G. Derek Musgrove: CBC Investigations are Neither Conspiracy Nor Post-Racialism
[Dr. Musgrove is an Assistant Professor of History at UDC. Prior to Arriving at UDC, he was a visiting lecturer in the Department of History at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He received his Ph.D. in U.S. History from New York University in 2005.]
In the first week of March, 2010, African American Governor of New York, David Patterson was forced to declare that he would not seek reelection amidst allegations that he improperly used the state police to silence a woman who had been abused by his aide; former Washington, DC Mayor, Marion Barry, now a City Councilman, was stripped of his Chairmanship for awarding a city contract to a woman with whom he was romantically involved; and Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY), the first African American Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, was forced to step down amidst allegations of tax and travel violations.
n light of these developments, some Americans, particularly black Americans, are wondering if these things are a horrible coincidence or a sign of something more sinister. They are, perhaps, even more prone to do so because the majority of the open investigations before the House Ethics Committee target members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Aware of these suspicions, Joel Dreyfuss, editor of the Root published the article “The Perils of Black Power,” on March 3, 2010.
Dreyfuss wastes no time getting right to the question that is on many peoples’ minds. In the sub-title of his article, Dreyfuss asks if all of these investigations are the product of a “conspiracy” or evidence of “real power.”
He answers that they are the product of these black elected officials’ ethical lapses and the recent and unprecedented “acquisition of power by black Americans.” It is hard to disagree with this argument. There is no question that Barry and Patterson acted unethically, and that Rangel appears to have been negligent in the management of his office if not complicit in the misdeeds with which he is accused. Additionally nearly all of these men are powerful elected officials, and power invites scrutiny, particularly these days....
The determinative factor in the Rangel and CBC scandals that Dreyfuss fails to take into consideration is the racialized nature of contemporary partisan conflict. It is no secret to anyone that black elected officials are concentrated in the Democratic Party. All 43 members of the CBC, for instance, are Democrats. The House GOP has not hosted a black member since Representative J. C. Watts (R-OK) left the chamber in 2003. Though the GOP has become noticeably whiter in the last five years, this racial divide has been relatively constant since the mid-1960s....
I say all of this to make two points. First, U.S. politics are by no means post-racial. Whether it is running ballot integrity programs against black Democratic voters, filing ethics investigations against black Democratic elected officials, calling health reform “reparations,” or asserting that President Barack Obama harbors “a deep-seated hatred of white people,” Republicans and their allies in the conservative movement regularly press the battle against the Democratic Party by attacking black voters, black elected officials, and policies favored by blacks. Second, black political pundits’ uncritical embrace of post-racialism can blind them to some of the most powerful forces shaping American politics today.
Yeah, Marion Barry is unethical, David Patterson should be ashamed of himself, and Charlie Rangel knows better, but that does not mean that race no longer plays a critical role in U.S. politics. Quite the contrary.
Read entire article at Alternet.org
In the first week of March, 2010, African American Governor of New York, David Patterson was forced to declare that he would not seek reelection amidst allegations that he improperly used the state police to silence a woman who had been abused by his aide; former Washington, DC Mayor, Marion Barry, now a City Councilman, was stripped of his Chairmanship for awarding a city contract to a woman with whom he was romantically involved; and Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY), the first African American Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, was forced to step down amidst allegations of tax and travel violations.
n light of these developments, some Americans, particularly black Americans, are wondering if these things are a horrible coincidence or a sign of something more sinister. They are, perhaps, even more prone to do so because the majority of the open investigations before the House Ethics Committee target members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Aware of these suspicions, Joel Dreyfuss, editor of the Root published the article “The Perils of Black Power,” on March 3, 2010.
Dreyfuss wastes no time getting right to the question that is on many peoples’ minds. In the sub-title of his article, Dreyfuss asks if all of these investigations are the product of a “conspiracy” or evidence of “real power.”
He answers that they are the product of these black elected officials’ ethical lapses and the recent and unprecedented “acquisition of power by black Americans.” It is hard to disagree with this argument. There is no question that Barry and Patterson acted unethically, and that Rangel appears to have been negligent in the management of his office if not complicit in the misdeeds with which he is accused. Additionally nearly all of these men are powerful elected officials, and power invites scrutiny, particularly these days....
The determinative factor in the Rangel and CBC scandals that Dreyfuss fails to take into consideration is the racialized nature of contemporary partisan conflict. It is no secret to anyone that black elected officials are concentrated in the Democratic Party. All 43 members of the CBC, for instance, are Democrats. The House GOP has not hosted a black member since Representative J. C. Watts (R-OK) left the chamber in 2003. Though the GOP has become noticeably whiter in the last five years, this racial divide has been relatively constant since the mid-1960s....
I say all of this to make two points. First, U.S. politics are by no means post-racial. Whether it is running ballot integrity programs against black Democratic voters, filing ethics investigations against black Democratic elected officials, calling health reform “reparations,” or asserting that President Barack Obama harbors “a deep-seated hatred of white people,” Republicans and their allies in the conservative movement regularly press the battle against the Democratic Party by attacking black voters, black elected officials, and policies favored by blacks. Second, black political pundits’ uncritical embrace of post-racialism can blind them to some of the most powerful forces shaping American politics today.
Yeah, Marion Barry is unethical, David Patterson should be ashamed of himself, and Charlie Rangel knows better, but that does not mean that race no longer plays a critical role in U.S. politics. Quite the contrary.