While I have in some way, shape, or form supported the Congressional Black Congress (CBC) over the years, however, they have of late made me doubt their relevancy. The CBC sells itself as a watchdog over Congress, looking for civil rights violations, or though legistlation that adversely affects people of color. But with the win of Donna Edwards over Al Wynn, the CBC is crying foul, even insinuating the SEIU involved themselves in intra-Black issue.
Intra-black issues........WTF?
When did voting for one african american over another african american become an intra-Black issue. Voting is an american issue. Voting is a constitutional right, not specific to race, gender, religion, etc. (atleast not anymore). If the people of Edwards district voted for her over Al Wynn, so be it. Wynn is not entitled the seat. We'll Roll Call (subscription only) reported on it. But BlackAgendaReport.com has some intersting commentary on the Roll Call article and they include the link in their article so I'll just link to BARs article.
BlackAgendaReport.com
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are "seething" with anger over Rep. Al Wynn's Democratic primary defeat at the hands of Donna Edwards, in Maryland earlier this month. The Service Employees International Union did what unions are supposed to do: financially support a progressive challenger over a corporate-bought incumbent. But enraged CBC members see the handwriting on the wall: they too can be ousted by Black progressive campaigns energized by labor dollars. Given the CBC's continuing drift to the Right, members feel threatened. In typical fashion, they insinuate that the heavily Black SEIU is meddling in intra-Black political affairs - when the truth is, Caucus members increasingly rely on corporate funding for job security, and vote accordingly. The CBC's panicked reaction to Donna Edwards' victory speaks volumes about their growing capitulation to Big Business...
(emphasis mine)
Even with the CBC's wealth of knowlegde in foreign matter, especially economically, as of late, the CBC has become ineffective, and lazy, in merging domestic, and foreign issue. Wynn's vote on the republican-sponsored bankruptcy legistlation in 2005, shows how either he didn't take the time to read the bill, or big business was leaning on him, I suspect both occured, but we know the latter definitely occured. That legistlation made it harder for the average American to "restart" financially. It shouldn't be a wonder why the Housing bubble has hit so hard. Most of the poeple who are foreclosing on their homes, I imagine, looked into declaring bankrupty to help save their home. And his vote on the Iraq War is another. A large majority of Blacks are against the Iraq War, and most are anti-war in general. Wynn's connection to the Military Industrial Complex was his downfall.
Which is why the SEIU supported Donna Edwards. She is a true progressives. The CBC has drifted far to right, even thinking they were going to have a debate on FOX (assuming alot of Blacks even watch FOX...which we do not). With all that swing to the right, the CBC had to know that there would be some backlash from black people, who see their jobs leaving this country.
Apparently, Caucus members who were willing to speak to Roll Call think such rightwing behavior has nothing to do with working people's interests. "The Black Caucus members are very upset," said Baltimore congressman and former CBC chairman Elijah Cummings. "I'm very upset. I think my fellow members think he [Wynn] didn't deserve that."
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) - like Wynn, a high-profile member of the corporatist Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) faction in the CBC - chimed in: "I think there's some real questions about why they were so upset with Al Wynn. Members of the CBC want to know what's up."
"What's up...", as BAR states, "...the SEIU has finally deployed its money on the progressive side of an intra-Black congressional contest, in which the incumbent has repeatedly sided with corporations, betraying the interests of constituents..."
Al Wynn didn't think his vote for war was against the interests of his predominantly Black constituents. A trillion blood-soaked dollars later, the prospect of maintaining federal social services is in grave doubt as a direct result of the exploding military budget. Wynn thought his Prince George's County-centered constituents wouldn't mind when he voted to make it much harder for them to keep their homes through bankruptcy protections. Three years later, PG County has the highest foreclosure level in the state, and growing.
(emphasis mine)
BAR has an interesting take on the CBC's fake outrage. The incumbency time is over. There is a difference between "Black Leaders vs. Leading Blacks", and african americans are begining to see that it is OK to vote out 'leading blacks'.