Black activists say Obama must speak to all races
By DAN SEWELL - 6 hours ago
Issue date: 6/23/08 Section: News
CINCINNATI (AP) - The civil rights activists of the NAACP beg to differ with the Rev. Jesse Jackson. They think Democrat Barack Obama is doing a good job balancing his role as a black candidate with the need to speak to all races.
The Illinois senator addresses the 99th meeting of the nation's largest civil rights organization as some blacks, mostly notably Jackson, have questioned whether the man who is in line to be the first black major-party presidential nominee is paying enough attention to the needs of blacks.
"He can't be totally focused on the black community," Kelvin Shaw, of Shreveport, La., said Monday. Shaw himself is most interested in what Obama plans on nationwide economic issues like rising oil prices, household costs and jobs. "We need to be talking about not one race, but what affects all people."
But some frustration spilled into public last week when Jackson was caught - on a microphone he didn't know was still on - saying he was ready to castrate Obama after his speech to a black church group about fatherhood and responsibility. Jackson said Obama came off as talking down to black people.
Jackson apologized for his comments, but said there were other important issues for black audiences like unemployment, mortgage foreclosures and the number of blacks in prison.
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, the city's first directly elected black mayor, disputed the view that Obama isn't speaking to black voters.
"I think he absolutely has," Mallory said. Besides his messages about responsibility, Mallory said, Obama has talked about jobs, health care, education, and other "areas where black people are disproportionately affected."
Ronald Walters, a University of Maryland political scientist who was an aide to Jackson's presidential bids, said blacks understand that Obama is trying to be elected president in a majority-white nation. But he said there has been frustration for those who want Obama to lay out a specific agenda for the black community beyond speeches from the pulpit about responsibility.
The Illinois senator addresses the 99th meeting of the nation's largest civil rights organization as some blacks, mostly notably Jackson, have questioned whether the man who is in line to be the first black major-party presidential nominee is paying enough attention to the needs of blacks.
"He can't be totally focused on the black community," Kelvin Shaw, of Shreveport, La., said Monday. Shaw himself is most interested in what Obama plans on nationwide economic issues like rising oil prices, household costs and jobs. "We need to be talking about not one race, but what affects all people."
But some frustration spilled into public last week when Jackson was caught - on a microphone he didn't know was still on - saying he was ready to castrate Obama after his speech to a black church group about fatherhood and responsibility. Jackson said Obama came off as talking down to black people.
Jackson apologized for his comments, but said there were other important issues for black audiences like unemployment, mortgage foreclosures and the number of blacks in prison.
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, the city's first directly elected black mayor, disputed the view that Obama isn't speaking to black voters.
"I think he absolutely has," Mallory said. Besides his messages about responsibility, Mallory said, Obama has talked about jobs, health care, education, and other "areas where black people are disproportionately affected."
Ronald Walters, a University of Maryland political scientist who was an aide to Jackson's presidential bids, said blacks understand that Obama is trying to be elected president in a majority-white nation. But he said there has been frustration for those who want Obama to lay out a specific agenda for the black community beyond speeches from the pulpit about responsibility.
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