Corporate Consulting
	Political Consulting
	About Raynard Jackson
	Recent Columns
	Raynard In The News
	Pictures
	Events
	Links
	Contact Us
	Main Page

Archive

Published: Sept 29, 2005

Is the CBC still relevant?
By Raynard Jackson, Contributing Writer
 
The District Chronicles
Issue: 9/29/05

Last week the Congressional Black Caucus had their annual party in Washington, DC. It used to be one of the premier social events of the year; but now, you can't even say that.

The CBC's Web site says "The Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) provides the platform for the 43 African American Members of Congress to share theprogress of their work on legislative items and also allows for the exchange of ideas correlated to policy issues that are of critical concern to their constituents." However, when was the last time a member of the CBC sponsored a piece of legislation that passed? The Web site also says that "during this conference, people from all walks of life can be found in the Washington Convention Center. Anyone who cares about the health, economic, educational and political state of Black communities is certain to be present."

In other words, anyone who is on the radical left and agrees with the premise that white folks are responsible for all the pathologies within our communities will be there.

As I speak to Black students across the country and especially within the DC region, I am sorely disappointed at the lack of critical thinking skills among our college students. The CBC does nothing to mitigate this. They continue to indoctrinate Blacks with a radical, liberal orthodoxy that breeds a mentality of victimization and dependency.

Let's look at Black Enterprise's list of top Black businesses. Have you ever wondered why most on the list are not major contributors to the CBC? I don't want to hear that they can't afford it. Some of these firms' revenues are well over $ 100 million. How much money has Kanye West given? P. Diddy, etc? Where is Bob Johnson, who owes his very existence to Marion Barry and his survival to Republicans? Michael Jackson played the race card during his trial, but where is his check?

By extrapolation, I notice the lack of involvement with the CBC by the likes of Denzel Washington, Bill Cosby, Will & Jada Smith, LL Cook J, former members of congress Floyd Flake & Bill Gray, Donna Brazille and Rodney Slater.

What do the above have in common? They are all considered very thoughtful, deliberative, sophisticated thinkers by both Black and non-Blacks.

They don't throw around the "race card" flippantly nor do you read about them engaging in irresponsible behaviors. These are the type of Blacks that our community would listen to and engage with. It's a shame those that are considered to be the Black "leadership" are not sophisticated enough to understand this. Constantly screaming racism will not eliminate the pathologies in our communities. Only critical thinking and self-discipline will do the trick!

One measure of how one is viewed can be gleamed by the caliber of those who choose to associate with you. The CBC has been weighed in the balances and have been found wanting.


About the Author

Raynard Jackson is president and CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, Inc., a political consulting/government affairs firm in Washington, D.C. RJA provides strategic advice and counsel to elected officials (White House, Congress), corporations and entrepreneurs.

Published: Sept 29th, 2005