Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, who won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2004, is one of my favorites. He hit another one out of the ballpark with his article Shame, shame on Detroit’s mayor, which was reprinted in today’s Virginian Pilot.
It has become standard for high-profile brothers in trouble (think R. Kelly, Marion Barry, Mike Tyson) to wrap themselves ā or be wrapped ā in the flag of racial victimization. The claim that someone has been mistreated on account of race resonates powerfully for black people in a nation where the Jena 6, Genarlow Wilson, Marcus Dixon, Hurricane Katrina and other abominations are both recent memory and ever-present fear. Black folks tend to close ranks first and ask questions later when one of our own is in trouble, because we know the unfairness this country is capable of.
I honor my people for that.
But Iām sick of seeing our generosity cynically abused, our genuine fears manipulated, by brothers who have flat-out misbehaved. How often have we wasted political capital making racial martyrs out of guys like you?
This is why I like Pitts: he tells it like it is. Keep on preaching it, brother.
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You’ve probably also noticed a relatively new addition to the RSS feeds in my sidebar. Black Agenda Report or BAR, as I call it, is another source of keeping it real. Somebody has to do it and I’m glad Glen Ford has taken on this task.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
I should like to meet you sometime. You praise BAR which I like also, yet you support Hillary? Not that BAR is all that enamored with Obama but still…you get my point. Nonetheless you are an interesting person. I will introduce myself to you next time I see you
You are right: he hit it beyond the park. Too often do we blacks accept and defend the terrible behaviors of other high profile blacks; we give them a pass. Too me, it is worse when our officials and leaders stomp on our trust. They should not have to, but they represent us. When they look bad, it makes it that much more difficult for others who look like them to achieve what they have.
NGC- it’s not incompatible to support HRC and like BAR. š Yes, we should meet.
“We have no permanent friends,no permanent enemies. We have permanent interests1 It is not in our interest to accomodate any high profile person whoisn’t representing our interests!”
You know, Lamont, I used to really appreciate that quote. I wonder, though, if the interests don’t changed, on some level. I suppose, at the most abstract level, self-interest remains unchanging. But if you get a little more granular than that, some interests have changed, no?