Project 21: New Visions

At a recent press conference in the U.S. Capitol, black political activist Mychal Massie noted: "I stand here cognizant of the fact that, not many years ago, my mother could have hoped only to scrub the floors here. But, today, I stand here addressing the nation. I am aware than my son can one day stand here and address the world." Massie was a year old when the U.S. Supreme Court integrated public schools through its decision in Brown v. Board of Education. His mother, a single parent, was a maid. Because of the opportunities provided by Brown 50 years ...
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Sometimes what people don't say is more important than what they do say. This applies to the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and other the so-called black leaders in this country. CBC members and others are calling for an investigation into U.S. involvement in the ouster of Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Accusations that Aristide was kidnapped, and allegations of other crimes, are being made against the Bush Administration and Secretary of State Colin Powell in particular. Interesting about this selective outrage is its irony. The accusations and investigation demands over Haiti fell on the 10th anniversary of the tragic mass genocide ...
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Music videos these days are filled with images of scantily-clad women either exploiting their sexuality or having it exploited. Britney Spears, for example, wears a sheer bodystocking with strategically placed rhinestones - along with other suggestive costumes - in her latest video, "Toxic." Beyonce Knowles gyrates through her video for "Naughty Girl." And we won't even begin to talk about Janet Jackson and her "wardrobe malfunction." Beyond the leading ladies of song, the dancers of music video bump, grind and writhe through one video after another with almost bland regularity. In the video for Nelly's "Tip Drill," the rapper goes ...
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A New Visions Commentary paper published May 2004 by The National Center for Public Policy Research. Reprints permitted provided source is credited. If you're reading this commentary you're obviously still alive. Up to this point, you probably think you've chosen life over death when making critical decisions. Right? Not necessarily. If you are "conservative," and live by conservative principles, you may very well be choosing life over death. If you live by "liberal" principles, however, you may really be choosing death. This conclusion is apparent in an April 5, 2004 New York Times article by Linda Villarosa entitled, "AIDS Fears ...
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I recently talked with some old classmates about the crises facing Africa. Contrary to popular belief, the crisis isn't insurmountable once the real problems are identified. Africa's problems are legion. But the perception of Africa's problems is, in and of itself, problematic from the start. Once the root problems are identified, the African continent should begin to see a renaissance that would be welcomed across the globe. I'm not convinced, however, that there's an easy way to fix the overall situation because no one can currently come up with a solid list of the root problems. Everyone points to things ...
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Despite decades of health warnings, negative ad campaigns and tobacco's well-established bad reputation, 46 million Americans continue to smoke. For many, it's an addiction to the nicotine found in cigarettes that keeps them puffing. There is an alternative, but those claiming they want to stop smoking are an impediment. Smokeless tobacco, now available in pills as an alternative to spit-inducing loose tobacco, delivers nicotine at a significantly reduced risk. Short-sighted public health activists, however, remain committed to a "quit-or-die" strategy that prolongs the nation's love affair with cigarettes and their associated health problems. A government panel in Washington, D.C. last ...
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Jobs are a hot political issue these days. While technical support and textiles jobs continue to be "outsourced" to foreign workers in countries like China and India, we must not forget that over 300,000 new jobs were created in America just this past March. America's economic growth is tied to trade relationships abroad. It's a give-and-take global relationship. A protectionist trade policy only hurts our long-term prospects for prosperity. Levi Strauss may no longer make jeans in the United States, but foreign automakers like Mercedes, Nissan, BMW and Honda all now have factories in the American South. And this is ...
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Environmentalists like playing the race card, but they make a dreadful mistake. They don't play with a full deck. "Environmental justice" is a term green activists use to demonize businesses and complain that the government isn't doing enough to help minorities. Their premise is simple: They believe businesses are using political power to unfairly put polluting factories predominately in minority neighborhoods. The problem: These green groups aren't helping minorities. In fact, the regulations that come as a result of their agenda cause harm. A clean environment is important, but so are a job and a home. The environmentalist agenda is ...
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A New Visions Commentary paper published March 2004 by The National Center for Public Policy Research. Reprints permitted provided source is credited. Don't expect to spot any black drivers when this weekend's Daytona 500 kicks off the 2004 NASCAR season. While NASCAR's logo contains a rainbow of colors, the diversity of hues doesn't translate to the track. Auto racing continues to be a sport of mostly white competitors and fans. In 2003, Bill Shack of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition called auto racing "the last bastion of white supremacy" in professional sports. That's not the case. NASCAR officials want minority drivers, ...
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In the fall's presidential campaign, imagine what a challenger who is strong on national security issues could do with regard to the proposed Bush immigration policy. There are problems with President Bush's new policy that an ambitious presidential candidate could exploit. To start, it does not address problems with border security. Drug smugglers have diversified to include smuggling illegal immigrants - cramming them in the back of trucks and sending them across the desert with the hope they don't die from dehydration. American farmers in counties along the border are fighting to keep these immigrants off of their property. Swarms ...
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I call it selective liberal outrage. Listen to any evening newscast and you hear liberals spouting verbal assaults and vicious attacks on anything conservative. They are trashing anyone with even a remote association with an exclusive golf club or connection to any corporate power structure. You've heard them - it's people such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Howard Dean, Michael Moore and the Hollywood crowd. But have you noticed how the trash traffic comes to an embarrassing stop when it comes to criticizing one of their own? Look at Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of presidential contender John Kerry. She ...
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Justifiably confident going into the election cycle, Republicans have announced they hope to win 25 percent of the black vote. Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has great expectations. "If we get African-American votes, [the Democrats] are in deep trouble," he told the Washington Post. Not just any trouble. Deep trouble, he says. Columnist Jonetta Rose Barras agrees, citing black voters' growing dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party that resulted in Arnold Schwarzenegger winning 17 percent of their vote last year and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg garnering 22 percent in 2001. The statistics portend good things for Republicans ...
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Lionel Tate, the 12-year-old Florida boy who killed six-year-old playmate Tiffany Eunick, has been released from prison. He had been convicted of first-degree murder for what he said was an accident that happened while he was mimicking professional wrestling moves he saw on television. In the Sunshine State, such a conviction carries a penalty of life without parole - even, in this case, for a pre-teen like Tate. After serving three years in a juvenile prison, however, Tate was released on a technicality. In agreeing to plead guilty to second-degree murder, he will now serve a year of house arrest, ...
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Conservative leaders have slain one of their loyal foot soldiers - senior staff aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Manuel Miranda - in a vain attempt to appease their liberal counterparts. In a since-leaked April 17, 2002 memo, Senate Judiciary Committee member Ted Kennedy (D-MA) was apprised that Elaine Jones, the president and director-counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, had marching orders. Jones allegedly wanted Kennedy to "schedule Julia Scott Gibbons, the uncontroversial nominee to the 6th Circuit at a later date, rather than at a hearing [the] next Thursday, April 25th." If the memo had stopped ...
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African-Americans must view the arrival of the new TV One cable channel as, at best, a "gift horse" with mixed blessings. The new cable television network recently began broadcasting nationwide primarily on cable networks in urban centers with sizeable African-American populations. Developed mostly by the largest African-American radio network (Radio One) and the leading cable television company (Comcast Corporation), TV One will operate 24-7, presenting a mix of all the African-American programming that its $135 million in start-up capital can purchase. The downside to this gift is that the programming TV One has to offer isn't good enough. The Washington ...
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February is Black History Month. Also, 2004 is an election year. If current voting trends don't change, 90 percent of eligible black voters will vote for liberal candidates, usually represented by the Democratic Party. This obviously helps liberals, but does it really help our community? Common thought processes would conclude this fierce loyalty would weigh heavily on the minds of liberals when determining policy and contemplating legislation. Actually, the opposite is true. Active here is the law of diminishing returns. Blacks vote so heavily for liberals that their power has become discounted almost to the point of insignificance. As a ...
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Conservative leaders have slain one of their loyal foot soldiers - senior staff aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Manuel Miranda - in a vain attempt to appease their liberal counterparts. In a since-leaked April 17, 2002 memo, Senate Judiciary Committee member Ted Kennedy (D-MA) was apprised that Elaine Jones, the president and director-counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, had marching orders. Jones allegedly wanted Kennedy to "schedule Julia Scott Gibbons, the uncontroversial nominee to the 6th Circuit at a later date, rather than at a hearing [the] next Thursday, April 25th." If the memo had stopped ...
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As the 2004 political campaigns heat up, Jesse Jackson is making the rounds to rally support for liberal candidates and stirring the pot on hot racial issues. Officially in my hometown of Austin, Texas, to speak to the African-American Chambers of Commerce, he crammed more into this visit than a simple speech on business. As usual, much hype and controversy surrounded his visit as he continues to proclaim his himself the voice of equality for minorities. Not only is it erroneous to insinuate that blacks need a leader, it is an insult to be led by the likes of Jesse ...
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Michael Jackson. Go ahead, crack a joke, sigh or shake your head. Michael's lifestyle and his current predicament inexorably lead to those reactions. There seem to be only two main schools of thought concerning the one-time "King of Pop": he's either guilty of molesting a young boy and ought to be tried, convicted and put in a cell deep under a prison or he's innocent. These groups also seem to be split into two other categories: black and other. A couple of white friends have asked me why this should be. I chalk it up to history and love. Our ...
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Black America has a growing problem that needs to be addressed. It is, in my opinion, the most persistent problem facing us as a race in this country. Despite what "our" media-appointed black leaders tell us, this problem is not racism, reparations, affirmative action, President Bush or the Confederate Battle Flag. It's attitude. Overall, we have terrible attitudes. If we want our situation to change, our attitudes will have to lead the way. Many of our so-called leaders would like us to believe that we as individuals have absolutely no control over our lives. They want us to think that ...
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