Harry C. Alford is the CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, NBCC, and has been a common face on Capitol Hill and at the White House for years. He has testified before Congressional committees numerous times and advised the White House on a variety of business matters on behalf of the NBCC.
Alford opposes the Markey/Waxman Climate Change Bill and disagrees with government reports that green jobs have been created in California. Thursday he was speaking on research the NBCC commissioned on energy, jobs, and the climate bill when he and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Ca) got into a disagreement. Boxer asserted that green jobs have been created in California and Alford disagreed. She challenged his California residency and thus his knowledge of the area. He responded that while he currently lives in Bethesda, MD, he lived in California from before she arrived and still owns property and pays taxes to California.
To counter Alford’s arguments on the value of the climate bill and its value in creating jobs, Boxer announced that she was going to place a few statements into the Congressional record supporting the bill, one from the NAACP and another from the 100 Black Men of Atlanta, both civic, not business organizations.
Alford challenged her choice of supporters, stating that neither the NAACP nor the 100 Black Men belong in a debate on energy policy.
“We’ve been looking at energy policy since 1996. And we are referring to the experts, regardless of their color. And for someone to tell me, an African-American, college-education veteran of the United States Army, that I must contend with some other “black group” and put aside everything else in here — This has NOTHING to do with the NAACP, and really has nothing to do with the National Black Chamber of Commerce. We’re talking about energy.”
Further, Boxer failed to understand Alford’s anger and why her actions were racist, and so she kept talking growing more arrogant as she tried to control Alford.
Folks, I encourage you to follow the link and view the video (about 6 mins). I warn you that if you understand why Boxer’s actions are racist, this video is very frustrating to watch. If you don’t understand why she is racist, I urge you to view the video again and ask yourself two questions; would she have responded to a white man by placing the NAACP document into the record? Would she have placed expert testimony into the record if Alford had been white? Keep in mind that while Alford represents an African American organization he is testifying as an expert on research. I also suggest this interview (21 mins) with Alford done later that day.
Note: I was very disappointed in the Huffington Post’s Jason Linkins for writing about the incident, “Is that racism? Not in a week where this happened it isn’t!” Linkins links to a report on GOP Senator Tom Coburn’s imitation during the Sotomayor hearings of Ricky Ricardo, the character from the 1950s sit-com, I Love Lucy. The two incidents are unrelated and Coburn’s actions do not excuse Boxer for hers, no matter Linkins’ reasoning.
Racism is racism no matter where it appears, even from a celebrated, liberal Democrat.
Update: I strongly recommend Boxer direct some of the Stimulus funds targeted at her district to the creation of a special type of sensitivity training for ultra-liberals.
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Only a liberal could argue that certain actions are racist one week and not racist the next. Perhaps if Hitler had some unrelated examples of other racism the week before he bagan gassing Jews, his racism could have been rationalized away by morons like Jason Linkins (whoever that is).
Don’t fall off the sled over “racism”. The issue here isnt racism (however defined). It’s democrat stupidity.
These same people defend the drawing of Obama as a monkey and singing Barack the magic negro as not racist.
Hey, Micky dee, as soon as Obama proves that his a natural born citizen of the US, then we’ll consider taking him seriously. In order for him to do that, first of all he must release his original and real birth certificate (the one on the web site was photoshopped to the max), his records from the schools he’s attended starting with kindergarten, his college admission papers, his passports, his selective service card (which by the way, was signed in Hawaii on the same day that he was attending college in CA). He needs to tell us when he rescinded his Indonesians citizenship, if he is a US Natural born citizen, “How did he go to college on a scholarship given only to foreign students, and why has the selective service card he signed, had the serial numbers tampered with? When we find out the answers to these questions, then we’ll stop teasing him. But if he is honest and has nothing to hide, why won’t he release proof of these questions. Why, Because he is a fraud!
I can’t believe that we have people such as barbara boxer seated in the house of the United State Senate.
I have no idea where the women was educated but she either needs
to go back and be re-educated, find a different university to attend or just admit she is a moron. It is plain to see that she is the racist and has no vision of her own or any intention of doing the work she was elected to do. She only seems to follow what she thinks is the fad of politics and no backbone to disagree with the hypocrisy of the Democratic leads when it is as plain as the nose on her face
that sometimes (a lot of the time) issues are not headed in the right direction for either party and more so for our country.
she is about as smart or stubborn as the Democratic mascot…….
the JACKASS. I am not sure which the case is.
micky dee, while I can’t speak on “the drawing of Obama as a monkey” as I haven’t seen it and don’t know who did it, the reference to “Barack the magic negro” was originally applied to then Senator Obama by none other than Rev. Al Sharpton.
As a black person, I find some of this misdirected anger as childish. While it is very true that black people face higher obstacles in life, I find it embarrasing that we have to constantly call every obstacle to our progress “racism”.
Until we tell our kids to pull up their pants, remove neck tattoos, face education squarely and not as cowards, we will continue to be behind. Until we stop killing each other on street corners and healing each other, we will continue to look like scum.
And to the imbecile called “Holly” that said: “as soon as Obama proves that his a natural born citizen of the US, then we’ll consider taking him seriously”, I would like to ask your ignorant a**, was John “the fundamentals of the economy are sound” McCain a natural born American? Do you even know where he was born or are you just to “racist and angry” to see past the color of your nose?
Barbara Boxer is as dumb as a stick. She was being condescending to Mr. Alford, just as she condescended to the military officer she dressed down for calling her “Maam.”
She’s been in Washington too long. Time to bring her home.
Toni,
It’s delusional to continue to express how black people face higher obstacles in life. That kind of blanket statement is what keeps segregation/racism/division/whatever you want to call it alive and well. As long as organizations continue to segregate themselves (ie NAACP, Black COC, etc.) it is never going to change. There will always be some radical that takes it to the extreme. As far as Boxer is concerned…..what an idiot. She’s like an employee that continues to tell her boss when she’s going to work, when she’s taking a vacation, and what’s best for the company. Just remember to address her properly. She’s nothing more than one more moron in a long list of elites that need a healthy serving of reality. I wonder about the alignment of their voices with the voices of their constituencies if they lost their salary and were relegated to contributing to Social Security upon failure to be reelected. Something tells me they’d start to listen, and God forbid, represent the people as the Constitution states.
Califorinia needs to wake up and get rid of this crazy BITCH. And we also have them to thank for two more traitorius peices of SHIT, nancy peloci and diane feinstein. what in the hell is wrong with you people out there ???????????????????????????????????????
SF ROGER FLEMING
Let California go into Poverty, I’m ( was ) a third generation Ca.
Who got the hell out. If these left wing nut job politicians want to pander to the unions, illegals, tort lawyers, etc. Then they will go down as the very reason to never ever vote for these assholes Nation wide
It’s the people of California who need to wise up at the ballot box in 2010, ( GOOD LUCK ).
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