Weigel writes: "It was telling, West said, that Obama could call Dallas 'a
vicious and despicable act' but would not use those exact words to describe
police-involved killings in general."
Cornel West. (photo: Unknown)
Cornel West Slams 'Weak' Obama Response
By David Weigel, The Washington Post
11 July 16
When this city was chosen to host the Democratic Party's pre-convention
platform meeting, it meant affordable hotels and plenty of available space.
Then came the massacre at the nearby Pulse nightclub, and then came this
week's shootings in Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights, Minn., and Dallas. The
business of amending the party's manifesto was slowed, necessarily, by a
moment of silence, speeches about the need to end gun violence and a
memorial session attended by platform members.
The role of reading the platform's preamble went, with meaning, to former
NAACP president Benjamin Jealous and longtime African American Rep. Maxine
Waters (D-Calif.). They took turns reading lines about racial justice that
had not previously appeared in party platforms.
"We know that our nation's long struggle with race is far from over," they
read. "More than half a century after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. King marched
and John Lewis bled, more than half a century after Cesar Chavez and Dolores
Huerta organized, race still plays a significant role in determining who
gets ahead in America and who gets left behind."
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), who had chaired the drafting committee,
asked Democrats to consider a sign - "Love Trumps Hate," written across a
gay rights rainbow - that had been brought into the room.
"We can put that into the DNA, into the cells, of our brain at this moment,"
he said. "We can spend a lot of time focusing on who we're fighting against
- but ladies and gentlemen, the American people want us to focus on who
we're fighting for."
But Cornel West, a Sanders appointee to the committee that drafted the
platform, was disappointed in President Obama's response to the week. It was
telling, West said, that Obama could call Dallas "a vicious and despicable
act" but would not use those exact words to describe police-involved
killings in general.
"I thought it was weak," West said. "He's always got to explain to white
America how black people are feeling. Black people don't feel as if we're
being treated unequally - it's a fact that we're being treated unequally. He
sort of always has to serve in this translating role. That's how he rolls,
but that's not how I roll."
West, the one member of the committee who opposed the latest draft, has
consistently criticized the president, labeling him a "Republican in
blackface" in one 2012 interview. The president's latest remarks, he said,
emphasized how much time he'd lost to speak out on racial justice.
"He has, he has, it's just a fact," West said. "He's been running from the
issue for too long. When he finally gets pushed into a corner, he says
something eloquent and articulate. But you've got to be able to hit it head
on."
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Cornel West. (photo: Unknown)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/08/cornel-west-
obamas-response-to-shootings-was-weak/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/po
st-politics/wp/2016/07/08/cornel-west-obamas-response-to-shootings-was-weak/
Cornel West Slams 'Weak' Obama Response
By David Weigel, The Washington Post
11 July 16
hen this city was chosen to host the Democratic Party's pre-convention
platform meeting, it meant affordable hotels and plenty of available space.
Then came the massacre at the nearby Pulse nightclub, and then came this
week's shootings in Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights, Minn., and Dallas. The
business of amending the party's manifesto was slowed, necessarily, by a
moment of silence, speeches about the need to end gun violence and a
memorial session attended by platform members.
The role of reading the platform's preamble went, with meaning, to former
NAACP president Benjamin Jealous and longtime African American Rep. Maxine
Waters (D-Calif.). They took turns reading lines about racial justice that
had not previously appeared in party platforms.
"We know that our nation's long struggle with race is far from over," they
read. "More than half a century after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. King marched
and John Lewis bled, more than half a century after Cesar Chavez and Dolores
Huerta organized, race still plays a significant role in determining who
gets ahead in America and who gets left behind."
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), who had chaired the drafting committee,
asked Democrats to consider a sign - "Love Trumps Hate," written across a
gay rights rainbow - that had been brought into the room.
"We can put that into the DNA, into the cells, of our brain at this moment,"
he said. "We can spend a lot of time focusing on who we're fighting against
- but ladies and gentlemen, the American people want us to focus on who
we're fighting for."
But Cornel West, a Sanders appointee to the committee that drafted the
platform, was disappointed in President Obama's response to the week. It was
telling, West said, that Obama could call Dallas "a vicious and despicable
act" but would not use those exact words to describe police-involved
killings in general.
"I thought it was weak," West said. "He's always got to explain to white
America how black people are feeling. Black people don't feel as if we're
being treated unequally - it's a fact that we're being treated unequally. He
sort of always has to serve in this translating role. That's how he rolls,
but that's not how I roll."
West, the one member of the committee who opposed the latest draft, has
consistently criticized the president, labeling him a "Republican in
blackface" in one 2012 interview. The president's latest remarks, he said,
emphasized how much time he'd lost to speak out on racial justice.
"He has, he has, it's just a fact," West said. "He's been running from the
issue for too long. When he finally gets pushed into a corner, he says
something eloquent and articulate. But you've got to be able to hit it head
on."
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
