5A
OPINIONS/Charlotte
Thursday, June 15, 2006
7
It’s not Democrat
or Republican, it’s
the Repubhcrats
Combined party won’t do a
thing to address black issues
There are forces that see the bankruptcy of both major
pohtical parties and want to profit fium that fact by creat
ing a third party to enter the 2008 election
The most current response was ofiered by
Hamilton Jordan, White House chief of
iv staff for Democratic President Jimmy
Carter and Dou^ Bailey, former
Republican pai'ty strategist and founder of
I The Hotline, in the form of a UnityOS party
I This efibrt, not to be confused with the
' Unity campaigns of the National Coalition
of Black Civic Participation that run
Operation Big Vote and Black Youth Vote
for many years, proposes to be an entity
that unites Democrats and Repuhlicans in one presidential
ticket, using a popular referendum on the internet.
My first response to this was that it is a hair-brained
scheme, since the kind of unity soi^ht by Jordan and
Bailey would be monumental to achieve in an atmosphere
where the conservative movement has driven not only'the
political parties farther apart, but has capitalized on divi
sive issues to spht the American people as well.
Yet, these two believe there is room for such d party
because a poll they commissioned found the obvious: 82
percent of the respondents in the poll think that the exist
ing pohticai parties cannot solve America’s problems and
75 percent want more political choices. These responses
maybe regarded as either normal in an atmosphere where
nothing is perceived to be working, or they may be the fuel
to ignite a sizeable pohtical firestorm beginning this fall
and continuing on into the 2008 elections.
So, what kind of “unity” would they be able to achieve? It
will depend on either the nature of the agenda they finals
ly arrive at, or the entrance of a charismatic candidate. I
am reminded that Ross Perot was a charismatic miUion-
aire businessman who came into the election of 1992 and
capitalized on a generalized mood of discontent among the
American people, fostered ironically by the failure of
George H.W. “Read my Lips” Bush, who lost credibfiity
among conservatives in his own party when he raised
tax^.
Perot’s constituency was difficult to define, but his move
ment sailed along on file strength of his pei’sonahty Then,
George Wallace was not as charismatic, but his anti-civU
rights, anti-govemment platform was enough to attract a
following among several Southern states, such that he was
able to keep Democrats fiom the White House.
Whether the Unity08 party achieves viability it most
certainly will be more of a threat to the Democratic Party
since Jordan and Bailey ofier a version of “centrism” that
has been the leading edge of the politics of the party for
more than a decade. Such a party could shave oflf some
adherents to that philosophy inside the Democratic Party
while affecting Repubhcans less, because they have been
more ideologically coherent as a conservative fJarty
This woiild appear to be the kind of environmait within
which black politics could make some headway However,
what may keep this fi’om happening is an even more fierce
loyalty to the Democratic Party prompted by the threat
posed fium within. The fear that Democrats might loose
because of the impact of a third party has always been a
strong motive for “party unity”
Simultaneously it has kept black Democrats wedded
firmly to the Party so firmly that they were afi'aid to use
the strategic position created by a third party to make
demands in exchange for their support.
The idea of having a progressive Rainbow line looks good
because it could not only counter the centrist philosophy
that fiireatens the black agenda by becoming an official
political party It could also provide blacks with significant
leverage over the party at a time when it faces a spht in
ranks. Is this cold-blooded pohtics? Yes, but look at the
ler^ths to which a Hamilton Jordan will go to have lever
age over the fate of the Democratic Party and over the
pohtical process in general.
That is really cold-blooded.
The fact that we have not been up to this kind of pohtics
is a marker su^esting why the growth in pohtical partic
ipation by voting and electdi^ blacks to office has not yield
ed the kind of dividends that it might.
So, let’s get in the game, too. We’ve been on the sidelines
far too long!
RON WALTERS is the Distinguished Leadership Scholar.
Director of the African American Leadership Institute and
Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland
College Park.
Freedom Summer
2006: A campaign
to Hft America up
I recently returned fiom the Children’s Defense Fund’s Haley
Farm in Chnton, Tfenn., and a visit to the annual National
Training for Servant-Leader Interns for the CDF Freedom Schools
SM program.
The CDF Freedom Schools program is a partnership between
the Children’s Defense Fund and local community
organizations, churches, universities, and schools
to provide hteracy-rich summer and after-school
programs. The CDF Freedom Schools summer
program serves children 5 to 18 years old for five
to ei^t weeks, and integrates reading, conflict res
olution and social action in an activity-based cur
riculum that promotes social, cultural, and histor
ical awarmess.
This summer, there are CDF Freedom Schools
programs in 49 cities and 25 states serving approx
imately 7,000 children.
CDF Freedom Schools programs are staffed primarily by college-
age adults committed to making life better for children. These are
our servant-leaders, and this year 900 young adults are seivir^
children this way Their week-long intensive training session at
Haley Farm prepares these young leaders to provide an enriching
experience for the childr^ they serve and to be part of a future
generation of servant-leaders. Their incredible energy, enthusi
asm, and dedication make them powerful role models for the stu
dents in their programs. And the strong ethic of s^-vice is always
evident across generations at Freedom School sites, as communi
ty leaders support these young servant-leaders while they teach
and mentor the yoimger children.
Our CDF Freedom Schools program is proudly rooted in the
American Civil Rights Movement. Reborn in 1993 by the
Children’s Defense Fund’s Black Community Crusade for
Children program, today’s CDF Freedom Schools modd draws on
the vision, philosophy and experience of those who conducted
Freedom Schools as part of the Mississippi Freedom Summer
Project of 1964. In the spirit of sankofa, a West African word that
translates “We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move
forward,” we affirm our history as we move forward in sustaining,
enhancing, and expandir^ the CDF Freedom Schools program.
At CDF Freedom Schools sites, children are engaged in activities
that nurture their minds, bodies, and spirits. In the classroom,
they read books that celebrate a wide variety of cultures and€«pe-
riences. Children, parents, and staff are introduced to a superb col
lection of books that reflect their own images and focus on file
theme‘T Can and Must Make a Difference!”
This collection of books is part of an integrated reading curricu
lum in which books, activities, field trips, and games all relate to
and reinforce one another. Servant-Leaders use the curriculum to
teach children conflict resolution and critical thinking skills,
engage children in community service and social action projects,
encour^e children to participate in art and athletic activities, and
help children to devdop a program finale in which every child is
given the chance to shine. Any visitor to a CDF Freedom Schools
site will see children reading and beir^ read to, singing, dannng,
laughing, and learning in a safe, supportive, and loving setting.
This year, the CDF Freedom Schools program has played an
espedallyimportant role in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Soon
after the storm, thanks to private funders and partnerships with
two historically Black colleges and universities, the YMCA and
several mayors, CDF was able to begin operating Emergency
Freedom Schools after-school sites in Mississippi for 500 evacuee
children with evacuee college-age teacher-mentors, providing
homework help, reading enrichment, art and music, and coordi
nated tax and benefits help to their families
This summer, 13 additional sites will open in Louisiana to serve
more of Katrina’s storm-battered children. These CDF Freedom
Schools sites will be secure, nurturing havens for children trau
matized by multiple losses and continuing uncertainty about their
futures.
For children enrolled in the CDF Freedom Schools program, it’s
going to be a terrific Freedom Summer. Tb learn more about the
CDF Freedom Schools program, visit www.childrensdefense.org.
Bennettsville, S.C., native MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN is president and
founder of the Children's Defense Fund
Any visitor to a CDF Freedom
Schools site will see children
reading and being read to, singing,
dancing, laughing, and learning in a
safe, supportive and loving setting.
Connect with CJe ^oSt
Send letters to The Charlotte Post P-O. Box 30144 Charlone, NC 28230 or
e-mail editorial@thecharlottepost.com. We edit for grammar, clarity and
space. Include your name and daytime phone number,
Letters and photos will not be returned by mail unless accomp^ed by a
self-addressed, stamped envelope.
D.G.
Martin
What to do with
poker machines
Did I promise you that I wouldn’t write any more
columns about the lottery?
Maybe I did.
I was upset last year after we lost the battle to keep
North Carolina government out of the gambling
business. So, maybe in my disappointment and
anger, I did issue some kind of ‘Nixonesque” state
ment hke, 'You won’t have my anti-lottery columns to
kick aroimd anymore.”
Then again, maybe I didn’t. I am
getting along in years and don’t
remember everything I promise.
If I did make such a foolish promise,
then I win just say that this colimm is
not about the lottery It is about video
poker, the private gambling business
that has been legal in North Carolina
up until now.
Now, the same legislature and the
same governor who last year put
state government into the gambling
business have put the state lottery’s
competitors out of business.
Can you imagine what John Stewart would do with
this on his Daily Show on the Comedy Channel?
Maybe he would just read the same news that our
newspapers have printed (“Legislators celebrate
establishment of state lottery to raise funds for edu
cation; legislators celebrate ban of privately-owned
lottery-type video poker gambling, which has led to
gambling addition and crime.”)-and then Stewart
could roll his eyes and wait for the big laughs.
The bill that bans video poker passed both houses of
our legislature easily, 114-1 in the House, and 44-1 in
the Senate. In file House Representative John Blust
voted “no” because, he said, it phased out the gam
bling machines and it would be better to ban them
immediately
The one “real” vote against the ban came in the
Senate fiom Hu^ Webster, who has a reputation,
according to insiders, as beir^ a “Senator No” for
“often castii^ the lone vote against bills in the cham
ber.”
Webster apparently thought that the ban was
essentially a government taking of propeiiy without
compensation. By making the use of the video poker
machines illegal, the government makes the
machines useless, which is just the same as taking
them away
Webster has a point.
According to a report in the Wilmington StarNews,
a spokesman for the N.C. Amusement Machine
Association, Richard Frye, estimated that the finacdal
losses to the owners of curr^tly legal machines
would be approximately $235 million a year.
Taking away this amount of income finm anybody
is something the government should not do without a
very good reason.
There are good reasons. Some have been put for
ward by North Carolina sheriffs, who pushed for the
video poker ban for years. They point to the illegal
activities that often accompany gambling operations
which generate lots of cash.
Then there is gambling’s impact on people. The
StarNews reported that Columbus Coimty Sheriff
Chris Batten said he received numerous calls “from
distrai^ht wives and husbands about spouses gam
bling on video poker.”
Batten said, “That’s the complaint I got for the most
part. Husbands and wives get paid and turn aroimd
and put it in a video poker machine and expect to
earn a whole lot of money”
These are convincing reasons why the government
should prohibit gambling, including video poker, even
though some people mi^t suffer great financial loss.
In fact, it is easy to understand why everybody in
the legislature except Senator Webster was persuad
ed to eliminate the activity that causes the conditions
that Sheriff Batten described.
What is hard to imderstand is why most of those
same legislators voted to have the state establish a
business that causes many of the same problems as
video poker.
But, having established the rule that government-
run gambling games are okay even when the same
activities are otherwise “evil,” here is how the legisla
ture can take care of Senator Webster’s problem
about taking the video poker machines without com
pensation:
Buy the machines at a fair price and give them to
the North Carolina lottery Let the lottery add video
poker to ‘Towerball” and its growing list of more and
more exciting and entrancing games.
Afterall, when the government entices folks to gam
ble, it’s all okay isn’t it?
Or is it? Not in my book. Not ever.
D.G. MARTIN is the host of UNC-TV’s North Carolim
Bookwatch.!