Saturday, June 7, 2008

Is the DNC "Jim Crowing" State Blog Corps

Does the Democratic National Convention have a

Policy? for it's State blogger selection?

Blogger Francis L. Holland and other black bloggers seem to think so.

Jim Crow DNC State Blog Corps

Still Segregated by Skin Color

DNC Must add 15 Black blogs and 15 Latino blogs
to its Virtually All-White "Jim Crow" State Blog Corps.

Barack Obama has won the nomination and is sending some key lieutenants, including Paul Tewes, to take over the reigns of the Democratic National Committee. "Obama is installing one of his top strategists, Paul Tewes, to help expand the DNC staff and oversee party operations," says USAToday. Tewes was very successful as Obama's campaign coordinator in Iowa and he previously consulted for the successfully US Senate campaigns of Maria Cantwell (WA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI).

http://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-06-05-2626569413_x.htm

One of Mr. Tewes first challenges will be disbanding or restructuring a state blog corps accused of skin-color based discrimination. 53 of 55 state blogs chosen to cover the Democratic National Convention are white, and one afrosphere blogger, Francis L. Holland, Esq. of the Afrosphere Action Coalition, contends that Black and Latinos blogs are also needed to reach out to diverse Party constituencies.

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/state-bloggers-selected-democratic-convention


"In addition to a 50-state strategy, we need a multiple constituency strategy.
The all-white state blog corps fails that test," said Mr. Holland.

Tewes will have at least one very embarrassing fire to put out at the DNC: the virtually all-white state blog corps that the Democratic National Convention Committee has selected to cover the floor of the Convention. Afrosphere bloggers including Francis L. Holland have criticized what Holland calls a "Jim Crow" state blog corps, because the DNCC has refused to integrate its state blog corps even after the story of its segregation was covered in six national newspapers, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune.

The DNCC added six AfroSpear blogs and three additional afrosphere blogs to "general pool" of the 124 blogs covering the Convention, which means that Black blogs will be 7.2% of the blogs present. D. Yobachi Boswell of the BlackPerspective.Net blog, and coordinator of the Afrosphere Action Coalition, says he applied for the state blog pool but was rejected both for the state blog pool and the general pool. As a result, the state of Tennessee, which often has over 25% Blacks among its Democratic primary voters, will not have a single Black blogger at the Democratic National Convention. "That's an outrageous 50-state embarrassment," says Francis L. Holland, Esq.

To fully grasp the absurdity of this "outreach" effort, you have to consider all of the states with significant Black populations that will be entirely left out of the 7.2% Black blog corps: Alabama, which is 29.2% Black will have not a single Black blogger at the Convention. The District of Columbia which is 60% Black will be left out. Louisiana which is 32.4% Black will be left out. Illinois, the presidential nominee's home state, which is 15% Black, will be left out. Florida is 14% Black and 700 extra votes from Florida would have given the Democrats the White House in 2000, but Florida will have no Black blogger at the Convention.

Delaware is 20% Black, but will be left out of blogger coverage. Arkansas is 15.5% Black, but is left out. Connectict is 9% Black, but is left out. Tennessee is 16.1% Black, Virginia is 19.1% Black, and South Carolina is 28.9% Black, Ohio is 11.4% Black and a battleground state, while New Jersey is 13.3% Black. Black participation in Democratic primaries is actually much greater in these states, because Black vote for Democrats 90% of the time.

Table: States in Red Have Substantial Black Populations, but No Black Blog Credentialed for the Democratic National Convention

State
and
Its Percentage of the
State's Population*

(*States with no Black blog credentialed for the Democratic National Convention are highlighted in Red.)
State
Population
Blacks Percentage
Alabama
4,486,508
*1,308,232
29.2 %
Alaska
643,786
21,787
3.4 %
Arizona
5,456,453
158,873
3.0 %
Arkansas
2,710,079
418,950
15.5 %
California
35,116,033
*2,337,935
6.7 %
Colorado
4,506,542
165,063
3.7 %
Connecticut
3,460,503
309,843
9.0 %
Delaware
807,385
160,866
20.0 %
District of Columbia
570,898
343,213
60.1 %
Florida
16,713,149
2,335,505
14.0 %
Georgia (Georgia Unfiltered afrosphere blog)
8,560,310
2,349,542
27.5 %
Hawaii
1,244,898
22,003
1.8 %
Idaho
1,341,131
5,456
0.4 %
Illinois
12,600,620
1,876,875
15.0 %
Indiana
6,159,068
510,034
8.3 %
Iowa
2,936,760
61,853
2.1 %
Kansas
2,715,884
154,198
5.7 %
Kentucky
4,092,891
295,994
7.2 %
Louisiana
4,482,646
1,451,944
32.4 %
Maine
1,294,464
6,760
0.5 %
Maryland (African American Political Pundit AfroSpear Blog)
5,458,137
1,477,412
27.1 %
Massachusetts
6,427,801
343,454
5.3 %
Michigan
10,050,446
1,412,742
14.1 %
Minnesota
5,019,720
171,731
3.4 %
Mississippi
2,871,782
1,033,809
36.0 %
Missouri
5,672,579
629,391
11.1 %
Montana
909,453
2,692
0.3 %
Nebraska
1,729,180
68,541
4.0 %
Nevada
2,173,491
135,477
6.2 %
New Hampshire
1,275,056
9,035
0.7 %
New Jersey
8,590,300
1,141,821
13.3 %
New Mexico
1,855,059
34,343
1.9 %
New York (Culture Kitchen afrosphere blog)
19,157,532
3,014,385
15.7 %
North Carolina (Pam's House Blend AfroSpear blog)
8,320,146
1,737,545
20.0 %
North Dakota
634,110
3,916
0.6 %
Ohio
11,421,267
1,301,307
11.4 %
Oklahoma
3,493,714
260,968
7.5 %
Oregon
3,521,515
55,662
1.6 %
Pennsylvania
12,335,091
1,224,612
9.9 %
Rhode Island
1,069,725
46,908
4.4 %
South Carolina
4,107,183
1,185,216
28.9 %
South Dakota
761,063
4,685
0.6 %
Tennessee
5,797,289
932,809
16.1 %
Texas (Dallas South and What About Our Daughters AfroSpear blogs.)
21,779,893
2,404,566
11.0 %
Utah
2,316,256
17,657
0.8 %
Vermont
616,592
3,063
0.5 %
Virginia
7,293,542
1,390,293
19.1 %
Washington
6,068,996
190,267
3.1 %
West Virginia
1,801,873
57,232
3.2 %
Wisconsin
5,441,196
304,460
5.6 %
Wyoming
498,703
3,722
0.8 %

http://www.ipoaa.com/us_black_population.htm

All in all, 45 US states, including battleground states like Florida, Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania will have not a single Black blogger at the Convention, But virtually every single will have a blogger for its white constituency, not matter how small the state or how unlikely the state is to vote Democratic in November. This is not outreach; this is a color-aroused plan for electoral failure.

DNC Acknowledges that Blogger Pools are Separate by Skin Color and Unequal

http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2008/05/dnc-acknowledges-that-blogger-pools-are.html

And what difference does it make that the nine Black blogs (7.2%) are part of the general pool rather than state blog corps? One need only imagine for a moment the scene on the floor, based on the rules developed by the DNCC: White bloggers sit like professional stock brokers on the floor of the stock exchange with dedicated seats and desks among the elected delegates, and with computers and broadband connections to facilitate their work, staying on the floor for as long as they like and inviting as many other white bloggers to the floor as it takes to have an all-white party.

Meanwhile, Black bloggers have to wait in lines at a special ticket booth to get on the floor, and are only authorized to stay on the floor for a maximum of 30-45 minutes, spending as much time in line waiting for these tickets as they are able to spend reporting on the Convention. When Black bloggers finally get to the floor, they will have to balance their laptop computers on one arm while typing with the other, because there will be no desks, seats, computers or broadband available on the floor for their use.

"Black elected state delegates and bloggers are not blind or stupid," said Mr. Holland, "and they will see this for what it is: the skin-color based institutionalization of a new blog apartheid within the Democratic Party, setting a precedent for all future Democratic national and state conventions."

But there was completely obvious reason why BlackPerspective.Net could not be part of the state blog corps. The state blog corps was always intended as an elite all-white corps and adding BlackPerspective.Net would have had the revolutionary effect of integrating an elite corps that was designed to be all-white when the selection of ONE blog per state was made based on the size of the blogs audiences. Adding an additional Black blogger would be like . . . allowing Blacks to eat at white restaurants or use white bathooms and train cars!

Obama's new team will have to move fast to prevent photographs of an all-white state blog corps from embarrassing the candidate just as he's starting the fall campaign. Photographs of an all-white state blog corps with special privileges based on color will detract from the candidates' message of inclusion, infuriate Black and Latino voters and depress voter turnout in November for all Democratic Party candidates.

The following news stories address the Jim Crow state blogging corps of the Democratic National Convention Committee:

June 2, 2008

June 1, 2008


Washington Post: Democrats' Convention Pool: Is It All Wet?

Bloggers Say DNC List Lacks Racial Diversity

May 23, 2008

May 22, 2008

Atlanta Journal Constitution" Bloggers of the ‘afrosphere’ think they’ve been shut out of the Democratic National Convention."

May 20, 2008

Dallas Morning News:

Racial make-up of Democratic convention bloggers criticized"

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/052108dnpolpoliticalblogs.123168d2.html
The Washington Post says that Howard Dean has been pursuing a 50-state strategy, but it seems that he's pursuing only the white voters of the 50 states while ignoring, insulting and infuriating the Black ones, as Hillary Clinton did in her losing campaign. What other conclusion can you draw from a 50-state virtually all-white state blog corps?
The party chairman, Howard Dean, has been pursuing a "50-state" strategy since 2005, an effort many Democrats have criticized because it has been an enormous drain on the party's resources. The DNC has trailed its Republican counterpart badly this election cycle and had just $4.4 million in the bank at the end of April, compared with the Republican National Committee's $40.6 million.
"In addition to righting the financial ship of the DNC, Paul Tewes and his team will need to end its color-aroused strategy of creating a class of super-privileged white "state blogs" while disregarding Black blogs and a constituency that votes for Democrats 90% of the time," says Francis L. Holland.

"Ignoring, insulting and marginalizing Black and Latino blogs from most of the 50 states is not strategy for winning the Electoral Votes from 50-states. It's a 'segregation forever' strategy, that considers an all-white state blog corps more important than the Electoral College and the success of other Democrats on the ballot in November," says Holland.

The Afrosphere Action Coalition is encouraging Blacks and Latinos, particularly from the effected states, to contact the DNC and their Congressional delegations and insist that Black and Latino bloggers be included in the state blog corps.

Sincerely,

Francis L. Holland, Esq.
Member, Afrosphere Action Coalition
francislholland@yahoo.com
55 (73) 3288-1716
The Francis L. Holland Blog
http://francislholland.blogspot.com
The Truth About McCain Blog
http://truth-about-mccain.blogspot.com


*Disclaimer: Although I am a trained and practiced attorney, I am retired and am not an active member of any state Bar. Therefore, I advocate in all matters on my own behalf and not as the legal representative of any person, group or organization.

The DemConvention State Blogger Corps is listed below.

STATE - BLOG NAME - BLOG URL

ALASKA - Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis - http://divasblueoasis.blogspot.com

ALABAMA - Doc's Political Parlor - http://www.politicalparlor.net

ARKANSAS - Under The Dome.com - http://www.underthedome.com

ARIZONA - Ted Prezelski - Rum, Romanism and Rebellion - http://www.rumromanismrebellion.net

CALIFORNIA - Calitics- http://Calitics.com

COLORADO - SquareState.net - http://squarestate.net

CONNECTICUT - My Left Nutmeg - http://myleftnutmeg.com

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA- DCist.com - http://dcist.com

DELAWARE - TommyWonk - http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/

DEMOCRATS ABROAD - Democrats Abroad Argentina - http://www.yanquimike.com.ar

FLORIDA - Florida Progressive Coalition - http://flaprogressives.org

GEORGIA- Tondee's Tavern - http://www.tondeestavern.com

GUAM - No Rest for the Awake - Minagahet Chamorro - http://minagahet.blogspot.com

HAWAII - iLind.net: Ian Lind Online - http://www.ilind.net

IOWA - The Iowa Independent - http://iowaindependent.com

IDAHO - 43rdStateBlues.com - http://www.43rdstateblues.com

ILLINOIS- Prairie State Blue - http://www.PrairieStateBlue.com

INDIANA- Blue Indiana - http://www.blueindiana.net

KANSAS - EverydayCitizen.com - http://everydaycitizen.com

KENTUCKY - BlueGrassRoots - http://www.bluegrassroots.org

LOUISIANA - Daily Kingfish - http://www.dailykingfish.com

MASSACHUSETTS - Blue Mass. Group - http://www.bluemassgroup.com

MARYLAND - The Center for Emerging Media - http://www.centerforemergingmedia.com

MAINE - Turn Maine Blue - http://www.turnmaineblue.com

MICHIGAN - Blogging For Michigan - http://bloggingformichigan.com

MINNESOTA - Minnesota Monitor - http://minnesotamonitor.com

MISSISSIPPI - The Natchez Blog - http://natchezms.blogspot.com

MISSOURI - Fired Up! LLC - http://www.firedupmissouri.com

MONTANA - Left in the West - http://www.leftinthewest.com

NORTH CAROLINA - BlueNC.com - http://bluenc.com

NORTH DAKOTA - NorthDecoder.com - http://www.northdecoder.com

NEBRASKA - New Nebraska Network - http://www.NewNebraska.net

NEW HAMPSHIRE - Blue Hampshire - http://www.bluehampshire.com

NEW JERSEY - PolitickerNJ.com - http://www.politickernj.com

NEW MEXICO - Democracy for New Mexico - http://www.DemocracyForNewMexico.com

NEVADA - Las Vegas Gleaner - http://www.lasvegasgleaner.com

NEW YORK - Room 8 - http://www.r8ny.com

OHIO - Ohio Daily Blog - http://www.ohiodailyblog.com

OKLAHOMA - DemoOkie - http://www.DemoOkie.com

OREGON - BlueOregon (blog) - http://www.blueoregon.com

PENNSYLVANIA - Keystone Politics - http://www.keystonepolitics.com

PUERTO RICO - Jusiper - http://jusiper.blogspot.com

RHODE ISLAND - Rhode Island's Future - http://www.rifuture.org

SOUTH CAROLINA - CracktheBell.com - http://www.crackthebell.com

SOUTH DAKOTA - Badlands Blue - http://www.badlandsblue.com

TENNESSEE - KnoxViews/TennViews - http://www.knoxviews.com

TEXAS - Burnt Orange Report - http://www.BurntOrangeReport.com

UTAH - The Utah Amicus - http://utahamicus.com

VIRGINIA - Raising Kaine - http://www.raisingkaine.com

VIRGIN ISLANDS - Democratic Party of the US Virgin Islands - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/democratvi

VERMONT - Green Mountain Daily - http://greenmountaindaily.com

WASHINGTON - HorsesAss.org - http://www.horsesass.org

WISCONSIN - Uppity Wisconsin - http://www.uppitywis.org

WEST VIRGINIA - West Virginia Blue - http://www.wvablue.com

WYOMING - Hummingbirdminds blog - http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com


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