A Third Party: The Choice for the African-American Masses

In the many months since the 2008 presidential election, an increasing number of those within the African-American community have begun to question whether the electing of the United States first African-American President, Barack Obama, has functioned to yield any significant results in regard to remedying the abject condition of many of the group's members.

Expressions of discontent have emerged from prominent members of the African-American family, as long time Civil Rights activist Dorothy Wright Tillman as well as Glen Ford, editor of Black Agenda Report; have openly charged that the Obama Administration has been neglectful in substantively addressing the dire economic state of Black America.

Similar echoes have also long surfaced from those within the Congressional Black Caucus. Both Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), have publicly, criticized the White House for its perceived inattention to the egregious plight of many of the citizens existing in the largely African-American Districts these and other officials represent.

Not only has the Obama Administration been viewed by some as seemingly apathetic in regard to its commitment toward contending with the deplorable condition of much of the African-American populace, but so too has the party in which this figure emerged, received such scrutiny.

New York City, African-American activists, Attorney Alton Maddox Jr. and City Councilmember Charles Barron, have each asserted that for years the Democratic Party has delivered very little in return for the considerable loyalty Americans of African descent have rendered to the institution.

Additionally, Councilman Barron has suggested the Democratic Party not only takes Black voters for granted, but that it subsequently represents only a marginally better political option by which this group may realize gain, in relation to the party of the Republicans.

Resultantly, both leaders - along with other local activists - have organized many within the state's numerous African-American communities in forming a third party.

The New York Democratic Freedom Party, as it has so been named, has been developed in attempt to create for African-American citizens, as well as other disenfranchised populations, a platform in which these groups' interests may enjoy centermost attention and the unconditional pursuit of their advancement.

Indeed, the suggestion the Democratic Party essentially renders little more dividends for Black Americans than does the Party of the Right, may be supported in an examination of the recent history of the plight of this group, and related interests, within the context of Democratic rule.

It was under a Democratic national administration; approximately one million Rwandans were slaughtered while then-President Bill Clinton refused, for an extended period of time, to acknowledge the mass executions of the Tutsis by Hutu forces as an act of genocide. A procedure which served to thwart aid to these African people.

Clinton also while in office, personally crafted and signed into law a controversial legislative initiative titled the Omnibus Crime Bill. This federal mandate, which expanded the number of prosecutable offenses recognized by the national crime ledger, resulted in the addition of nearly half a million African Americans into the prison system. This dramatic spike occurring from the time Clinton assumed office to only a few years after his reign.

Furthermore, the former President's numerous assurances he would impose equitable immigration practices regarding thousands of Haitians fleeing dictatorial rule after the military overthrow of democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide - as was exercised for White Cubans during the Cuban Revolution - register as additional misdeeds committed against the Democratic Party Faithful.

Such a reality prevails, as Clinton would break this campaign promise, and subsequently redirect the vast majority of these members of the African diaspora back to Haiti, as they attempted to reach North American shores on makeshift rafts.

These doings, and others, such as Clinton's abandoning of noted African-American legal scholar Lani Guinier, - his failed appointee to U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights unfairly and ferociously attacked by then-White House adversaries - denote an established pattern of political betrayal in regard to his loyal base. An enormously supportive African-American constituency, which largely dubbed the official, "The First Black President."

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).