Originally published Sunday, February 11, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Blacks urged to vote on issues
African-American voters should judge Sen. Barack Obama and other 2008 presidential candidates on how they will handle issues affecting the...
McClatchy Newspapers
HAMPTON, Va. — African-American voters should judge Sen. Barack Obama and other 2008 presidential candidates on how they will handle issues affecting the African-American community and not on race, gender or ethnicity.
That was the message of several key speakers Saturday at the annual State of the Black Union symposium. The two-day conference offered an examination of the progress African Americans have made and the problems they still confront.
"I think the identity politics should not be based on race," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, a 2004 presidential candidate. "It should be based on agenda and policy. Who stands for our best interests? We cannot put our people's aspirations on hold for anybody's career, black or white."
As the conversation at Saturday's session shifted from health care to education to politics, it quickly went to Obama, who formally kicked off his presidential candidacy Saturday in Springfield, Ill. Among the panelists were two black men who have run for president, Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Sharpton strongly urged the nearly 10,000 people who filled Hampton University's Convocation Center not to select a candidate next year just because they want to see an African American or a woman or a Hispanic in the White House for the first time.
Without naming Obama, Sharpton added that "just because you're our color doesn't make you our kind." He pointed to President Bush's secretaries of state, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, as examples of African Americans he said haven't necessarily worked in the interest of the black community.
Sharpton also chided Obama for making his presidential announcement in Springfield rather than before the predominantly black audience at Hampton and said he needs to declare "what's his embrace of our agenda."
Some people wonder whether Obama's mixed-race heritage dilutes his effectiveness on African-American issues. Others complain that he didn't earn his political stripes in the 1960s civil-rights movement. Still others wonder about his Ivy League education and upscale Chicago address.
Jackson, who ran twice for president, said Obama's heritage shouldn't be an issue. "Most of our forefathers were black, and most of our forefathers were white," he said.
Copyright © The Seattle Times Company
Obama seeks equal partnership in Asia
NYC trial for 9/11 suspects poses risks
Fort Hood gunman contacted Pakistan, lawmaker says
Immigration on White House agenda

Opening day at Crystal Mountain
Skiers crowded the slopes at Crystal Mountain for one of the resort's earliest openings.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- Homeless man, 46, arrested in Greenwood arsons
- Steve Kelley | ESPN's Bill Simmons gets us: He hates Clay Bennett, too
- KVI talk radio host off the air as of Thursday
- Police investigate videotaped arrest
- Seattle U. Men's Hoops | Big recruit goes from Huskies to Redhawks
- Razor found in muffin an accident, 'mortified' baker says
- Mariners sign Jack Wilson to 2-year contract
- Suspect's family shaken by slaying of police officer
- Mountlake Terrace woman reports razor in muffin
- Ivar's undersea billboards a hoax devised as marketing ploy
- Police investigate videotaped arrest
631 - Seattle man to pack a pistol into community center to protest mayor's ban
189 - Light rail to airport to begin Dec. 19
177 - GOP clueless as families struggle with health care
162 - KVI talk radio host off the air as of Thursday
127 - ESPN's Bill Simmons gets us: He hates Clay Bennett, too
125 - Mariners sign Jack Wilson to 2-year contract
114 - Prosecutor weighs death penalty in police slaying
103 - Wright State game thread
97 - Person of interest in custody in connection with Greenwood arsons
94
- Light rail to airport to begin Dec. 19
- Homeless man, 46, arrested in Greenwood arsons
- Ivar's undersea billboards a hoax devised as marketing ploy
- Steve Kelley | ESPN's Bill Simmons gets us: He hates Clay Bennett, too
- Washington in race for federal education funds
- KVI talk radio host off the air as of Thursday
- Goodwill's Glitter Sale is Nov. 14-15
- Police investigate videotaped arrest
- Boeing: 787 fix is complete on first plane
- Seattle U. Men's Hoops | Big recruit goes from Huskies to Redhawks





