Free Kelley Williams-Bolar Now!

Thanks Facebook friends for sharing this story.  The Grio reports that:

"Few things in life are as simple as black and white. And it doesn't take a lawyer to understand the theory of mitigating circumstances, which can diminish the severity of a sentence handed down to a defendant. Kelley Williams-Bolar, a black mother living in the projects of Akron, Ohio, and her father Edward L. Williams were convicted last week of felony. She was convicted of fraud, for a very common practice often utilized in many lower income communities: she simply used a relative's address to send her children to a better (read: white) school district. Williams-Bolar was sentenced to ten days in jail, and quickly taken into custody. After her release, she will serve two years probation, and is required to serve eighty hours of community service. The judge's apparent rationale; you break the law, you suffer the consequences, end of discussion."

Due to structural inequality, many African Americans are economic hostages. Since they cannot afford to escape to affluent neighborhoods, they are forced by residency requirements to send their children to inferior, segregated, failing schools in poor inner city communities.  No one should be compelled to send their children to violent, drug infested schools. 

Consequently, the cycle of poverty is perpetuated.  As Malcolm X said, "When you live in a poor neighborhood, you are living in an area where you have to have poor schools. When you have poor schools, you have poor teachers. When you have poor teachers, you get a poor education. When you get a poor education, you are destined to be a poor man and a poor woman the rest of your life."

Quality education should be a civil and human right for all citizens.  The quality of one's education should not be determined by race, income or zip code.  Unjust laws that promote the cycle of poverty must challenged, opposed and abolished.

In some respects, Ms. Williams-Bolar is a modern day Rosa Parks. Like the legendary Rosa Parks, Ms. Williams essentially engaged in an act of civil disobedience to challenge an unjust law.  As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in the Letter from the Birmingham Jail, 

"How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all." 

I encourage all people of goodwill to join the effort to free Kelley Williams-Bolar.  She should be immediately pardoned and released.  Also, her criminal record should be expunged.  Click this link for more information about how you can help.

Obama Appeals to His Base and the Opposition

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Without doubt, President Barack Obama is one of the greatest orators in American history. The beginning of President Obama's State of the Union address was similar to his 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention.

He attempted to transcend race, religion and party affiliation. Obama focused on things that matter to all Americans. Obama asserted that:
"We are part of the American family. We believe that in a country where every race and faith and point of view can be found, we are still bound together as one people; that we share common hopes and a common creed; that the dreams of a little girl in Tucson are not so different than those of our own children, and that they all deserve the chance to be fulfilled."

His speech also emphasized American exceptionalism and patriotism. President said, "What we can do – what America does better than anyone – is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We are the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook."

President Obama discussed a wide range of topics. The President called on Congress to stop giving billions to oil companies. He urged Congress to use that money to invest in clean energy. According to Obama, that will spark technological innovation and stimulate job growth. Obama touted his Race to the Top education program. He renewed calls for immigration reform and investment in America's infrastructure.

His speech was moderate and balanced. He brilliantly attempted to please his base and Republicans at the same time. For instance, Obama mentioned eliminating government regulations that hinder business. However, he stated that he will continue regulations designed to protect the American people. He expressed a willingness to further compromise on health care reform, but he vowed prevent health insurance companies denying coverage based on preexisting conditions. Obama stated that he was willing to eliminate any unnecessary programs, but he promised not do it on "the backs of the most vulnerable citizens."

This compromising approach raises several concerns. Health care reform is already diluted. There is no public option. Millions remain uninsured.  There is no need for any additional compromise on that issue. The Republicans do not have enough votes in the Senate to repeal health care anyway. In addition, despite his promise to protect the most vulnerable citizens, the President mentioned the possibility of cutting Medicaid and Medicare.

I was pleased to hear the President state that the nation cannot afford to make tax cuts for the top 2% permanent. Hopefully, the President will vigorous fight any attempt to further extend tax cuts for the millionaires and billionaires.

If this nation is serious about reducing the deficit, the United States must end the extremely costly occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Contrary to the President's happy talk about Iraq, the war rages on. In the past week, over 170 people  have died in bombings. During the State of the Union address, the President promised to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July 2011. However, past government statements suggest that American troops will remain in Afghanistan indefinitely.

Republican and Tea Party Responses to the STOU

Rep. Paul Ryan (R) delivered the Republican Party's official response to the President's State of the Union address.

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Proclaiming that the Tea Party is a dynamic force for evil good, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R) delivered the Tea Party's response.

Domestic Terrorists Plant Bomb at MLK Parade

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The Spokane Review reports that:

"As Reiswig and her co-workers snapped photos of the police robot examining the backpack at the northeast corner of Washington Street and Main Avenue, posting some of them to their Facebook pages, the Spokane bomb squad was coming to a frightening realization. The backpack was equipped with a powerful bomb, positioned to inflict maximum blast damage toward the intended route of Spokane’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day march through downtown.

“Then we saw the officer in a bomb suit. At that point, we decided that maybe we should back away from the windows,” she said.

The FBI confirmed Tuesday that the Swiss Army-brand backpack contained a bomb that could have caused “multiple casualties” and credited Spokane city employees who noticed the suspicious bag and alerted authorities in time to re-route the parade. A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible."
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Tea Party Groups Seek to Rewrite African American History

"If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature,  it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves."  English abolitionist Thomas Day

Tennessee tea party groups seek to romanticize American history by deleting or glossing over this nation's ugly legacy of kidnapping, selling, enslaving, beating, raping, castrating, and lynching black people.  As stated on Think Progress, the Commercial Appeal reports that:

About two dozen tea party activists held a news conference, then met with lawmakers individually to present their list of priorities and “demands” for the 2011 legislative session that opened Tuesday.

Regarding education, the material they distributed said, “Neglect and outright ill will have distorted the teaching of the history and character of the United States. We seek to compel the teaching of students in Tennessee the truth regarding the history of our nation and the nature of its government.”

...The material calls for lawmakers to amend state laws governing school curriculums, and for textbook selection criteria to say that “No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership.”

"Fayette County attorney Hal Rounds, the group’s lead spokesman during the news conference, said the group wants to address “an awful lot of made-up criticism about, for instance, the founders intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another."

“The thing we need to focus on about the founders is that, given the social structure of their time, they were revolutionaries who brought liberty into a world where it hadn’t existed, to everybody — not all equally instantly — and it was their progress that we need to look at,” said Rounds, whose website identifies him as a Vietnam War veteran of the Air Force and FedEx retiree who became a lawyer in 1995."

The Declaration of Independence states that: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 

The Founding Fathers obviously did not consider us to be "men".  Many the framers of the U.S. Constitution, including Bassett, Blair, Blount, Butler, Carroll, Jenifer, Jefferson, Mason, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Rutledge, Spaight, and Washington, Madison and Franklin, owned slaves. While hypocritically preaching democracy and equality, the framers practiced the most grotesque form of oppression and exploitation. 

In their eyes, we were viewed as property, not people. In Notes of the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson describes Africans as physically and mentally inferior to whites:

"Add to these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their own judgment in favour of the whites, declared by their preference of them, as uniformly as is the preference of the Oran-ootan for the black women over those of his own species....They secrete less by the kidnies, and more by the glands of the skin, which gives them a very strong and disagreeable odour. They are at least as brave, and more adventuresome. But this may perhaps proceed from a want of forethought, which prevents their seeing a danger till it be present. Comparing them by their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination, it appears to me, that in memory they are equal to the whites; in reason much inferior, as I think one could scarcely be found capable of tracing and comprehending the investigations of Euclid; and that in imagination they are dull, tasteless, and anomalous."

To ignore that history is to ignore reality.  The Tennessee Tea Party's mis-education campaign is just another racist effort to negate the history, humanity, pain and suffering of black people.  This nation was built as a result of our enslavement, blood, sweat and tears.  We will not allow this country to forget it!

Honor MLK By Joining Today's Struggle for Equality and Peace

By celebrating the life of our dear, beloved brother, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we celebrate the struggle of the people. Instead of simply taking a day off from work, we should embrace and join the struggle. As the great revolutionary Pan Africanist Kwame Ture told us, we must be organized.

In order to be organized, we must join civil rights and anti-war organizations. Join the NAACP, National Action Network, Color of Change, National Urban League or any other progressive organization fighting for equality. Don't talk about. Be about it.

President Obama Honors the Victims of the Tucson Tragedy

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Sarah Palin, Stop Whining! You Are Not a Victim!

Sarah Palin: "America's Enduring Strength" from Sarah Palin on Vimeo.

After the Tucson shooting, there has been a public debate about the nature of today's political discourse. As a part of the debate, many commentators have criticized former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) for using a controversial map putting designated Congressional districts, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords's district, in gun cross hairs.

In addition, Palin has been criticized for using gun related political rhetoric like "Don't retreat, reload." Other Republican politicians have been condemned for advocating "Second Amendment remedies" and for urging people to be "armed and dangerous." In response to this controversy, Palin issued the above video recorded statement.

Sarah Palin's lame remarks miss the point. No mainstream critics have accused Palin of inspiring Jared Loughner to shoot and kill innocent people.

However, there is a rational reason for discussing the Tucson tragedy and over heated political rhetoric together. Palin's map put Rep. Giffords in gun cross hairs. On Saturday, Loughner put Giffords in his cross hairs and shot her in the head at point blank range. During the health care debate, Giffords's offices received threats and was vandalized. Those facts together with rhetoric about "Second Amendment remedies" and being "armed and dangerous" made the connection inevitable. Instead of offering poor excuses for such violent rhetoric, Palin and the nation should reflect on the potential impact of such venomous discourse.

For Palin to equate her ordeal with historic antisemitism (blood libel) is disgraceful. The recent criticism of Palin is not libelous. Such criticism is rooted in undeniable facts.

Sarah Palin, stop whining. You are not a victim. The six murdered people, including a little girl, are victims, not you. Giffords is in the hospital recovering from gun wounds to the head. Giffords and the other injured people are the victims, not you. 

The Tucson Shooting is America's Wake Up Call

The Washington Post reports that:

"The mass shooting Saturday morning that gravely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and killed a federal judge raised serious concerns that the nation's heated political discourse had taken a dangerous turn.

Police are holding a 22-year-old man in the shooting rampage, which occurred outside a supermarket where Giffords was greeting constituents. The gunman shot Giffords in the head at close range and then continued to fire into the small gathering of people, police said.

Police said they think that Giffords was the target of the attack.

Law enforcement and medical officials in Arizona said that at least 18 people were shot in the melee and that six of them had died, including John M. Roll, the chief U.S. District judge in Arizona, and Gabe Zimmerman, Giffords's local director of community outreach. Also killed was Christina Taylor Green, 9, who was born on Sept. 11, 2001, and had gone to the event with a neighbor. Two other Giffords staffers, district director Ron Barber and community outreach aide Pam Simon, were wounded.

Authorities said they were seeking a second man as a "person of interest" who might have been at the scene with the gunman. He is not a suspect in the shooting, authorities said."

This tragic incident should be a major wake up call for America in two respects.  First, it should force people to realize that we need more effective gun control regulations.  As reported by the Huffington Post in April 2010, "Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed into law a bill making Arizona the third state allowing people to carry a concealed weapon without requiring a permit." Later in the article, it states that "[n]early all adults can already carry a weapon openly in Arizona."  In light of the horrific shooting in Tucson, such lax guns law should not stand. 

How many more innocent people will be slaughtered before Congress gets the message and enacts true gun control legislation?  In April 1999, two high school students went on a shooting rampage and killed 13 people and seriously injured 20 more students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.  In April 2007, a deranged student went on a shooting spree, killed 33 students and injured 15 students at Virginia Tech.  In August 2010, a disgruntled employee shot 10 co-workers at Hartford Distributors, killing eight of them.  How many more Columbines or Virginia Techs will Congress allow to happen? Since a member of Congress was shot and a federal judge was killed, will Congress finally act? 

Second, this tragedy should force politicians and commentators to realize that their rhetoric may lead to violence.  Although there is no indication that the alleged shooter was affiliated with or inspired by the Tea Party, the Tea Party should cease using violent rhetoric following the Tucson tragedy.  A few examples of recent violent/vitriolic rhetoric or threatening protests include:

Sharon Angle told a conservative radio host: "If this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around.  And I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out."

As reported on Global Grind, "Sarah Palin has just thrown down the gauntlet with a new site called Take Back The 20, which is aimed at knocking off 20 Democrats who voted for Obamacare in GOP-leaning districts. On the map, the districts are marked by snipers, which includes Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' district."  Regarding health care reform, Sarah Palin tweeted: "Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!" Pls see my Facebook page."

During the mid term elections, Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West's former Chief of Staff Joyce Kaufman said, "I am convinced that the most important thing the founding fathers did to ensure me my First Amendment rights was they gave me a Second Amendment. And if ballots don’t work, bullets will."

In August 2009, a man carried an assault rifle to a protest against President Obama in Phoenix, Arizona.  In addition, many protesters have attended Tea Party rallies armed.  On more than a few occasions, they carried protest signs reading "We Came Unarmed [This Time]".

Fox News analyst Bill O'Reilly campaign against abortion provider Dr. George Tillman.  See Salon article and Fox video clip for details.  A right wing extremist later murder Dr. Tillman. 

Finally, on a side note, I find it interesting that none of the corporate media outlets have mentioned the word "terrorism" in connection with incident. If the perpetrator was Arab or Muslim, the media would have instantly declared this an act of terrorism.  The media should reevaluate how it covers stories involving political violence. Awake up America!

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Scott Sisters Are Free At Last!

Congress Omits References to Slavery and Glenn Beck Defends Clause Declaring Black People Three-Fifths Human

The Washington Post reports that:

"Finally the time had come to recite the Constitution aloud on the House floor. But first came the bickering over which parts of the nation's founding document to read at all.

House Republicans, who orchestrated the symbolic exercise as an early gesture to the tea party movement, touted it as a way to bring the new Congress, and the people they represent, back to America's roots.

But they didn't want to go all the way back.

They skipped several passages that no longer apply, including those that condoned slavery, angering some Democrats. On a day designed to celebrate the Founding Fathers' growing role in the nation's political discourse, Democrats accused Republicans of distorting history and the men who wrote it.

Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House's top-ranking African American, declined to participate in the reading. He said omitting the slavery clauses amounted to "revisionist history."

"It could have been very educational if all the members talked about the United States Constitution as a living document, talked about how this country wrestled with things like race and gender," Clyburn said in an interview."

Reciting the U.S. Constitution was a complete waste of time.  However, since Congress decided to recite the Constitution, they should have included references to slavery.  Our ancestors were kidnapped, sold like cattle, brutally beaten with whips, raped and lynched.  By omitting references to slavery, Congress simply glossed over that history of oppression. We should not allow anyone to negate or blot out our history. 

For an entirely different reason, Glenn Beck was offended by Congress' failure to read the Three-Fifths Clause of the Constitution. That clause declared enslaved Africans three-fifths of a person. Defending the Three-Fifths Clause, Beck claimed that the framers created that clause "because if slaves in the South were counted as full human beings they could never abolish slavery." He said that "it was a way to take a step to abolish slavery." What?!!?

Beck's rationalization is outrageous, nonsensical and absurd.  The compromise only strengthened and empowered the slave holding states.  Here is the real reason for the Three-Fifths Compromise. As stated on Wikipedia,

"The Three-Fifths compromise was a compromise between Southern and Northern states reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in which three-fifths of the population of slaves would be counted for enumeration purposes regarding both the distribution of taxes and the apportionment of the members of the United States House of Representatives. It was proposed by delegates James Wilson and Roger Sherman.

Delegates opposed to slavery generally wished to count only the free inhabitants of each state. Delegates supportive of slavery, on the other hand, generally wanted to count slaves in their actual numbers. Since slaves could not vote, slaveholders would thus have the benefit of increased representation in the House and the Electoral College. The final compromise of counting "all other persons" as only three-fifths of their actual numbers reduced the power of the slave states relative to the original southern proposals, but increased it over the northern position."

"The three-fifths ratio, or "Federal ratio" had a major effect on pre-Civil War political affairs due to the disproportionate representation of slaveholding states relative to voters. For example, in 1793 slave states would have been apportioned 33 seats in the House of Representatives had the seats been assigned based on the free population; instead they were apportioned 47. In 1812, slaveholding states had 76 instead of the 59 they would have had; in 1833, 98 instead of 73. As a result, southerners dominated the Presidency, the Speakership of the House, and the Supreme Court in the period prior to the Civil War.^"

Most students learn that basic history in high school. It is astonishing that so many gullible viewers support Beck's ignorance, revisionism, fear mongering and race baiting.  We must support Color of Change's call for advertisers to stop supporting Beck's program.

Can White People finally say the word "Nigger"?

Yesterday, I heard about this on Facebook.  Fox29 reporter-anchor Tom Burlington used the word "nigger" at work, got fired and now has the audacity to claim that his employer discriminated against him.  The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that:

A federal jury will be asked to decide whether it is acceptable for an African American person, but not a white person, to use the "n" word in a workplace.

U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick has ruled that former Fox29 reporter-anchor Tom Burlington's lawsuit against the station, claiming a double standard and alleging that he was the victim of racial discrimination, may go to trial. However, Surrick denied Burlington's claim of a hostile work environment.

Burlington, who is white, was fired after using the "n" word during a June 2007 staff meeting at which reporters and producers were discussing reporter Robin Taylor's story about the symbolic burial of the word by the Philadelphia Youth Council of the NAACP.

Burlington, who began work at the station in 2004 and is now working as a real estate agent, was suspended within days and fired after an account of the incident was published in the Philadelphia Daily News. He alleges that he "was discriminated against because of his race," according to court documents. He claims in his lawsuit that at least two African American employees at Fox29 had used the word in the workplace and were not disciplined.

The dispute began after Taylor, who is white, used the phrase the "n" word during the 2007 staff meeting. She said participants at the burial had said the full word "at least a hundred times or more," according to court records.

"Does this mean we can finally say the word n-?" Burlington asked colleagues, according to depositions.

Nicole Wolfe, a producer and one of the three African American employees among the nine people at the meeting, exclaimed: "I can't believe you just said that!"

Burlington told Taylor that although he did not necessarily expect her to use the word in her story, he thought that doing so gave the story more credence.

Burlington says he used the word only once and approached several attendees after the meeting to explain himself. The Daily News account said he had used the word more than a dozen times.

Surrick, in denying Fox's request to have the suit dismissed, said that federal courts had not determined whether a double standard, if true in this case, would violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which deals with equal opportunity in employment.

On the one hand, he wrote in a memorandum Dec. 23, the word is "considered by many to be the most offensive in the English language" and "has been used by whites as a tool to belittle, oppress, or dehumanize African Americans. When viewed in its historical context, one can see how people in general, and African Americans in particular, might react differently when a white person uses the word than if an African American uses it.

"Nevertheless, we are unable to conclude that this is a justifiable reason for permitting the station to draw race-based distinctions between employees."


Surrick wrote that "there is evidence in this case to suggest that at least two African Americans said the word in the workplace with no consequences."

No one should use the word "nigger". Any prudent employer would prohibit all employees from using any racial, ethnic or religious slurs. Any employee using that word should be fired.

However, from a socio-political perspective, there is an obvious difference between a white person using the "n" word and a black person using it. White people created and used the word to degrade and dehumanize the African. Consequently, when whites use that word, it will always be an unforgivable insult. Frankly, the "n" word does not have the same meaning or impact when blacks use it. So, I have no sympathy for Burlington.

Unfortunately, African Americans internalized their historic oppression and started using the "n" word to describe themselves. Sadly, use of the "n" word is common in many black communities. African American comedians and rap artists have helped perpetuate this pathology. Black people need to let that antiquated, racist term die.  It is time for all people to stop using that despicable word.

DC, Will You Take It Lying Down?

Shout out to DC Vote

"No, I'm not an American.  I'm one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism.  One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy."  Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet

The Republican Party plans start of this new session of Congress by reminding DC residents that they are second class citizens. The Washington Post reports that:

Vincent Gray made his first public trip to Capitol Hill as mayor Tuesday, joining Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) at a pep rally to protest the new House GOP majority's plan to strip the District of the one voting right it has in Congress.

On Wednesday, the House will vote on a Republican-authored rules package that will take away the ability of delegates and resident commissioners to vote in the Committee of the Whole, a term that describes when the full House becomes a committee for the purpose of considering legislation. That right -- which Democrats have granted when they have controlled the House -- allowed Norton and her fellow delegates to vote on amendments to tax and spending bills, though the privilege could be seen as symbolic since a delegate's vote was not permitted to be the deciding one....

Speaking to reporters later, Gray compared District residents' fight to the American Revolution and said D.C. must be willing to escalate the battle. Asked whether he would be willing to get arrested for the cause of voting rights, Gray said, "I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

Norton, for her part, warned that Wednesday's vote could just be the opening salvo by Republicans in what could become "a full-scale war on home rule for the District of Columbia."

"When they strip you of the only vote you have ever had on the House floor, will you take it lying down?" Norton asked the crowd. "No!" they shouted back.

Many Republicans advocate sending brave, young American men and women to kill and die in foreign wars supposedly to promote so-called democracy abroad. Hypocritically, those same Republicans have no problem stripping DC, the nation's capitol and a predominantly African American jurisdiction, of the right to vote. Tea Party activists constantly whine about high taxes. Yet, they have nothing to say about taxation without representation in the District of Columbia. Obviously, as far the Republicans and the Tea Party are concerned, political advantage is far more important than democracy.

In order for the District to secure full voting rights, the people must engage in all forms of nonviolent resistance, including massive, sustained acts of civil disobedience.  Business as usual must be interrupted in order for Congress to get the message.  All concerned citizens should support D.C. Vote.

Gray, Norton to Attend Protest for DC Voting Rights: MyFoxDC.com

GOP Plans to Discard Uncle Steele Like Used Toilet Paper

After the nation elected the first African American president, the Republican Party was forced to embrace diversity.  So, they elected a token African American, Michael Steele, as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. 

Michael Steele kissed their butt. He tap danced for them.  He shined their shoes.  He cooned for them.  He tom'ed for them.  At the end of the day, none of that mattered.  Politico reports:

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele faces an all-but-impossible path to reelection this month, as a majority of the RNC’s 168 members indicate that they will not support the controversial chairman for another term.

A weeklong canvass of the party’s governing board by POLITICO revealed 88 members who have decided not to vote for Steele, either opting to support one of his opponents or simply ruling out Steele as a choice in the race....

Another who does not plan to support Steele expressed concern about the appearance of kicking out the party’s first black leader: “If you're going replace an African-American chairman, you better look for something more unique than a white man from the Midwest.”

The Republican Party used that misguided "brother" until they used him up. Despite historic victories in the House and on the state level, his Party is ready to discard him like a used piece of toilet paper. When the GOP ousts Steele, it is going to be more difficult for them to pretend to support diversity.  As the country becomes more and more diverse, the GOP remains a primarily white political party.

More disturbingly, during the Republican National Committee Chair Debate, all of the candidates voiced support for so-called voter integrity programs.  Essentially, those are programs designed to suppress African American and other minority voters.  During the debate, Saul Anuzis stated that Michigan is a blue state that can go red under the right circumstances.  Anuzis complained that in Michigan voter fraud has been a big problem in many of the urban areas.  As we know, "urban areas" is a code phrase for predominantly African American and Latino areas.