FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: ……… .
Saturday, April 7, 2007 ColorOfChange.org,
510-903-1809
Black
Activists Praise John Edwards For Rejecting FOX /
Congressional Black Caucus Institute Debate
ColorOfChange.org
and Black bloggers call on other presidential
candidates to follow the lead of Edwards and the DNC in rejecting FOX
FOX consistently marginalizes Black leaders
and the Black community – should not be given CBC’s
stamp of approval
ColorOfChange.org today praised presidential candidate John Edwards for rejecting the proposed FOX / Congressional Black Caucus Institute debate – and urged other presidential candidates to follow Edwards’ lead.
Edwards announced Friday evening he would attend a planned CBC/CNN debate, but not the CBC/FOX debate. On Thursday, the Democratic National Committee also said they would not endorse the FOX debate.
ColorOfChange.org – a 75,000 member online citizen lobby for Black Americans – led the fight in recent weeks urging the CBC Institute and presidential candidates to reject FOX. FOX’s smears against the Black community are compiled in Outfoxed director Robert Greenwald’s new YouTube video called Fox Attacks: Black America – located at www.FoxAttacks.com and viewed by over 250,000 people.
“It's absolutely critical that we make sure the CBC gets a forum, but we should make sure they get a forum with a network that's going to give a fair hearing to Democrats across the board, and people of color across the board,” said John Edwards’ campaign, in a call to ColorOfChange.org. The Edwards campaign said attending a Fox debate would mean “pretending they’re objective” when they really have an agenda.
“We applaud John Edwards for choosing not to legitimize a network that consistently attacks black people, our cultural institutions, and our political leaders. It’s time for the other candidates to do the same,” said James Rucker, head of ColorOfChange.org. “No network that calls black churches a cult, implies that Senator Barack Obama is a terrorist, and uses the solemn occasion of Coretta Scott King’s funeral to call black leaders ‘racist’ should be afforded the honor of hosting presidential debates.”
ColorOfChange.org has been joined in recent days Black bloggers and Black media outlets in condemning the CBC Institute’s embrace of Fox.
“Kudos to John Edwards for pulling out of the planned CBCI/Fox candidate debate,” wrote Afro-Netizen.com, a leading black political blog. “Afro-Netizen eagerly awaits word from the Obama & Clinton camps, should they wish to release their own statements on this matter.”
Here is what others in the Black community are saying about the CBC Institute’s partnership with FOX.
Afro American Newspapers Editorial – printed in Black papers around the nation
“What were they thinking? What possible justification could the Congressional Black Caucus Political Leadership Education Institute have for picking Fox News to partner with on an upcoming presidential debate? ‘Fox News is not a “fair and balanced” source of information or political debate, and it has repeatedly proven itself hostile to the interests of Black Americans... Fox on-air personalities and regular guests consistently marginalize Black leaders, culture, and institutions,’ said ColorOfChange in a letter to activists. And they are right. ... Case in point: Fox's recent sustained stain campaign against presidential candidate Barack Obama-they place undue emphasis on his middle name ‘Hussein,’ say he went to a fundamentalist Islamic school and question his religious affiliation, suggestively characterizing his church as having ‘unusual doctrines.’ And the network's framing and interpretation of Black (and Brown) issues and culture are often bigoted and lacking in any attempt to truly understand and present a fair picture.”
http://colorofchange.org/cbci/dallasweekly.pdf
Benjamin Todd Jealous – former executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Associations (NNPA), a 98-year old federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers.
“Fox has a long history of treating Black people unfairly.
They are not a trusted news source for most Black Americans.”
http://colorofchange.org/cbci/jackson.html
Tom Joyner's BlackAmericaWeb.com
“There is a difference, however, between compromising preference and compromising principle...The latter is what happens when you represent black interests in the U.S. Congress, but get in bed with a television network that has a history of rank disregard for black interests because you want to be a player in the presidential primary debates. Principle, along with integrity and prestige, is what the Congressional Black Caucus Institute has laid on the line in its partnership with Fox News...So far, it only seems to be another misstep by a group that thinks that ‘forgive and forget’ are words to live by. That may apply to normal human relations, but not in politics. Not these days. It’s a blood war now, and the Congressional Black Caucus, in all of its constructs, would be wise not to let its guard down for a minute.”
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/sayitloud/mathis402
Black Agenda Report Editorial – journal of African American political thought
Why would the Congressional Black Caucus co-sponsor presidential debates with Fox News? How much does it really cost to rent the CBC Institute?... The CBC-Fox News scandal clearly illuminates the bankruptcy of corporate funded black leadership. The CBC Institute and the CBC Foundation are "not for profit" money pockets created to receive corporate contributions.
Black Blog Afro-Netizen.com
Why is the Congress Black Caucus condoning the anti-Black and, specifically, anti-Obama onslaught waged by the Fox New Channel, and remaining silent on the CBC Institute's recent announcement to collaborate with Fox to air two presidential debates?
http://www.afro-netizen.com/2007/04/fox_attacks_oba.html
Former Clinton White House official, and Black blogger, Keith Boykin
“Anyone who has been watching the news the past few years
should know that Fox News is nothing but a right-wing platform for conservative
Republicans. So if that's the case, why were the Democrats even thinking about
holding a debate on Fox News in
http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/2007/03/22/fox_news_loves#more
Black Blog - SuperSpade
"I don’t think the explicit bias of Fox News is in line with the mission of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, which if you are wondering, “is to provide political education and training to the next generation of African American leadership"...the prejudices and biases should outrage Black people regardless of their political persuasions. And for that reason, I will make my voice heard to let the Congressional Black Caucus Institute to cancel their agreement with Fox News...Please help us Lord."
http://www.thesuperspade.com/fox-news-sets-debates-with-congressional-black-caucus-institute/
Black Blog – Jack and Jill Politics
Why on earth would the Congressional Black Caucus choose to align itself with a network that has proven itself to be racist as a course of normal business operations? As part of their branding strategy? If the Ku Klux Klan or Council of Conservative Citizens had a cable news network, would it be appropriate to collaborate with them on hosting presidential debates, particularly when one of the candidates is black, a CBC member and a consistent target of the network's hatred and misinformation? Like Jesse says, why let the Fox guard the henhouse?
http://jackandjillpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/03/update-on-cbc-fox-debates.html
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More Key Links:
ColorOfChange.org petition and Fox Attacks: Black America video:
Fox Attacks: Black
"Edwards steps aside & Tavis steps up," Afro-Netizen.com, April 6, 2007
http://www.afro-netizen.com/2007/04/edwards_steps_a.html
“Black Activists Praise DNC For Rejecting FOX From Officially Sanctioned Debates,” ColorOfChange.org, April 5, 2007
http://colorofchange.org/cbci/dncrejectsFOX.html
NYT: Fox Sets 2 Debates With
Congressional Black Caucus
Black media/editorials against CBC/Fox debate:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/4/2/14922/11130