It appears our good friends at the CBC need a reminder of why the term "house negro" is deeply offensive and conditions which would engender its use be avoided. The blogosphere recently won a huge victory over our arch enemies at FOX, convincing the Nevada Democratic Party not to let FOX mediate a Democratic presidential candidate debate. But of course, evil never sleeps, and FOX is at it again, this time with the CBC. Watch this video first:
I don't watch FOX ever, so this shocked me a little. Some new friends at Color of Change introduced me to it, and they are leading the effort to prevent the CBC Institute from making a grave error. Here's what Color of Change has to say:
The CBC Institute should not legitimize Fox
Fox News has consistently attacked Black people, politicians and cultural institutions. Despite this fact, the Congressional Black Caucus Institute is in negotiations with Fox to co-host presidential debates.
Should the CBC Institute partner with Fox, it would legitimize Fox as a fair and balanced news source, effectively disregarding Fox's clearly hostile stance towards Black political interests. It runs counter to the stated goals of the Institute as well as the CBC's commitment to advocate for racial equality and justice and its desire to be considered the "conscience of Congress."
You can help the CBC Institute do the right thing. Let them know that they should drop Fox now
That CBC link is the contact form, so write or call them today. They have indicated that they will be making their decision very soon, so don't wait. Afronetizen adds:
Recently, the Nevada State Democratic Party cancelled an upcoming presidential debate in partnership with Fox News Channel due inflammatory, anti-Obama remarks made by its president, Roger Ailes.
Despite this latest development, the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute (CBC Institute), the CBC's advocacy arm, is apparently still considering partnering with Fox to co-host a series of candidate debates leading up to the 2008 presidential election.
Chaired by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) the CBCI's board "is comprised of corporate leaders, academic leaders, labor leaders and members of the Congressional Black Caucus." So, is the CBCI's leadership "in alignment" (to use former NAACP president Bruce Gordon's euphemistic words) with the majority of CBC members or the board of its operational shell, the CBC Foundation?
Irrespective of their rhyme or reason, we implore you to join Color of Change and Afro-Netizen in urging the CBCI to lead with integrity and to not make another deal with the devil.
In September of 2003 the Congressional Black Caucus co-sponsored a Democratic presidential candidate debate with Fox News at Baltimore HBCU, Morgan State University. Progressive-minded Blackfolk should have acted then, and we simply have no excuse not to act today towards keeping it (and any of its affiliated organizations) accountable.
I don't want to have to get nasty, but the CBC better take the right action on this, or harsh words will be used.
Update: Good news. They picked CNN, who still suck, but at least not as blatantly. This is one of the more important debates, so this is a real victory for our side. Proof that pressure from us Little People really can make a difference.
- chicago dyke's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- 1+[encrypted]+#b94+
Printer-friendly version
Front page
Comments
It looks like CNN
Think Progress is reporting that the CBC is going with CNN.
Well, FUX isn't a legitimate news organization
So why would CBC use them to co-host a debate? [snicker]
No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
update from CoC/CBC/Fox
here's an email i just got from someone at color of change:
As far as I know, we were the first to contact the CBC Institute with concerns about this, and they've been fairly receptive to at least having a conversation about this. But no one from the Institute has contacted us to say they've dropped the talks with Fox. Our initial impression from talking with them was that they were in talks with both Fox and CNN, but that the two weren't mutually exclusive. To us, it seemed like they might do deals with both CNN and Fox, not necessarily that they were choosing.
Our members are right now flooding the Institute with emails, and you'd think that if the they could tell us they'd dropped the talks with Fox, they might.
This is no time to let up the pressure. They could be waiting for it to blow over so they can announce next week.
we'll be watching carefully to see what happens.
CBC
Chicago D. Keep it up. Really good post.