Obama rolls out Civil Rights Platform

[illinoisprogressive]

Jessica Pupovac - AHN Writer

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) outlined his civil rights platform Friday, saying that if elected president, he would target racial disparities in the U.S. justice system through a host of measures, including relaxing drug sentencing laws.

The presidential hopeful said he would review mandatory minimums and push to give first-time, nonviolent drug offenders a chance to serve their sentence in drug rehabilitation programs, rather than prison.

"We have a system that locks away too many young, first-time, non-violent offenders for the better part of their lives - a decision that's made not by a judge in a courtroom, but all to often by politicians in Washington and state capitals around the country," Obama said.

The speech came just one week after the contemporary civil rights movement was revitalized by an outpouring of support for six black teens in Jena, Louisiana. The teens were charged with attempted murder for what Obama called a "schoolyard fight" after a wave of racially-charged attacks and insults were launched at the town's black population. "Like Katrina did with poverty, Jena exposed glaring inequities in our justice system," Obama said.

Obama said other aspects of his civil rights plan would include ridding the Department of Justice of "political cronies," creating a voting rights division within the DOJ to track and prosecute voter fraud and intimidation, providing law school loan compensations to entice highly-qualified public defenders and closing the sentencing disparity between crack-cocaine and powder cocaine.

"It's not enough just to look back in wonder of how far we've come," the Illinois Senator said to the crowd, " I want us to look ahead with a fierce urgency of how far we have left to go."

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008667878

[Colobo]

1. Gobama!

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

2. This guy knows nothing about the civil right movement other than

what he's read in books.

What the hell is he talking about?

[emilyg]

3. I agree with you.

[Colobo]

6. So you think Obama knows nothing about civil rights?

Gosh, emily...

[jefferson_dem]

20. Go ahead and say it. He's not "black enough"...

for you to find other reasons to not like him.

[emilyg]

21. What????

[Colobo]

5. Just a couple of things

1) Americans born after 1960 were either too young or were not alive to see the Civil Rights struggle. Still, all of us have been affected positively by it. For instance, it's our responsibility to keep the legacy of those that came before us alive.

2) Obama is a civil rights attorney and has worked in inner cities. He knows a thing or two about the subject. He's also African-American, you know. He knows a thing or two about what it means to be black in this country.

3) Civil Rights go beyond the racial and gender struggles in the sixites, which still continue today although in different ways. Gays, immigrants, the poor- there is a lot to be done yet.

4) Your comments shows more dislike for Obama than anything- they don't have a logical base to stand on.

[ncabot22]

7. Well said!

:yourock:

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

10. I'm talking about his background in his formative years.

Raised by a white mother and grandmother.

His father was African,not African American,and not in the picture.

He had no parents or grandparents that suffered under the miseries of segregation.

He attended a rich kids' private school.

He lived in a state where Asians run many things,not whites.

[ncabot22]

11. Wow

So, because his father walked out on his mother and his mother remarried an Indonesian, he doesn't fit into your idea of how or what a black person should experience.

Do you think Kenyans had it easy under British rule? Do you think his father didn't know a thing or two about discrimination? Do you think Obama doesn't know about being judged as a black man in America? As a matter of fact, what makes you think Obama had it easy in Indonesia during his early childhood years? A biracial child living in a predominately Asian country wasn't exactly a cakewalk, I'm sure.

Finally, do you have a problem with Asians running things? You seem to think Asians can't discriminate. Ask a Korean how his or her family were treated by the Japanese.

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

14. My daughter in law is Asian and her father was a Japanese

teenager in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked so he,and his family,know quite a bit about discrimination.

I wil vote for Obama if he gets the nomination (he's brilliant) but his "street cred" regarding Civil rights escapes me so I hate to see him use it as an election cornerstone.

[ellacott]

23. Simply amazing

The logic in this place makes my head spin.

According to your logic there is no one in the race on either that's qualified to address civil rights. Regardless of his upbringing the world looks at him as a black man. I sure people have responding to him as a black man before he even gets a chance to tell them of his background. Even with this knowledge it makes no difference to many white people. When they see him they see a black man.

He understands how people will discriminate against you based solely on your skin color. This gives him a perspective that no other candidate on either side can claim.

His work as a civil rights attorney and community organizer also gives him more depth and understanding on this subject.

Unbelievable.......

[ariesgem]

29. Why would you think Obama did not suffer discrimination in his life?

He is a black man living in America. And PLEASE don't start breaking down his racial make-up to me because in this country there's what is called "a one-drop" rule. If he wasn't a nationally known figure you and the rest of this country would see him as a black man.

If he were not a famous man and dressed down to jeans, cap & sneakers BELIEVE ME he would receive the following treatment: police harassment, job discrimination, being followed around in stores, women clutching their purses, car locks clickin' etc..... HELL, let me revise that to include this happening to black men in suits.

You cannot tell me, a black woman, that Obama does not know about or has not suffered incidents of discrimination in this country.

[Colobo]

12. Here we go...

-Yes, raised by his white mother and grandmother. Still, dude's black by American standards.

-Do you know how many African-Americans are from direct African, Caribbean or Latin American descent?

-I'm a young black man from Puerto Rico. Have been here in the states for 6 years. My family didn't experience Jim Crow but I have been stopped by the police for no reason at all quite a few times already and have been called "nigger" by some rednecks here in Tampa more than once, apart of other personal stories that I prefer not to share.

Obama is a black man in America and he is 46 years old, so I can assume he has experienced a bit more than I have.

-I also attended a upper middle class private school in Puerto Rico. Still, I got discriminated for being black down there and it didn't change the fact that my skin is black once I got over here. I don't see how that makes Obama more or less black than anyone.

-I've lived in a mostly-white community here in Tampa since I moved. Wow, that makes me less black than your average African-American, I guess.

America is a multicultural nation, and Obama has been exposed to many cultures throughout his life. That doesn't make him less capable of talking about civil rights than any other person.

[killbotfactory]

13. Yeah, mention his formative years

Focus on, and criticize him for, the years where he had no direct control over the course of his life.

Ignore his time spent right out of college as a community organizer for poor neighborhoods. Ignore his experience as a civil rights attorney.

[Odin2005]

15. Warning, Warning, BS Identity Politics alert.

Obama-bashers that bash him because he's not a "real" black make me wanna :puke:

[WCGreen]

22. There are a lot of well meaning people who work in the inner city...

But leave it all behind when the sun goes down...

Not saying that Obama does...

[Grandrose]

8. And you know this because?

Maybe you would know if you...do the research, oh...that's right, you do not really care!
Bet you just posted this nonsense because you do not like him, so sad for you!:eyes:

[Colobo]

9. Who cares about the truth when you just want to smear someone?

[geek tragedy]

26. Because they hate Obama

so they don't have to use facts.

[Connie_Corleone]

16. I guess being a civil rights attorney and a community activist mean nothing to you.

This is the kind of crap that pisses me off. I was born in 1971. I guess I don't know anything about the civil rights movement because I read about them in books and watched documentaries about it.

All this "street cred" nonsense is just that. Nonsense.

Maybe you shouldn't talk about the Civil War or slavery since you only read about it in books or watched documentaries about it.

At least he has a civil rights plan.

[ariesgem]

28. So the only way to know about the civil righs movement is

have lived during those times? Seems to me if you were too young to have lived through the experience you would learn about those times through books.

What the hell are YOU talking about?

[illinoisprogressive]

4. Right. He's never had to deal with being Black. sure, right.

[FlaxieB]

17. Obama understands Civil Rights: He's a black man in America. White america needs to understand that.

As much as you want to make him "white" he's not.

[emilyg]

19. I don't want to make him white. My civil rights hereos were in the 60's.

[goodgd_yall]

18. These are good ideas n/t

[Colobo]

24. Viva Obama.

[hedgehog]

25. Obama Adds Reducing Mandatory Drug Sentences To Presidential Platform

That's the headline on the link and I think it's just as impressive.


BTW - I decided to support Obama last summer when I decided civil rights is THE issue for me. I have two mixed race nieces, so this time, it's personal!

[Milo_Bloom]

27. I wish he would tackle the problem more directly...

"Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) outlined his civil rights platform Friday, saying that if elected president, he would target racial disparities in the U.S. justice system through a host of measures, including relaxing drug sentencing laws."

This suggests that he believes that drug use is more prevelant among minority communities (I fact I believe is true, but am not sure).

Shouldn't part of his platform then be to address that part of the problem more directly. What is the reason these people are turning to drugs more than other communities and what can be done to stop it?

I would like to see him address that part of the problem more directly.