MichaelFauntroy.com

Radio Interview Clip -- Fauntroy Discusses Obama and Farrakhan on NPR's News and Notes

I had the pleasure of joining Debra Dickerson and Wayne Bennett on the Wednesday, February 27th edition of NPR's News and Notes.  We discussed the Democratic presidential campaign and the back-and-forth over Minister Louis Farrakhan's recent praise of Barack Obama. Check it out when you can.

Stand Strong, Tavis

One of the really unfortunate aspects of the current battle for the Democratic presidential nomination is the apologetic position that appears to be taking root in the Black community regarding Barack Obama’s candidacy.  It goes something like this: “We shouldn’t press him too much to talk about Black issues because that might mess it up for the brother.”  This color-before-accountability group-think has led to some sad examples of Blacks turning on each other for having the audacity to ask Obama to discuss his agenda for Black America.  Tavis Smiley has recently been caught up in a silly battle because he had the temerity to not accept the company line regarding Obama’s campaign. 

Smiley has been subjected to a slew of criticism and threats since he criticized Obama on the Tom Joyner Morning Show after the Democratic presidential frontrunner announced that he would not attend Smiley’s annual State of the Black Union symposium this year in New Orleans.  I think the criticism of Smiley is ridiculous and have a message for him: Stand Strong.  (Disclosure: I appeared on Smiley’s PBS show in September to analyze the Republican presidential candidates’ forum at Morgan State University). 

Smiley has been nothing if not consistent.  He has always advocated the importance of the issues over the candidates and has stressed the need to hold the candidates accountable when it comes to Black problems.  What’s wrong with that?  You better believe that other segments of the electorate will do this with regard to their unique issues.  Latino/a voters will hold him accountable on immigration.  Jews will hold him accountable on Israel.  Wall Street will hold him accountable on business and taxes.  And Black people are supposed to just sit in a corner, be quiet, and hope that Obama will get to our issues?  I say no!!  This is a hat-in-hand approach to politics that has gone on long enough.  Smiley is right.  If we can’t seek accountability now, then when can we?

Obama has said that he couldn’t appear at the forum because he would be campaigning.  That’s a thin argument when one considers that there is more than enough time in the day to do both.  If Obama wanted, he could have gone to New Orleans, which is next to Texas by the way, spoken in the morning and been back in the Lone Star State by noon for a long day of campaigning.  Candidates go from state to state all the time, so this would have been no big deal.  Indeed, simple math reveals just how inefficient Obama’s decision was.  Let’s say he held four campaign rallies during the day, each with 20,000 attendees for a total of 80,000.  That’s a fraction of the one million or more likely to watch the State of the Black Union event live on C-SPAN.  The best use of his time, purely in terms of being seen by the widest possible audience, was to go to New Orleans.  As a compromise, he could have appeared live via satellite from a convenient location.

Black America has many needs.  I think among them is the need for people in positions of influence to stand up for principles over politicians.  If it’s wrong to ask a Black presidential candidate to address Black people and speak on Black issues, then we are not doing our jobs as citizens and voters.

Michael K. Fauntroy is an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University and author of the book Republicans and the Black Vote.  A registered Independent, he blogs at: www.MichaelFauntroy.com.

Video Clip -- Fauntroy Tears Sean Hannity a New One

Here are two clips of my appearance on the Thursday, January 24, 2008 edition of Hannity and Colmes;  thanks to the good people at News Hounds for posting the video. I don't know much about News Hounds.  But they were nice to me in their description of how things went, so they're "Kool and the Gang" as we might say:

Fauntroy was a great guest who refused to be apologetic for African Americans’ enthusiasm at the prospect of a black president.

“So it’s perfectly normal if somebody votes for a white candidate because they’re white?” Hannity sneered in his bullyboy voice.

But Fauntroy did not allow himself to be intimidated, demanded to finish his thoughts (he compared blacks’ affinity for Obama to Italians for Giuliani or Mormons for Romney) and Hannity eventually backed off with a smile, as he almost always does when someone really stands up to him.

First Segment:

Second Segment:

What Should Black America Expect from a Black President?

Barack Obama’s campaign has caught fire in communities all over the country.  His call for change is resonating with a Democratic electorate fed up with the lies, distortions, corruption, and general crookedness of the Bush administration.  Obama’s support is running especially hot in much of the Black community, which has rewarded him with overwhelming support.  While I see this as a natural occurrence – everyone wants to see “one of their own” in powerful positions – it puts a new spin on an old question for African American voters: What should Black voters expect from a Black president?  What issues should Black America expect President Obama to address?  Should he be expected to address not just universal issues, but also those of unique importance to Black America?  After all, what’s the point of having a Black president if he doesn’t deal with uniquely Black issues?  I’m not suggesting that he should put Black issues above everything else if he becomes president; that would certainly make him a one-termer.  However, he can’t win the presidency on the back of Black voters, then do nothing on Black issues.  Can he?

Of course, there are issues that are of universal interest.  The Iraq War, taxes, the federal budget deficit, and jobs, among other issues, have universal appeal.  But, there also are issues that are of unique interest to various sectors of the electorate.  Latinos have a particular interest in U.S. immigration policy.  Jews have a unique interest U.S. policy toward Israel.  Christian fundamentalists focus on abortion and faith policy.  African Americans have issues, too, that particularly resonate in Black communities all over the country. 

Forty-six percent of the nearly two million people now incarcerated in the U.S. are Black, despite the fact that African Americans comprise 13 percent of the populace (not to mention the millions of Blacks on parole or probation).  There are only two explanations for this reality: either African Americans are genetically predisposed to commit crime or there are systemic societal characteristics that make it more likely than not that African Americans will be sentenced to prison compared to other Americans.  Families, neighborhoods, and large swaths of the Black community have been destabilized through this systemic warehousing of African Americans.  And, oh, by the way, Black women comprise the fastest growing segment of American prisoners.  What would a President Obama do to fix this disparity?  Will he expend any of his newly gotten political capital to descend upon states with particularly egregious records in this regard and push them toward fairness or will he simply punt, arguing that this is not a federal issue?

There are incredible household wealth disparities that exist between Whites and Blacks.  Median White household wealth is roughly 10 times that of African American households.  These gains have been and will continue to be under siege as conservatives seek to shrink the opportunity base for minorities while preserving the status quo for their own children.  Black college enrollment is beginning to shrink in part because of increasing costs and decreasing amounts of available federal student loans.  What will a President Obama do to preserve access to higher education and greater Black household income?

I know that this seems to be a lot to put on the plate for one president, particularly the first Black president.  Indeed, some will argue that these are issues outside the scope of what a President can reasonably be expected to address.  I’m also not expecting him to run his mouth in Idaho, Iowa, or New Hampshire about what he will do for Black people.  But is it too much to ask of him to lay out his plans in places like South Carolina or Georgia?

You better believe that other groups are making plain what they expect him to do for them once he gets in office, so it’s only fair for Black people to get in the game too.  In fact, you better get in line now if you have any expectations for him in this regard.  People are falling all over him to do this or that and my guess is that criminal justice, housing, healthcare, and education issues that pertain to Black people aren’t high on their lists.  Therefore, we must step up and make sure he knows what he wants.  Sadly, my fear is that many Black voters are so desperate for a Black president that they will take one without asking him to do anything about the unique issues that plague Black communities around the country. 

There’s something perverse in this kid glove’s treatment: It’s possible that a Black President could win the White House but do even less for Black America than a White President and get away with it because African American voters don’t want to ask their first Black President for anything and won’t hold him accountable if they did.  Here’s hoping that Obama’s march to the White House will include something for Black America.  After all, it may turn out that Black voters in South Carolina made it possible for him to win the nomination.  Shouldn’t they get something for their trouble other than the pride in seeing the first Black president in their lifetimes?

Michael K. Fauntroy is an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University and author of the book, Republicans and the Black Vote; an updated paperback version will be released in April 2008.  A registered Independent, he blogs at: www.MichaelFauntroy.com.

Memo to Obama: McCain Won't Hesitate to Play the Race Card

Senator John McCain’s win in Wisconsin places him mere inches away from the Republican nomination.  McCain’s march to the nomination is nearly complete and the time is now to consider how he might use race in a general election campaign against the Democratic front-runner, Barack Obama.  McCain will undoubtedly play a number of cards against Obama.  From experience, to seeming indecision on some international affairs questions to his nearly comprehensive liberalism, McCain will have many arrows in his quiver.  For my money, though, don’t count out the race card.  McCain’s history show it will be on the table during the general election.

It’s not too early to consider a general election campaign that could include the first African American major party nominee.  That is because McCain is a Republican and from Willie Horton to “reverse discrimination” to voter purge programs to the “welfare queen” to the “Southern strategy,” and beyond, his party has perversely used race to demonize African Americans and Black candidates to win elections.  The Republican party that built its rise to national dominance during the 1980s and 1990s will not hesitate to use whatever resources necessary to win this election.  Consequently, I expect the Grand Old Party to empty a dump truck of racial code language and other negative symbolism on Obama in an attempt to scare away enough voters to keep the presidency under their control.

It won’t be easy for the GOP to demonize Obama.  His multiracial appeal, particularly to White independent voters, puts the GOP on notice that he is not the typical Black candidate. Therefore, some of their tried and true attempts to stir up a racial hornet’s nest will be seen for what they are.  That doesn’t mean, however, that they won’t be utilized.  Particularly if Senator John McCain is the nominee.  A 71-year-old nominee, McCain probably understands that this is his only bite at the apple and won’t allow a little racial animosity to get in the way of a November victory. 

Make no mistake:  McCain won’t avoid playing the race card if necessary.  He takes pride in being a Reagan Republican, a statement that sends up warning flags for African Americans.  While he has admitted that his vote against a federal holiday to commemorate the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a mistake, he nonetheless opposed the holiday.  McCain hired Terry Nelson as his campaign manager, a man who is (dis)credited with creating the “call me” ad that helped sink Harold Ford’s Tennessee Senate race.  Nelson also supervised someone who was ultimately convicted in the New Hampshire phone jamming scheme.

McCain’s South Carolina spokesman, Richard Quinn, was quoted as saying of the King holiday: “Ignoring the real heroes in our nation's life, the blacks have chosen a man who represents not their emancipation, not their sacrifices and bravery in service to their country; rather, they have chosen a man whose role in history was to lead his people into a perpetual dependence on the welfare state, a terrible bondage of body and soul.”

With McCain’s staff choices serving as a window into what he might do to win the presidency, it’s clear that race will be used, if necessary, to beat Obama.  Hopefully, Obama’s campaign understands that a bright vision for the future is one thing, but being prepared for the hardball, racially-tinged campaigning that likely lies ahead is another.

Michael K. Fauntroy is an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University and author of the book Republicans and the Black Vote.  An updated paperback edition will be available in April 2008.  A registered Independent, he blogs at: www.MichaelFauntroy.com.

Win a signed copy of Republicans and the Black Vote!!

You can win a free author-signed copy of Republicans and the Black Vote.  Just sign up to receive notification when the site is updated (new addresses only).  One name will be drawn on the 15th of each month and the winner will get a new book.  (MichaelFauntroy.com does not sell or rent email addresses, so you can rest assured that your privacy will be protected).

White House Urges Dismissal of Apartheid-Era Lawsuits

Here's one you might have missed.  CNN reported last week that a series of lawsuits against companies that did business with the former apartheid regime of South Africa should be dismissed, the Bush administration told the Supreme Court Tuesday.  The White House wants lawsuits against companies that did business with Apartheid South Africa dismissed.  The suits argue more than four dozen U.S. and foreign companies should be ordered to pay as much as $400 billion to South African blacks and others who suffered under that country’s official policy of oppressive separation of the races between 1948 and 1994.

Click here to read the entire story.

Can Maggie Williams Rescue the Clinton Campaign?

Here is a Reuters story on the hiring of Maggie Williams to run Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign instead of Patti Solis Doyle.  Williams served as Clinton's chief of staff during the Clinton White House years and goes back with Clinton to the 1980s, when Williams worked on the staff of the Children's Defense Fund and Clinton was a board member.

Radio Interview Clip -- Michael Fauntroy Discusses Super Tuesday on NPR's News and Notes

Here is a clip from the Monday, February 4, 2008 edition of NPR's News and Notes where I, along with UCLA's Mark Sawyer, discuss Super Tuesday.