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5A OPINIONS/ C^Tlotte ^oKt Thursday March 11, 2004 Black voters need to press Kerry on issues right now Ron Walters Now that John Kerry has enough delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination for president, it is time to think about how the black community should relate to him. I believe that it is danger ous for Blacks to buy into the electability game with out infusing it with our own issues. Tb adopt the “anybody but Bush” atti tude is to Kerry also invite someone to pretend to be a valid alterna tive, to get elected, but then carry out George Bush-like public poli cies. Any public policy aimed at improving the human Sharpton condition should first be first concentrate on black commimity. In the past two decades, however, policies favored by blacks have been off of the radar screen. Even though blacks have solidly supported the Democratic Party, the leaders of the Party have frequently dis tanced themselves from us because they did not want to alienate undecided or inde pendent White voters. So, AfHcan-Americans face the dilemma that they have always faced — whether to upset the Party by pushing hard for their own agenda, or not rocking the boat, hop ing and trusting that whomever gets in under the banner of the Democratic Party would be “’better” for Blacks than the Repubhcan nominee. Rather than merely trust ing that John Kerry does right by us, I would prefer that we make sure he has our best interest at heart by getting him to fo.’Tnally com mit to an agenda before we commit to him. A1 Sharpton is evaluating whether he should continue his presidential campaign and will talk with Kerry to assess Kerry’s commitment to black interests. Sharpton’s influence comes from the relationship he developed with his feUow campaigner rather than his limited dele gate strength. Still, this is excellent timing because the campaign between Democrats and Republicans has started early and there is still an opportunity to see where Democrats stand on issues important to their most loyal supporters. But what if Sharpton is rebuked in his efforts? I proposed that there should be a process whereby the Congressional Black Caucus takes the initiative, perhaps along with the Black Leadership Forum, which contains a larger group, including civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson Sr., Dorothy Height, Marc Mortal, Kweisi Mfiune, Joe Lowery, as well as business, fraternal leaders and others. This group could co-spon- sor the black agenda confer ences that are being planned for this spring by groups in Boston, Chicago and in other cities. “The goal of these con ferences is to produce a black agenda document to present to Kerry at the Democratic convention. The extent of Kerry’s support for the Black Agenda would be made known at the annual Congressional Black Caucus weekend and the black com munity could then campaign for Kerry with the confi dence that he wiU support their issues. What options do we have if Kerry does not agree to the black agenda? That’s the who-wants-to- be-a millionaire question. Most blacks would vote for Kerry, anyway. But Kerry would be running the risk of committing pohtical suicide. He already faces a certain danger because Ralph Nader is again running for presi dent. Four years ago, Nader cost A1 Gore, the Democratic nominee, the election. If blacks are turned off in any significant numbers, Kerry has no chance of being elect ed. That’s the real electabili ty question. Say, we don’t present Kerry with an agenda and spare him the embarrass ment of turning it down. And there are some who advocate this position. They argue that it allows Bush handlers to charge that the Democratic Party has moved too far to the Left. This kind of reasoning illustrates how Uttle we know about forcing change in the political process. In order to move the sys tem, blacks have to look after their interests first, not the partys. That requires both courage and savvy. We must decide whether this time, it is worth pushing the envelope to make Kerry accountable or to trust him and the system to work it out and look after om interests. Our histoiy tells us not to trust the system, to fight for every inch of advantage and to be proud of that fight. JiON WALTERS is the Distinguished Leadership Scholar, director of the African American Leadership Institute in the Academy of Leadership and professor of government and pol itics at the University of Maryland-College Park His lat est book is “White Nationalism, Black Interests" (Wayne State University Press). POSTSCRIPTS Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s ineptitude in building democracy in Haiti led to revolution by former soldiers (above) and his ultimate resignation. Despite the hype, Haitians were duped hy Aristide Eustache By Harold Eustache SPECIAL TO THE POST As a Haitian-American, I was a big fan of .Jean-Bertrand Aristide when he was restored to power by American forces in 1994. I longed for democracy, peace and prosperity for Haitians including the many members of my extended family still living there. I remember growing up in my home town of Cap-Haitien in the 1950s and ‘60s under the brutal Duvalier regime. Many class mates and I, as young high school stu dents, came close several times to being victims of the infamous death squads called “Tbnton Macoutes” during their crackdowns on so- called “Communist Students.” Several close friends of my family, some of them prominent intellectuals disappeared in the dead of night, never to be heard from again. Everyone lived under signifi cant fear of political repression, but the brunt of this fear was generally sporadic, and it was not unusual to go a couple of years or more without major disruptions in our daily lives. Outside of the occasional political arrests or rumors of arrests, there was a certain sense of order. In Cap-Haitien where I was bom and grew up until I immigrated to the U.S. at 18, children went to school and played outside, families went about their daily affairs, shopkeepers opened their stores, and life went on without murder and mayhem on the streets every day. Haiti was not even close to being the eco nomic, social and political jungle that it is today. Over the last dozen years, Aristide and his Lavalas Party have had a firm grip on Haiti’s political, economic and social fate and direction. When he was reinstated by force m 1994, hopes and expectations were high internally as well as abroad. Finally, we thought, we have someone in power who was elected democratically. Since he was a former priest, I and most other Haitians and Haitian-Americans took it for granted that the corruption problem was licked. Boy, were we wrong! It soon became aU too apparent that he was encouraging street thugs who were his supporters to exact mob vengeance on his political enemies. He even praised them for using the dreaded “necklace”, which is a gasohne-filled tire hrmg around the neck of a person and set ablaze. It is unbeliev able that a former member of the clergy would condone such atrocities. 'This is not to say that the victims of these cruelties were saints, or innocent of similar crimes. But democracy also means law and order, and the president has a duty to set the moral tone and be the example, especially in a country with a long history of gross human rights abuses. In addition, during the 2000 elections, Aristide boldly and brazenly manipulated every aspect of the election including using violence and threats against his oppo nents. In the end, the opposition boycotted the election and he won by a landslide, something akin to Saddam Hussein’s land slide election victory a year or so before the Iraq war. Aristide spent a small fortune, nearly $8 million a year on lobbying the U.S. govern ment. Other countries twice the size spend less than half as much. A significant por tion of that money went to Ron Dellums, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Hazel Ross-Robinson, wife of Randall Robinson, founder of 'TransAfrica Forum. I am not suggesting impropriety on their part, but naturally, one would have to take their cries of foul play and accusations of kidnapping by the U.S. gov ernment with a grain, maybe even a whole spoonful of salt. Aristide’s private residence, looted by street thugs, was found to be hoarding piles of U.S. currency a la Saddam Hussein and sons. Under Aristide’s rule, aid money routinely went directly to him and his cronies. Of course, I and most others in the Haitian-American community, would not want to see power returned to the assort ment of characters currently or perennial ly lining up to exploit our impoverished native country. However, we don’t have to accept just any wolf in sheep’s clothing either, as we did with Aristide. The good people of Haiti, with the help of the inter national community, now have a chance to do it right, to start anew without any charismatic characters and demagogues like the Duvahers or Aristide tugging at their pride and patriotic heartstrings for personal gain. Let us seize this opportunity to put in place timeless and democratic institutions that can function reasonably well without regard to the personality, emotional appeal, or duplicity of the leaders who get elected to head those offices. HAROLD J. EUSTACHE, is a native of Haiti and has lived in Charlotte 12 years. He is pre.si- dent and CEO of PharmaSalesPro, a phdmui- ceutical sales training organization. He can he e- mailed at harold@pharmasalespro.com Our voices Questions conspiracy vs. Haiti Bad news can seem less grievous when it is announced by some one with whom you can identify. My conception of bad news is that President Jean- Bertrand Aristide of Haiti has been forced into exile. The recent announcement provoked deep concerns as I listened to Beatrice Thompson, a local radio news director who also tries to educate listeners on local, national and international affairs. My identifying with her is primarily a symbolic one or origins. These same origins also symbolically include the Haitian president new dis lodged from his elected ofHce. Jean-Betrand Aristide, Beatrice Thompson and I collectively represent present day descendants in the Afncan Black Diaspora that comprises the “New World.” We are just a miniature reflection of the Africans brought to enrich the “New World” developed by European and American powers. Yet given the histor ical forces of an era that con tinues to define race and class relations in world poli tics today, each of us have some origins in common. I contend that the recent toppling of President Aristide should be ques tioned by any thinking per son of African descent. The current crisis in Haiti notwithstanding the pros and cons about President Aristide must demand answers about who under wrote the opposition move ment against the duly-elect ed Aristide. As one thinking person of African descent, I have five pressing questions: What was the role of American involvement in both periods of time that Jean-Betrand Aristide was the Haitian president? • Was there a Central Intelligence Agency role in the training and military arming of the Haitian rebels commanded by Guy Phillippe? • From whom did rebel leaders and forces obtain weapons, uniforms and transportation? • Why did France, with ongoing security forces in the Caribbean, not propose a peacekeeping plan for Haiti to the United Nations prior to Aristide’s ouster? • What is the current polit ical position of the Caribbean community’s organization known as “Caricom” in the debate on Haiti? In finding answers, I’d also like to hear the perspectives of Haitian expatriates living in Charlotte. Might Thompson include some in one of her public affairs pro grams? Mildred Dwiggins Swift Charlotte Connect with Send letters to The Charlotte Post, P.O. Box 30144 Charlotte, NC 28230 or e-mail editori- al@th^harlottepost.com. We edit for grammar, clarity and space where necessary. Include your name and daytime phone number. Letters and phbtos will not be returned by mail unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
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March 11, 2004, edition 1
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