Tag: black america

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Hoover Institution Senior Fellow describes Black Lives Matter as a“distraction” from the real issues facing the Black community

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photo by Boyd Loving

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, a reader asked ,”How would/should movements like BLM stop the violence in inner city communities? What should local municipalities (black-run or not) do to stem the violence? One way could be to allocate more resources to education, to allocate resources to community programs, to allocate resources to places like Planned Parenthood, etc. — all things that many commentators and authors on this blog would be against. So what do you experts think?”

The Ridgewood decided to ask a  expert  Shelby Steele is the Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He specializes in the study of race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action. He was appointed a Hoover fellow in 1994.

The Ridgewood blog complied these quotes from several interviews .

Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Shelby Steele describes the current Black Lives Matter and other racial protest saying they are a “distraction” from the real issues facing the Black community.

Continue reading Hoover Institution Senior Fellow describes Black Lives Matter as a“distraction” from the real issues facing the Black community

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Tavis Smiley: Black America could get on Trump train

Tavis Smiley

Tavis Smiley 6:41 a.m. EST March 2, 2016

Hillary might look like a shoo-in with African-American voters, but don’t be too sure.

With Hillary Clinton racking up more overwhelming victories in Super Tuesday primaries thanks to the overwhelming support of African-American voters, the conventional wisdom is that she has the black vote on lock down. She might be wrong.

Clinton has already been endorsed by most members of the Congressional Black Caucus, many big city black mayors and other notable black elected officials from California to the Carolinas.

Additionally, she’s also getting not so subtle signs of support from Obama White House insiders and a few shout-outs from President Obama himself. Initially, the president promised to remain neutral until the primary season was over, but herecently appeared to ever so gently open the door to an endorsement of his former secretary of State sooner than expected.

Personally, I never thought Obama would wait that long, not after what Bill Clinton did for him at the Democratic National Convention in 2012 to help energize his re-election campaign. I suspect Obama would love nothing more than to even the score by repaying the debt he owes the Clintons. Politics is funny. First, they run against each other in a nasty campaign with racial overtones, then they feign friendship and work together, then Bill gallops in to help Barack win a second term, and now Hillary needs the president’s support to win the presidency. Talk about triangulation.

Nonetheless, the conventional wisdom is that black voters have forgiven the Clintons for their attempt to diminish Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, and this time around, they’ve got Hillary’s back. Except everyone knows that in this presidential election cycle, conventional wisdom left the building long before the train ever left the station. Something tells me that if Donald Trump is indeed the Republican nominee, it might be a miscalculation for Democrats to assume that black voters are a lock for their nominee, even with the first black president and Barack Obama both campaigning for her.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/03/01/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-black-voters-primary-elections-2016-column/81150932/

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The riddle of black America’s rising woes under Obama

Obama-Golf

The riddle of black America’s rising woes under Obama
By Edward Luce

Those who have fared worst under this president are the ones who love him the most

A paradox haunts America’s first black president. African-American wealth has fallen further under Barack Obama than under any president since the Depression. Yet they are the only group that still gives him high ratings. So meagre is Mr Obama’s national approval rating that embattled Democrats have made him unwelcome in states that twice swept him to power. Those who have fared worst under Mr Obama are the ones who love him the most. You would be hard-pressed to find a better example of perception-driven politics. As the Reverend Kevin Johnson asked in 2013: “Why are we so loyal to a president who isn’t loyal to us?”

The problem has taken on new salience with the resignation of Eric Holder. America’s first black attorney-general has tried to correct the gulag-sized disparities in prison sentencing between blacks and whites. His exit leaves just two African-Americans in Mr Obama’s cabinet. Given the mood among Republicans, it is hard to imagine the US Senate confirming a successor to Mr Holder who shares his priorities.

https://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5455efbe-4fa4-11e4-a0a4-00144feab7de.html#axzz3G40e0WkE