FW: [PEN-L:5216] FW: Racial Blind Spot Continues to Afflict Greens

[Max Sawicky]

What rubbish.  There seems to be no rock the less-left
won't try to heave in RN's direction.

Beal acknowledges that RN's proposals "would ensure
that the winner-take-all schemes prevalent in each state
could enhance the voices of Black America, particularly in
the South."  But this isn't good enough.

Beal wants RN to tail the Democrats, who get no
criticism in this column, in
making an issue of efforts to thwart African American
voting.  I guess I'm the only one who sees this as
grossly opportunistic and hypocritical, in view of the
fact that the Dem protest is solely premised on helping
to put Al Gore over the top in FL.  Beal says:

"Even amid one of the most egregious attempts to
disenfranchise Black voters in Florida and elsewhere . . . "

Really?  Is it more egregious than 1996 or 1992, and
how do we know?  Or is it egregious because Al Gore is
behind by less than a thousand votes in FL?

Who thinks Dems will do anything about this after
this year's presidential election is resolved?

Bottom line for all the semi-radicals who are
muttering into their beer about RN is he has the
most significant grip on popular left politics
in the U.S. today, while they have newspaper
columns, mailing lists, web sites, groupuscules,
and Al Gore.

I agree with the need to make the Ralph Platform
more responsive to race and gender demands, as
well as more focused and less preoccupied with
wonky micro-ideas.  As that develops, the Ralph
Party will get less pale.

In part, the strength of Nader's message is founded
on its rejection of sandbox-left rhetoric about race
and gender.  If he satisfied his critics re: race
he would be just another left Democrat, albeit one
outside of the Democratic Party.

mbs




By Frances M. Beal
        While lawyers and political gurus tussle over pregnant dimples