Before exiting the presidential race, Hillary Clinton’s placement of importance on “hardworking’ White working class voters sparked a debate among African-Americans.  "These are the people you have to win if you're a Democrat in sufficient numbers to actually win the election. Everybody knows that,” she claimed.  (In reality, Blacks are the most loyal Democrats and make up nearly 25% of the party) Her claim sparked a debate on if and how Obama should try to appeal to working class Whites.

Former Tennessee Congressperson Harold Ford, Jr., who recently lost a Senate race in Tennessee, thinks Obama should try harder to connect with educationally and financially-challenged Whites.  National columnist Ron Walters thinks the Senator from Illinois should better use his resources to encourage Blacks and Hispanics to register to vote and to vote.  Port of Harlem’s Jacqueline Featherston rhetorically asks,  “What is the detrimental affect of Obama addressing mutual fears and concerns about race or the economy with White blue-collar workers or taking the time to share his vision of a changed American landscape and what it would mean for their families?” 

Ford in a Newsweek article seemingly started the debate when he urged Obama to reach out to rural White voters.  Ford said, “Do many rural or Working-class [White] people have questions about Obama? Sure. But these are less about race than about culture. Obama has not lived their lives. That's OK. In the weeks and months ahead, he just needs to show that he respects them and understands the issues that matter to them—that he can make their lives better.”

According to Walters, Obama should instead spend his resources with the Democrat’s traditional base that does not fully exercise its right to vote.  He writes, “In 2004, 35 percent of Blacks and 66 percent of Hispanics were not registered, and 44 percent of Blacks and 72 percent of Hispanics that were eligible did not vote.”  Walters argued that this approach would be better than “lavishing resources on voters in the conservative heartland of the nation that will most likely not vote for Barack Obama in any case.” (See Below,  Video:  Obama Faces Racism in West Virginia / West Virginians Speak Out)

In disagreeing with Walters, Featherston, added, “My hope is some will see that hardworking blue-collar White voters have more in common with (hard)working people of any color than they have with the White owning class.  Indeed the only thing poor White people have in common with the Hillary Clinton's [or the John McCain’s] of the world is White skin.  Perhaps a few will recognize racism as the cultural sop it is, something offered them in exchange for accepting and colluding in their own oppression.”

• Video:  Obama Faces Racism in West Virginia / West Virginians Speak Out (note: try not to laugh)
  
• University of Colorado White Privilege Conference - Colorado Springs, CO
  
• Georgetown Day School White Privilege Conference - Washington, D.C.
• POH article - Looking at Power:  Male Privilege and Heterosexual Privilege
• POH article - Believing in Male Supremacy Will Not Save Us
  

The Alexandria Black History Museum is hosting a discussion and book signing by award-winning journalist Charles E. Cobb, Jr., on Thursday, June 26. Cobb will be sharing his new work, On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail (Algonquin Books, $18.95), from 6p to 8p, at one of the sites featured in the book

In On the Road to Freedom, Cobb takes an in-depth look at the civil rights movement by visiting the places where freedom pioneers marched, sat-in at lunch counters, gathered in churches, and risked arrest and in some cases, their lives. Among the dozens of historical places featured in Cobb’s book are several in Alexandria, including the Alexandria Black History Museum. The building that houses the museum was constructed in 1940 as the Robert H. Robinson Library. The City built the Robinson Library as a result of a peaceful sit-in that took place in 1939 at the Alexandria Library on Queen Street when five young African American men were arrested for refusing to leave a segregated, “Whites only” library.

Cobb, a former organizer for SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and a founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists, will talk about the documentation of historic markers, first-person interviews, speeches, maps, and 150 black-and-white photos that make up his innovative and valuable guide to civil rights history.

Ida Jones, Port of Harlem book reviewer, added, “Utilizing the skill of an activist and organizer, and the heart of a teacher, Cobb uses content and context to propel the reader and listener into another time in recent American history when Black and White were not always diametrically opposed nor harmoniously unified.”

Following the discussion, light refreshments will be served.  Reservations are not required but are suggested, as seating is limited. Please call 703.838.4356 for reservations or more information. The Alexandria Black History Museum, located at 902 Wythe Street in Alexandria, has plenty of free parking and is five blocks from the Braddock Road Metro stop.  This free event is cosponsored by Port of Harlem.

Note: Cobb is scheduled to be on Nine News @ 9a and WPFW 89.3FM at 9:50a on June 26, too.

The 2008 Islamic Heritage Festival & Parade weekend takes place at Penn's Landing, Delaware Ave & Chestnut Street, Philadelphia  Saturday,  June 14, from 12p to 8p.  The festival admission is free.

The festival weekend begins Friday, June 13 at 1p, with Salatul Jumah the Muslim congregational prayer service at Independence National Park, home of the Liberty Bell and the Constitution Center & Museum at 5th and Market Street. A special exhibit hosted at the New Africa Center/ Muslim American Museum & Archive located 4243 Lancaster Ave will premiere a photo exhibit by Michael Z. Muhammad titled Imam W. D. Mohammed 30 years of Leadership.  The open house will start at 3p on Friday, June 13.

The Festival will conclude on Sunday, June 15 with a Benefit Brunch at the New Africa Center/Muslim American Museum from 11a to 2p.  Tickets are $ 25.00.  For information call 610-352-0424 or 215-222-0520