CBC wants to do Fox debate
by kos
Thu Mar 29, 2007 at 06:50:19 PM PDT
Here we go again. I'm sure this is the last thing the presidential candidates needed to deal with, but yes, the CBC was stupid enough to let these guys do a debate with them:
Color of Change is now calling on all presidential candidates to boycott this event.
Statement of James Rucker, head of ColorOfChange.org – a 75,000 member online citizens lobby dedicated to advocating for the interests of Black Americans:
“The CBC Institute’s decision is shamefully out of step with most Black voters, and we will continue to push on the CBC Institute to drop this deal.” Rucker goes on to say, “Every presidential candidate now must decide whether to legitimize Fox – a network that calls Black churches a cult, implies that Senator Barack Obama is a terrorist, and uses the solemn occasion of Coretta Scott King’s funeral to call Black leaders ‘racist.’ We will be launching a petition at www.ColorofChange.org asking presidential candidates to attend the CBC Institute’s CNN debate and reject the Fox debate.”
Statement of Benjamin Todd Jealous, former executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Associations (NNPA), a 98-year old federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers.
“Fox has a long history of treating Black people unfairly. They are not a trusted news source for most Black Americans.”
The CBC Institute has already announced another debate on January 24, 2008 with CNN. The YouTube video Fox Attacks: Black America by Robert Greenwald of FoxAttacks.com has already been seen by over 230,000 people and can be viewed at www.FoxAttacks.com.
The Institute’s decision comes after more than 12,000 ColorOfChange.org members contacted the Institute, with more than 800 calling individual CBC members asking for leadership. Privately, some CBC members agreed that the Fox deal was a bad idea. But not a single member has taken a public stand.
ColorOfChange.org – an online citizens’ lobby of 75,000 members dedicated to advocating for the interests of Black Americans – launched a national letter writing campaign calling on the Congressional Black Caucus Institute to reject Fox as partner for their presidential debates.
There really is a disconnect between beltway institutions -- and yes, the CBC qualifies -- and on-the-ground activists that see the pernicious effects of Fox News on people around them. Observations supported by polling by Kerry pollster Mark Mellman:
Fox News viewers supported George Bush over John Kerry by 88 percent to 7 percent. No demographic segment, other than Republicans, was as united in supporting Bush. Conservatives, white evangelical Christians, gun owners, and supporters of the Iraq war all gave Bush fewer votes than did regular Fox News viewers.
The CBC's decision is breath-taking in its stupidity, and the organization will now face the well-deserved scorn of its own constituents as well as outside observers. Candidates will be forced to choose between grassroots activists (of all colors) and an out-of-touch, entrenched inside-the-Beltway organization.
The Color for Change petition can be found here.
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