← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · albion
Thread ID: 20097 | Posts: 6 | Started: 2005-09-08
2005-09-08 22:37 | User Profile
Democratic Party chairman calls for nation to confront ââ¬Ëugly truthââ¬â¢
MIAMI - Race was a factor in the death toll from Hurricane Katrina, Howard Dean told members of the National Baptist Convention of America on Wednesday at the groupââ¬â¢s annual meeting.
Dean, chairman of the Democratic Party, made the comments to the Baptistsââ¬â¢ Political and Social Justice Commission. The National Baptist Convention, with an estimated 3.5 million members, is one of the largest black religious groups in the country
ââ¬ÅWe must ... come to terms with the ugly truth that skin color, age and economics played a deadly role in who survived and who did not,ââ¬Â Dean said.
Dean said Americans have a moral responsibility to not ignore the devastating damage caused by Hurricane Katrina when it struck the Gulf Coast.
The former presidential candidate said the government will be judged by how it treats the old, the young and the poor.
*ââ¬ËThey are not refugeesââ¬â¢ *ââ¬ÅPeople are poor in different parts of the country. They are not refugees. They are Americans,ââ¬Â he said.
Dean said that instead of considering proposed estate tax breaks, the Senate should channel the money into disaster relief.
ââ¬ÅShall we give that to the wealthiest people in the country, or should we rebuild New Orleans?ââ¬Â Dean said.
[url="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9247380/"]http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9247380/[/url]
2005-09-09 00:18 | User Profile
[QUOTE=albion] *ââ¬ËThey are not refugeesââ¬â¢ ââ¬ÅPeople are poor in different parts of the country. They are not refugees. They are Americans,ââ¬Â he said.[/QUOTE] This is getting old. ref÷u÷gee* (r[img]http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/ebreve.gif[/img]f[img]http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/lprime.gif[/img]y[img]http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/oobreve.gif[/img]-j[img]http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/emacr.gif[/img][img]http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/prime.gif[/img]) One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution.
I don't care what Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson said -- nobody ever implied that they weren't Americans, you idiot. Stop repeating this.
2005-09-09 00:36 | User Profile
On the bright side of this tragedy, it might just work in the conservatives' favor (not so much the neos) if the Democratic party is able to persuade a greater number of blacks to abandon the Republicans, effectively diversifying the liberals even more ... which would give liberals strenght in the multicultural push for a good number of years, but it could (hopefully) divide this country to such a point that dumb-ass whites will see that they really do have the majority, albeit not for long. Howard Dean might just be the race-card wake-up call the white man needs ... conservatives sure don't want to play it. As hispanic candidates eventually become more and more victorious in the southwest and California, the rest of the country should take note ... they aren't going to wait for a party to pick them up for they will simply vote on race lines to begin with ... possibly emerging as the country's first "race" party and yet another wake-up (ding ding)
2005-09-09 01:18 | User Profile
Dean is a rectal orifice of the first order. Why anybody gives him any credence at all is a mystery to me.
2005-09-09 02:59 | User Profile
Contact: Karen Finney of the Democratic National Committee Press Office, 202-863-8148
WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 /U.S. Newswire/ -- This afternoon, DNC Chairman Howard Dean addressed the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. in Miami. Excerpts of his remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:
"Last week, our nation faced a great tragedy when the worst natural disaster in the history of our country forever changed the lives of so many of our fellow Americans. In the aftermath of this tragedy, we are called to come together as one community. Our prayers and our thanks go out to all who have been working so tirelessly on the relief and recovery efforts. I know the National Baptist Convention has joined many of the millions of faithful in America to come to the aid of citizens in need. I want to commend Dr. Thurston and the NBCA membership for your leadership. This is a critical moment in our nation's history and we have a shared responsibility to move our country forward and learn from the mistakes made and be truthful with ourselves about how and why this happened and what we must do going forward to rebuild America. Because we will ultimately be judged by how we react in times of trouble and how we care for the least among us. I want to talk to you not as the Chairman of the Democratic Party, but as an American. Last week, we witnessed tremendous acts of courage and heroism, of people coming together, opening their hearts to one another trying to reach out and help one another. That was America at its best.
But that's not all we saw. We saw people desperately trying to survive in conditions we could not imagine in an American city. As survivors are evacuated, order is restored, the water slowly begins to recede, and we sort through the rubble, we must also begin to come to terms with the ugly truth that skin color, age and economics played a deadly role in who survived and who did not.
And the question that emerged: how can this happen in America? The truth is, what we saw on the television in New Orleans exists here in Miami, and in every part of our country, every day. Because people are poor throughout our country. They are old. They are young. They are black, white, and brown. They are not refugees. They are our fellow Americans. The truth is that we have ignored the poor for far too long. And until it washed right up on our front doorsteps, we might have continued to ignore the reality that poverty has too many of our fellow Americans in its grip, and we have a shared moral responsibility not to ignore it anymore. According to the census numbers that were released just last week, there were 37 million people living in poverty in 2004, about 3.5 million of these were over the age of 65 and nearly 1 in 5 American Children Lived in Poverty During 2004. And nearly 25 percent of all African Americans lived in poverty in 2004. We need to open our eyes in our own communities. We need a plan to rebuild America. Because it is not enough for one of us to do well, because our fundamental value of community means that we owe something to one another, every day of every year -- and that unless we all have the opportunity to succeed none of us succeeds.
Together we will rebuild America.
[url="http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=52955"]http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=52955[/url]
[img]http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050907/050907_dean_race_hmed6p.hmedium.jpg[/img]
2005-09-09 04:42 | User Profile
[QUOTE=albion]ââ¬ÅWe must ... come to terms with the ugly truth that skin color, age and economics played a deadly role in who survived and who did not,ââ¬Â Dean said.[/QUOTE] Actually I'm surprised they have been so circumspect. Although Dean is the DNC head now. I'm surprised no one has come up with some line "Golly, they is shippin us from our homes just like some nigga's dat juss up and be sold".
I wouldn't be surprised now at anything I here. All sorts,of snakes, pests, and reptiles floatin around in these troubled waters.