I found this anonymous hit piece on Donna Brazile to be pretty appalling, not because Brazile is necessarily so wonderful, but because of what it reveals about the mindset of the author, a supposed Democratic Party insider, about the role of people of color in the party:
Donna is to the party what Jeese, her mentor, is to the business community. She knows she can exact whatever she wants. What do we get in exchange?
OK, so we have a person here with issues not just against Donna Brazile, but Jesse Jackson, and what s/he resents is that they have been trying to deliver for the Black community. A little old school resentment that people of color aren't satisfied with what they are given, and that the party hasn't gotten "in exchange" what the writer thinks they are bargaining for. That point gets a lot clearer further down in the piece:
Speaking of Mr. Jackson, for years now he has repeated in his speeches that there are hundreds of thousands of African Americans who, if they turned out in states with large black populations, would make it impossible for Republicans to have a majority in Congress. (Or at least the Senate, where they can't be gerrymandered.) He's right. But ask yourself: Is Donna working to fix this problem? She's the highest-ranking black campaign manager in American history, but frankly, she can't deliver a pizza.
That pretty much says it all right there. It's the old fashioned view that the role of leaders of color in the party is to "deliver" their constiuencies. Promoting people of color who promise to "deliver" in this way has been what the Democratic Party has done instead of "delivering" good policies for our communities. And when the Dems don't do as well as leaders would hope in minority communities, the problem must be that the appointed spokespeople haven't done their job of "delivering" the vote.
But the first "reform" action you ought to take is to show Donna the door. Her 'Sister Soulja' moment is long overdue.
At least the writer recognizes what a "Sister Soulja moment" really is -- it's when white Democrats engage in racial code politics to show that they'll keep Black people in their place. I was appalled by Bill Clinton pulling that stunt, it's one of the worst things he ever did -- right down there with selling out Lani Guinier. We don't need more "Sister Soulja moments" -- we need to get past trying to compete on that level.
Anyone who says they are a "Reform Democrat" has to recognize that the mentality expressed by the author of this piece is part of the party's problem that needs to be reformed.
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