I hope you read this and leave your comments to Malcolm, thanks!
First off, I want to thank Sue for asking me if I’d be interested in writing a rebuttal to a post by Malcontent titled “What the Hell Is a Black Caucus and Why Are They Allowed to Exist?” At first glance, someone not familiar with “Malcontent” might mistake his post for being a Stephen Colbertesque piece of satire. Sadly, it quickly becomes evident that Malcontent is dead serious.
Malcontent asks what do organizations such as the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) do beside spread racism, yet he offers no evidence to back up his claim. I did some digging to find out just what type of “nefarious” activities the CBC and the CHC had planned.
Below are just some of the items on the agenda for the CBC:
Promote Educational Reinvestment in Low Income & Disadvantaged African American Communities
Increase Access to Economic Security
Provide Just Housing Options
Address Global Poverty
Also, the CHC has a variety of task forces set up to focus on issues pertaining to the Latino community. They include, but are not limited to, the following:
Agriculture and Rural Community
Civil Rights, Veterans and Worker Protections
Communications, Technology and the Arts
Education and Job Training
Damn those racist bastards in the CBC and the CHC!!
If you’d like more details on the positive activities conducted by the CBC and the CHC, please visit their websites:
CBC and CHC
Malcontent goes on to question why President Obama would attend meetings held by the CBC or the CHC. He seems to be implying that President Obama is the first Commander-in-Chief to do so and as a result, is being racially divisive. After doing a Google search (which took me all of a few minutes), I learned that George W. Bush met with the CBC and the CHC during his Presidency. Here’s a question for the anti-CBC/CHC crowd: Does the fact that Bush met with these groups make him a racial divider?
In a perfect world, there would be no need for the CBC, the CHC and other types of special interest groups. Because fairness and equality have yet to be achieved by everyone in this country, these groups serve a purpose. I don’t see a problem with groups who have historically been victims of discrimination taking the initiative in making their situation better. Why do some right-wingers see this as a threat?
Malcontent later steers the crazy train off the tracks by proposing that we do away with all sorts of benign black-oriented organizations/enterprises. The United Negro College Fund, Miss Black America, The Black Award shows, Black newspapers, Black Magazines, Black Holidays are just a few of his targets. Again, it goes back to the “in a perfect world” comment I made earlier. These entities weren’t created with the intent of separating the races. Because of the lack of adequate and/or accurate representation within other mainstream outlets, publications/events such as Jet magazine, The NAACP Image Awards, The Black Chronicle, and the Miss Black USA Pageant were launched. The creators recognized a void and sought to fill it. I would think the right-wingers (who are always championing self-reliance) would applaud these efforts.
As for those who join Malcontent in wanting to see an end to the United Negro College Fund, chew on this:
Partial List of Scholarships for White Americans
For good measure, along with the aforementioned black-oriented organizations/enterprises, Malcontent wants to make like Anthony Fremont and wish Affirmative Action into the proverbial cornfield. This is yet another instance of “In a perfect world…“. As a supporter of Affirmative Action, what I find frustrating is that whenever I hear people say it needs to be eliminated, they do so under the assumption that the primary beneficiaries are minorities (mainly African Americans). This is simply is not true. It may come as a surprise to some of the opponents of Affirmative Action that the primary beneficiaries of these policies are white women. Here is the link to an informative article:
http://aapf.org/focus/episodes/oct30.php
In closing, the U.S. has made great strides in eliminating discrimination. However, we still have work to do. As a result, I feel there is a need for groups such as the CBC and the CHC. What people who oppose these types of organizations don’t understand is if it’s good for the (fill in the blank with the group of your choice) community, it’s good for the country. I know it’s a dirty word amongst many conservatives, but I think they could use a heaping helping of empathy. A side dish of knowledge regarding race matters past and present in this country wouldn’t hurt either.
Malcolm,
http://diversityink.blogspot.com/
