Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle December 21, 2022
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
Are Black Individuals Like Kanye West, Van Jones, and
Stephen A. Smith ‘Perpetrating a Fraud,’ or is Self-Hate a
Primary Motivator for Anti-Blackness
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
I
Saundra Sorenson
Reporter
Aurora Hernandez
Digital Content
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
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Stacy M.
Brown
NNPA
Columnist
Walker’s campaign against
Democratic Sen. Raphael
Warnock infuriated Black
Americans, many of whom
“
“How does
he not know
he is being
used?”
called him a “House Negro,”
and an “Uncle Tom.”
“Herschel Walker being in
this election is an insult to
Black Americans,” Rutgers
University Professor Valerie
Fitzhugh determined.
“How does he not know he is
being used?”
Earlier this month, a photo
of Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry
Jones surfaced, showing him
among the crowd of white
people in 1957 who blocked
six Black students from de-
segregating a high school in
Arkansas.
Before Jones responded to
I
LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
LOCAL EVENTS
d ay ! • L i ke u s o
n the 1960s, African Amer-
icans embraced a locally
fashioned brand of Black
pride, and “Black is beau-
tiful” was their traditional
motto.
According to writer Ronald
E. Hall African Americans
mostly embraced the Black
pride movement in the 1960s.
“Unfortunately, such ac-
tivist idealism manifested in
Black pride expired with the
passing of the times,” Hall as-
serted.
The author then noted that
Black Americans “remain the
most despised” among the
community of human races,
reinforced via media images.
“In response,” Hall deter-
mined, “is Black self-hate
acted out by the political con-
servatism of Black American
Supreme Court Justice Clar-
ence Thomas as an icon.”
In the eyes of many in Black
America, Justice Thomas –
disparagingly described by
some as “Uncle Thomas,” isn’t
alone.
Recently, the antics of Re-
publican Georgia Senate
Candidate Herschel Walker,
hip-hop star Kanye West,
sports commentator Stephen
A. Smith, CNN contributor
Van Jones, and others have
drawn the ire of fellow Afri-
can Americans.
the criticism, Smith quickly
jumped to the owner’s de-
fense, and the uproar from
the Black community proved
swift.
Most observers noted that
in his four decades owning
the Cowboys, Jones had never
hired a Black head coach.
Further, the owner had
vociferously blasted for-
mer 49ers quarterback Col-
in Kaepernick for kneeling
during the national anthem.
Kaepernick hasn’t received
an NFL job since.
“Sometimes a fruit falls
from a tree and rolls so far
away from its roots that it’s
no longer of the tree,” assert-
ed Brother Jamaal Nelson, the
owner of the app Knowledge
of Self.
Continuing his quoting
of Malcolm X in describing
Smith, Nelson said, “the hard
fall, and long journey, bruises
the fruit so much that it total-
ly changes it. But, unfortu-
nately, it’s the same for some
of our people.”
West, the rapper, now
known as “Ye,” also upset
many of his own race with
comments ranging from
“slavery is a choice” to assert-
ing that George Floyd died of
a fentanyl overdose.
He further angered the
masses by donning white
lives matter shirts alongside
Candace Owens, whom many
Black people dismiss as a
self-loathing individual.
“Many millennials viewed
West as an older brother,”
writer Minda Honey wrote.
“Losing hope in him can
feel like losing hope in our-
selves like we’re looking at
what’s waiting for us after a
few more successes after we
find out that white validation
is gold-plated and something
green and corrosive waits
for us beneath it,” Honey, the
owner of TAUNT, insisted.
“If West can’t be Black and
brilliant in America, some-
one like me can’t survive it
either. So, we’re resistant to
giving up on him,” Honey as-
sessed.
As for Jones, the CNN con-
tributor, his “apology” for
what he deemed the lack of
response by the Black com-
munity to West’s anti-Semit-
ic comments drew the ire of
nearly all social media.
“Now, I must have missed
the meeting where we all
came together on Black Twit-
ter and elected Jones the rep-
resentative of the ‘communi-
ty,’” Jessica Washington wrote
for The Root.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
Refocusing America’s Pursuit of Perfection
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to
y •
Opinion
n his January 20, 2022, In-
augural Address, President
Joe Biden called on us to,
“look ahead in our unique-
ly American way – restless,
bold, optimistic – and set our
sights on the nation we know
we can be, and we must be.
But many Americans were
looking back to the unprec-
edented and tumultuous at-
tempted insurrection of Jan-
uary 6th. Backward looking
is not normal for a democra-
cy – especially one like ours
that is always in “pursuit of
a more perfect union.” But
you won’t find perfection by
looking backwards. President
Abraham Lincoln reportedly
once said, “I walk slowly, but I
never walk backwards.”
President Lincoln led this
country through an earlier
period of internal turmoil,
when there was no certainty
that America would emerge
intact. I believe President
Biden faces similar challeng-
es today. In addition to the
political challenge that faced
our country as he took office,
our country was struggling
to reduce the toll of Covid-19,
restore our place on the world
stage, reform community po-
licing, keep our communities
safe, combat climate change,
and the list goes on and on
James E.
Clyburn
Congressman
and on.
President Biden took a page
from President Lincoln’s me-
thodical approach to move us
forward. Within the first six
weeks of his administration,
“
I urged mem-
bers to step
outside their
comfort
zones
President Biden signed the
$1.9 trillion American Rescue
Plan. That law made Covid-19
vaccinations available, stabi-
lized families, unshuttered
businesses, reopened schools,
and got people back to work.
He followed that historic leg-
islation with another historic
bill, the Bipartisan Infrastruc-
ture Law that is investing $1.2
trillion in roads and bridges,
clean air and water, ports
and rail, electric vehicles and
making high-speed internet
accessible and affordability to
every resident and business.
During our lively debate
over the Bipartisan Infra-
structure Law, competing in-
terests within our party were
threatening that agenda and
our continued pursuit of a
more perfect union. I urged
members to step outside their
comfort zones and find com-
mon ground. We were able
to subsequently craft the bill
that President Biden signed
into law.
President Biden’s poll num-
bers dipped dramatically as
the pandemic lingered. But
Democrats entered the 2022
election cycle comfortable
with his approach and confi-
dent in our agenda. We con-
tinued to focus on the future
and passed much-needed leg-
islation: the CHIPS & Science
Act to keep skilled technical
and manufacturing jobs in the
U.S; the PACT Act to provide
health care and resources
for military heroes who had
been subjected to toxic burn
pits and Agent Orange, and
the Safer Communities Act to
combat gun violence and pro-
vide more law enforcement
officers in rural communities.
We also passed the Inflation
Reduction Act. While it was
the largest investment ever to
combat climate change, it also
authorized Medicare to ne-
gotiate for lower drug prices
and capped the cost of insulin
at $35 for seniors starting Jan-
uary 1, 2023. President Biden
and Congressional Democrats
were putting the best interest
of the American people over
the politics of the moment,
and the voters knew it.
While our legislative wins
were impressive and unprece-
dented, the pundits remained
focused on the noise and
name calling. They bought
into the dire predictions that
the voters would turn Demo-
crats out in droves. I was often
asked, “What would it take
to get beyond the acrimony?”
My answer was always the
same, “a definitive election,
one in which massive num-
bers of Americans would step
outside their comfort zones.”
That is what happened on
November 8th. Many Repub-
licans and Independents who
are not usually comfortable
voting for Democrats did so in
record numbers. The election
results seem to have changed
the narrative from one of
looking backward to one that
is forward focused.
Read the rest of this commentary at
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nt •
lo c a l n e w s •
eve