Posted on 11/22/2004 12:04:59 PM PST by JohnnyZ
The likely next president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference is a familiar name to most students of the Civil Rights Movement. The Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, III is the son of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s closest ally and successor at the SCLC.
In an interview with The Louisiana Weekly, Abernathy argued that African Americans may be wasting their votes by exclusively considering Democrats in elections. Instead, he argued that the best route to guarantee "human rights" of education and health care could come through supporting candidates of both parties.
Abernathy came to Louisiana with the goal of beginning what could be a new national movement in the black community.
"I visited New Orleans...to be here with Rev. Byron Clay and others to preach the word of the Lord to a few churches here and to begin to perhaps put in place a caucus meeting that we will have at the beginning of the month to discuss the future of Black America."
The caucus, scheduled for December 9, will discuss with the black clergy and others "the implementation of a new organization to help uplift our community and to provide some services needed to uplift our community on a national level."
It may as well, he underlined, seek to reach out to President Bush and the GOP.
When speaking about Bush, Abernathy said, "I think that he has been successful, and I think that the votes that he received nationally dictate and represent the fact that he has been successful with touching Christian African-American individuals across the country. I would subscribe to the theory that the African-American community should not be beholden to one political party and that, I think, for far too long, we have been dedicated or held to the Democratic plantation. I think we must become intellectual and dedicated political voters and become and more astute and begin to embrace both the Democratic and Republican parties. Thus, us becoming a people that vote principle over party."
While sensitive to the Dixiecratic connections of the GOP in the South, Abernathy said that should not blind black people to failures of the Democrats.
"I think that's an issue that is a concern. However, it was those same Democrats under their administration gave us Welfare Reform and took away welfare rights. It was that same Democratic administration that Black people are still the highest number of inmates in prison. We still are the last to be hired and the first to be fired. We still are disproportionately the first to die of curable diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease - and non-curable diseases such as AIDS. All of these issues have been taking place under a Democratic administration. So, I subscribe to the theory that it can't necessarily be any worse. We're the last in all the categories."
Instead, Abernathy maintained that African-Americans should not reject ideas that could help the Black community just because they came from Republicans. Faith-based initiatives, he said are an example, "I am going to try to reach out to President Bush on his faith-based initiative. I think it's an applicable tool to be utilized to funnel funds into the community to provide services to uplift the community. As the old folk in the church might say, 'To prop the community up,' to offer the services, educational and tutorial services that would help uplift the community. And, I think it can be done through accessing funds in that faith-based initiative program. I think it could possibly be a vehicle to create 'the beloved community.'"
While Abernathy speaks highly of some of the new leaders of the Black community, he argues that many have missed that the conversation has changed.
"The war on civil rights, as I see it, is won. When my father and Martin Luther King started the Civil Rights Movement you could not come into a beautiful restaurant and eat. You could not go into a lunch counter and sit down. We could not go into any hotel that we chose to go in."
"So the victories of the Civil Rights Movement are won. We must embrace those victories and realize that we have won. There is a new agenda, and there is a new day. It has to be focused on building on the future and standing on the past - as opposed to holding on to the past and living in the past. New issues address us. Economic empowerment. Educational empowerment. So our direction must be as new leaders must be those issues to empower our people to participate fully in a society that has now given us the opportunity to equally participate."
"The issues now are human rights issues. They come in all shapes and sizes. Of course as an African-American, my focus is going to be uplifting my community because we have been disenfranchised. But, at the same time, we must bring into the dialogue, into the circle, all people, all races, and all colors. There are poor white people that are suffering. There are Hispanics that are out there that are suffering. We must embrace all these people because we are about Christian principles to embrace everybody."
This message promises to put the SCLC into some turmoil, especially Abernathy's comments that he may cross the party aisle when it is in the interests of the Black community. Even if these new stands cause him difficulty within the SCLC, he vows not to stop.
Of whether they could cost him the presidency for which he has run for so long, he said, "We'll see. It's still up in the air. If I don't take over the organization that Martin Luther King and my father both were heads of then I will consider starting my own organization and continuing that legacy."
In the end, Abernathy maintained his message was not original. In 1980, his father as head of the SCLC endorsed Ronald Reagan. In comments to C-Span's Brian Lamb, Abernathy Sr. said the reason was in part because "I believe that young black people should participate in both parties."
"The Republican Party," he continued, "has too long ignored us and the Democratic Party has taken us for granted and so since all of my colleagues and the latter in various places across the country were supporting the Democratic Party, I felt that I should support Ronald Reagan." Abernathy III echoed those comments, and said they should apply today as well.
The election for the new SCLC president should come in three months.
Loosiana seems to be an ideal place for black Republicanism to bust out.
The Republican party has done more than the Democrats ever will in this matter.
Make that anyone who isn't an anti-american commie scum should consider ditching the democrats.
"Abernathy argued that African Americans may be wasting their votes by exclusively considering Democrats in elections."
may be wasting?????? may be wasting????? are you serious? they are DEFINETLY WASTING their votes!
He'll be booed off the stage.......
You already have the right to education and health care.
Oh, wait, you mean the "right" to make someone else pay for it. Yeah, we really want to encourage people to come to us with that attitude.
"While sensitive to the Dixiecratic connections of the GOP in the South, Abernathy said that should not blind black people to failures of the Democrats. "
Whaaaaaaaa?
"Dixiecratic connections of the GOP in the South"???
Abernathy carries alot of clout. His comments cannot be dismissed easily by the black Democrat "establishment".
Anyone who dares to speak anything other than the party line will be shouted down and expunged.....
How long before Democrats start calling Abernathy an "Uncle Tom"?
The SCLC is beyond moribund. Even in Atlanta, it's considered worse than a joke now. And Ralph III is a sorrier case yet. He got put into prison for fraud, paroled, then sent back again for even further defrauding poor people. The GOP could use him . . . as a spokesperson and exemplar for Democrats!
The majority already does. They consider Republicans racists.
I don't really understand this oft-repeated sentiment. Are we to surmise that because we (the GOP) have not dangled the proverbial carrot over the heads of blacks for decades that we are not interested in their well-being? Or is it that we aim for the betterment of all Americans via personal freedom, achievement and responsibility without singling out one particular race?
"Loosiana seems to be an ideal place for black Republicanism to bust out."
What he's referring to is the fact that some southern Democrats (Dixiecrats) switched to the Republican Party during the civil rights era. Strom Thurmond is an example. However, some did not, as in the example of Robert 'KKK' Byrd. Still others followed George Wallace into an independent movement.
This guy doesn't know his history. The Democrats were always the biggest obstacle to the civil rights movement.
I think he meant sub par schools in black neighborhoods and not approving medications that can help blacks.
With Bush's no child left behind, he is saying that all children must achieve not just the ones in exclusive neighborhoods. And the FDA just a few weeks ago admitted that they had medication that could cut heart disease in half for black americans but did nothing for anyone else. They have had this medication for years but did not release it because it did not help all of the population.
Considering the Clinton's social healthcare program-they did'nt even look into this.
Actually its like this guy is saying consider the republican party people and look at the posts that are saying forget this guy! He's a joke! Nobody wants him!
Why not just take what he said and see what he's about. If you don't want him maybe he'll entice someone else to the GOP.
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