[img]583|left|||no_popup[/img]From reader D. Monroe:
I have read your letter regarding cancellation of the Smiley & West show, and the treatment by its director, Mr. Malatia.
I am writing a book on U.S. media. For years I have been following developments at Chicago Public Radio. I think the criticism that Tavis Smiley presents is spot-on. I don't agree with all of the premises of S &W, and I do not have a dog in this fight. I am white. However, if one looks at the overall schematics of politics in Chicago and the shaping narrative that crosses the lines of media and political reality, the S & W show has been an enlightening hour. It surely will be missed by people who do not have access to the internet.
Station WBEZ has many skeletons in the closet. Without understanding the context, you will not do yourself a favor by presenting uninformed, reductionist views.
Mr. Monroe:
Uninformed? That's laughable.
Well, sir, I do have a dog in this fight – I am black – and I am not just talking about Chicago. I'm talking about the damage that Tavis Smiley and Cornel West are doing to the black community as a whole, the damage people of their ilk have been doing to the black community for 400 years.
I don't expect you to understand because it is you, my friend, who is grossly uninformed.
My Beef
Tavis Smiley and Cornel West have elevated lying and demagoguery to unprecedented levels in the black community. With their highly innovative “Poverty Tour” scam, Tavis and West are using their “Obama’s-not-black-enough” rhetoric, along with impossible demands, to marginalize the President.
The tactic was designed to anger black people and drive them away from the polls. That, in turn, benefits the GOP, and of course, it delights Tavis and West’s corporate benefactors. Ca-ching.
Although every available indicator, and common sense, suggest that Tavis and West are less than sincere about their deep concern for the poor and middle class, there are people who are so passionate about their various one-issue ideologies that they find it more convenient to embrace a lie than to face the truth.
For such people, the truth is inconvenient. It does not matter how hard Tavis and West are fighting to bolster the position of the GOP, a group whose sole purpose in life is to cut the throats of the poor and middle class. Instead of facing this truth, they’d rather be angry at Obama for refusing to shove their personal religious beliefs down the throat of the rest of America.
Fiction Dressed Up as Fact
Instead of facing the reality that corporate fascists are poised to change the character of America as we have known it, these people would rather embrace smoke and mirrors, promoting arguments that distort reality to conform to their ideology. The American people have been conditioned to give ideology priority over truth.
What do you say to a man who says, “President Obama is un-American because he is engaged in a socialist plot to make sure my family has healthcare?” What do you say to people who contend Obama is an arrogant elitist. “How dare he try to send my kids to college?” Then there are the people who say, “Sure, Obama stopped the country from hemorrhaging 800,000 jobs a month under George W. Bush, got Osama Bin Laden, and in the process created more jobs in 27 months than Bush did in seven years. That is not good enough. We need to go back to the old way.”
Nothing is left to say. They are immune to logic. The only thing left is to write a book of fiction to give them a sneak peek at the kind of world they’re asking for. Maybe it would help to have it animated, and star Yogi Bear unable to find anyone who could afford a picnic basket. B
A Wink Here, a Nod There
I have decided to give logic one more shot. A blind man could see Tavis and West are pimping the black community. They are placing their agenda before what is in the best interests of the people. They are making money, and pursuing a four-year l vendetta.
I am not saying they are being paid directly in response to an agreed-upon quid pro quo. Rather, they are benefiting from a wink and a nod in corporate sponsorships (which helps to keep them propped up as high-profile players).
They could also be paid through the manipulation of endowments that fund West’s $30,000 speaking fees, the corporate purchase of their books in mass numbers, and media appearances. There are many ways for the corporate establishment to reward good-boy behavior other than passing bags filled with cash in dark alleys.
In his article, “My Republican Party has Abandoned Me,” black Republican activist Raynard Jackson, says:
“For many years, I have approached the party and its supporters about underwriting programs to bring together blacks who are Republican or lean Republican so we can weave them into every facet of the party structure. The answer is always no. Twice this year some of these same people have approached me about funding for election year tricks that (white Republicans) have conjured up but need a black face to execute the plan.
“These funders were willing to spend upwards of $20 million to have me organize a national campaign to identify blacks who would be critical of President Obama.”
Guess Who Became Richer
Do you believe that in this contentious election, where the Republican Party had unlimited funds and were willing to do anything to win, that some of that money was not finding its way into the pocket of two of the most money-hungry, highest –profile black Obama bashers in the country? Unlikely – especially since one of those bashers, Smiley, is closely associated with Walmart and several other charter members of the American Legislative Exchange Council/ALEC.
If you believe they are not benefiting from that GOP dirty tricks fund, you are naive. Their rationale does not make sense. Tavis and West claimed they would vote for Obama, but they only wanted to stimulate discussion.
If true, couldn’t they have waited until after the election, until after we have made sure that we have protected the interests of poor and middle-class America and the black community from corporate fascists, and then have this “intelligent and passionate” discussion? .
Tavis and West would argue that once re-elected, President Obama wouldn’t have an incentive to listen. That was not true. Every President is concerned about his legacy. As the first black President, it is more true of Obama than most.
President Obama has two daughters who will have to live with his legacy for the rest of their lives. His actions in office will determine whether they live as American princesses or pariahs.
The highly intellectual Cornel West recognizes that fact, doesn’t he? Surely Tavis and West supporters say I am unfair.
I am following West’s own prescription on how to determine who to trust. When Obama failed to come on Smiley’s “State of Black America” show in 2008, the day that he threw his hat in the ring –West jumped up and down wanting to know, “Where are you getting your money?” He said Obama was involved with people “who warrant our distrust.” Tavis and West always talk about accountability. Let us hold them to the same standard. Do the people they are associated with warrant our trust? Where are they getting the money to finance their so-called Poverty Tours?
Here is an irony. In the link below, notice the logos in the background while West is preaching his sermon on trust – Wells Fargo and Exxon/Mobile, both members of ALEC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXj3_pjTTwg&feature=player_embedded .
Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet and musician, born in Los Angeles. A columnist for the Los Angeles Sentinel, the Black Star News, a staff writer for Veterans Today, he is a contributing writer to Your Black World, the Huffington Post, ePluribus Media and other online sites and publications. He also is the author of “A Message From the Hood.”
Mr. Wattree may be contacted at wattree.blogspot.com or Ewattree@Gmail.com
