My letter submitted to the New York Times today:
To the editor:
To the editor:
Re: For Black Politicians, 2 Races Suggest a Rise of New Tactics (news article, Aug. 22)
As a Jew, I was struck by a comment by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Texas Democrat who is the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. She complained that an “outside group,” i.e. Jews, and other “non-African-Americans” put “millions into a race to unseat one of our leaders.” It should be noted that the candidates who received this financial support are both African-American. Johnson’s point seems to be that only blacks should have a say in choosing black candidates.
In America, elected leaders represent all citizens, regardless of race or religion. The idea that black politicians belong to black voters should be offensive to all of us.
From the original article
Still, it was the money from campaign contributors motivated by a single issue — one not directly related to problems and concerns in the candidates’ districts — that allowed the challengers to get out their messages, a fact that has caused resentment from some black politicians.
“I definitely have some feelings about any outside group exerting this kind of influence in a race, and I’ve been receiving angry calls from black voters all day, saying they should rally against Jewish candidates,” said Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Texas Democrat who is the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
“To have non-African-Americans from around the country putting millions into a race to unseat one of our leaders for expressing her right of free speech is definitely a problem,” Ms. Johnson said.
So did you write the Democratic Party as well? Or the Texas contingent?
I own Carl McCall lock, stock and barrel. A consortium of black voters, of which I am a part, is part owner of of Colin L Powell. Only 3% of him belongs to me.
I wonder if Rep Johnson only takes black people’s money. Stupid strategy. See where it got Cynthia McKinney.
Actually, I agree with you, december. (Don’t faint.) Rep. Johnson’s comments are especially offensive because of the double standard she appears to be applying – she expresses no concern for the money contributed by non-African-American out-of-staters to the McKinney campaign. Even the Times , although noting " the campaign contributions McKinney received from Arab- American donors," doesn’t mention how much was contributed by non-Georgians. But they do take special care to mention that
[quote[Ms. Majette also outraised Ms. McKinney by nearly two to one, pulling in more than $1.1 million in campaign funds, much of which came from pro- Israel political action committees and individual donors outside of Georgia.[/quote]
According to www.opensecrets.org , 78.2% of McKinney’s war chest for this campaign came from out-of-state sources. (See http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/geog.asp?CID=N00002511&cycle=2002 ) Of the top Metro areas contributing to her campaign, only one (#2 Atlanta) is in Georgia. But apparently that fact is not important to Rep. Johnson or the NYT.
The Times did not print my letter, but they did print this one today.
To the Editor:
Re “For Black Politicians, 2 Races Suggest a Rise of New Tactics” (news article, Aug. 22):
Considering the long history of financial and other support by American Jews for black candidates, it was disturbing to read Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson’s criticism of contributions by Jews to the primary campaign of Denise Majette in Georgia.
After all, outside support was vital in furthering the civil rights movement, and Jews played an important role.
Since both candidates in this race were African-Americans, this was not a racial issue. It was a case where one candidate, Representative Cynthia A. McKinney, went out of her way to attack Israel, causing much pain to supporters of a beleaguered democracy. It is also clear that her constituents turned her out of office for many reasons, including her extreme comments about Sept. 11. ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN