conservative maine Vemocralie starThe. telegenic * KeyesDemocratic . resonreéscame fast and furious the instantIllinois Republicans hinted © theywould nominate " out-of-stateRepublican pitchman Alan Keyes. totun against black. . Illinois statelegislator and nising Democratic starBarack Obama. Keyes is the but ofhumor because. he's a ooeperts eger.This ts essentially the tag that he laidon Hillary Clinton when she. ran forher New. York Senate seat. He is ahard-line conservative who bombedin two presidential and Senate bids.Mw Lately, I havebeen _ hearingderisive talkabout| impoverishedBlacks that: As- facist, because- ttonically, © theyTOs iia ees comingYes, there are difficulties amongthe poot blacks in Arriérica afd 'therehas been a moral. and politicaldisconnect but it is elitist and classistto pretend that any of these issues arecalely the issues of the poor andack.Those who wish to rail againstthe poor without activism are nodifferent from armchair quarterbacksSome Groups Have Been Working to SBy Hazel Trice EdneyNNPA Washington CorrespondentWASHINGTON (NNPA)- Whilecomedian and philanthropist BillCosby was busy criticizing low-incomeBlacks for not fultilh theirobliganons to society and to their race,were thousands of people alreadyengaged in helping the very people hewas upbraiding."We run a wide range of afterschool programs across the country.And many of them are successful. Wetouch probably about 600,000 to700,000 kids a year, which isconsiderable," says Marc Moral,resident and CEO of the National'rban League. For example, we havea male responsibility progratl that wetun in Chicago. | said to the director,"How many people do you serve in ayear? ? He said, "300." 1 said, oHowmany could you serve" He said, "Aweman, I could serve 5,000 if I had the- him as Hillary?" :4 It can be said that Republicans -ll twill alsonocrats to poundtate import. Hecan. shoot. back, "But what aboutplayed their own version of therace card by picking Keyes, in what| amounts to a not-too-transparenteffort to whittle down the massivesupport Obama will get fromblacks and moderate whites. Still,the fact that Keyes is anAfrican-American could allay thesqueamishniess " _ moderateRepublicans feel about hishardcore conservatism.Republicans can also stand that_ argumerit on its head and boastnat oe Barty is colorblind and thatthey picked Keyes because he is aseasoned political campaigner.Given the lack of time to getsomeone to challenge Obama,they'll say, Keyes was the bestchoice.who criticize football games on theirfat lazy behinds, without ever havinstepped onto the gridiron.Armchair activists, viewthemselves as socially active becausethey support, programs ted at.our bet ond ightest, ae ;ignore the second best.and the not'asbright.Any of us can point to T theproblems, What I would like to heardiscussed are the reasons why theworking class and underclass haveworsened," use at that poifit wecan begin to identify solutions. For exdmple, ? Blacks ' onceenjoyed jobs that were easilyobtained with very little education.Those jobs were adequate to supporta family, even if on the verge ofpoverty Changes in the economyave erased many blue-collar jobs,and today's minimum wage jobs arebarely enough to raise an individual.resources."More than 100 Urban Leaguechapters around the country, mostsurviving on corporate donations,foundaton grants or governmientcontracts, reach as many people aspossible with after school tutorial, jobtraining, leadership development andresponsible decision-makingPrograms.The Urban League is amonthousand of organizations that seekto address many of the age-oldproblems cited by Mr. Cosby.Speaking in Washington, D.C. at anobservance of the 50th anniversary ofthe Brown v. Board of EducationSupreme Court decision, Mr. Cosbycomplained that "the lower economicpeople are not holding up their endof this déal, ?He athe) et people are notpatent are buying things fortheir ide" $500 sneakers, for what?- againGeorge BabPigg oy threat toRobert Dole in 1996 andcandidates anandwas nabetnedty ishedly ideological.aimed at pushing Republicansfurther to the right on social issues,But the Illinois Senate T tace isdifferent. A Republican, PeterFitzgerald, held the seat for oneterm. The likelihood: is that as anincumbent, if Fitzgerald hadchosen to T run he would have been,heavily favored to win T ¢é-election.His retitement gave Obama anopening. In effect, its 4one-on-one contest for an openseat. . 4Obama, like Keyes, is stillrelatively unknown statewide inIllinois. He has the daunting taskof introducing himself to voters. . -The Keyes candidacy. alsoposes a dilemma for Dernocraticpresidential contender John Kerry,and potentially a dividend for inflexible .lock for the thinking is that this makes him aBush. Hllinois ts noDemocrats. It's a highly contested,key battleground state. If Obama had faceopposition, he would have _ pollin 2000, he was thei ooconservatism. Thepolitical aberration with no chanceof winning. That ignores someweak or nonexistent changing political realties: A Julyby Black Entertainmentcakewalked to victory. This would Television/CBS found that blackshave enabled the topfree up moreexclusively devoteDemocrats to are overwhelmingly hostile tomoney and Bush. But it also found that lesstheir energies than one out of three blacks areinto mobilizing support for Kerry. enthusiastic about Kerry. OtherBut a hard charge by Keyes at the polls show 1and number of | blacks, particularlySenate seat could force Othat an increasingthe Democrats to spend money younger blacks, call themselvesand time trying to win that seat.Keyes has beenridiculed for his outspoken andBridge: Class and ClassismAdd that to the growing difficulty inobtaining higher education, andyoung Black men find themselves onthe Eg to prison more often thanon thefemales: leftare raising children_ alone. |Simple realities of this nation'slegacy of racism are still in place,even as people choose toblame on the heirs of racism. Blacksare still the last to be hired and the havefitst tobe fired. The glass ceiling is . Still iw place for those on the rise T andthere are sadly too many of ustitclirig the financial: drain, includingthe very poor as well as some of theso-called middle class. Bill Cosby'stage against the poor Black machineoutlines symptoms of an illness. Part_ of the illness is abandonment by theso-called middle class, as well as civicand social organizations and thechurch.And won't spend $200 for Hookedon Phonics T... They Tre on the cornerand they can t speak English ..."Psychologist = Julia oHare,co-founder " of the SanFrancisco-based Black Think Tank,says his comments would have beenmore helpful had he suggested waysto address the problems. She sayschildren too often get the blame forcircumstances over which they haveno control."They're not responsible for theEbonics," she states. *They*re notresponsible for the situaton thatcauses them to stand on streetcomers. If you look at the figures,you have a society that will notemploy their mothers, will notemploy their fathers. In fact, you havea society that sent most of theirfathers to prison." .The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority(AKA), the oldest of the BlackDon't Shoot The Messenger...only mistake that I heard and read in thecomments was the fact that he singledout paoan blacks and didn'tMendon that sorry parents are among alleconomic, social and Facial groups Asaon-going poll of how Cosby'scomments are judged by ther audiencereveals the following: 98% agree and2% di with him. Thank Godis heanng the message. Weay find ourselves shocked at howuse and confusion that 2% willthe table if a nanonal dialogpig eee of a, we've ; seenof the confusion tactic. Efforts will2 #aesoi8sln23 31 :fritpath to success. Many of the organizations, ostreamline them T std collegesindependents, while aroundly not-insignificant percentage ofblacks say they favor Bush'sEntities such as the NAACPand the National Urban League areIke Black unicorns to thecommunity. Ask many of today'spoor and they have no idea where totind these organizations or what theyactually do.Some of our "benevolent"including "_ Blackfraternities and sororities are moreconcerned with promulgating theirown legacy than _ " providingcommunity service to those inlace greatest need.For example, what of those who"C" or "D" average grades?Whete are the prograttis designed toortrade schools? Where are the elitistclassists to- give therm T choices whenthe Armed Forces recruiters of thedrug dealers or the gangsters comea-knockin? Where were the elitists inthe 1990's when urban schools beganto fall apart and programs designedto give poor people choicesevaporated?I know where they were.Greek letter sororities, has operatedits Ivy Reading Academy for grades.K-3 for nearly two years with $1.5million trom the U.S. Department ofEducation.Linda White, AKA s nationalpresident, eagerly explains why herorganization chose to focus on theearly years of a child Ts life.Children who have ~ notdeveloped the basic reading skills inthe very early years find it extremelydifficult, to become competentreaders in the later grades," she says.*And when they are unable to readeffectively, then they don't performwell in the other subjects and otherhigher-level educational tasks andthey don't finish school, they can tfunction in society."Delay Davis, a sergeant in theEast Orange, N.J. police departmentand executive of thedepartment's (Togethertheir fans and tonegative images with socially positiveones. Now, if these guys and theirprotges start talking, singing and=pPINE about parenting and voterhon, something very meaningfulcould take place. Talk about a revolutionirectorTRYce some of the -43 MILLION AMERICANSre-election. .The rare times _ thatRepublicans have made a realeffort to attract blacks, put moneyinto a black Republican candidate'scampaign and delivered -promises to pump more resourcesinto health care, _ "_ education,minority business and educationPrograms, they've dented theDemocrat's stranglehold on theblack vote. That happened mostnotably in the T election in 2002 ofLt. Govs. Michael Steele inMaryland and Jennette Bradley inOhio. In the July Georgia Senateprimary, black Republican HermanAbsent. .But they will show up to atubber-chicken dinner all bathed andgreased to honor those in thecommunity who are alreadyequipped with skills to make theirway to the top of the heap.Integration opened thefloodgates for the best and thebrightest to flee our communities.Black entrepreneurs close orabandoned business and so-calledmiddleclass families evaporated fromthe hood of dreams of "movin' onup" were pursued vigorously,Currently, the mostimpoverished of Blacks huddle in ghettos filled with the unemployedand the underemployed. A strongdisconnects between. them and. therest of Black society is growing eachday, along with a strong distrust. Yet,many so called "progressive" Blacksnow rail against impoverished Blackswithout attempting to understandtheir conditions.It took the Black church wellinto the 1990's to begin to addressRedirecting Youth) program, is usingthe police department to help ratherthan lock up troubled youth."They come every day and theygo straight to the police department.We give them access to the Intemet.They do their homework at the policestation. My staff comes from behindthe desk and the children take over.We teach them office skills. We showthem value and love," Sgt. Davis says."We call it giving an overdose ofsupport services tor that child. Inother words, while. the parents maybe drug addicted, it doesn't mean thatchild can't make it. They may say, Igo to the gang because it'sprotection. I go to the gang becausethey feed me. 1 go to the gangbecause it's my family." What we'regoing to have to do is make sure thatchild is eating every day, that weremove all ot the factors that ourchildren have told us as reasons for.. that would be the start of it.Yet, when we boil it all down, in abest case scenario, it will take the type ofsocial and cultural development that willneed to evolve down through at leastone generation before the results arerealized. That's the bad news, It mayon- ott did to create it, If' The Minority Voice NewspaperewOg eeeeCain made a _~_ respectablesecond-place showing byemphasizing conservativeRepublican social.themes.All this does not mean thatKeyes will beat Obama. TheDemocrat has charisma, massivesupport and plenty of cash. It doesmean that Keyes can make thecontest interesting and maybe even areal horse race -- and that's nolaughing matter for the Democrats.PNS contributor Earl OfariHutchinson (ehutchi344@aol.com)is a political analyst and author of"The Crisis. in Black and Black"(Middle Passage Press).community redevelopment. Sadly, formany churches, this means little morethan erecting huge structures thehomeless would T be bounced out of ifsecurity catches them seeking shelter.In many cities, the poor of coloraré lett without intrinsic governmentassistance and without assistance fromother Blacks, sending them into awhitlpool of devastation from whichthere ts little sanctuary. Crime is nowthe basic economy.Before Cosby and other elitistsdecide that today's poor are defective,let them be mindful that they aremade of the same material as theimpoverished Blacks they disparage.They are made: of the aethi ncame through different conditions. »That is all that makes us different.The issue is class and classism.Those who are well off criticize thepoor for behavior that is hardlyendemic to poverty.Dr. Cosby should know. It is stillSee MyVoice Page 3olve The Problems Cited by Cosbythem going to gang activity. We takethose nts off the table.". Such support and encou ntis cructal says Mary Lee Allen, directorof Child Welfare and Mental HealthDivision -.at the " Washington,D.C.-based Children*s Detense Fund,@ non-profit organization _thatresearches and advocates on behalf ofchildren. oWe ty to ensure that there arecomprehensive services and supportsavailable to the children and theirfamilies because you can't separate achild from the family and communityin which they're living and in whichthey're being raised," she says.Mr. Morial says: everyone has anobligation to help the needy. "Anybodywho's halfway enlightened understandsthe interdependence in society," heexplains. "You can't build a wallaround yourself and pretend to beSuccessful if there Ts pain and sufferingall around."take at least half as long to fix this mess ast is true, let's getstarted as soon as possible. There is notime to waste.M. Garett is a Real E:state Constultan forthe D.D, Garrett Agency, Greemille, NCis Published byThe Minority Voice, Inc.Publisher/Fenisher/FoundercaneHome Office© Gama NT5Phone: (252) 757-0365Fax: (252) 757-1793Fa ee ee ee eeS# @e @bhS Oe 4 #4 Be 6%