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! HII 1 IlnilllhHillHill 1 1 iiH DRVI7 12/01/11 _ DAVIS LIBRARY CB# 3938 UNC-CHfiPEL HILL- CHAPEL HILL W DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011 90 - NUMBER 43 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30 Race Still in the 2008 Election By Alexis Karteron Special to the NNPA from thedefendersonline.com There has been widespread speculation about President-Elect tack Obama’s campaign and election heralding a “post-racial” lerica. In conversations across the nation and such headlines as Tama, Racial Barner Falls in Heavy Turnout,” (The New York nes) and “Obama’s Post-Racial Promise,” (Los Angeles Times) lowing the election, some seemed eager to believe that Americans I come together in unprecedented ways , on Election Day. While ama’s victory proves this proposition true in some respects, elec- iresults indicate that race did play a decisive role in voting choic- While the much-discussed “Bradley Effect” - best described as the connect between what white voters tell pollsters they are going to in the voting booth and what they actually do - did not materialize many had feared, exit poll results reveal that race still matters and electorate was not as unified as some seemed to hope. Simply put, Barack Obama was not the overwhelming choice of voters. Roughly 131 million Americans voted this year. While mt8 million more cast ballots than in 2004, this number consti- ;sjust 63 percent of those eligible to vote. This turnout rate was ythe third highest since 1920, when women got the right to vote, (the record, 1960 saw America’s highest turnout rate in a presi- itial election, with 64.8 percent of eligible Americans voting, but even higher rate of 67.8 percent of those who were actually eli- leto vote are considered, i.e., if southern blacks who were over- elmingly denied the right to vote are excluded from the population e]. Of those 131 million, Obama received roughly 53 percent of vote. While that may seem like a resounding victory given the ser results of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, it is hardly icient to, suggest that Americans are particularly united in their port for the President-Elect. rhe story of who composed the winning Obama coalition gets re interesting when you look at the details. For example, contrary :onventional wisdom, the youth vote was not particularly robust compared to recent elections. As two political scientists recently cribed, “[v]oters under the age ofthirty made up 18 percent of the iterate in 2008, compared to 17 percent in 1996, 2000, and 2004, vhere near the historic highs of 1972 and 1992. Had Obama relied yon a surge among young voters, holding other groups at the 14 voting behaviors, he would have fallen short of victory.” Given [background, race is particularly important. Obama owes his vic- yboth to a substantial increase in the number of minority voters, Itheir overwhelming support of his candidacy. A look at the racial breakdown of Obama’s winning coalition Ids some interesting food for thought: ’Black voters constituted 13 percent of voters, an increase from loin 2004 ‘Hispanics made up nine percent of the electorate, up from eight 'cent in 2004 *95 percent of blacks and 67 percent of Hispanics voted for ■MM 11^. Special to the NNPA from the Daytona Timesni - Singer/songwriter and activist Stevie Wonder “saw” the face of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. statute prior to the Oct. 16 official dedication in Washington, D.C. (COURTESY OF WONDER PRODUCTIONS / GEDIYON KIFLE) Most Black Americans Sitting Out 'Occupy’ An initial analysis by the Joint Center for Political and Economic idles estimates that black turnout swelled by approximately 23 cent, meaning that an astounding three million more blacks cast lots than in 2004. However, the enthusiasm among black voters Obama was decidedly not shared by whites. Obama received 43 Kent of the white vote, up from Kerry’s 41 percent of the white Ie in 2004, the only group that did not, on the whole, vote for ama. (Continued On Page 4) LDF Takes a Stand for Teacher Quality and Equity in ESEA Reauthorization Special to the NNPA from thedefendersonline.com LDF joined more than 80 civil rights, disability, parent, stu ll, grassroots and education organizations from across the Wry to urge Congress not to turn back the clock on teacher •lity gains for poor and minority students, English Learners, Students with disabilities as it considers reauthorization te Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), cur- •Iy known as “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB). ha letter to Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Michael Enzi W), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Commit- on Health Education, Labor and Pensions and co-sponsors •bill to reauthorize the ESEA, the coalition urged that the •sed ESEA require teachers to complete a minimum level of ting and demonstrate competence to teach effectively “be- fthey enter the classroom. While the groups applauded the Mors for introducing a bipartisan bill and attempting to fix W of the many flaws in NCLB, they expressed their serious •rem that their reauthorization proposal would undermine critical goal of providing all children with equal access high-quality teacher's. Specifically, the bill would severely ten NCLB’s “highly qualified teacher” standard, permit inequitable distribution of quality teachers, and eliminate Mrements for the public disclosure of data on teacher qual- •nd equity. The groups offered several recommendations to •ess these problems and ensure that the neediest students bill and equal access to well-qualified teachers. By Chris Levister Special to the NNPA from the Black Voice News When Ray Leeds saw a crowd gathering in front of the Califor nia Museum of Photography, in Riverside’s downtown pedes trian mall recently, the photogra phy buff and out-of work union pipefitter left nothing to chance. “I grabbed my camera and just started taking pictures. It was surreal. Out of nowhere they just started singing and pitching tents,” he said. “It was engross ing. You couldn’t just stand there and snap pictures.” When Leeds saw a couple dressed up like zombies hold ing a placard that read “Every one Needs to Pay Their FAIR Share: End Corporate Greed.” He traded his camera for a piece of poster board that read: “It’s About the People: Not Profits.” What unfolded before his eyes was Riverside’s entry into Occupy Wall Street one of the nation’s most progressive grass- roots movements. A month ago the protests took shape in lower Manhattan to express anger over Wall Street greed, lack of jobs, political inaction, corruption and other issues. As Leeds panned his camera lens across the swelling crowd he could not help but notice the faces were overwhelmingly white and young. “My first question was where are the blacks, Latino’s and other minorities? My next ques tion was are people of color too busy making ends meet to join the “Occupy Wall Street” move ment, or is there a disconnect between progressives and people of color?” So during his regular visit to the barber on Saturday, Leeds a black American, fully expected the crowded black shop to be in full tilt over the protests. “Hold your breath Bro,” ex plained Jason Haney, a Saturday regular. “This is not black folk’s protest.” “Black folk have been pro testing and going through hell since the 'man’ brought us over here from Africa,” he said. “Young white Americans are finally getting a taste of the kind of hell black Americans have en dured for generations,” said an unapologetic Shaun Rubinson during a discussion at Andre’s Hair Salon in San Bernardino. “I don’t think blacks are re jecting this movement. We are just too busy surviving,” said Rubinson, a long time hair stylist whose clients include all races. Rubinson, shop owner An dre’ Mayes and client Stephanie Lewis, a nurse practitioner at Ar rowhead Regional Medical Cen ter are among a growing number of black Americans who have chosen to sit on the side lines even as Occupy picks up stream, cash and big name black sup porters including Kayne West, Jay-Z, Russell Simmons and Rev. Al Sharpton. “Where were these young white MBA’s and laid off corpo rate workers when black Ameri cans were losing their homes and jobs at unprecedented rates dur ing the early days of the reces sion,” asked Lewis. “Where were those protest ers as Tea Party conservatives took over Congress, blocked the president’s historic healthcare overhaul law, smashed his job creation efforts, trashed his land mark stimulus initiative, and un dermined his efforts to reign in big banks,” said Mayes. “Instead of fighting the de mons on Wall Street they put on their earbuds and turned their wrath on the president calling him an absentee leader. What gives,” said Mayes. “This ap pears to be more about their pain than America’s pain.” “Their working class parents have had their homes foreclosed. Their school loans can’t be paid because they too now are un employed or underpaid. Their stocks and 401K’s have been eviscerated by the one percent. Their middle class status is slip ping away,” said Rubinson. “Their stark reality has gotten closer to what black people have been battling for years.” Bennett College for Women president and noted black econ omist Dr. Julianne Malveaux, wrote in an October 17 blog en titled: What Does The Occupy Wall Street Movement Want? “Banks got bailed out, we got ripped off. Banks were given money to lend and they chose not to lend it. Banks created risky fi nancial instruments - derivatives - and when they couldn’t per form, they whined and leaned on an excuse that they were “too big to fail.” Now they are even (Continued On Page 2) Heckler Interrupts Obama Speech During MLK Dedication By Erica Butler Special to the NNPA from the AFRO- American newspapers As the presidential elec tion nears, a heckler or two isn’t uncommon, but dur ing the Martin Luther King, Jr. dedication, such an out burst by a man was simply not going to be tolerated. As Obama began to speak during the Martin Luther King, Jr. dedication Oct. 16, a heckler, who sat close to the stage, started to chant anti-Obama slurs. “It was definitely a head turner,” said Danita Del aney, an AFRO photog rapher who witnessed the outburst. “[Event] volun teers that were standing in the area immediately es corted him out.” She said some crowd- goers yelled, “Get him out of here,” but U.S. Park Police confirmed no ar rests were made during the MLK dedication. Antoi nette Charles, another pho tographer who covered the same event, said he called Obama the anti-Christ. “He was just going on about re ligion,” she said. Less than a month earli- er, Obama was interrupted during a fund-raising event in Los Angeles and called the “Anti-Christ” by anoth er heckler. The unidentified Los Angels heckler, similar to the MLK dedication heck ler, shouted, “The Christian God is the one and only true living God, the creator ofheaven and the universe! Jesus Christ is God!” be fore he was escorted out by security and drowned by supporters who chanted, “Four more years.” Obama jokingly re sponded: “I agree Jesus Christ is the Lord. I believe in that.” Although the two men appear to be similar, the AFRO could not confirm that both men were the same person. An unidentified heckler interrupted President Obama’s speech during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial dedication ceremony, shouting anti-Obama slurs. (AFRO Photo/Danita Delaney.)
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Oct. 29, 2011, edition 1
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