Opinion
Black Americans and Mitt Romney
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ERNIE F OSTER
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B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER
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S USAN F RIED
Photographers
The Skanner Newspaper, established
in October 1975, is a weekly publica-
tion, published each Wednesday by
IMM Publications Inc.,
415 N. Killingsworth St.,
F
ormer Massachusetts Gover-
nor Mitt Romney’s recent
statement, “I’m not con-
cerned about the very poor….We
have a safety net…. If it needs
repair, I’ll fix it” has caused once
again considerable debate about
poverty in America. But for mil-
lions of impoverished Black
Americans the focus should be on
encouraging education, self-
empowerment and economic
development as a means of getting
out of poverty rather than waiting
on some non-caring presidential
candidate to patch a gaping hole in
the so-called poverty-prevention
safety net.
In a democracy all citizens
should have the right to run for
President. Of course qualifica-
tions and experience are factors
that voters should weigh when
making a decision about who to
vote for and to support. For over
45 million Black Americans, the
2012 elections are extremely
important. We cannot afford to sit
on the sidelines and to take the
November 2012 elections for
granted. I keep emphasizing that
it is counterproductive for Black
people in the United States to be
cynical or non-involved in the
national political debate concern-
ing the issues that affect the quali-
ty of life in the Black community
across the nation.
Mitt Romney’s confession did
more than expose his seemingly
insensitivity toward the poor. It
revealed Romney’s comfort with a
certain percentage of the popula-
tion that will according to his logic
always remain in poverty in need-
E DUCATION
S ERVICES
Benjamin F.
Chavis Jr.
of
a safety net. Romney rhetorically
joined the likes of Fox News com-
mentator Bill O’Rielly who con-
descendingly reminded a national
television audience that in the
observed, “The scorecard then
reads like this: Gingrich, Santo-
rum, and Paul, all have asked for
and gotten endorsements and sup-
port from African-Americans.
There is no record or evidence that
the supposed more moderate
Romney has asked for or gotten
any black support or even taken a
photo-op with some dutiful blacks.
The question that will loom even
larger as Romney closes in on the
GOP nomination is. Where are
Romney’s blacks?”
Romney’s comments on poverty,
Please do not underestimate the
power and the importance of every
vote this year
Bible it says, “The poor will
always be with us.”
African
Americans do not always have to
be poor! Again, what Romney
said or what O’Rielly said should
not come as a shock. Those state-
ments just remind us that if we do
not get ourselves up out of pover-
ty, there will be no others that we
should depend on to change the
situation of poverty that too many
continue to face in our communi-
ties.
Noted scholar and author Earl
Ofari Hutchinson raised an appro-
priate question with respect to the
absence of Black Americans who
have some noticeable role in the
Romney presidential campaign
staff or support. Hutchinson
therefore, were not a mere slip of a
politicians tongue during the heat
of a tense campaign. He is not in
touch with the reality that most
Americans have to endure in
2012. And in particular, Romney
is so far out of the loop of reality
when it comes to Black Ameri-
cans’ state of existence, that it is
cause for serious concern. The
fact is for Black children and
youth the poverty rate is nearly
40% as a direct of the systematic
underdevelopment of the African
American community during the
last 50 years. Too many African
Americans live in poverty today at
a rate greater than one out of every
four persons. Of course our eco-
nomic and social predicament is
not the result of statements by Mitt
Romney. The point here is, how-
ever, that for the vast majority of
Black people in America and
throughout the African world, the
candidacy of Romney for Presi-
dent raises serious implications
about his stated sense of inclusion
and of ‘caring’ and empathy for
poor people in general and for
poor Black people specifically.
Regardless of who emerges as
the Republican nominee, Black
Americans have to take a proac-
tive responsibility to ensure the
largest voter turnout in American
history come this November. To
all of the “playa haters” some of
whom are White and Black who
are trying to seduce Black people
into the self-destructive lethargy
of not voting, copping out, and
non-civic engagement: “We will
not be put asleep. We will remain
wide awake. We are going to
mobilize voter participation in
record numbers in the face of voter
repression in more than 30 states
across the nation.”
Please do not underestimate the
power and the importance of every
vote this year. We have to join
with others who share our interests
for a better future for ourselves
and for all people. The worst form
of oppression is self-destruction
and the fear of liberation. Mitt
Romney has made clear where he
stands. Where do you stand?
How will you vote?
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is
President of the Hip-Hop Summit
Action Network and Education
Online Services Corporation and
P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228.
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Page 4 The Seattle Skanner February 15, 2012