[/quote]The only good reason I can think of is that most members of Congress are pretty old and there’s a generational lag in the uptake of new ideas. A not so good reason might be that the Congressional Black Caucus is more interested in advancing the careers of its members than it is in the welfare of Black Americans.

I know plenty of male philosophers who have benefited from feminist philosophy, and plenty of feminists who stiffen at the thought of admitting men to their particular associations.

Seems everyone’s trying to carve out a piece of their own fragmented corner of the world to call their own, rule over, and hang out a “Not Welcome” sign; pathetic.

8

I wanna be the only non-Irish and non-Italian member of the annual Irish-American and Italian-American Pride Parade. Why can’t a WASP redneck boy like me join? Why can’t I be Indian or Japanese, even though none of my ancestors were remotely connected to any of those places and I’m as white as can be? It ain’t fair, I tells ya!

9

Except in this case Rep. Cohen, the one who sought admission, is a liberal Democrat.[/quote]

Right… but it’s Cohen who’s saying that his desire amounts to a “social faux pas” – it would appear to be GOPpers screaming that this is a particularly egregious case of racism. When I was in school, there was a black students organization that had to revise their charter because they were originally set up with a requirement of being black to join. I don’t agree with these sorts of limits, but I also don’t equate them with the activities of the KKK to string up blacks or the Republican party’s deliberate attempts to keep down the black vote.

10

Is the Black Caucus there to offer suport to the Black members of Congress of to help them better serve the needs of their constituencies?

If the latter then there is no reason Mr Whitebread shouldn’t be let in; if the former, I am paying for this??

11

914 could pull it off, but the others would have to have man-boobs!

12

Hey, that’s pretty cool (assuming you’re not Chinese, of course).

13

Yeah, it was kinda cool. A lot of times it would be helpful to at least have a white face around to help new members get apartments, buy used cars, etc. So, since my girlfriend (now wife) was one of the officers I ended being the guy. Once I was doing that it just made sense to go ahead and make me a member.

14

While this is the usual crap that you spew out, I do love the hidden humor in your message. Stiffen was a bit (or should I say “stroke”) of genius. I will assume that this was not intentional on your part but finally FINALLY you have written something that amuses me and that for once I can respect.

15

Hooters’ policies actually came up in some legal cases. While it would be clearly wrong for say, McDonalds to only hire nubile, amply-endowed young females, Hooters argued (plausibly) that what they were actually selling was the sizzle rather than the steak, so to speak–in other words, that the um, hooters were a legitimate job requirement. The courts agreed, resulting in the paradox that if you discriminate only a little bit, that’s bad; but if you discriminate a whole lot, that’s okay!

16

But McDonalds and most other restaurants do discriminate. They have the good-looking young girls work the front and hide the ugly guys in the back kitchen. Lots of businesses do that - only attractive people, usually pretty young women, are hired for jobs involving greeting the public. Ugly people are discriminated every day and no one gives a damn.

17

[quote=“Quentin”]Ugly people are discriminated every day and no one gives a damn.[/quote]That’s true. Probably because the impulse to associate positive characteristic with good looking people, and negative with ugly, is so pervasive and subconscious that it’s very seldom examined. The only time I really notice it is when I run across someone so good looking that they’ve become accustomed to everyone bending over backwards to please them, and never developed the personal(ity) resources to perform at the level for which they’re getting credit. That, and when I bump into someone ugly who has sunk to the level of others’ expectations.

18

Or maybe people just associate good looking with good looking. No need to break out the shrink couch, for Christ’s sakes.

19

I remember watching a program on TV a long long time ago (sorry no link) that looked at how “beautiful” people are treated differently. They had many different situations such as job interviews etc. which were secretly filmed. The beautiful people always got the job, more offers of help etc. The one that stuck in my mind was they had two mock trials where everything was scripted. There were different juries of course and two different defendants, one beautiful and one ugly. Given the exact same testimony the jury convicted the ugly one and freed the beautiful one.

I’m still saving up for the plastic surgery so I can sit on the beautiful side for once :slight_smile:

20

Or maybe people just associate good looking with good looking. No need to break out the shrink couch, for Christ’s sakes.[/quote]You’re right, there’s now need to dust off Sigmund’s couch and talk about mom to make sense of an apparently universal psychological mechanism.

As you prefer the authority of dusty books, how’s Chuang-tzu?