23and Me, a Black Black Man, and the Politics of Race: Walker’s First Floor Speech at the Atlanta Convention Center and his First Floor Address in the Senate
Conflicting approaches to race have come into relief, as the first Senate race in Georgia history selects two Black men. Walker and Warnock’s worldview began to diverge decades ago – as Walker shined on the field and Warnock rose to the pulpit.
When he was a pastor at Dr. Martin Luther King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, he spoke often about dismantling systemic racism. During his first floor speech in the Senate, Warnock slammed new restrictive voting laws around the country.
23andMe has messed us all up, Walker said at a recent rally outside Atlanta. It doesn’t matter what your color is. A house can’t stand together, so I want us to come together.
Walker has made headlines in the past for saying Democrats use race to divide people, and he is no stranger to controversy in this election.
“These are two of the most important institutions for the questioning of equality and democracy,” said Rigueur.
With two black men running for senator in georgia race takes center stage: What do black folks want to do about racism and oppression?
The church is a source of assistance for many Black communities. It’s an organizing and mobilizing space. African Americans are more likely to use sports to grasp some measure of social mobility than to desegregate.
“I was just coming out to be a great athlete,” he told rapper Killer Mike in an interview on WABE. I think my high school was predominantly white-Black.
Walker wrote about his fear of the Ku Klux Klan in his memoir. He recalled how they pulled their Black kids into the woods as a way of practicing lynchings.
“There is a broad misconception about what life is like in the 1980s in the South,” Riguer says. “There still remains a very segregated economically unequal society for African Americans.”
For Warnock, that society was Savannah, Georgia and the public housing complex where he grew up. As a teen, Warnock spent hours at a nearby library listening to archival recordings from the civil rights movement – especially speeches by King.
“He preached a different kind of gospel from what I typically heard in most churches,” Warnock wrote in his memoir. The scriptures were used to examine and speak about racial injustice and oppression.
King was influenced by Morehouse College, a historically Black school in Atlanta that he attended in the 50’s. The King Memorial Chapel has an assistant named Warnock working at it. The dean, Lawrence Carter, became Warnock’s mentor.
“Supremely confident, mature beyond his years,” Carter remembered Warnock in an interview. He was alone and seemed to be in a zone. He frequently would come into the chapel library, no one else there, and study and write.”
“When our chapel is packed and our 6,000 pipe organ is sounding in their ears, surrounded by people doing bold things, that pours iron into your spine,” Carter says. “Wherever you are, you want to do something about injustice.”
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/13/1128694481/with-two-black-men-running-for-senate-in-georgia-race-takes-center-stage
The N Word Revisited in Wrightsville, Georgia During the March for the Civil Rights Restoration of the First Black Man: Tom Jordan
Walker was the coach of Johnson County High School when they won the state football championship. It was national news when Walker accepted a full-ride to play for the University of Georgia. Wrightsville became the country’s attention again within a few days.
The county’s white sheriff was the target of protests against racial injustice. As marchers gathered, they were met with violence. The governor summoned state troopers, while schools and factories were closed. Local residents and out of town civil rights leaders asked Wrightsville’s most famous resident to speak out.
“White people called him the N word and he had Black people calling him Uncle Tom,” Tom Jordan, Walker’s track coach and an early mentor, said in an interview. “And he was just searching for his spot.”
“I called a team meeting,” remembered track coach Tom Jordan. I told them that they were not able to march in a track meet unless they got in shape. You’ve got to run. Practice is at three and you know I don’t tolerate missing.”
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/13/1128694481/with-two-black-men-running-for-senate-in-georgia-race-takes-center-stage
Raphael Warnock and the Greatest Nation in History: A Conversation with Killer Mike Rigueur about the 2016 December 6 election in Georgia
“What would have happened if I had went the other way?” Walker told Killer Mike. I don’t know where I would be today. Because now I have an opportunity, where I can get a seat at the table.”
” His political views and rejection of race as a consideration do not represent African American audiences,” said historian Leah Wright Rigeuer. “It is, however, the perspective of the majority of working class white voters in the state of Georgia.”
The Loneliness of the Black Republican was written by Rigueur, and he said it’s not unusual for these views to be found in conservatives. Rigueur says these perspectives should not be seen as fringe, particularly when they are coming from people with immense influence.
“We should want to understand that because of what it tells us about the very nature of Black politics, but also questions of American democracy,” Rigueur says.
During this campaign the two men have laid out conflicting descriptions of the country’s current divisions, as they compete in an election most polls show is a tossup and could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.
“We’re not a racist country,” Walker said at a recent rally. The United States is the greatest country in the world and it is time to get leaders that know that.
Editor’s Note: Fredrick Hicks is a political strategist and campaign expert. He served as a debate preparation partner for then-candidate Raphael Warnock in 2020. The campaign did not have him work for it. He is the owner of his own consulting firm, HEG. The views are of his own. Read more opinion on CNN.
On December 6, Warnock again made history – this time as the first African American US Senator to be elected to a full term in the history of Georgia. While this might sound redundant, had he lost, Warnock would have been relegated to a historical footnote, ignominiously known as one of the shortest serving Senators in US History, serving just a few months longer than the person he defeated, former Sen. Kelly Loeffler.
In so doing, Warnock is now the leader of a new generation of Democratic leaders, including the likes of House Minority Leader-elect Hakeem Jeffries, Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, who are younger and more diverse than their predecessors.
Politics is part of the context. Democrats did better than expected in the country. However, in the southeast, the red wave swept over every state, washing away many powerful Democrats in the region – from Virginia down to Florida.
What will Hillary’s legacy tell us about the 2024 presidential election? Noem, Liz Cheney, and Tulsi Gabbar
Regardless of who runs in 2024, Warnock will be the most valuable asset and endorser for the Democratic Party. Should Biden decide not to run for reelection, Warnock should be the Democratic Party’s first choice to lead them back to the presidency.
As of two weeks before the election, he had raised more than $284 million, a figure which is projected to approach $300 million, making him one of the most prolific non-presidential fundraises in recent memory. Out of all the people in the game, Warnock has more of both than anyone, which is something his ancestors never could have imagined.
This is an ideal time for a center-left agenda to move in the country. If the candidate can win in the south, and with large states like California, Illinois, and New York, it will be nearly impossible for them to win the presidency.
While former President Trump is the only high-profile Republican to announce, Haley will be the first one to challenge him for the party’s nomination.
The first voting events of the next GOP nomination process are just a year away, and she is not the only woman from the ranks of well known current and former officials who will matter.
Noem said she was not convinced she needed to run for president, but she has kept the door open and has taken stands on national issues such as abortion and immigration. Noem could be under increased pressure due to Haley’s announcement.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, once a name in the conversation for speaker of the House or the national ticket, fell from grace when she defied her Republican colleagues and co-chaired the House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack on the Capitol. She said she would do “whatever it takes” to prevent Trump’s return to office and was at the forefront of condemning him.
There was a plan to challenge the former president in the 20th century. When Cheney lost her own primary in August she was all but out of the picture for the party that she had long served.
There are many women with conservative credentials who have shown interest in the presidency, and they are not limited to Republicans. This past week when a congressional panel had a hearing on how the Biden administration was “weaponizing” federal agencies against citizens, one witness getting a lot of attention was Tulsi Gabbard.
In order to be a critic of Democrats and “Big tech” social media, she frequently appeared on Fox News, where she had previously been a member.
On the First Woman Presidential Candidate: The Case For a Running Mate After Donald J.Pence’s Disloyal Manifold
After being vice president, many political observers believed the first woman president would become president. It is a possibility that Harris personifies wherever she goes.
But Harris was elected, and that carried the conversation about women on the ticket to its next logical step. The culture continues to change. Gender balance has gone from a novelty to a natural assumption. The pressure will be on the party that tries to resist that nature in 2024 and beyond.
For a century after the first woman declared herself a protest candidate for the White House in 1872 (before women’s right to vote was added to the Constitution in 1920), when women ran for the White House it was more to make a point than to win an office. One of the first women to receive votes in primaries and at the national convention was Margaret Chase Smith, senator from Maine.
Two women have indeed been nominated for vice president by the major parties, Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Republican Sarah Palin in 2008. Both managed to shake up the party’s convention, the media coverage and even the contest itself for a period of weeks.
But ultimately neither could alter the underlying dynamics of those races or supply what may have been lacking in their parties’ presidential nominees. Supporters of women voters across party lines were disappointed by the gender breakthrough.
The ideal place for a woman candidate, or any potential candidate in 2024, might be just outside of Trump’s orbit and beyond his ire. That would allow a prospective running mate to explore their options for a little while, giving them time to think about their futures and if they should join Trump or someone else’s ticket.
It’s believed that the most likely candidate to match Trump in polls and raised money is Ron DeSantis. Maryland’s popular former governor, Larry Hogan, just retired, and New Hampshire’s Gov. Chris Sununu has been testing the waters as well.
In the primary states, Pence has been showing up but not doing well. Trump’s true believers see him as disloyal, but he also seems part of the Trump legacy to those who want the party to move on.
Would opposing him in the primaries automatically kill any chance of being his running mate? Taking on Biden in the early Democratic debates did not kill Harris’ chances. Early in the month of March, Harris withdrew from the race before the primaries started and endorsed Biden.
The Avatars of Senator Sarah Huckabee During a Biden State of the Union: What Has She Done Recently?
Some might think that the awkwardness in all this posturing was caused by when Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee could give the official Republican response to Biden’s State of the Union. That speaking slot has been seen as an auditioning spot for statewide politicians with national ambitions. It was used to deliver a strong message of condemnation against the Biden administration and the Democrats in general.
She also included considerable personal information and referred to her role as the White House press secretary going to Iraq to visit troops with the president and first lady — all without ever without mentioning the name of the president she served. She was also criticized by many conservatives for this.
Sanders has not broken with Trump. Her father, Mike Huckabee, served as Arkansas’ governor while she was there and she might be looking for a safe distance. Huckabee ran for president twice, once in 2008 and once in 2016, but he did not work in the Trump administration, instead he pursued his talk show and speaking engagements.
Other recognizable political personalities among Republican women might also find themselves divided between gratitude for Trump’s past help and a desire to be part of what Sanders called “a new generation of Republican leaders.”
Some, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, may be too closely associated with Trump already to have other options. Even though they replaced Cheney as the House GOP’s third-ranking leader, there is still room for maneuver for someone such as Elise Stefanik who might have room in either direction.
There is a possibility that a Trump resurgence may bring with him an outsider with no second thoughts as his running mate, someone with mediagenic appeal and who is willing to embrace his “stolen election” obsession and also match his own fervor.
Kari Lake, a former local TV anchor in Phoenix, has shown that kind of devotion to her insistence she was elected governor of Arizona in 2022 — a race she lost. Lake has been mentioned as a Senate candidate next year, but this weekend she will be visiting Iowa, the site of the first Republican caucuses a year from now.
If Alaskans had not adopted a weird voting system a year before her defeat in the election, she would still be their elected member of Congress.
Tim Scott: Lincoln Day in Iowa: A Call to Rejoin the War on Our Nation for Progress and Freedom, or What Will We Do About It?
Editor’s Note: John Avlon is a CNN senior political analyst and anchor. He wrote “Lincoln and the Fight for Peace.” His own views are expressed in this commentary. Read more opinion at CNN.
The South Carolina Republican Senator embarked on a tour of Iowa this week, leading up to a possible campaign. He offered up a well-scripted speech in Des Moines and then led the Polk County Lincoln Day dinner, testing out the themes that could define a candidacy.
If you notice the headlines, you might think he was selling a warmed over form of Trump’s “combative vision” served with a side order of DeSantis’ bitter culture war assaults.
It would be a mistake. If you listened to Scott’s speeches, you would hear a different pitch to voters. “For America to be at our best, we have to work together,” Scott said. It’s a requirement that we come together on a common ground.
Yes, Tim Scott is an unapologetic conservative. He is a person with a religion that truly defines his life. That may or may not be your policy preference. His vision is a rebuke to grievance politics on the left and right.
He isn’t going to fan the fear of American carnage. He is not wielding the American flag as a weapon to bludgeon people who look different than him. Amid a wave of strategically induced CRT panic, he is also not trying to whitewash American history to pretend it is an unadulterated story of perfection.
At the Lincoln Day dinner, he told the story of how his beloved grandfather, born in 1921, was taught to step aside on the sidewalk to let a white man pass and never make eye contact. This was in the Jim Crow South. “So when I talk about our history, I’m not whitewashing it,” Scott said. But he added that his grandfather told him “you can be bitter – or you can be better. I chose better.
You can contest this all day with facts about racism and how it’s presented around the world. Scott might agree with certain policies. His position as a Black Republican US Senator gives him the opportunity to condemn the white identity politics that fueled much of Trump’s rise.
“For those of you on the left, you can call me a prop, you can call me a token, you can call me the N-word, you can question my Blackness, you can even call me ‘Uncle Tim.’ Your words do not correspond to my evidence. The truth of my life disproves your lies.”
That’s a good line. It’s also a hard truth rooted in his personal experience. And he is unsparing in his belief that activists try to use our nation’s historic mistakes as a wedge to “bring more power and more resources to their progressive agenda.”
It is clear that he is still trying to convince people that he is not a traitor or a racist. Scott does go too far with his playing-to-the-base red meat for me at times.
For example, his talk of how left-wing Democrats are deliberately trying to “destroy America” fundamentally undercuts his overall rhetoric about the need to unite America. The stance of the conservative crew in regards to Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn a election on the basis of a lie will look as foolish as it may be in the future, from the perspective of someone running for president.
While there’s absolutely nothing groundbreaking about a senator wanting to move his office 16 blocks down Pennsylvania Ave. — the lure of the White House has had enticed senators since the early 1800s, and equally so regardless of party — Scott is not just another ambitious senator from one of the major parties who goes on a national “listening tour” or visits Iowa around Presidents’ Day, checking out the site of the caucuses that will commence the GOP’s nominating process next year.
After those troops left, segregationists and Jim Crow laws soon brought an end to the first era of African Americans in the Senate. The Senate’s color line was crossed in the 1960s by Brooke. And it was a dozen years after Brooke retired before the Senate welcomed Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, the first Black woman senator and also the first to be a Democrat. A dozen years later that Illinois seat would be Barack Obama’s.
Sentiment Scott is a Different Kind of Republican Who Could Shape the 2024-Electron: How Al Gore and Kamala Harris Nominated Scott for Vice President
In fact, many see Scott as one in a growing field of contestants for vice president. He is covering his bets by not attacking Trump, despite speaking of the party’s need for new leaders.
In this, Scott is like Haley who as governor of South Carolina Lifted Scott from his House seat with a senatorial appointment. He won election to the seat in 2016 and 2022.
It’s not a good idea to say someone is running for VP, but consider that six vice presidents were elected before Harris became president. Al Gore was nominated by the party for president after winning the popular vote in 2000.
Making a show of presidential ambition early on has been a great way to get on the national ticket, even in the running mate role. Variants on that pattern have worked for every Democratic nominee for vice president from Kamala Harris in 2020 back to Lloyd Bentsen in 1988.
He could add real energy to the ticket by becoming popular, just like he did when he was running for John McCain in 2008 or when he ran for Mondale in 1984. Two women were the first women to be nominated as vice president in their parties.
The “running for vice president” line is meant to be condescending and has been used to marginalize women and candidates of color.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/05/1160964200/sen-tim-scott-is-a-different-kind-of-republican-who-could-reshape-the-2024-elect
The 2016 Presidential Campaign: A Story of Fighting for Civil Rights and Freedom: The Case Against Destruction by a Black Man Who Is Not a Democrat
“Growing up in a single parent household, mired in poverty, the challenges that I faced from self-esteem to low grades were monumental,” says Scott. “I overcame those challenges with grit, hard work and inspiration.”
Acerbic accusation is the argot of activists in both parties in the 2020s, and Scott would probably be hopelessly out of synch if he did not use it. He has a lower partisan persona than his potential rivals in the Senate, and in his home state. Scott is loyal to his party, but one with whom Democrats can have dialogue, or even cosponsor a bill.
In a recent appearance on Fox News, Scott was confronted by a host Shannon Bream, who noted the contradiction between that line and Scott’s image of cordial collegiality in the Senate. Scott said it was necessary to highlight the weaknesses of the progressive movement and offer positive, optimistic solutions.
The white man was the winner of the multicandidate primary for mayor of Chicago. The consensus was that the main issue was crime and the police had become an important part of the message for working class America. Could anyone carry that message better than a candidate whose mere presence onstage rebuts Democrats’ assertions that the GOP is racist?
In the late 1800s, Frederick Douglass was one of the first Black candidates for the Republican nomination. He was a member of the Liberty Party before the GOP existed. They were all “message candidates” rather than actual candidates.
Prior to the first primaries in 2012, the nation got an earful of Herman Cain, a pizza chain executive who used commercial marketing slogans in his campaign. In 2016, brain surgeon Ben Carson made a deeper run into the primaries, earning nine convention delegates and lasting into March. Carson’s performances in the 2015 debates were strong enough that he briefly led in GOP polls that fall.
Alan Keyes, an African American author with a captivating oratorical talent, has sought the GOP nod many times in the past. In 2008 he moved to the Constitution Party.
There are other reasons for an African American candidate to be a member of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968 was where the ground was broken, by a man who received 67.5 votes. At the 1972 Democratic convention, there were over 150 votes cast, and Barbara Jordan gave a speech at the convention that nominated Jimmy Carter.
Scott might also look to the campaigns waged in the other party by another South Carolina native, Jesse Jackson. An ordained minister, Jackson had long since left the state and become prominent in the civil rights movement. Jackson wanted to claim the mantle of his mentor Rev. Martin Luther King.
Four years later, Jackson was back with an even more impressive campaign that won the Michigan caucuses. Jackson received 1,218.5 votes at the party convention, where he and his supporters were permitted to take over the proceedings for one night. Jackson was again seen as a strong prospect for running mate, but negotiations toward such a ticket did not bear fruit.