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The type of advice that Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, offered to African Americans, is not the type of advice we need.
Speaking at Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, Steele said African Americans need to depend on themselves rather than the government to provide and create opportunities. If this is the message that Steele thinks he's going to use to recruit more blacks to the GOP, he's wrong.
This must be part of his rehabilitation tour and an effort to get back in the good graces of his Republican handlers. By serving as water boy for this tired, racist message, maybe Steele thinks he'll get another term as RNC chairman after embarrassing himself with one gaffe after another for the better part of a year.
According to the Associated Press:
The audience reacted somewhat skeptically when Steele invoked Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court justice. Marshall once said that while people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, a teacher or religious figure probably "bent down and helped us pick up our boots." Steele called that a Republican message.
"The Republican National Committee wants to bend down and help," he said, drawing cries of "How?" and "Not the Tea Party!" - the largely white, antitax movement that Steele has tried to woo in to the GOP fold.
Steele honored other civil rights leaders like Harriet Tubman and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and invoked slavery to encourage blacks to own their own businesses."I want to own, I don't want to be owned," he said to applause.
While individuals should take responsibility for their actions and should work to improve their own conditions, it's seriously flawed to say that African Americans depend on the government more than any other group to improve their condition.
What about tax breaks for marriage and owning a home or the government bailout of the financial market? How about corporations that make millions in profit but don't pay their fair share in taxes?
What about the historical injustices committed against African Americans by or with the consent of the U.S. government that have a continued effect today? How about the ways in which African Americans were denied access to generational wealth through the theft of our labor or still ongoing practices, such as redlining and the sub-prime mortgage crisis? Why are African Americans given harsher sentences for the same crimes as whites? Why are corporations allowed to profit off this unequal justice? Why are people who commit crimes not allowed to resume their lives as full members of society after they pay their debts to society?
If Steele and the Republican Party want to gain some traction with African Americans, maybe they should acknowledge some of these problems. Maybe he can acknowledge the de facto racism that leads to deficits in everything from educational opportunities to the quality of schools to income earned even when African Americans have the same or better qualifications as their white colleagues.
Maybe Steele should also stop acting like a buffoon and stop using hip-hop vernacular that he is not familiar with. Maybe he shouldn't joke that he's going to attract blacks to the Republican Party with fried chicken and potato salad. Maybe he shouldn't invoke race by comparing himself to President Barack Obama when it is politically convenient. Maybe he should spend his time making sure RNC money isn't spent at a strip club while calling for family values.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said, It's tough to pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you are bootless. Steele's deliverance of the same tired message that's already been debunked is disappointing -- even for him.
Comments: (24)
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By: rootsyd on 4/15/2010 3:32PM
Since Steele is pulling the ole Black ppl need to pull themselves up by the bootstrap line. He can't help but wear his honorary white sheet by saying such crap. When it was the U.S. government who kept Black ppl in chattel bondage for many years, and now we're supposed to just say, we don't need the government to rectify the situation. Meanwhile white corporations, rely on the government more than any Black ppl, and have the sweetest corporate welfare packages we could only dream of. Michael Steele, please put my size 9 in your mouth straight out you a$$.
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By: Martin Cooper on 4/15/2010 4:05PM
The RNC doesn't need Rush Limbaugh, they have Michael Steel. When they use him up, they are going to "J.C. Watts" him. I would say Steel has a point if the playing field were even. On every good paying job there are one Black for every ten Whites. If the Government hadn't stepped in that Uncle Tom bastard would be in someones' "cotton field".
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By: Juana on 4/16/2010 3:16PM
@Martin....I agree 100%. Bringing the tatar salad and fried chicken was an uncle Tom remake. He's been used and abused by his party so much that he actually think that he's one of them. Pathetic!
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By: Gail on 4/16/2010 3:44PM
THANK YOU!!!!!
I POSTED ABOUT YOUR OTHER COMMENTS ON LITTLE MISS YOUNG AINCHA MAMA!!!!
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By: michael j. on 4/15/2010 6:51PM
your article actually proves mr. steele's point, though not in a way the republicans would like. if a black person looks at that extensive list of historical injustices done to black americans "by or with the consent of the american government" and then that person is going to beg the same government to help them then they are sadly mistaken. would a gazelle go to a hyena to ask for help?? a sheep to a wolf?? mr. steele is correct you'd better help yourself because neither conservative or liberal america is going to. if you can't look at our history and understand that you will be eaten while your cries for help go unheeded. i am not a member of the NOI but their message is a correct one. be smart, be consistent, work hard, be righteous, be clear minded. i feel that mr steele and the minister farrakhan (as different as they are) would both be in agreement on these tenants. minister farrakhan also speaks against reliance on the american government and white people. and he is 1000% correct. while bashing mr. steele as a "tom" is good fun.... don't let your antipathy make you miss some excellent advice....
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By: dwight on 4/17/2010 1:09AM
What republican is righteous?
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By: Fran on 4/15/2010 9:09PM
Since when is taking personal responsibility racist. Many blacks have gone from poverty to wealth so there should not be these same excuses. If you believe that the government has committed all these atrocities, why would you want to be depended on them? That's like wanting the same government that gave you AIDS handling your healthcare.
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By: Al on 4/15/2010 9:08PM
That brother need to get educated as to the facts of the situation. How I'm gonna pull myself up by the boostraps and I aint got no boots? I want some preparations for 400 years of oppression!
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By: sandra on 4/22/2010 12:48PM
Then the real question should be 'why don't you have boots?' A lot of don't have 'em because we spend our money on Escalades, spinners, hair, nails, etc. We don't think long term when it comes to money, and will spend it on nonsense instead of trying to educate ourselves about how to invest and plan ahead. For once, I agree with Micahel Steele, however, Minister Louis Farrakhan has been saying this for years. DO FOR SELF!!
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By: hendunc on 4/15/2010 10:03PM
The GOP has no respect for Michael Steele. He is just a token. It is indeed unfortunate he does not use his intellect on a more worthy cause. Being the waterboy for Rush, and Shaun is proof....a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
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