FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: Contact: Trevor FitzGibbon,
Alex Howe
Thursday, April 5,
2007
Fenton
Communications, 202.822.5200
Black Activists Call on DNC Not to Sanction FOX/
Congressional Black Caucus Institute Debate
ColorOfChange.org, Jesse Jackson, Black media, Black bloggers condemn FOX’s
marginalization of Black leaders and the Black community
ColorofChange.org Urges DNC to sanction CNN/CBC
Institute debate instead
In response to the DNC’s
announcement today that they will be sanctioning six Democratic presidential
debates (DNC release below), ColorOfChange.org today called on the DNC not to
endorse the proposed FOX/Congressional Black Caucus Institute debate – and
instead to endorse the CNN/CBC Institute debate.
ColorOfChange.org – a 75,000 member online citizen lobby for
Black Americans – has been joined in recent days by Rev. Jesse Jackson, Black
media outlets, Black bloggers, and others in
condemning Fox’s consistent marginalization of Black leaders and the Black
community.
“The DNC would be alienating an overwhelming majority of
Black voters if they decided to legitimize a 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,’” said
Fox’s smears against the Black community are compiled in Outfoxed
director Robert Greenwald’s new YouTube video
called Fox Attacks: Black America – which is located at www.FoxAttacks.com
and has been viewed by over 250,000
people in three weeks.
Here are what others in the Black
community are saying about the CBC Institute’s partnership with FOX.
Rev. Jesse Jackson:
“I am disappointed by the Congressional Black Caucus
Institute's partnership with FOX, and strongly encourage them to reverse that
decision. Why would presidential candidates, or an organization that is
supposed to advocate for Black Americans, ever give a stamp of legitimacy to a
network that continually marginalizes Black leaders and the Black community?
FOX moderating a presidential debate on issues of importance to Black Americans
is literally letting the Fox guard the henhouse – FOX should be rejected.”
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/30/jackson-slams-fox-cbc-debate-deal/
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.”
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.
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://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/sayitloud/mathis402
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
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
“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://www.afro-netizen.com/2007/03/jesse_jackson_f.html
##
More Key Links:
ColorOfChange.org petition and Fox Attacks: Black America
video:
Fox Attacks: Black
http://tinyurl.com/2r3ze4
Black media/editorials against CBC/Fox debate:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/4/2/14922/11130
DNC RELEASE:
For Immediate Release
April 5, 2007
Contact: Stacie Paxton, 202-863-8148
DNC Will Sanction Six Debates
Washington, DC – The Democratic National Committee announced
today that it will sanction six Democratic debates, one per month, starting in
July 2007. Additional details regarding cities, dates, logistics, etc. will be
released at a later date.
“Debates provide an important opportunity for voters to hear
directly from our outstanding Democratic candidates about their vision for
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