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VOLUME 88 - NUMBER 30
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2009
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE; 30
Black Reporters Roundtable on Air Force One
By Herb Boyd
Special to the NNPA from the
Amsterdam News
NEW YORK (NNPA) - When
seven black journalists are invited
to fly on Air Force One with the
president, you know there's been
a dramatic change in the White
House. Moreover, the journalists
had an exclusive roundtable inter
view with President Obama, and he
was as accommodating as the com
modious surroundings.
For more than twentx' minutes
on a flight from Andrews Air Force
Base to Kennedy Airport in New «
York where he was scheduled to
address the NAACP's centennial
convention July 16. Obama fielded
a range of questions.
When Kevin Chappell, a senior
eporter at Ebony, mentioned dis-
,/araging comments by Michael
Steele, chair of the Republican Na
tional Committee. Obama said. "\
think Mr. Steele should focus on the
Republican Party.”
What the president chose to fo
cus on at the moment was entrepre
neurship and urban affairs, "and we
must particularly target communi
ties most in need.”
Equally important to the Obama
administration is the issue of health
care and he told Cynthia Gordy of
Essence magazine that "it is critical
that we close some of these gaps in
health care for all Americans, but
particularly for blacks and Latinos.”
where the incidence of HIV/
AIDS is disproportionately high.
As the veritable flying White
House touched down. Obama elab
orated on health care reform in re
sponse to a query from BET.com's
Pamela Gentry concerning the im
pact of his plans on African-Amer
icans and the single-payer option.
"We don't have a final bill yet.” he
began. "And as I've said before,
there are countries where single
payer plans have worked well, but
we have a tradition of an employer-
based health care system - if people
are happy with their health care, we
don't want to change it.
"But for those who don't have
health care because their employer
doesn't offer it. then they liave an
option.” Obama added. "And we
BLACK REPORTERS ON AIR FORCE ONE
Sotomayor would lend different
experience to court
By Mark Sherman
WASHINGTON (AP)- Sonia Sotomayor might find it was easier to disarm Republican senators who have one
eye on Hispanic voters than to sway Supreme Court justices who have lifetime appointments.
She would be the new kid on the block in a group that values seniority and relationships built over years, even
decades.
But Sotomayor's self-assured performance before the Senate Judiciaiy Committee suggests that her very pres
ence in the high court's private conferences could change the conversation, in the same way though perhaps not
as much as Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice, did 42 years ago.
Four days of Senate hearings put the 55-year-old federal judge on the verge of becoming the first Hispanic and
the third female justice. The Senate is expected to vote on her confirmation in early August.
Sotomayor display ed an easy w ay with her questioners.
She joked w ith conservative Sen. Tom Coburn. R-Okla., in an exchange about gun rights and told a stoiy about
her mother's disbelief when Sotomayor leflt a high-paying private practice to become a federal judge.
She told senators she was a "really good litigator” who has been successful in persuading colleagues wherever
she has worked.
"I am mightily impressed.” Coburn told her as he wrapped up his questioning.
To the court Sotomayor would bring life experiences in many ways totally unlike those of the other justices,
even though nearly all. including her. are products of Ivy League colleges or law schools.
She grew up in public housing in the South Bronx, the daughter of working-class Puerto Rican parents who
made their way to New York during World War II.
But unlike Justice Clarence Thomas, a product of the segregated South, and Marshall before him. Sotomayor
never felt the sting of legalized discrimination.
Like her w ould-be colleagues. Sotomayor served as a federal appeals court judge. But she would be the only
justice with experience as a trial judge and one of tw'o - Justice Samuel Aliio is the other - w ho w as a prosecutor.
These practical differences could matter as much as her ITfe story, and not in a predictable ideological way. said
Washington lawyer and court watcher Thomas Goldstein.
"As a successful Hispanic woman coming out of Yale she could have done absolutely any thing and she w ent
and became a prosecutor.” Goldstein said. "It's not the story of someone who is a liberal trailblazer.”
There is little doubt among conservatives and liberals that Sotomayor's votes on the Supreme Court would
look a lot like those of retired Justice David Souter, the man whose seat she would take.
But her Influence within the court by virtue of her defining experiences is much harder to gauge.
The other women who have served on the court. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired Justice Sandra Day
0 Connor, have described the importance of having another woman on the court: It gives the public a better pic
ture of the institution and makes it harder to ignore a woman's voice in internal deliberations.
Ginsburg recently said it was common several decades ago for a roomful of men to "tune out” when a lone
woman spoke. There is less of it now. "but it still exists.” she said in an interview with The New York Times.
O'Connor has spoken of the profound influence of Marshall, who had been a justice for 14 years when
0 Connor became the court's first female justice in 1981.
"At oral arguments and conference meetings, in opinions and dissents. Justice Marshall imparted not only his
l^gal acumen but also his life experiences, constantly pushing and prodding us to respond not only to the persua
siveness of legal argument but also to the power of moral truth,” O'Connor said in a tribute to Marshall.
But O'Connor and Marshall often were on different sides of civil right cases during their overlapping years on
the court. Only later in O'Connor's career did her votes seem to reflect the influence she described. She wrote a
aiajority opinion in 2003 that upheld affimiative action policies at the University of Michigan's law school.
Sen. Arlen Specter. D-Pa.. encouraged Sotomayor to "battle out the ideas that you believe in.” Those fights
often play out in the justices' majority opinions and dissents.
But it might take years to find out whether Sotomayor would be an effective negotiator and conciliator who
can draw a wavering justice to her side.
On the current court, firmly divided between conservatives and liberals on so many cultural issues. Justice
Anthony Kennedy is the only one whose vote could be described as up for grabs.
"Might she persuade Kennedy to come out differently than what Souter could persuade him to do?” Erwin
Chemerinsky. dean of the new law school at the University of California at Irvine, said before the hearings. "Can
Sotomayor by virtue of her life experiences move Kennedy to join the more liberal bloc more often?”
Chemerlnsky said at week's end. "There's reallv no wa\ to know at this siasie.”
are confident that the bill we pro
duce will provide a level of subsidy
that w ill guarantee affordable health
care for all Americans.”
With the NAACP on his agenda,
as a reporter with the Amsterdam
News. I wanted to know the extent
to which he would deal with race
relations, reminding him of a recent
comment by Julian Bond, chair
man of the NAACP's board. While
Obama's daughters can fly on Air
Force One. little black girls in the
suburbs of Philadelphia are banned
from a swimming pool. Bond ob
served.
"Obviously, this is a reminder
that because of my election that rac
ism is no longer an issue in Amer
ica. and that is not true.” Obama
asserted. What needs to be done
to eradicate the racial disparity, he
continued, promising to address
this issue during his speech at the
NAACP. was "to improve substan
dard schools to focus on economic
parity, economic development and
access to higher education."
Derek Dingle, editor-in-chief of
Black Enierpiise. keyed his ques
tion to the Londition of small busi
nesses and to ^\hat degree the\
could expect support from the
Obama administration.
"First of ail." Obama said, "we
are focusing on small businesses al-
read\. The Small Business Admin
istration (SBA) has increased its
guarantees in terms of lending and
it has been much more aggressive
in tiying to fill the gap as private
lending contracted.” He recounted
a recent meeting with minority au
tomobile dealers to discuss their
plight.
"And the SBA is one of the pri
mary tools to make sure those mi
nority dealers are able to get the
money thc\ need to operate a show
room." It was a point that was clari
fied by Valerie Garrett, one of his
chief aids at the roundtable.
Obama believed that the main
problem confronting small and mi
nority businesses was not so much
the lack of capital, despite its criti
cal importance, but the overall dis
mal siiape of the economy.
Foreign policy and Africa were
among several issues posed by
April R\an of American Urban
Radio, and the president listened
intently.
"In terms of foreign policy, that's
one of the reasons 1 just came back
from Ghana." he stated, "and that
was to focus attention on the fact
that Africa was not just a side note
in our foreign policy, but a central
concern of our administration."
The encouragement of economic
development and good governance
are among some of the key points
in providing aid to African nations.
Obama stressed^ and he mainly re
iterated a policy he outlined during
his speech before the Ghanaian par
liament.
Commentator Roland Martin of
CNN had the final question and he
touched on the issue of vouchers
and education, which the president
agreed was the most important is
sue for the African- American com
munity.
"If we can close the achievement
gap. then a big chunk of the eco
nomic inequalit) is diminished.”
Obama noted. "We have got to get
our kids up to speed. Now. how do
we do that? Belter teachers, great
er accountability, more resources
combined with more reform."
Fie then invoked his Secretaiy
of Education Arne Duncan and ap
plauded his push for more aggres
sive reforms.
We had been on the ground for
15 minutes and gradual!) he was
surrounded b) his aids, beckoning
him for departure to the next stop
in New Jersey and then on to the
NAACP where much of whal he
shared w'ith the reporters would be
revisited with misto at the Hilton.
to
In 1989 Chester Jeknins became the first ... Act:
can Mayor of Durham. His election was pr - life ■
career in politics and community involve. , ’ /■ d
July 14 at the age of 71. See obituary omn j-
Obama to young: Aspi
surpass your role models
By Philip Elliott
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obai ia :e, telliiig ■'
nation's oldest civil rights organization that govei ent. f-imd,:
and neiglihorhoods niiist work together to improve 'rnnuinities.
Ohania also planned to urge young people to a;- ire to surpuse
their role models and resist the lure of mediocrity during a speech
the NAACP. White House aides said the president did not intend
introduce new programs or policy, instead striking an inspiratic:
tone as the civil rights group gathers for its 100th annual con\cr
tion.
Obama, the first black president, plans to take a restrained loi;
during his evening remarks instead of a raucous celebration of'ip;
history-making campaign, officials said before he Ifew to Ne\.
York. White House aides sought to play down tite e.vpectation, c
the speech, the first so directly linked with race since Obama tool
office.
"1 think the first speech to black America, the first speech to v. hire
America, the first speech to America was the inaugural address,"
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.
Implicit in the appearance. Obama is seeking the backing of
the powerful NAACP and its members for his ambitious domesti,.
agenda. For all their shared interests. White House aides cautioned
that the group's leadership had not guaranteed its support of aP of
Obama's priorities.
"We w ill be the people at the end of the day w ho help make hiii:
do what he knows he should do. We will help creu.e the room for
(Obama) to fulfill. I think, his own aspirations for his pEesidency."
NAACP President Benjamin Jealous told The Associated Press ni
an interview earlier this year.
"If he aspires to be the next Abraham Lincoln, 1 aspire to be his
Frederick Douglass." Jealous said, referring to the sFn .itmed-ab-
olitionist who pressed a cautious Lincoln to issue th mancipation
Proclamation,
Every president since 1909 has visited the NAACP a' least once,
although some more frequently than others. Presidetit George W
Bush skipped the first five meetings before eventuaii) addressir.g
the group in 2006. For Obatiia. skipping his first invifstion atid the
centennial festivities was not an option.
White House aides said Obatiia's speech would ceicorate the o;
ganization's historj' and briefly touch on the debate about what ti-
NAACP's next century should bring.
Jealous has pushed his organization to e.xpand its civil ri; ■
work beyond black causes to bioader human rights. Some membi.
of his oi'ganization have resisted, arguing that much work reir.ui.
to create racial equality in this country.
"The president being black gives us eio advantage," Jealous ^
the AP.
"Our agenda as we head into our second centuiy' as a civil .
OEganization is also to revive our legacy as a human rights orgai.iz.
tion," he said.
White House aides cautioned that Obama wouldn't wade too
deeply itito those decisions, aware his role was not to dictate the ('i
ganization's mission but to celebrate it. similar to a message Obam;t
shared by video with the group earlier this year.
"It's humbling to think of the progress made possible by ordE-
nary folks who refused to settle for the world as it was aEtd iEistCEid
stood up and foiEght to rcEiiake the world as it should be," Ob;una
said. "It's liutnbliEig to ktiow that it is only because of the men aEid
woEiien of the NAACP. only because of those freedoEii ridcEs aEn;
civil rights workers, those protesters, preachers and teacheES. that I
can coETEc before you as president of the United States.'
Instead, he woiEld seek to reiEiforce the early pieces of an itrbaE
agenda he outlined at the convention.
"I think black Atnerica has watched this presideEit work on the
econoETty," Gibbs said. "I think black America has watched this
president work on health care - an issue of great coEv. ern - (atid)
education,"