Commentary

COMMENTARY: Biden and the Black Misleaders’ shame

FLORIDA COURIER — The disgraceful promotion of Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy is all the proof one needs that the Black Misleadership class is a grave danger to their community and to the nation. Biden was chosen to be Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008 precisely because of his rightwing credentials. But he no longer has Obama’s imprimatur to protect him and his racist history is now out in the open for all to see.

Published

5 years ago

July 5, 2019

Vijayakumar B

By Margaret KimberlyThe disgraceful promotion of Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy is all the proof one needs that the Black Misleadership class is a grave danger to their community and to the nation.

Biden was chosen to be Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008 precisely because of his rightwing credentials. But he no longer has Obama’s imprimatur to protect him and his racist history is now out in the open for all to see.

Not too smart

He was always a lesser light in the Senate and was no better as vice president. Even in 2008, he opined that Obama was “clean and articulate” – a remark which ought to have disqualified him from vice presidential consideration with a Black candidate.

But Obama’s goal was to make clear his own rightward trajectory. Choosing a senator who was anything but progressive and a staunch Zionist gave great comfort to the Democratic party donor class.

The unwavering support from the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) should be an embarrassment, but these are shameless people. One wouldn’t know that Biden thanked Dixiecrat Senator James Eastland for assisting him in bringing anti-busing legislation to a vote. These facts are inconvenient for people whose presence in office is meant to squelch any effort at Black self determination.

Busing opponent

Biden began his political career in the 1970s and the hot issue of the day was how to integrate public schools.

Biden called busing “asinine” and lamented that White people who were “good citizens” would be forced to send children to “inferior” (read Black) schools. He opposed school desegregation and he said so quite openly and used all the common racist tropes of that era.

Stop the GOP

The duplicitous work of the CBC isn’t difficult to get away with. Black politics has been reduced to one overarching goal: keeping Republicans out of office.

If Black voters support Biden as much as they are said to, it’s because they have been convinced that he is best able to defeat Trump. The Democratic Party establishment and their friends in corporate media are hoping to make this debatable point a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Black voters will again be the losers in 2020, even if the Democrats manage to defeat Donald Trump. The desire to defeat him overrides all else. Every issue of importance to Black people is ignored, every need will be unmet in what we are told is a foolproof plan to get rid of the orange-faced racist.

Biden enablers like James Clyburn and John Lewis excuse the overt racism with claims that they too did business with the segregationists. But they won’t say anything about mass incarceration, police murder or displacement of entire communities caused by gentrification.

Failed strategy

The old canard of making do with a lesser bigot in order to forestall a worse one is an old and failed strategy.

Another failed strategy is to ignore the blatant sucking-up to rich donors. Biden recently told a group of them that he wouldn’t “demonize” the wealthy and assured them that “nothing would fundamentally change.”

Bernie Sanders is a Democratic candidate who can beat Trump who also speaks to the needs of the people. But he is unacceptable because he does that.

The Democrats and their funders have already decided that we can’t have free college, Medicare for All, or an increased minimum wage. Sanders is an existential threat to the austerity project, so his candidacy is dead on arrival.

Marching orders

The CBC and up-and-comers like Stacy Abrams protect Biden because they are told to do so. They have no independence from the Democratic party donor class and they won’t drop Biden unless the one-percent clique tell them to.

For now, the dim-bulb former vice president is hidden. He makes few appearances and doesn’t talk to the press because he’s “gaffe-prone.” He isn’t just a cynical opportunist; he is also stupid and can’t be trusted to be unscripted with the media.

No wonder Democrats miss Obama, who is very smart and could convince everyone that he was on their side. They are now left with the dregs, an old-school party hack who can’t hide his mediocrity.

What we must do

The 2020 election will end in disaster for Black people no matter who becomes the next president. Dumping the Democrats is the only solution to what ails us. They don’t want to change, and they aren’t even likely to win.

If Biden crashes and burns, another puppet will be presented as the savior. Black misleaders will prop up that person too and their constituents will be the losers.

Margaret Kimberley is a co-founder of BlackAgendaReport.com, and writes a weekly column there. Contact her at Margaret.Kimberley@BlackAgendaReport.com.

This article originally appeared in the Florida Courier.

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Opinion: Lessons for Current Student Protesters From a San Francisco State Strike Veteran

How the nation’s first College of Ethnic studies came about, bringing together Latino, African American and Asian American disciplines may offer some clues as to how to ease the current turmoil on American college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war. After the deadline passed to end the Columbia University encampment by 2 p.m. Monday, student protesters blockaded and occupied Hamilton Hall in a symbolic move early Tuesday morning. Protesters did the same in 1968.

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2024

Oakland Post

iStock Photo

By Emil Guillermo

After the deadline passed to end the Columbia University encampment by 2 p.m. Monday, student protesters blockaded and occupied Hamilton Hall in a symbolic move early Tuesday morning.

Protesters did the same in 1968.

That made me think of San Francisco State University, 1968.

The news was filled with call backs to practically every student protest in the past six decades as arrests mounted into hundreds on nearly two dozen campuses around the country.

In 1970, the protests at Kent State were over the Vietnam War. Ohio National Guardsmen came in, opened fire, and killed four students.

Less than two weeks later that year, civil rights activists outside a dormitory at Jackson State were confronted by armed police. Two African American students were killed, twelve injured.

But again, I didn’t hear anyone mention San Francisco State University, 1968.

That protest addressed all the issues of the day and more. The student strike at SFSU was against the Vietnam war.

That final goal was eventually achieved, but there was violence, sparked mostly by “outside agitators,” who were confronted by police.

“People used the term ‘off the pigs’ but it was more rally rhetoric than a call to action (to actually kill police),” said Daniel Phil Gonzales, who was one of the strikers in 1968.

Gonzales, known as the go-to resource among Filipino American scholars for decades, went on to teach at what was the positive outcome of the strike, San Francisco State University’s College of Ethnic Studies. It’s believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. Gonzales recently retired after more than 50 years as professor.

As for today’s protests, Gonzales is dismayed that the students have constantly dealt with charges of antisemitism.

“It stymies conversation and encourages further polarization and the possibility of violent confrontation,” he said. “You’re going to be labeled pro-Hamas or pro-terrorist.”

That’s happening now. But we forget we are dealing not with Hamas proxies. We are dealing with students.

Gonzales said that was a key lesson at SF State’s strike. The main coalition driving the strike was aided by self-policing from inside of the movement. “That’s very difficult to maintain. Once you start this kind of activity, you don’t know who’s going to join,” he said.

Gonzales believes that in the current situation, there is a patch of humanity, common ground, where one can be both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel. He said it’s made difficult if you stand against the belligerent policies of Benjamin Netanyahu. In that case, you’re likely to be labeled antisemitic.

Despite that, Gonzales is in solidarity with the protesters and the people of Gaza, generally. Not Hamas. And he sees how most of the young people protesting are in shock at what he called the “duration of the absolute inhumane kind of persecution and prosecution of the Palestinians carried out by the Israeli government.”

As a survivor of campus protest decades ago, Gonzales offered some advice to the student protesters of 2024.

“You have to have a definable goal, but right now the path to that goal is unclear,” he said.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. A veteran newsman in TV and print, he is a former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”