Black lawmakers demand apology on controversial Hitler ad

[spindrifter]

July 7, 2006

By DAWSON BELL

Members of Michigan’s Legislative Black Caucus demanded an apology Friday from the sponsors of an inflammatory newspaper ad linking Gov. Jennifer Granholm and prominent Democrats to Adolf Hitler.

But they won’t get it, said Nataki Harbin, treasurer of the committee that paid for the Hitler ad appearing in this week’s edition of the Michigan Chronicle.

Harbin repeated her earlier defense for using the Hitler image, saying that it was necessary to tell the story about Olympic athlete Jesse Owens treatment by Democrats, and convey the message that African Americans should reconsider their allegiance to the Democratic Party.

Harbin also denied a claim made by several of the legislators that the Republican Party or the campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos had financed the ad.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060707/NEWS99/60707015

[Cha]

1. Why don't they fire back

with an ad of their own; comparing bush to hitler? Shouldn't be do hard to do..and they opened themselves right up for it.

Fuck 'em if they can't take the truth.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

2. My feelings exactly!

[itzamirakul]

3. It appears that the Black Caucus is the only group upset about

the ad. Has the Democratic Party condemned it yet? Or should the Black Caucus fight the ad on their own without the support of the entire party?

For those who don't know, Hitler was incensed that a black athlete was competing against his blond, blue-eyed aryan sportsmen.Whe Owens won the gold so many times, Hitler stomped out of the stadium.

African Americans have been loyal to the Democratic Party since FDR and Eleanor, (especially Eleanor) but the Democratic Party has NEVER been loyal to African Americans.

In fact, under Rovian and neocon techniques, with voices like Limbaugh repeating phrases about "whining blacks being a "special interest group,'" African Americans have become an unwelcome weight around the necks of Party leaders who would rather seek out white centrist vote dribbles rather than fighting for the rights of a strong black voting base.

Maybe the black Caucus should just leave it alone and see how far this woman will go with her plan to convince African Americans to leave the Democratic Party.

[bliss_eternal]

4. Excellent point...

very well said. :) :hi:

[bleedingheart]

12. yes the Democratic Party has spoken out about it

http://www.michigandems.com/

[itzamirakul]

14. Thank you for the link..I am delighted that the state Party spoke

out against the ad.

Now I would like to see some condemnation from the national level. i would also like to hear at least ONE BRAVE DEMOCRATIC POLITICIAN speak out about the theft and spoiled votes of 2000 and 2004 being aimed specifically at African Americans.

Sometimes I wonder...do we have to write the words that we would like to hear our politicians say and then work at trying to get them to say those words? Do any of them have enough sense to say, "There was a concerted effort in both 2000 and 2004 to disenfranchise African American Democratic voters and for this reason alone we lost both races."

[cprise]

5. Look at how blacks were treated by AMERICA

Hmmm... using that (stupid) reasoning shouldn't blacks also disassociate themselves from the USA?

[HamdenRice]

6. Whenever Republicans talk about African Americans and Democrats

They always have to use "ancient" history, because it is obvious that the Republicans don't represent African American interests at all. They can whine about the 1800s or the 1930s, but have nothing to say today. That's why about 90-05% of African American voter vote with the Democrats.

But Itza brings up the excellent point that we are not being rewarded for that loyalty.

[itzamirakul]

7. Watch how quickly this thread disappears...

Two subjects are taboo on DU discussion boards: Any questions or comments on Israel and the treatment of African Americans by the Democratic Party. The latter is just basically ignored because IMO we have far more racists in our own party than we care to admit.

I simply cannot get over the absolutely stupid Democratic leadership policy of seeking a handful of so-called swing voters rather than whole-heartedly supporting the strongest, most dependable base they have, namely...African American voters.

[Cyrano]

8. Yes, there are bigots in the Democratic Party. But my guess is that if

it were possible to take a poll of all Democrats asking them which party is the party of racism, over 90% would reply that it was the Republicans. While white Democratic politicians might not pay attention to blacks, I'm fairly sure that the majority of them are not racists.

As an example, if Katrina had happened while Bill Clinton was president, he would have done everything in his power to help the victims. And if he'd had a Democratic congress, I believe that New Orleans would have been quickly rebuilt and people would not have been scattered all over the map living under any roof they could find.

[itzamirakul]

9. I agree...except...

when absolute, overt racist tactics such as the spoiling of the black vote in both 2000 and 2004 were not immediately attacked and questioned by our Democratic leadership, I have no other recourse than to say that their lack of concern was based on personal racism.

[Cyrano]

10. I live in Florida and most whites here knew what was happening in 2000.

Randi Rhodes was on local radio here at the time and was screaming daily about the ways in which blacks had been disenfranchised and the election had been stolen. No one could understand why the Democratic Party wasn't also screaming.

Dems just don't know how to get down and dirty when fighting with people who aren't playing by any rules. This doesn't make them racists. It makes them fools who are assisting in their own demise.

[bleedingheart]

11. the Democratic Party is far from perfect in this regard

however....it is the party that introduced and pushed Civil Rights and for that very reason most of the really die hard racists ran to the party of Lincoln...ain't that a joke.

You are right. There are racist Democrats. But...our party is willing to change and has been open to change and that is what gives me hope. I also think it is very important to encourage people to get involved because without people getting involved and helping to change the system...nothing will change.

[itzamirakul]

13. Most Democrats that I know were members of the party since the

days of FDR. As you say, this is the party the spearheaded the Civil Rights legislation and caused the Democratic racist politicians of the period nicknamed Dixiecrats to "head for the southern hills."

Some of those racist Dixiecrats and their present-day ideological offspring have renewed their membership in the Democratic Party under the pretense of changing their beliefs from Republican to Democratic ideals. But in actuality, these "New Democrats" are really back in the party as spoilers for the Republicans. If they can continue to cause the inbred, hardcore white racists in our own party to ignore the rights of their staunchest supporters,namely African American voters, they have ruined any chances for the Democrats to win any worthwhile race and assured the Republicans of success.

[Cha]

15. Here's the DNC's

link to African-American issues..this is just one snip~

"On April 26, 2006 black farmers from around the country will gather together in Washington, DC to protest unfair treatment by the United States Department of Agriculture while calling on the Republican Congress to support legislation to reopen the claims of black farmers."

Read more..
http://www.dnc.org/a/communities/african_americans/