Colored ‘human rights’ organizations chased Beck’s bait

[Brother Tony]

On the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s "I Have a Dream" speech, the major civil rights groups – or should we now say "human rights" groups – coalesced together not to celebrate the anniversary, but to protest a White cable television icon’s celebration of the event.

It’s like there is no agenda any longer for our human rights groups from an African-American perspective.  They are now fighting for immigrants, gays and lesbians – and ex-offenders, regardless of their color.

Defending Obama

Why are they upset with Glenn Beck?  I believe it is because of his criticism of President Obama. Though the Obama administration can fend for itself, these groups feel it is their duty to defend the honor and reputation of this publicly elected official.

It’s Democrats versus Republicans, even though these groups are 501(c)3 organizations that are supposed to be nonpartisan. They are partisan to a fault.  In essence, former civil rights groups are now human rights groups influenced by the labor movement (unions), and hopelessly directed by the Democratic Party. They represent the "Democrat machine," not the people.

Focusing on Black history

Beck first started his television career on liberal CNN, then transitioned to conservative Fox News and "blew up" with his tirades and accusations against the liberal camps.  He became the pride of the conservative movement; many credit him with the start of the Tea Party movement.

He has lately been applauding Black history and many of its little-known heroes.  From my Black viewpoint, Beck has been "on the one" in discussing the contributions of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and many others.

So why are these human rights/Democratic groups bashing him?  Could it be the money they receive from the Democratic National Committee?  Reportedly, the Department of Education is giving one organizer $1.5 million to talk about education with Secretary Arne Duncan, who attended the protest rally led by Rev. Al Sharpton.

On the show

I went on Beck’s show last December.  We talked about the racist innuendos of California Sen. Barbara Boxer and the discrimination by construction unions in employment and contracting.

The professionalism of his staff was very impressive. Staffers were quite diverse with Blacks interacting at the management level.   Beck knows what he is doing, and his ratings are the second highest in cable television.

Caught napping

The Lincoln Memorial event was not a coincidence.  Beck’s Black history campaign falls right in line with this event.  He made it clear that "one man can change the world" over and over again throughout the ceremony.

As a student of Dr. King and a direct benefactor of his work, I am impressed and appreciative of what Glenn Beck is doing.  ?

The human rights groups’ reaction was knee-jerk and they were caught sleeping.  They had no plans to honor the anniversary.  It was reactionary and on demand from the Democratic National Committee.  They were running and ranting with no distinct purpose.  Mr. Beck with his 500,000-plus followers had an agenda and mission.  They accomplished it. ?

Glenn Beck is now touting that his movement is going back to the roots of conservatism.  "We were the first ones to shout freedom for everyone and we are reclaiming that."  He flipped the script and the traditional "colored" groups took the bait.

Harry Alford is the co-founder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org.

[y04185]

interesting comments.  very truthful and to the point.  al had no plans to do anything on 28 august.  when a caller told him about glenn beck al had not choice to but to collect a check and have a get together.

[Black Panther40]

This is a good article, particularly interesting about the "knee jerk" reaction.  I think reasonable minds would agree.

[EB]

Alexander Zaitchik on "Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance"
Common-nonesense

Glenn Beck organized a much-publicized "Restoring Honor" rally on Saturday in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Beck’s fans reportedly number in the millions, and Saturday’s rally drew nearly 100,000 supporters. We speak with Alexander Zaitchik, author of Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance.

.....

ALEXANDER ZAITCHIK: It’s an incredibly unlikely story that this guy would end up addressing this many people at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial. Just ten years ago, he was still a struggling Top 40 DJ. Basically a failure. Had bottomed out after about twenty years as a Morning Zoo  Top 40 guy traveling the country, getting fired from markets pretty quickly for making a lot of enemies and being famous for his mean streak, which is still in abundant evidence. He was really kind of a divisive figure even then, when he was in this clownish, infantile world of Top 40 radio.

And he got a talk show largely through being at the right place at the right time. He was working for Clear Channel when it was still a small company. And then, when it began to take advantage of deregulation, he used his connections to land a job in Tampa, where he was about to get fired, until the recount drama of 2000 put a lot of focus on Florida, where he was working. So he was able to parlay that into ratings, and then he was syndicated. And then 9/11 happened, and he sort of turned overnight into this hard-charging, fire-breathing superpatriot that we know today.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And some of the—you mentioned his propensity to get in trouble for what he says. Some of the statements that you’ve been chronicling over the years now of his?

ALEXANDER ZAITCHIK: Right. Well, his more recent controversies are pretty well known. But even going back to the '80s and ’90s, he was known for a racist, sexist shtick. He famously, or infamously, called up the wife of a competing DJ in Phoenix in the mid-'80s and mocked her for having a miscarriage live on the air. He made fun of a guy named Malik Jones in New Haven, who was an unarmed black man shot by a white police officer, and it was quite a big police brutality case at the time. He went on air that week making fun of Jones, talking about how he used to smoke crack with his grandmother. Stuff like this. So, you know, this Glenn Beck that is so divisive today has been there the whole time. And the idea that he had this, you know, transformative experience when he became a Mormon and became a good guy and is this sort of moral beacon is just ludicrous.

.....

[y04185]

that guy needs to learn how to count.  there were 4-500,000 people there.

[Ken]

Reported numbers at Glenn Beck rally:


NBC News: 300,000
Sky News: 500,000
DC Official: 300,000-325,000
Glenn Beck: 300,000-500,000
ABC News: 100,00+
CBS NEWS: 87,000

It is hard to get an actual count in any March near the Lincoln Memorial, because you have so many tourists intermixed with the marchers and it is hard to separate the tourists from the marchers--That is why the national park service stop doing counts of marches in DC.