Why Do Blacks Allow the Mainstream Media to Choose their Leaders?
By Raynard Jackson
(NNPA Newswire Columnist)
Raynard Jackson says that Black leaders must do more to stand up for the rights of the Black community.
I am fond of saying, “weak people take strong positions on weak issues.”
There is no better example of this than the embarrassing behavior of the weak Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the National Urban League (NUL).
These groups have all feigned righteous indignation about the alleged negative comments made by President Trump two weeks ago about Haiti, Africa, and El Salvador.
Yes, our president can be extremely hyperbolic at times, but the essence of what he said was very true. Those countries, including many in Africa, are basket cases.
So, all the radical liberal groups ran over their mothers to get to a news camera to denounce the president for his alleged statement.
With all the issues facing the Black community, CBC members joined other Democrats to attempt to pass a resolution through the U.S. House of Representatives to censure Trump for his comments, a symbolic gesture that must have kept Trump awake all night.
Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP called Trump a “racist.”
Wow. I am sure that Trump is going to change his ways now.
Marc Morial, the president and CEO of the NUL, said that “President Trump’s crude comments further reveal the repugnant racial motivations behind his administration’s immigration policies.”
Trump must be shaking in his boots.
I challenge my readers to find any issue directly related to Blacks in the U.S., i.e. American citizens, that these groups have put so much political and emotional capital in. It seems that these “media-appointed” Black leaders care more about those in the country illegally, homosexuals, or other groups that have no connection to America than they do the very people they “claim” to represent.
Juxtapose their reactions to Trump’s alleged comments to their relative silence on the murder of Laquan McDonald in Chicago in 2014. He was murdered by Chicago police; they claimed that it was in self-defense, but the actual video revealed that the police lied, and that McDonald posed no threat to the policemen.
Former Democratic congressman and Obama’s first chief of staff and Chicago mayor at the time of the police murder, Rahm Emanuel refused to release the video until after his campaign for re-election in 2015 (which he ultimately won).
Emanuel has proven his total disdain for Blacks with his actions, not his rhetoric. Chicago is one of the most dangerous and violent cities in America. Where was the CBC’s outrage at this? Why was there no attempt to censure Emanuel? Why are they not marching through the streets of Chicago?
The NAACP and the UL have not convened a meeting or massive demonstration against Emanuel to denounce him as a racist. Oh, I forgot, he is a Democrat, therefore, he can’t be racist.
Just because you are the head of an organization, doesn’t mean you are a leader. Can you name me the leaders of the White community? But, I digress.
Members of the CBC are willing to oppose the short-term, Republican-sponsored spending bill, because that bill didn’t include a long-term fix for President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program; even though this move would have devastating effects on the Black community, the same group they “claim” to represent.
Can you name me one issue that was of specific urgency to the Black community that the CBC has ever shut down the government for? Name me one member of the CBC that has a bill passed in his name? Name me one member of the CBC that has his name attached to a bill that became law, i.e. Sarbanes-Oxley, or the Hyde Amendment.
To the NAACP and the UL: Why is amnesty for illegals a “moral” imperative, but the high crime rate in the Black community isn’t? Why wasn’t the doubledigit Black unemployment rate under eight years of Obama a “moral” imperative?
Remember the famous quote from former chair of the CBC and congressman from Mo., Emanuel Cleaver from September 2011: “If Obama were White, we’d be marching on the White House.” This remark was made in regard to Obama doing nothing to reduce the Black unemployment rate, which was around 17 percent at the time.
Why do these “media-appointed” leaders make everyone else’s issues their issue? When have you heard the illegals speaking out against the high unemployment rate in the Black community or discrimination in college admissions?
When have you seen the homosexual community speak out against housing discrimination towards Blacks or lack of access to capital for Black business owners?
Can anyone explain to me why these radical, Black liberal groups are ignoring the needs of their own community to focus on the issue of those who have absolutely no connection to our community?
Your first obligation as a parent is to take care of your own family. Period. Do you really think Michael Jordan gave a damn about Magic Johnson getting injured during a game in which they were playing against each other? Hell, no.
So, then, why are we fighting everyone else’s battles at the expense of our own community?
Raynard Jackson is founder and chairman of Black Americans for a Better Future (BAFBF), a federally registered 527 Super PAC established to get more Blacks involved in the Republican Party. BAFBF focuses on the Black entrepreneur. For more information about BAFBF, visit www.bafbf.org. You can follow Raynard on Twitter @Raynard1223.