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Opinion Right-Wing Gets it Wrong on Mississippi “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor J ERRY F OSTER Advertising Manager L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor P ATRICIA I RVIN D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE 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., I f you ever doubted that conser- vatives were sore losers, the recent Senate election in Mis- sissippi should remove all doubt. After complaining for a half century about Blacks not voting for Republicans, African Americans did just that in the GOP runoff between incumbent Senator Thad Cochran and State Senator Chris McDaniel, a staunch Tea Party supporter. And because Blacks did not vote for McDaniel against their best inter- est, right-wingers are livid. Rush Limbaugh called Blacks who voted for Cochran “Uncle Toms.” According to a transcript of his radio program, he said: “I wonder what the campaign slogan was in Mississippi in the past couple of days: Uncle Toms for Thad? ‘Cause I thought it was the worst thing you could do as an African American. Voting for a Republi- can is the absolute worst thing you could do, but somehow they were made to believe that voting for old Thad would be fine and dandy.” Later in the program, Limbaugh said, “…Insider Republicans in the Senate bought nine percentage points, eight or nine percentage points from the Black Uncle Tom voters in Mississippi (interrup- tion). Well, isn’t that what they call Clarence Thomas? Con- doleezza Rice? They call ‘em Uncle Toms, the Republicans. These guys had voted for Thad? Uncle Toms for Thad.” Glenn Beck chimed in: “I have a question for every Black Democ- rat in Mississippi: What the hell has this 90-year-old fart – a White election cycle from Democrats: T HE C URRY that conservatives are racist, that conservatives are mistreating the R EPORT president because he’s Black. None of which is true.” Let’s take these idiotic com- George E. ments in reverse order. Curry Yes, Hannity, Cochran’s career was on the line. McDaniel had edged him by 1,400 votes in the Republican primary and there was Republican, the same White no way he was going to win the Republican that for years the runoff without appealing to Black Democrats have been telling you Democrats. It wasn’t an issue of are nothing but old racists – you “dignity, honor and integrity,” it tell me exactly what Thad was about his only chance of win- Cochran did for you.” ning. Of course, some Sean Hannity, speaking on his conservatives are opposed to Pres- June 25 edition of his radio pro- ident Obama because he’s Black. gram, said: I am so angry at this Those who think otherwise are the African Americans are smart enough to know that McDaniel would have been far worst Thad Cochran/Chris McDaniel race, I can’t even begin to tell you. … And Thad Cochran, seeing his power slipping away after many decades as a senator in Washing- ton, you know, knew that his career was on the line here. And rather than run with dignity and honor and integrity and honor and decency, what did he do? He did just the opposite. And he was appealing to Democratic voters.” Hannity contended Cochran “perpetrated the worst libel, the worst smear against conservatives, against the Tea Party, which is this false narrative that you hear every same ones who believe Fox News is “fair and balanced.” Glenn Beck, I will answer your question about what “old fart” Thad Cochran has done for Blacks in Mississippi: Nothing. Like every Republican in the House and Senate, he earned an F on the NAACP Legislative Report Card. And his opponent thought Cochran was too liberal. As bad as “old fart” was, African Americans are smart enough to know that McDaniel would have been far worst. He would have crapped on them. And given the choice between being assaulted with a fart and endless crap, we’ll go with the fart any day of the week. Hate to be so crude, Glenn, but I had to explain it in a way that even you would understand. Finally, Rush Limbaugh, Blacks who voted in the open Republican primary were not Uncle Toms. Unlike some of your favorite Black Republicans, they were not traitors to their race. Instead, they were performing their civic duty. Had they voted the way you pre- ferred, then that would be a real Uncle Tom. There is doubt that Thad Cochran would not be the Repub- lican nominee without the Black vote, which is why he courted it. All 24 counties with a Black majority went with the incumbent. Perhaps more telling, the turnout in the runoff was up almost 40 per- cent in those Black counties, compared to just 16 percent in the other counties. Some Republicans have accused Black Democrats who voted for Cochran of being spoilers, but that’s not the case. If African Americans had wanted to be spoil- ers, they would have voted for McDaniel because he would give Democrats a better chance of win- ning in November’s general election It was deeper than that. It’s time for everyone to give Black voters in Mississippi credit for knowing what was in their best interest. What all of the pundits seem to miss is that Blacks were not neces- sarily voting for Thad Cochran. They were voting against Chris McDaniel. Either way you look at it, they were successful. P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2014 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds Ikea and The Gap Fill the Wage Gap P resident Obama would like the national minimum wage to rise to $10.10 an hour. By executive order, he has already raised the minimum wage for fed- eral contractors. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has threat- ened to sue President Obama for his use of executive order, which he says circumvents Congression- al authority. Ikea said it will raise the average minimum wage to $10.76 an hour, which is an increase of 17 percent. Ikea says its goal is to offer their workers a living wage, regardless of whether their competitors offer it. Half of Ikea employees will get a raise, while those who already earn a living wage will not. The chain now provides other benefits, such as a 401-k match. Ikea has just 38 stores in the United States, which may minimize the impact their wage increase has on its competitors. Still, Ikea has done the right thing and earned a com- petitive advantage in the areas where they have stores. The Gap, too, has increased its wage to $9 an hour, which will rise to $10 an hour next year. Seattle has raised its minimum wage to $15, and dozens of municipalities have also increase their minimum wage. When employers and municipalities fail to offer a living wage, they shift a wage burden to the rest of us because those who earn the minimum wage are subsi- dized by federal benefits to the poor, which we all pay. Page 2 The Portland and Seattle Skanner July 2, 2014 B ENNETT C OLLEGE Julianne Malveaux This is also true when states refuse to expand the base for Med- icaid for the purposes of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare). In more than 20 states, people have to earn less than $11,000, or $23,000 for a productive employees. Memo to fast food and big box stores set on paying the minimum wage or lit- tle more – pay your workers a living wage. Ikea gets it, so does the Gap. What’s wrong with the Con- gress? Whether they are Democrats or Republicans, they have constituents who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. Why are they resisting? Might it be because President Obama has pushed for an increase in the minimum wage? If our President pushed for blue skies it is likely that some obstruc- Ikea says its goal is to offer their workers a living wage, regardless of whether their competitors offer it family of four. With Medicaid expansion, people can earn as much as $15,000 to qualify for Medicaid, and as much as $32,000 for a family of four. Without the Medicaid expansion, some states are saying that poverty and poor health are acceptable for some of its citizens. The moves by Ikea and the Gap put some wage pressure on their competitors. It also makes it clear that these companies understand that raising wages will not signifi- cantly affect their profits. These companies also understand that better paid employees are also tionist members of Congress would oppose it. If the minimum wage kept pace with inflation, it would be $10.90 by now, a bit higher than the amount President Obama has pro- posed. The same Congress that opposes an increase in the mini- mum wage gets an automatic increase in their pay. This is the kind of hypocrisy that engenders indifference and contempt for our elected representatives. Some members of Congress have insisted that only young peo- ple earn the minimum wage. But at least 12 percent of the labor force earns the minimum wage. One in four of them are over 20. Sixty percent are women. One in four of those who earn the mini- mum wage are parents, supporting children on wages so low that they qualify for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps). One in six African Americans and one in five Latinos earn the minimum wage. Nearly 35 percent of minimum wage workers have graduate from high school; anoth- er 23 percent have attended college. Some would say that min- imum wage workers are mostly youth who are “training” for later work. These workers are not only young people who don’t need to get paid. These are adults with education and training, parents, and people who work in key industries, health and education. During the Great Recession, six- figure executives who needed an income stream accepted the mini- mum wage or just a little more. There were teachers, laid off, who took a pay cut to shelve books in libraries. They were folks who put their pride aside to earn a little money, money they said was bet- ter than the nothing they earned when laid off. It is overtime for our congress to offer working people the same wages they get automatically. It is overtime for our Congress to embrace a living wage, or at least a higher minimum wage. Ikea gets it, why doesn’t Congress?
