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From Black Voices

Before coming of age as a student at Hampton University, Carl Gray was a staunch, frequently lone defender of his conservative values. Ask him to recall a specific time where classmates or friends really challenged or debated him on his politics, he can’t remember one — because a teacher or administrator always got in the way to defend liberal policies and the fellow students that believed them.

“That in itself was discouraging to know that teachers and professors wouldn’t even allow for students to have their own discussions regarding political beliefs,” said Gray. “It was ‘My way or the highway’ in those classes. You either agree with the liberal philosophy or face the wrath. I often felt that I was being indoctrinated rather than taught. I actually learned more on my own, by reading both sides and making my own conclusion.”

Read more at BlackVoices.com.

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There’s no question that I’m voting for Obama come November 6th. That’s my boo. I trust him, and I trust his character. After all, it’s his team and party that’ll be doing the job of running the country so I need to know the President has the right spirit and moral attitude when it comes to leading. But although I’m a Obama supporter, I can’t say that I don’t cringe every time I hear his party’s politics on social welfare and protecting the poor. I’m a conservative in many ways. I’m reminded of that everytime I hear Democrats empathizing on behalf of the poor. When I say poor, I’m not talking about those rendered unemployed by the current economic crisis – I’m talking about those who have taken advantage of welfare programs and free social services for the long term.

Sorry, I’m going to offend a lot of people when I say that I believe we actually should have less social services catering to the perpetually “poor.” I grew up around many people who abused the system and can sympathize with the Republican objectives of reducing social welfare services. I believe that people need incentives to work and be productive. I’ve witnessed members in my extended family basically profit from low income housing by getting paid under the table and continuing to tell Uncle Sam that they bring in too little income to provide for their families.

One of my cousins, who is a single mother, doesn’t believe it’s worth her getting off of welfare because she’s so much better off with the free access to healthcare and daycare services for her toddler that are afforded to her. If she got a job paying over $40,000 per year, she’d be easily worse off.  Come to think of it, if I were to have a child on my own today, I’d probably be worse off or on equal footing with my cousin. The only difference would be that she would have free time and free money to pursue advanced education while I continued to trudge to work every day.

I understand that there is a lot of grey areas when it comes to economics in this country but what I do feel strongly about is that the rich aren’t evil. Although Obama and his team members represent the upper class, they continue to demonize the wealthy in this country and paint the middle and low-income folks as innocent bystanders. That kind of rhetoric doesn’t resonate with me. I’m middle class but I’m not helpless. I understand how my decisions have shaped my economic standing. I would appreciate the U.S. government having my back if I were to get laid off and lose health insurance, but I certainly don’t expect Uncle Sam to compensate for my cousin’s lack of ambition and work ethic. Obviously, my ideal party would meld the principles espoused by both parties but til then…

What do you guys think about how the two parties paint the rich and the poor?

By Jay Anderson

With Chris Christie and Sarah Palin wisely choosing to sit 2012 out, there aren’t many “colorful” candidates left vying for the chance to unseat President Obama next year. One exception, literally and figuratively, is former Godfather’s Pizza CEO and radio talk show host Herman Cain. Seemingly left for dead once Tea Party favorites Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry ascended the ranks, Cain has recently seen his poll position improve dramatically. A recent string of straw poll victories has Cain back in the game, trailing only perpetual snooze/frontrunner Mitt Romney in most reputable polls. Of course, given the topsy turvy nature of the race and his frequent bouts of verbal diarheaa, Cain could very easily be back in single digits next week. So what better time to review some of his most infamous statements? After all, nobody will care come January when he finishes 8th in New Hampshire, so why let a perfectly good slideshow go to waste? Shall we?

1. Black Folks Are “Brainwashed”

For a guy who has shouted “I left the Democratic plantation!” to adoring Tea Party crowds, Cain’s black folks “have been brainwashed into not being open-minded, not even considering a conservative point of view” proclaimation during a CNN interview wasn’t exactly new news. In fact, it’s a pretty standard Black Republican talking point. What’s interesting is that Cain claimed he could salvage the “one-third to 50 percent of black Americans” who are open-minded.  Yep, cause as we all know, insulting people’s intelligence is the best way to get them to vote for you.

Seriously, when will politicians fear the words they send over email, twitter and facebook? The latest victim of self-sabotage is Republican Congressman Allen West, who sent a scathing email to fellow Democrat Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, that was released to the public recently.

The email included the statements: “You are the most vile, unprofessional, and despicable member of the U.S. House of Representatives. You have proven repeatedly that you are not a lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me.”

West cc’d other congress members on the email, so it’s not certain whether or not his intentions centered on generating attention for his maneuver. Certainly, many members of Congress and women’s rights groups are outraged over the email and West will have to answer some tough questions over the next few days.

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It took me some time to accept the idea that there really is such a thing as a black Republican.  I don’t know when it happened, but I imagine it occurred around the time when the Jay-Z/Nas collab song, “Black Republican”, dropped. The song, though mostly tongue and check, made the possibility of a black republican in today’s political climate less laughable. Perhaps a black Republican is just the flip side of the same political principle coin, in which some blacks believe that racial justice and equality could be achieved through the political process.

I try to keep this theory in mind as I try to rationalize the existence of Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather Pizza and current Republican/Tea Party endorsed candidate for president. Cain’s campaign has been making a lot of headlines lately for his “frank,” yet sometimes oddball talk about race and politics.  When he is not keeping “it real” by declaring the absence of racism in the Tea Party, he is wowing mostly white middle class audiences with his platform on issues such as eradicating all Muslims from the federal government. Some of the things he says borders on the line of being a live action version of Uncle Ruckus, the cartoon character from the television show, “The Boondocks.”

Although Cain has never served in elected office, he is the fifth favorite in a recent Republican poll, and was declared the projected winner of the recent GOP presidential debate. Not bad for a candidate whose greatest claim to fame is pizza dough. As pointed out by the New York Times, Cain’s ‘positive intensity’ rating, as measured by Gallup, places him in the same field as Romney and Huckabee. This means, assuming his name recognition grows, he may very well start to gain momentum.

Does this mean that we should take his candidacy seriously?

As people of color, our political perspective is just as complex and diverse as our hue. Though many of us do identify with the Democratic Party, there are some of us who are independents, conservatives or – gasp – do not bother to vote at all.  This is why it wouldn’t be fair to outright dismiss Cain’s candidacy as just another race traitor lackey for the conservatives, because in an unusual way, many black Republicans feel that they are too addressing issues related to racial inequality and social standing in society, even though their approach to addressing these issues are different. Whereas black Democrats believe that the government is responsible for social issues, and as such, must be the guiding force for change, black conservative argue that economics, along with behavioral pathologies, such as abortion and drug addiction—not so much racism—are the root of current inequalities and that the greatest equalizer is the free market system.

Cain’s candidacy seems to perfectly tap into the frustration that many blacks feel about today’s political landscape. Unlike his ABC (American Black Conservative) predecessor Michael Steele, Cain uses his racial identity to not only win over votes, but to speak directly to the black community.When Cain makes racially charged declarations such as, “the media was scared that a real black man was running,” it echoed, in a sense, similar sentiments that we’ve recently heard from many black pundits and politicians who have been critical of President Obama, including Dr. Cornel West, who, a couple of weeks ago, made statements challenging Obama’s “blackness.”

But sometimes, Cain’s tactics are a little over the top; for instance, during his 2004 Georgia Senate bid when he used stereotypical language and imagery in a radio ad to urge black voters to support Republicans. Essentially, his core message appeals to the conservative nature of the African American community, particularly on social issues. Cain is not the first candidate on either side of the political aisle to use race or stereotypical imagery for the purpose of swaying black voters. In the mid-term election, the Democratic National Committee waged a multi-million dollar advertising campaign, which included the use of civil rights leaders in an effort to reach out to African American voters.

So does this mean that we should view Cain’s candidacy as a threat to President Obama? Herman Cain doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the white house, let alone the nomination. I’m not saying that I agree with his candidacy, but at this point, I don’t agree with either side of the political spectrum. But why should we feel like the Democrat Party are the only ones worthy of being taking seriously – especially when in my politically Independent mind, neither party has the best track record of developing and fostering a black political agenda?

Charing Ball is the author of the blog People, Places & Things.

(Eurweb) — Michael Steele is now on the payroll of  MSNBC and TheRoot.  The former Republican National Committee Chairman, whose rocky two-year reign ended earlier this year, has been hired by MSNBC as a political analyst, and also TheRoot.com as a contributing editor.  The website’s executive editor Joel Dreyfuss says Steele’s addition simply reinforces its original goal — to represent “a multiplicity of black views.”

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(TheLoop21.com) – At this point Michael Steele’s tenure as RNC Chair has become such a joke, that it’s hard not to wonder if he’s intentionally writing the punch lines himself.

As everyone who doesn’t live under a rock now knows, a recent report revealed that on Steele’s watch, the RNC billed thousands of dollars on luxury hotels and travel, and most embarrassingly, a bondage themed nightclub. (Try to read that sentence without giggling. It’s virtually impossible.)

Despite his early run-ins with (and subsequent retreat from) Rush Limbaugh, his multiple verbal gaffes (including musing on the record that the GOP was not likely to reclaim the House this year), it is Bondage-gate that appears to have finally turned Steele from laughingstock to the political equivalent of Dead Man Walking.

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