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April 8, 2004
National World
GOP upset over Kerry's
remarks to blacks
By ALVIN A. REID
Special to the NNPA
ST. LOUIS (NNPA) — John
Kerry has completed his mini
vacation , but Republicans
remain up in arms over his
recent remarks at New North
Side Baptist Church in St
Louis.
While Kerry did not call out
President Bush by name, he
often referred to the nation’s
“present national leadership.”
Kerry cited several Scriptures
induding James 2:14, “What
good is it, my brothers, if a man
claims to have faith but has no
deeds?”
“The Scriptures say, What
does it profit, my brother, if
someone says he has faith but
does not have works?” Kerry
said. “When we look at wha is
happening in America today,
where are the works of compas
sion?”
A Bush campaign spokesman
said Kerrys comment “was
beyond the bounds of accept
able discourse and a sad
exploitation of Scripture for a
political artack.”
Kerry told worshippers in the
largely black congregation of
the Bishop Willie Ellis that that
by the Bush administration
“while ignoring people acros
America who live in neighbor
hoods like theirs.”
In another demonstration of
Missouris importance in the
tight presidential race, Kerry
made a series of appearances in
addition to the stop at North
side.
He spoke at a rally at Forest
Park and attended fundraisers
King of Pop visits Congress while in Washington to accept award
RIS
WASHINGTON (AP)
—Upbeat despite being
snubbed by the Congres
sional Black Caucus,
Michael Jackson took a
break from his legal trou
bles in California to confer
with several leading black
lawmakers about his
upcoming mission to help
fight AIDS in Africa.
Flashing a victory sign,
the conservatively dressed
Black women may hold vote key to election
By LUCHINA FISHER
Special to the NNPA
WASHINGTON (NNPA) -
With a presidential election that
is shaping up to be close, black
women are poised to play a deci
sive role.The Democratic Party
is home base for many, but the
Republicans are trying to lure
them over. At the same time,
many younger African-Ameri
can women prefer to register as
independents.
“This is a very polarized coun
try we live in at this time,” says
Daniella Gibbs, deputy com-
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John Kerry
while in town.
On the Republican side, the
St. Louis Cardinals owners have
asked Bush to throw out the
ceremonial first pitch before the
season-opening game, and both
candidates will be returning to
Missouri, a key barteground
state. The
Cardinals’ principal owner is
Bill DeWitt, Jr., of Cincinnati,
Ohio - another batteground
state.
With Congressman William
Lacy Clay and Bishop Ellis sit
ting behind him, Kerry told the
congregation that the nation
needs a change in leadership.
“My friends, I come here
today with hope in my heart
but resolve on my mind. When
I look around this city - when I
look around neighborhoods
and towns and cities all over our
country -I see what so many of
you do every day,” he said.
We see that there is so much
work to be done in America.
We see jobs to be created. We
see families to house. We see
violence to stop. We see chil
dren to teach - and children to
Jackson didn’t answer ques
tions from reporters after
meeting Tuesday with sev
eral members of Congress,
but released a statement
directed at the black law
makers.
“What 1 want you to
know is that whatever I can
do to assist you in your
fight I will do,” Jackson's
statement said.
Jackson, in town to
accept an award for his
work helping fight AIDS
overseas, met privately with
munications director for the
Democratic National Commit
tee. “So every vote is going to
count.”
And, it appears the one vote
the Democrats can count on is
from black women.
Studies of the last three presi
dential elections show that black
women are the most loyal
Democrats of any demographic
group.
“African-American women
are the base of the base of the
Democratic Party,” Gibbs says.
In the 2000 presidential race,
94 percent of black women
care for. We see too many peo
ple hungry in a country where
food is abundant-and too many
working families living in shel
ters, when a living wage should
provide them with a place to
live.
Clay called the November
election, “the most important in
a generation.”
“You will have a critical role in
deciding the outcome.”
Clay said “Our worship, our
Bible study is really about a sim
ple powerful idea -the truth.
Clay also quoted from the
Bible, Psalms Chapter 25, verse
10, “All the paths of the Lord,
are mercy and truth.”
“I think you should demand
that anyone who wants to really
lead our nation should tell the
truth.”
Clay, a frequent Bush critic,
then laced into the president,
saying he is not truthful about
Social Security, unemploy
ment, lack of medical coverage
for millions of Americans and
why his administration did
not do a better job of protect
ing America from terrorism.
several black members of
Congress in the office of
Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Penn
sylvania Democrat, to talk
about his AIDS work. He is
planning a trip to Africa
later this year, said Rep.
John Lewis, a Georgia
Democrat.
Fattah called him “one of
the leading celebrities in the
world who has actually used
his celebrity status to help
people.”
Jackson wanted to meet
with the full 38-member
voted for Al Gore, while only six
percent supported George W.
Bush, according to the Joint
Center for Political and Eco
nomic Studies, an African-
American think tank based in
Washington, D.C. Close to
nine million black women were
registered to vote in the election,
and of that number 7.6 million
said they actually voted, accord
ing tothe U.S. Census Bureau.
There were more than 13 mil
lion black women in the U.S. in
2000.
Black women tend to favor
the Democratic Party because of
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Racial profiling ban makes
way through congress
NBK.PMZEL.EDNEY
A Washington
WASHINGTON
(NNPA) — The nation’s first
federal racial profiling pro
vision that would require
every state to establish anti
profiling laws in order to
receive certain federal trans
portation funds has been
passed by the Republican
led U. S. House of Repre
sentatives, but must now
get Senate approval.
“I have gotten this
through the worse House,”
says Delegate Eleanor
Holmes Norton (D-D.C.),
chief sponsor of the provi
sion, which is a part of a
$275 billion transportation
bill (HR-3550) that passed
a week ago 357 to 65.
Norton’s provision s
attached to the “Trans
portation Equity Act: A
Legacy for Users,” which
generally provides funding
for the nation’s highways
and transportation systems.
Her provision, backed by
the entire Congressional
Black Caucus, earmarks
S6O million over six years
for states to develop racial
profiling laws and collect
racial statistics on traffic
stops.
The provision would
require states and localities
to make and enforce strong
anti-profiling laws for use
on federal highways in
order to qualify for money
to enforce certain kinds of
traffic offenses, including
drunk driving and speed
ing.
“You can’t just have any
Congressional Black Cau
cus at its Wednesday,
March 31 meeting, but
leaders turned him down,
saying they were too busy
dealing with legislative
issues affecting black Amer
icans.
But several caucus mem
bers, speaking on condition
of anonymity, said there
was no upside politically for
them to link their name to
Jackson by holding a high
profile meeting with him.
They also noted that Jack
the issues that appeal to them.
“We vote our interests,” says
Gibbs of the Democratic
National ~ Committee. Black
women have shown an interest
in health care, education, jobs
and child care - issues empha
sized by the Democrats, says
David Bositis, a senior
researcher for the Joint Center.
Black women also make up a
large proportion of the senior
population adds Bositis, which
means they are interested in
Social Security and Medicare,
issues the Democrats have tend
ed to capitalize on.
old law, call it racial profil
ing and qualify for these
millions of dollars. Because
there’s a money incentive, |
think it'll be effective in
getting states to want to get
the money and therefore
pass the laws we need,”
Norton says. “You have the
states making stops for race
alone.”
The provision will now
be discussed in a conference
between House and Senate
members among other pro
visions in the transporta
tion bill.
Norton acknowledges
that the measure, which she
expects will be agreed upon,
is only a start.
For at least the last two
sessions of Congress, Rep.
John Conyers (D-Mich.),
the longest serving member
of the CBC and ranking
member of the House Judi
ciary
Committee, has intro
duced an anti-police profil
ing bill that would become
a mandatory civil rights law
rather than a budgetary
provision such as Norton’s.
It would prohibit federal
funds for states or localities
proven to be conducting
traffic stops based on race.
Conyers has noted that
Republican Judiciary Com
mittee Chairman James
Sensenbrenner (Wis.), has
constantly blocked the
measure from ever reaching
the House floor for a vote.
“We are nowhere near to
getting that from a Repub
lican Congress,” says Nor
ton, a co-sponsor of Cony
ers’ bill (H.R.3847). “We're
son has never donated
any money to their caus
es and has never asked to
speak to them before
now.
Jackson was charged
last year with seven
counts of committing
lewd or lascivious acts
upon a child under age
14 and two counts of
administering an
intoxicating agent to
the child. Jackson
has pleaded inno
cent.
The Joint Center found that
they are voting in larger num
bers than even black men. In the
last presidential election, six out
of 10 black voters were women.
Also, more black women are
participating in politics than
white women. Bositis says that
about 35 percent of black elect
ed officials are women, while
white women make up 21 per
cent of white elected officials.
All this may mean an oppor
tunity for the Republicans. A
small but growing number of
black women are choosing the
Republican Party.
just going in the back door.
(Conyers) wants to go in
the front door.”
Norton used her knowl
edge and savvy as former
chair of the Equal Employ
ment Opportunity Com
mission (EEOC) under
Jimmy Carter to write the
new provision.
“One of the reasons racial
profiling remains wide
spread is because federal law
has been silent, unlike the
case with job discrimina
tion and discrimination in
other state and federal
activities,” Norton says.
She says her provision,
established by working with
ranking Transportation
Committee Democrat,
James Oberstar (Minn.), is
an important first step, but
she will continue to fight
alongside Conyers to add a
ban on racial profiling to
the nation’s civil rights laws.
To qualify for a maxi
mum of five percent annual
of the grant funding, states
must establish laws pro
hibiting the use of race or
ethnicity of drivers or pas
sengers in making traffic
stops.
“A state law shall prohib
it, in the enforcement of
state laws regulating the use
of Federal-aid highways, a
State or local law enforce
ment officer from using the
race or ethnicity of the driv
er or passengers to any
degree in making routine or
spontaneous law enforce
ment decisions, such as
ordinary traffic stops on
Federal-aid highways,” the
provision states.
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Michael Jackson
Felicia Davis, an advisory
board member of the black
Women’s Roundtable, says
Republicans are aggressively ry
ing to recruit more back
women.
Young black women, like
many voters, are choosing not to
affiliate with either party and
instead declare themselves inde
pendent.
“One of the things my
friends say is, 'ln my heart, I'm
a Democrat, but I'm going to
register independent,” says
Gibbs.