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Published: Mar 09, 2006

Smiley's tirade shames Black ancestry

Raynard Jackson, Guest Columnist
Posted: 3/9/06

Having just completed another Black History Month, I think the name should be changed to "Lack" history month. This month now seems to lack the Blackness that is the bedrock of our community.

Our parents and grandparents didn't need a month. They were Black history, and we sat at their feet and learned Black history. Never try to explain your vision to anyone, but rather invite them to stand beside you and see for themselves. If our parents and grandparents were invited to stand beside our community, what would they see?

They would see Tavis Smiley gathering the most rabid, radical liberal Blacks in the country every February to complain about "White" folks and what they are not doing for Blacks. According to them, Blacks are lacking educational opportunities, economic opportunities, equality, adequate health care, more welfare spending, access to the White House, more people to blame for their plight, Blacks on the Supreme Court, Blacks in the Bush administration and just lacking.

They would see how every year this annual attack gets worse. The panels are entirely too large. You can't have a substantive discussion of issues with more than 10 per panel. I challenge my readers to name anything the speakers said that made sense (other than Floyd Flake, Junior Bridgeman, or Michelle Singletary).

As I mentioned last month, Joseph Lowry's senility continues to make him say crazy things. He made rhymes that made no sense, "…when Blacks will not be asked to give back, when Brown can stick around, when Yella will be mella, when the Red Man can get ahead man, when White will be alright, amen." What did he just say?

Can anyone truly tell me what Harry Belafonte, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan or Cornell West said? Several crowd shots showed the audience in total bewilderment as they spoke. If America is so bad (according to West, Belafonte, Sharpton, Lowery) why have they not left this country and gone to a country more to their liking?

They would also see Smiley pull a stunt that I thought was beneath him. He brought on stage two people from New Orleans (a Black male and female). The first words out the woman's mouth was that Bush didn't care about Blacks (a la Kanye West). Then, the male went on to describe how he was "herded" onto a bus. Tavis, as expected, reiterated the word "herded" several times to the delight of the audience.

The gentleman went on to state that he would be evicted from his FEMA-paid hotel within a couple of days. You would have thought that Smiley would make an offer to pay for his continued hotel stay. But all he offered him was a hug and some other beatitudes and sent him along his nearly homeless way. I was thoroughly embarrassed at the pimping of these two victims of Katrina, but I was also angry at them as well for allowing themselves to be used like this.

Our elders would see Junior Bridgeman, the most successful person of all the panels, relegated to a minor speaking role because he refused to get involved in all the foolish rhetoric (he spoke a total of maybe seven minutes out of a total time of 3:35:36). Here is a former premier NBA player who is the 14th largest restaurateur in the country, employing more than 6,000 people (mostly minority). You would have thought that they would have given him a far bigger role, but silly me for thinking such a logical thought.

We as Blacks, lack none of the solutions to the pathologies affecting our community. Rather, we lack the "leaders" who are willing to advocate a solutions oriented agenda. If our community gets better, how will AlSharpton and Jesse Jackson make a living? Their livelihood is contingent on the status quo. People, let's not celebrate another "Lack" history month. Our Blackness is not lacking, but what we are lacking is a true understanding of the Blackness of our forefathers..


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.