[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Dean, race and class

[Ricky Baldwin]

Folks,

Since we had a rather heated and very interesting
discussion of Dean's earlier remarks concerning race
and class interests, I think this speech and analysis
of it are worth a look.  As someone who is not exactly
a fan of Dean's and who was also critical of his flag
remark, I find this latest statement very impressive
(and the analysis pretty much right on the mark,
especially the part about the value of Kucinich and
Sharpton staying in as long as possible).

I'll stop now to see what others think. -RB

> 
> Dean Makes Racial-Political History
> > 
> > The Black Commentator, December 11, 2003
> >
>
<http://www.blackcommentator.com/68/68_cover_dean.html>
> > 
> > Howard Dean's December 7 speech is the most
> important
> > statement on race in American politics by a
> mainstream
> > white politician in nearly 40 years. Nothing
> remotely
> > comparable has been said by anyone who might
> become or
> > who has been President of the United States since
> Lyndon
> > Johnson's June 4, 1965 affirmative action address
> to the
> > graduating class at Howard University.
> > 
> > For four decades, the primary political project of
> the
> > Republican Party has been to transform itself into
> the
> > White Man's Party. Not only in the Deep South, but
> also
> > nationally, the GOP seeks to secure a majority
> popular
> > base for corporate governance through coded
> appeals to
> > white racism. The success of this GOP project has
> been
> > the central fact of American politics for two
> > generations -- reaching its fullest expression in
> the
> > Bush presidency. Yet a corporate covenant with
> both
> > political parties has prohibited the mere mention
> of
> > America's core contemporary political reality: the
> > constant, routine mobilization of white voters
> through
> > the imagery and language of race.
> > 
> > Last Sunday, Howard Dean broke that covenant:
> > 
> > "In 1968, Richard Nixon won the White House. He
> did it
> > in a shameful way -- by dividing Americans against
> one
> > another, stirring up racial prejudices and
> bringing out
> > the worst in people.
> > 
> > "They called it the 'Southern Strategy,' and the
> > Republicans have been using it ever since. Nixon
> > pioneered it, and Ronald Reagan perfected it,
> using
> > phrases like 'racial quotas' and 'welfare queens'
> to
> > convince white Americans that minorities were to
> blame
> > for all of America's problems.
> > 
> > "The Republican Party would never win elections if
> they
> > came out and said their core agenda was about
> selling
> > America piece by piece to their campaign
> contributors
> > and making sure that wealth and power is
> concentrated in
> > the hands of a few.
> > 
> > "To distract people from their real agenda, they
> run
> > elections based on race, dividing us, instead of
> uniting
> > us."
> > 
> > Dean's Columbia, South Carolina, statement is
> equal in
> > political import to Lyndon Johnson's framing of
> the need
> > for affirmative action, in 1965. Prior to
> Johnson's
> > Howard University address, no sitting or potential
> > President since Reconstruction had drawn the
> straight
> > line that connects racism and poverty:
> > 
> > "Negro poverty is not white poverty. Many of its
> causes
> > and many of its cures are the same. But there are
> > differences -- deep, corrosive, obstinate
> differences --
> > radiating painful roots into the community, and
> into the
> > family, and the nature of the individual.
> > 
> > "These differences are not racial differences.
> They are
> > solely and simply the consequence of ancient
> brutality,
> > past injustice, and present prejudice. They are
> > anguishing to observe. For the Negro they are a
> constant
> > reminder of oppression."
> > 
> > A defining moment
> > 
> > Not since Lyndon Johnson vowed to harness the
> power of
> > the federal government to redress the historical
> > grievances of Black America has a potential or
> sitting
> > President made such a clear case against racism as
> a
> > political and economic *instrument* -- and even
> Johnson
> > failed to indict corporate interests, or anyone in
> > particular, for wielding race as a political
> weapon.
> > Howard Dean points the finger straight at
> executive
> > boardrooms, and directly implicates members of his
> own
> > party in the coded conspiracy.
> > 
> > "Every time a politician uses the word 'quota,'
> it's
> > because he'd rather not talk about the real
> reasons that
> > we've lost almost 3 million jobs.
> > 
> > "Every time a politician complains about
> affirmative
> > action in our universities, it's because he'd
> rather not
> > talk about the real problems with education in
> America
> > -- like the fact that here in South Carolina, only
> 15%
> > of African Americans have a post-high school
> degree."
> > 
> > At Howard University Lyndon Johnson established a
> > muscular, principled, historically-rooted
> rationale for
> > vigorous affirmative action as national public
> policy.
> > Johnson then announced "a White House conference
> of
> > scholars, and experts, and outstanding Negro
> leaders --
> > men [sic] of both races -- and officials of
> Government
> > at every level. This White House conference's
> theme and
> > title will be 'To Fulfill These Rights.'"
> > 
> > Johnson spent the better part of the next three
> and a
> > half years forcing legislation through Congress to
> > "fulfill" those rights, as broadly demanded by the
> Civil
> > Rights Movement.
> > 
> > Bill Clinton -- the ridiculously dubbed "Black"
> > President -- began his 1992 campaign by staging an
> > ambush of Sister Souljah to impress white males,
> > dedicated his second term to elimination of
> "welfare as
> > we know it," and ended his tenure with a
> purposeless
> > national "conversation on race" that went nowhere
> by
> > design.
> > 
> > Howard Dean has taken history in his hands by
> hitching
> > his ascendant campaign to a straightforward, anti-
> > corporate message that does not pander to white
> racism.
> > He presents whites in the South and elsewhere with
> the
> > only principled choice they should be offered: to
> vote
> > their interests, or vote for their bosses'
> interests (if
> > they are lucky enough to have a job). Although
> corporate
> > media called Dean's statement his "southern
> strategy,"
> > it is in fact the only position that holds out any
> hope
> > for a national Democratic victory in 2004 --
> whether
> > enough southern whites emerge from their racist
> "false
> > consciousness" or not.
> > 
> > The December 7 speech is a clear and definitive
> break
> > from the lethal grip of the Democratic Leadership
> > Council, the southern-born, corporate-mouthpiece
> faction
> > of the party. The DLC's favored presidential
> candidate
> > is Senator Joe Lieberman, its most illustrious
> > personality is Bill Clinton, and its most
> prestigious
> > founding member is none other than -- Al Gore.
> > 
> > Gore's endorsement of Dean should be viewed as
> head-
> > swiveling proof of the bankruptcy of the DLC's
> white
> > "swing voter" strategy. The DLC-Emeritus has
> effectively
> > jumped ship.
> > 
> > Stay the course
> > 
> > Where does this leave Al Sharpton and Dennis
> Kucinich?
> > Exactly as they are, preaching the same social
> > democratic, anti-racist, pro-peace message as
> before,
> > for as long as their energies can sustain them.
> Dean's
> > political leap would not have been possible in the
> > absence of Sharpton's energetic Black candidacy
> and
> > Kucinich's principled, progressive white voice
> from the
> > Left. At this historic juncture they dare not go
> > anywhere. Dean has picked up the torch that
> Sharpton and
> > Kucinich have been carrying and they must stay in
> the
> > race to make sure he doesn't set it down. By
> persevering
> > in pressing the Left edges of the Democratic
> envelope,
> > the "Two Civilized Men" created the political
> space for
> > Dean to make his historic break. Although we
> cannot
> > expect either candidate to rejoice in the
> frontrunner's
> > actions, Dean's leftward march is also *their*
> victory
> > over the DLC, and they must defend it -- against
> Dean
> > himself and his newfound allies, if need be.
> > 
> > On the anti-war front, Dean continues to waffle on
> the
> > nature and length of the Iraq occupation, which
> makes
> > him an apologist for American Manifest Destiny.
> Kucinich
> > and Sharpton are the only candidates who call for
> > unequivocal withdrawal. Their job is by no means
> over.
> > 
> > Sharpton's singular mission remains the same as
> when he
> > first declared for the presidency: to present
> himself as
> > the Black candidate. African Americans are
> > sophisticated, and understand the value of a
> > demonstration; many will vote for Sharpton as a
> way to
> > make the weight of their electoral presence
> unmistakably
> > felt. A substantial proportion of Black primary
> voters
> > will choose Sharpton over any white man, including
> one
> > with a progressive racial platform -- a good
> result
> > under present circumstances, and one we expect in
> South
> > Carolina, February 3. (South Carolina Black Rep.
> James
> > Clyburn has endorsed his congressional colleague,
> Dick
> > Gephardt.)
> > 
> > Only two people can shut the window that Howard
> Dean
> > threw open for the national Democratic Party, last
> > Sunday: Dean and Al Sharpton. Dean's Black
> advisors,
> > especially Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., must
> caution
> > the former Vermont Governor that their presence in
> his
> > camp does not convey Blackness to the candidate.
> He must
> > respect and acclimate himself to Sharpton's
> mission.
> > 
> > Sharpton must remember that he is not running for
> King
> > of the Blacks, but is essentially acting as the
> lead
> > Black organizer in the progressive wing of the
> > Democratic Party. Dean's December 7 statement
> would
> > certainly not have been written without Sharpton
> in the
> > race. *That* is a great victory of the Sharpton
> > campaign, one that may shape the future of the
> nation.
> > 
> > Indeed, Sharpton could have vetted Dean's speech,
> which
> > reads very much like the distilled product of A
> More
> > Perfect Union, the book written by Rep. Jackson
> and
> > Frank Watkins, Sharpton's former campaign manager.
> The
> > same river runs through it, the historical
> currents that
> > also informed Rev. Jesse Jackson's speech to South
> > Carolina State University at Orangeburg, last
> week.
> > 
> > "The big fight in this state should be trade
> policy and
> > the Wal-Martization of our economy," said Jackson,
> the
> > local Times and Democrat reported. "The challenge
> is to
> > get South Carolina to vote its economic hopes and
> not
> > its racial fears." Most low-income Americans are
> white
> > and "they work every day. They work at Wal-Mart
> without
> > insurance. They work at fast-food places. They
> work at
> > hospitals where no job is beneath them, where they
> don't
> > have insurance, so they can't afford to lay in the
> beds
> > they make . . .
> > 
> > "The challenge for South Carolina is to move from
> racial
> > battleground to economic common ground to moral
> high
> > ground."
> > 
> > Those sentiments spring from the Black Political
> > Consensus. Howard Dean is attempting to get the
> > Democratic Party -- and himself -- in step. That's
> how
> > history is made.
> > 
> > With absolute certainty that the corporate media
> have
> > thoroughly misreported, mangled and incompetently
> framed
> > Howard Dean's December 7 speech, we have
> republished it
> > in full, below.
> > 
> > >From the Official Howard Dean Weblog, December 7,
> 2003
> > 
> >
> http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002565.html 
> > 
> > Restoring the American Community
> > 
> > The following remarks as prepared were delivered
> this
> > afternoon by Governor Howard Dean in Columbia,
> South
> > Carolina:
> > 
> > In 1968, Richard Nixon won the White House. He did
> it in
> > a shameful way -- by dividing Americans against
> one
> > another, stirring up racial prejudices and
> bringing out
> > the worst in people.
> > 
> > They called it the "Southern Strategy," and the
> > Republicans have been using it ever since. Nixon
> > pioneered it, and Ronald Reagan perfected it,
> using
> > phrases like "racial quotas" and "welfare queens"
> to
> > convince white Americans that minorities were to
> blame
> > for all of America's problems.
> > 
> > The Republican Party would never win elections if
> they
> > came out and said their core agenda was about
> selling
> > America piece by piece to their campaign
> contributors
> > and making sure that wealth and power is
> concentrated in
> > the hands of a few.
> > 
> > To distract people from their real agenda, they
> run
> > elections based on race, dividing us, instead of
> uniting
> > us.
> > 
> > But these politics do worse than that -- they
> fracture
> > the very soul of who we are as a country.
> > 
> > It was a different Republican president, who 150
> years
> > ago warned, "A house divided cannot stand," and it
> is
> > now a different Republican party that has won
> elections
> > for the past 30 years by turning us into a divided
> > nation.
> > 
> > In America, there is nothing black or white about
> having
> > to live from one paycheck to the next.
> > 
> > Hunger does not care what color we are.
> > 
> > In America, a conversation between parents about
> taking
> > on more debt might be in English or it might be in
> > Spanish, worrying about making ends meet knows no
> racial
> > identity.
> > 
> > Black children and white children all get the flu
> and
> > need the doctor. In both the inner city and in
> small
> > rural towns, our schools need good teachers.
> > 
> > When I was in medical school in the Bronx, one of
> my
> > first ER patients was a 13-year-old African
> American
> > girl who had an unwanted pregnancy. When I moved
> to
> > Vermont to practice medicine, one of my first ER
> > patients was a 13-year-old white girl who had an
> > unwanted pregnancy.
> > 
> > They were bound by their common human experience.
> > 
> > There are no black concerns or white concerns or
> > Hispanic concerns in America. There are only human
> > concerns.
> > 
> > Every time a politician uses the word "quota,"
> it's
> > because he'd rather not talk about the real
> reasons that
> > we've lost almost 3 million jobs.
> > 
> > Every time a politician complains about
> affirmative
> > action in our universities, it's because he'd
> rather not
> > talk about the real problems with education in
> America
> > -- like the fact that here in South Carolina, only
> 15%
> > of African Americans have a post-high school
> degree.
> > 
> > When education is suffering in lower-income areas,
> it
> > means that we will all pay for more prisons and
> face
> > more crime in the future.
> > 
> > When families lack health insurance and are forced
> to go
> > to the emergency room when they need a doctor,
> medical
> > care becomes more expensive for each of us.
> > 
> > When wealth is concentrated at the very top, when
> the
> > middle class is shrinking and the gap between rich
> and
> > poor grows as wide as it has been since the Gilded
> Age
> > of the 19th Century, our economy cannot sustain
> itself.
> > 
> > When wages become stagnant for the majority of
> > Americans, as they have been for the past two
> decades,
> > we will never feel as though we are getting ahead.
> > 
> > When we have the highest level of personal debt in
> > American history, we are selling off our future,
> in
> > order to barely keep our heads above water today.
> > 
> > Today, Americans are working harder, for less
> money,
> > with more debt, and less time to spend with our
> families
> > and communities.
> > 
> > In the year 2003, in the United States, over 12
> million
> > children live in poverty. Nearly 8 million of them
> are
> > white. And no matter what race they are, too many
> of
> > them will live in poverty all their lives.
> > 
> > And yesterday, there were 3,000 more children
> without
> > health care -- children of all races. By the end
> of
> > today, there will 3,000 more. And by the end of
> > tomorrow, there will be 3,000 more on top of that.
> > 
> > America can do better than this.
> > 
> > It's time we had a new politics in America -- a
> politics
> > that refuses to pander to our lowest prejudices.
> > 
> > Because when white people and black people and
> brown
> > people vote together, that's when we make true
> progress
> > in this country.
> > 
> > Jobs, health care, education, democracy, and
> > opportunity. These are the issues that can unite
> > America.
> > 
> > The politics of the 21st century is going to begin
> with
> > our common interests.
> > 
> > If the President tries to divide us by race, we're
> going
> > to talk about health care for every American.
> > 
> > If Karl Rove tries to divide us by gender, we're
> going
> > to talk about better schools for all of our
> children.
> > 
> > If large corporate interests try to divide us by
> income,
> > we're going to talk about better jobs and higher
> wages
> > for every American.
> > 
> > If any politician tries to win an election by
> turning
> > America into a battle of us versus them, we're
> going to
> > respond with a politics that says that we're all
> in this
> > together -- that we want to raise our children in
> a
> > world in which they are not taught to hate one
> another,
> > because our children are not born to hate one
> another.
> > 
> > We're going to talk about justice again in this
> country,
> > and what an America based on justice should look
> like --
> > an America with justice in our tax code, justice
> in our
> > health care system, and justice in our hearts as
> well as
> > our laws.
> > 
> > We're going to talk about making higher education
> > available to every young person in every
> neighborhood
> > and community in America, because over 95% of
> people
> > with a 4-year degree in this country escape
> poverty.
> > 
> > We're going to talk about rebuilding rural
> communities
> > and making sure that rural America can share in
> the
> > promise and prosperity of the rest of America.
> > 
> > We're going to talk about investing in more small
> > businesses instead of subsidizing huge
> corporations,
> > because small businesses create 7 out of every 10
> jobs
> > in this country and they don't move their jobs
> overseas
> > -- and they can help revitalize troubled
> communities.
> > We're going to make it easier for everyone to get
> a
> > small business loan wherever they live and
> whatever the
> > color of their skin.
> > 
> > We're going to talk about rebuilding our schools
> and our
> > roads and our public spaces, empowering people to
> take
> > pride in their neighborhood and their community
> again.
> > 
> > We're going to talk about building prosperity
> that's
> > based on more than spending beyond our means, a
> > prosperity that doesn't force us to choose between
> > working long hours and raising our children, a
> > prosperity that doesn't require a mountain of debt
> to
> > sustain it, a prosperity that lifts up every one
> of us
> > and not just those at the very top.
> > 
> > The politics of race and the politics of fear will
> be
> > answered with the promise of community and a
> message of
> > hope.
> > 
> > And that's how we're going to win in 2004.
> > 
> > At the Democratic National Convention in 1976,
> > Congresswoman Barbara Jordan asked, "Are we to be
> one
> > people bound together by common spirit sharing in
> a
> > common endeavor or will we become a divided
> nation?"
> > 
> > We are determined to find a way to reach out to
> > Americans of every background, every race, every
> gender
> > and sexual orientation, and bring them -- as Dr.
> King
> > said -- to the same table of brotherhood.
> > 
> > We have great work to do in America. It will take
> years.
> > But it will last for generations. And it begins
> today,
> > with every one of us here.
> > 
> > Abraham Lincoln said that government of the
> people, by
> > the people and for the people shall not perish
> from this
> > earth. But this President has forgotten ordinary
> people.
> > 
> > That is why it is time for us to join together.
> Because
> > it is only a movement of citizens of every color,
> every
> > income level, and every background that can change
> this
> > country and once again make it live up to the
> promise of
> > America.
> > 
> > So, today I ask you to not just join this campaign
> but
> > make it your own. This new era of the United
> States
> > begins not with me but with you. United together,
> you
> > can take back your country.
> 


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