Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party 2008

[H2O Man]

The potential for a brokered democratic convention, in which the decision to select the party’s nominee could be made despite the will of the voters, reminds me of the historic experience of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in 1964.

In 1964, the democratic party in the state of Mississippi was run by some politicians who had been in office for a long, long time, and who were not used to having anyone question their authority. They were used to ruling the party with an iron fist. They were ruthless in crushing any potential opposition. One of the groups that they despised were the black people who, if they were given full access to the citizenship, could question their power.

The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was attempting to seat delegates at the 1964 democratic convention. Rather than cover the events in great detail, I will suggest that those who are interested read some of the history books that cover that time. Two that are good are: (1) At Canaan’s Edge: America In the King Years 1965-68; Taylor Branch; Simon & Schuster; 2006; and (2) Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and his times 1961-1973; Robert Dallek; Oxford University Press; 1998.

At the time, the national democratic party was also run by an iron fist, named President Johnson. LBJ was worried about anything that could make his convention look bad. LBJ was concerned about two things in particular: Robert Kennedy, and the MFDP.

Being somewhat of a control freak, LBJ sent Hubert Humphrey to try to control the MFDP. However, the people in the MFDP. They knew that they had the right to challenge the delegate seating proposals of the racist state forces, and they were not going to submit to Humphrey, no matter what he promised for the future.

The MFDP was made up of an early Rainbow Coalition. There were older white progressives, grass roots activists, civil rights advocates, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. They had the support of national leaders from Martin Luther King, Jr., to Malcolm X.

The democratic party struggled with finding a way to resolve that tense stand-off. It is interesting to note that in the next two years, the MFDP was widely recognized as one of the powerful forces that made the democratic party pass historic civil rights legislation.

One more thing: When Martin was struggling in Selma the following year, Malcolm would twice go to the south to make speeches. Those two, made in his last year of life, are among the most important, and of great interest to those people who are interested in building a progressive wing in the democratic party.

The SNCC had invited him to speak to young demonstrators. It was at a time when Martin was in jail. A few of Martin’s people were afraid of Malcolm’s potential influence on those college students, and so they asked Andrew Young to speak to him. Rev Young told Malcolm that he should not "incite" the students; Malcolm responded, "Remember this: nobody puts words in my mouth."

Young and James Bevel spoke to Mrs. King, who then spoke to Malcolm. Now Mrs. King was very progressive, and she found Malcolm’s message reassuring.

The other public event in the south featured Malcolm debating a college student who had been active in the sit-ins. Some of the adults, including James Baldwin, who moderated the debate, were concerned that Malcolm would use the same tactics against the young college student as he did against older opponents. But instead, Baldwin noted, Malcolm treated him with the dignity and respect he would a little brother – for this was what mentoring is all about.

Malcolm asked the young man, "If you are an American citizen, why have you got to fight for your rights as a citizen? To be a citizen means that you have the rights of a citizen. If you haven’t got the rights of a citizen, then you’re not a citizen."

"It’s not as simple as that," the student answered.

"Why not?" Malcolm asked him.

If being a member of the democratic party means anything, it should be having the votes in the primary count. It’s as simple as that.

[Me.]

1. It's A Conundrum

If the convention is brokered, what counts? Do we count the number of votes the candidates got or their delegates? I don't like the idea of super delegates one bit. Why should they have a bigger say than us and 'put words in our mouths'? And what about Michigan and Florida? Michigan may be willing to re-do their primary but will the results be disputed by the winner of the first primary> As for Florida...well...they have been a headache for years now and it doesn't seem likely to end. I dislike DLCer Nelson causing such a firestorm and wonder what the real point of his shenanigans has been,

[H2O Man]

2. I heard someone

say it will be decided in what used to be called "a smoke-filled room, behind closed doors." The democratic party should not being going backwards, to a time when a powerful few believed they had the authority to bend the rules as they saw fit, and to deny party members their rights.

[Me.]

4. No To Smoke Filled Rooms

And no to super delegates, which to my mind is another version of a smoke filled room, the party still keeping control firmly on their hands. The supers make up 40% of the vote. If this Congress has taught us anything, it's that they, our so called leaders, cannot be trusted to make decent decisions for us and our country.

[H2O Man]

6. Open government

is essential. Democrats must insist that the candidates place the ethical bar high, and that we have a "one person = one vote" policy. The concept of "super delegates" seems too close to the Animal Farm ideology of all animals are created equal, with some being more equal than others.

[EFerrari]

3. My friend Chris is a fighter here in San Francisco

in the best sense of that word. He has stayed in the party and he has stayed progressive even when it has been extremely unpopular to do that. He has also stayed in office because his constituents in the Tenderloin love him. He fights for their housing and jobs and access to the resources of this city.

The last time I was out campaigning for him, I met his mother who was also out for visibility early on a cold winter morning. I called out to her before I knew who she was because she was holding a sign, "Hi there, you great Daly people!" and she laughed because she really was a Daly person.

Chris calls his work the Fight for San Francisco. And, he's right. There really never is a moment when we can say we've won or we've finished this fight. It's just part of daily life (or Daly life :))

[H2O Man]

7. It is the people

on the local level, who take up the often lonely struggle to advance the values of the progressive and liberal democrats, that make our party great. I thank people like Chris, his mother, and you for the fine work you all do.

[joshcryer]

5. They'll be seated and count. I have no doubt of this.

[H2O Man]

8. "The Price of Overconfidence"

The new TIME (2-18-08) has an article by conservative Ramesh Ponnuru -- the author of such pathetic shit as "The Party of Death: The Democrats" -- who is expressing his concern that the democratic party has moved too far left and are "blow(ing) their opportunity by overreaching."

The democratic party needs to move to the left.

[bulldogge]

9. Yeah

that was Nadars issue wasn't it? That he felt there was no real difference between the candidates?

[H2O Man]

10. I had hoped

that some of my sparring partners would show up here! Hello, out there!

[Tatiana]

11. What Does Mississippi Have to Do With Harlem?

If they don't want to deal with the Freedom Democratic Party, then we'll give them something else to deal with. If they don't want to deal with the Student Nonviolent Committee, then we have to give them an alternative. Never stick someone out there without an alternative. We waste our time. Give them this or give them that. Give them the choice between this or that.

We will never communicate talking one language and he's talking another language. He's talking the language of violence...Let's learn his language. If his language is with a shotgun, get a shotgun. If he only understands the language of a rifle, get a rifle. If he only understands the language of a rope, get a rope. But don't waste time talking the wrong language to a man, if you want to really communicate with him. Speak his language. And there's nothing wrong with that. If something was wrong with that language, the Federal government would have stopped the cracker from speaking it to you and me.

I might say, secondly, some people wonder well, what does Mississippi have to do with Harlem?... America is Mississippi. There's no such thing as a Mason-Dixon line. It's America. There's no such thing as the South. It's America. If one room in your house is dirty, you've got a dirty house. If the closet is dirty, you've got a dirty house. Don't say that that room is dirty but the rest of my house is clean. You're over the whole house. You have authority over the whole house. The entire house is under your jurisdiction. And the mistake that you and I make is letting these northern crackers shift the weight to these southern crackers.

Every senator from a state where our people are deprived of the right to vote, they're in Washington, D.C. illegally.

Out of 36 committees that govern the foreign and domestic direction of this country, 23 are in the hands of southern racists. And the reason they're in the hands of southern racists is because the areas from which they come the black man is deprived of his right to vote. If we had the ballot in that area, those racists would not be in Washington, D.C. There'd be some black faces there. There'd be some brown and some yellow and some red faces there. there'd be some faces other than those cracker faces that are there right now. So what happens in Mississippi and the south has a direct bearing on what happens to you and me here in Harlem.

And likewise, out of the Democratic party, which black people supported -- recently, I think, something like 97 percent -- all of these crackers -- and that's what they are, crackers -- they belong to the Democratic party. That's the party they belong to. Same one you belong to. Same one you support. Same one you say is going to get you this, and get you that.

Why, the base of the Democratic party is in the South. The foundation of its authority is in the South. The head of the Democratic party is sitting in the White House. He could have gotten Mrs. Hamer in Atlantic City. He could have opened up his mouth and had her seated. Hubert Humphrey could have opened his mouth and had her seated. Wagner, the mayor, right here, could have opened up his mouth, and used his weight, and had her seated. Don't be talking about some crackers down in Mississippi, in Alabama, in Georgia. All of them are playing the same game. Lyndon B. Johnson is the head of the cracker party.

These northern crackers are in cahoots with these southern crackers. Only these northern crackers smile in your face, and show you their teeth, then they stick the knife in your back when you turn around.

Wagner is a Democrat. He belongs to the same party as Eastland. Johnson is a Democrat. He belongs to the same party as Eastland. Now, Wagner was in Atlantic City... Lyndon B. Johnson was in Atlantic City. Hubert Humphrey was in Atlantic City. The crackers that you voted for were in Atlantic City. What did they do for you when you wanted to sit down? They were quiet. They were silent. They said don't rock the boat...

(Does anyone remember Selection 2000, when the CBC wanted to challenge? Not one Senator. NOT ONE SENATOR. History repeats itself, folks if we don't learn our lessons.)

<snip>

We have to let the people in Mississippi as well as New York and elsewhere know, that freedom comes to us either by ballot, or by bullet. That's the only way freedom is gotten. Freedom is gotten by ballot, or bullet. These are the only two avenues, the only two roads, the only two methods or means, either ballot or bullet. When you know that, then you are careful how you use the word freedom...

They've always said that I'm anti-white. I'm for anybody who's for freedom. I'm for anybody who's for freedom. I'm for anybody who's for justice. I'm for anybody who's for equality. I'm not for anybody who tells me to sit around and wait for mine. I'm not for anybody who tells me to turn the other cheek when a cracker is busting up my jaw. I'm not for anybody who tells black people to be nonviolent while nobody is telling white people to be nonviolent...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/sources/ps_noi.html

[TacticalPeek]

12. K & R