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tv   Book TV  CSPAN  March 20, 2010 7:00pm-8:15pm EDT

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what is left of journalism. thank goodness "the washington post" owns kaplan testing or there might the more problems. i not only am pleased to introduce robert and john jeter here but i am now jealous because i have not written a book, and i am pleased that he has done so. the only thing i ask is i get to ask the first question after they make their presentations. by the way with the exception of a few exceptions i will represent all the white people here tonight. i know you always ask what do black people think about this so you can ask me what the white people think about this. thank you. robert. [applause] ..
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>> not to one at ideology or
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another but to cut through bad to say here is what the democrats say and republicans say to introduce you to all of those folks at the same time. i did some political reporting but then i gravitated away from it because not a lot of it felt real. i didn't know if i was, it almost didn't matter if i was talking to democrats or republicans because they were not talking about their real people on the campaign trail when they go out into america what past as reeled journalism during the iowa caucus is it was knocking on doors. that is the reporting john and i have done over the years and that is just where we come from. two years ago when barack
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obama was elected president there was a lot of themes help, the change and and a number of other things when we start talking about black people the discussion was black people think this and it was one black people as terry talked about with her representing white people. this turn of the camera lens another way to say who are these folks and what do they think? so we talk to you new workers, axle vendors, we talk to people who were business owners who don't want taxes cut and a lot of people who have different opinions about the work. the first chapter that i will read from we have
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personal chapter's my personal chapter was about my own family, is centered around my grandmother daisy mae francis. our family moved off of the plantation in 1975 and that is not a mistake. i was seven years old when we moved away from the plantation. so we talked about that to serve from the connection to slavery at the presidency. i will read a little bit about that chapter. >> for most of these lives expression was not an option on the plantation everybody understood the rules white people talk and black people did they were told. the wife of the man that one's own the property who worked in the fields and in
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the 1850's the greek revival structure at the rear was a sweeping lawn that role. stately oaks that shaded my grandmother and my mother hong and me. we hid from the the sun under those trees and ran up the steps oblivious to all that have gone on before. between the black labor and wealth it was home to 13,000 slaves more than any other parish in the state. my grandmother was born november 22, 1929 there are no records of her birth but she knows that her birthday because of family friend remembered her own daughter had been born on the same day. and she was two months old she was given away by her mother that worked for a white family and it was amazing she could take the child along.
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and then the bertha died when my grandmother was five. i have paid a memory that pop the second wife remainder brought half a century later. that old girl was mean and never had any children of her own. i was something she felt that she wanted to be don she did it. poppa doesn't know that i never told him. i don't blame him. his house was down that was passed down from slavery. the house from the bedroom and but catch of room that daisy mae slept on the sofa bed to socialize. they have a little bit of everything mustard greens and turnips. most of the time we had meet to go along with rice and gravy. schoolchildren walked one hour each way to attend school the closest town in franklin. my grandmother wanted to be
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a nurse and quit school in the eighth grade to help out on the plantation. the nil turned a nonstop october through january until it was dismantled. every hand was needed to bring in the crop and slavery my seven of law but life on the plantation move to the same cyclical rhythm of our ancestors. long after slavery had ended blacksburg treated like children. if they went sick to go to a doctor it was sent to the manager of the plantation that took about a little at a time. at the company store the store clerk decided when the credit had been reached. storer challenged -- prices were unchallenged and if not until 19683 years after that that the majority of black citizens participated in a national election but that
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did not necessarily mean free choice. the overseer would say there is an election coming up and you are supposed '04. fast forward one of my uncles was drafted to the nfl and he got a contract but two years after he was drafted and then that was a reaction to move to town. it was a joy the one thing i appreciate it above that was that you could have water. she was no longer isolated she did not drive but she can walk the places across the street to the elementary the former negro school she attended as a child. she was hired as a coke and her boss was a black woman.
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i never dreamed of that. i will stop there. that is to represent the where we came from in this country and why there was euphoria of the election of a black president did as an aside, maghreb -- grandmother had ovarian cancer for four years and died on wednesday. we just buried heard today actually. but she is the reason this book came about it resold this book with her chapter to the publishers. >> first of all, i want to thank everybody for coming out. last week we were in new york and we had snow so we are thinking of renaming
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this the biblical book tour or the fire or the locus. [laughter] but robert tisch to a clamps for what he read from his grandmother was the inspiration of this book. it is the first chapter of where we begin and where black america begins and rooted in the south on the plantation we were suspicious of each other because we both worked for "the washington post." but one of the things when the first conversations that he told me he was born in the slave quarters of the bayou of louisiana. i was raised in indianapolis in the midwest and i just could not believe that. i thought he was lying because i could not conceptualize being born into the slave quarters but anyway what you can hear from roberts reading is two
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rihanna's not preoccupied with barack obama we want to tell the story of of sand to our we and what does it mean to be black in the age of obama? in the process of asking who we are and what is a race? i came upon this reason the doing some reading this is just my second book but i swear every book i have written so far the week after it is published i have the exact perfect quote. this is from a european, a black european british sociologists that said it is not biological but it is more language than anything. that is what we try to capture is the language of black america in this age of
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obama if you think of the most molecular form i did it then if they lowered to that this day narrative that we have been hurt daisy their experience or pass down from our tribe that have experienced it. and what do we need from our of leadership to identify who we are? that idea of identity of making who we are gives a distinct political character through anecdotes also a number that they showed very clearly. the first things that african americans are the most liberal voting bloc in the country you can see that
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poll after poll by a california group to that shows that looking at city by a city and even in the most conservative city is a new top. it is a function of the language of the race is liberation. they want to be free. with their political consciousness and to talk about this in the book that economic policy of black people, a keynesian which means we see that government plays a role in our economics. if there was one of the umc that african americans
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really want to have eight robust role in job creation a job creation program but the second thing equally important is that we are distinctly pro union and a chapter in the book that talks about the factory in chicago shortly after barack was elected they had a sit-down strike and the of plant closed to give the factory workers their wages. this is mostly latino and blacks then in 1930 style sit-down strike and demanded wages it was on television and obama to his credit played a big role of urging them on because he came on television and said he supported the strike. one of the things one of the
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things i discovered is that one of the earliest forms of the union organizing was black women on the plantation. and it was a sit-down strike in order to get a sunday off to visit the relative on another plantation and this is one in serious forms of activity and to this day if you talk to a union avoidance lawyer that says the person or the people they fear the most because black men are the most likely to join a union. it is always the one in. with every democratic -- democratic but especially with us. the only thing is that we're very pro-military but you
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can see this going back since world war ii african americans have been steadfastly a against as a means of rising up and social mobility, with one exception the initially supported some propaganda then we turned against it. i fail to say understanding who we are is really the basis for what is called the national consciousness or what is called black consciousness. this is not to be comes confused with nationalism that is a chauvinistic view of your community. a sort of nationalistic barometer the same way you use race or gender or try.
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a consciousness is very different. in understanding of where you try to get to and it is the opposite of reactionary reactionary by fighting fire with fire you don't do that you fight it with water you fight racism with solidarity and a capitalistic system that uses people as tools. you fight back with a capitalist system that turns that equation upside down and the economy is an instrument of the people. i fail to talk a little bit about sorts of who we are, where we are going and
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to raise the question whether or not barack obama it is transported leadership that we need a bid is more reactionary and transactional? robert to read the first chapter about his grandmother but i will read about the last chapter that is about a young man a young south african, 28, and he married a young african-american woman from chicago. and in this chapter begins basically with barack obama at the 2008 convention in denver and if there is a group of people, about 10 people, mostly black a few arabs and we're watching television as barack obama takes the stage. this young man is watching
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and everyone else is celebrating. they a rope with the celebration and lead is not celebratory but looking principally with his head on his hand and on his knees. almost like he is worried. i describe this later in the conversation of this moment and why he looks so principally at this event that everybody is celebrating. of course, , i will start reading from here. materially very little has changed for his black countrymen from white minority rule in the first-ever credit election unemployment is higher than ever. the disparities have grown in the crime rate has soared, schools are
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crumbling and the farm land, the country's most valuable resource remains almost wholly owned by whites just as it was when the-- of apartheid. blocking to any nice restaurant and came down and see who sits and service and to address the mercedes to work and who rides the bus. the pleats of micro buses that swarm to keep down like angry buzzing bees who owns a house and who cleans it? mandela has come and gone and voters are preparing to elect the third black president. but the defining truth now as always is that the darker the skin the poor you are. what good is it to a prisoner if your dealer looks like you but does not set you free. black south africans turned to one of their own to govern the wasted the opportunity to transform the values by outsiders. and he could barely halt the
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think of obama doing this a mistake in his country in south africa lee believed looking to the west generally in washington d.c. specifically to solve the problem of the african people. and as was the case of apartheid may even have a fetish for democracy or the three market where people of color. what is it that the cubans say? each day in the world 200 million children sleep in the streets, not one of them is in cuba. can america say that? while lee is watching obama's takes a step toward the presidency and an african proverb comes to mind that the black countrymen use to describe their dilemma in the post-apartheid era. i got and that the nose down to crack it with. some black majority government build new homes for the people but left
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without wanting to pay the rent provided them with running water brushoff attack when they could not pay the bill. replace the name of baldheaded white segregationist on the public-school houses with those of black liberation heroes but did not replace the shoddy roof ordered companies to hire blacks but permitted them to slash wages. so it goes for the new south africa where a small white minority continues to have it a splendid country, a splendid -- spending can treat for all intents and purposes is canada although most liv have living conditions similar to kenya although it seems south africans only apply a fresh coat of paint the architecture remains intact. i like obama's i am just not
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into him said lee privity is a black man with a white mentality because he is raised in a household starting with his brand of starting on the ronald reagan garbage. black americans have seen in one another there "avatar" although no slaves from that country were on the shores of the united states jim crow laws were not from apartheid structure. the catechism of the assassinated african-american malcolm x was the model four that preached by the south african both mandela and cain got inspiration america is a potent anti-a america movement was put forth buy black americans like randall robinson white settlers to have the initial apartheid state is from the americans
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wait seven years in both have invented folklore tales of a concord hostile lands in hostile dark skin people delivering civilization and technology to welcome the savages they translate the word for as a redneck. there's a popular story told in south africa perhaps apocryphal. it goes like this back of a white south africa and travels united states in the mid-80s and landed at o'hare international airport in chicago. at customs a white american immigration officer looks through the passport for a minute or two prompting the white south africa and travelers to ask if there is a problem. you are from south africa of he asks without looking up? do my guess i am the traveler answered the immigration officers stand the passport lifted his head to look the south african in the eyes and smiled and
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returned it to him. we like the way you handle your niggers over there and blamed him through. 1951 the year obama was born and mandela thought the armed wing of the african national congress, black americans earned on average $0.54 of every dollar of white americans and the percentage of all living in poverty were black. 99% of all four south africans are black and african americans earnings have inched up $0.57 for every dollar and by the white americans. these are not political structures or economic structures designed for black people to get ahead. later he says while the rumors around him is celebrating obama's acceptance address.
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at roughly that moment his friend whose parents hailed from haiti surfaced grinning broadly. yes brother, we are about to do this. pounding his chest for emphasis shocked the world south african style baby. south african style. yes lee said calmly. that is exactly what i am afraid of. anyway, i will open to question is hereby i hope you get a feel of what we're trying to elaborate that what is our identity and who we are in this age of post ratio america the. >> in post ratio america and
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your presentation thank you for the small libertarians [inaudible] it is a slogan and i is in the eyes of the beholder if you look at the progress of the last half century of those that say whether you talking about? consider that to be the argument. don't argue about that word at how much race plays of
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the economic prosperity. were the advancements of the aggregate. and contest that with how much individual haters white or black the behavior displayed in the economic development. [inaudible] isn't that a better debate to have? >> like the when you are talking about and redo talk about that and i think we do focus on individuals. we have differences of opinion that is why rewrote the book together partly because there are lots of different america's.
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but, it is unmistakable there are still top-down danes that happened in america that affect how you operate in today's society by a black man was elected president of the united states when year ago and the next morning in a lot of communities including my own the papers that headline in the newspaper that disseminate the news from that area said louisiana favors mccain. that was the headline. we do not even say obama was president but obama to receive intelligence 33 not to say he was the president of united states. it is not true just not true what exist in today's society. had there been progress?
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everyone we talked to talks about the progress made but the political terms that doesn't mean anything to squelch discussion as opposed to open the debate. >> i just want to add one thing. the attack on the book that was a complicated defect between race and class. but the one thing you see it over and over again giving voice to ordinary and celebrated african-americans are those who are not black or identified that speak the same language that would profile from scotland's original the ameritech caribbean man and had a cute daughter but she is a black as a person in the book in
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some ways but to identify and talk about every successful social movement in this country's history, black people have played a central role. that is not meant to assert any kind of supremacy or superiority but that is just share with the abolitionist movement, a civil-rights movement, reconstructions with strives to build the egalitarian society for white people as well. we try to give this of voice. because typically when blacks have been from the leadership country it is so sad but we went to give voice to people whose voices are increasingly marginalized but barry sentral to stage a very central to the progress of the central movement.
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. . i believe barack obama is one of the first the united states presidents that lacks a base. because mainly to of the main groups responsible for the
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election were african-americans and young people, and both of these groups have not traditionally been in the power structure of america therefore we are not used to holding the leaders accountable or as good as you would say that in the evangelical movement. and i think this impacts obama's ability to impact these groups because he doesn't have his base and it's hard for him to have any solid construct that informs his decision making because obviously it doesn't a line african americans political community by the lack of ability to sway his agenda so i just wanted to get your reaction to that that obama doesn't necessarily have a base and maybe our fault being able to hold the leaders accountable.
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>> the argument you make about why obama is not dealing with some of his constituents is because the constituents are not making him do it so you could argue that would go to the first point but i guess i would take exception with the fact african-americans were one of the main people that elected him because democrats have always gotten 90%, 97% of the black vote and so obama i have gotten a frigate with the number is but he could have gotten more but we are still 13% of the boat. if they would have just gone and waited for him they maybe they would have heard him. but anyway, you wanted to say something? >> [inaudible] >> that is a great question. it's actually the question i respond to in this book because robert and i have been arguing -- some ways we agree we want to go what we've been arguing
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basically two years about barack obama but here's what i have to say about that. two things. one, but barack obama does have a base. the problem is that base and this is not unique to barack obama. is true of bill clinton, that the establishment for lack of a better term conservatives and even to be honest some of the blue dog democrats, the white democrats from southern states mostly were more conservative don't accept as legitimate his base which is black people, people of color, women, they don't accept the basis. that is part of his problem, it is, and so if you look at how sort of george bush responded once he was elected president the first time even though he did not win that election he had a mandate because he was in office, that's a mandate, it? so that brings us to the second
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point which is part of the problem is he's not recognized as having a legitimate case, he's not a legitimate president by wide swaths of the country. i couldn't tell you if it is half or not but it's a substantial chunk of the country. the other problem is that i don't have the answer to this, but i agree black people have to do more to make demands on black politicians and all politicians and actual working class people need to make demands on our politicians. i'm not sure it's going to work and this is why. if you will get the sort of antiwar demonstrations they put people in the streets you look at the immigrants movement that put millions of people in the streets of chicago and los angeles arnold the country and that didn't change and so i say that to say this. i'm not convinced we are not at
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a point this is a failed state that is unable or unwilling to respond to the will of most of the people. if you look at health care reform most people want single-payer some kind of government style health care reform, canadian-style, european-style, they don't get it. they don't want us to be in this war. allin we are at war we expand the war under barack obama to read to issue is one of which is that there is a sort of illegitimate base barack obama is having a very powerful people and the other is i'm not sure that he isn't having at this point a failed state. he's not innocent in this, but it's not like he's the first either. there is a history of i think if he goes back to clinton at least of this being a field state on responsive to the people and you see that again and again. >> the field state is and how people talk about it, some people talk about it as a failed
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state that people talk about the of responsiveness of government and not in that larger sort of context but there is a lot of different voices i would say and some argue that there's not enough pressure on that and i don't think that is easily dismissed. >> good evening. dalia enjoyed the presentation. brother jeter, you said that blacks constitute the most viable. i would say for the most part because if you put the issue of same-sex marriage on the ballett, the political wisdom [inaudible] life two quick questions. first of all as you have heard from terry mcmillan racial nomenclature as the upcoming citizens when it comes to the issue of race you say black
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african-americans or negro and there are a number of african-americans who are really protesting that negro is actually appearing on the government 2010 census but supposedly there is still black population. would you feel about that? >> i first want to respond because this is the first question you had about our african-americans towards the gay community and gave rights and this is actually the one, if we had more time to one chapter in the book i wanted to write is about african-americans attitudes towards the gay community and based on what happened in her los angeles and california bring the dog e. election and i don't know if you remember this but there was tremendous scapegoating that
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field the exit polls that said african-americans are against the marriage and we work. the majority of african-americans voted were against gay marriage. not nearly as much as latinos, whites, mormons, catholics. why would people scapegoat us than? this is not feeling sort of a very relevant issue to the book which is sort of like this cynicism, faithless miss and the african-american community as a sort of this inability to sort of recognize us for who we truly are. there is a tremendous amount of homophobia in the african-american community. it just happens not so much as other communities so why are we always singled out? there is a new ones that's complicated. i don't want to make it seem as though we are perfect. we are not by any structure. we need to deal with this idea of homophobia that it is a lot more nuanced and i think that you will see in the mainstream
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press. on the issue of i've never spoken to terry miller and i don't expect a call from her by the week. [laughter] and the last question i am aware of the language for the census. i'm kind of like bostick. i think especially now when we are seeing -- if you look at the real unemployment now everyone on just blacks but the real unemployment rate if you measured the way we did in '88 it is 18%, the height of the depression it was 25%. so detroit and things like that, detroit, oakland, basically it is third world, literally the same as what you see in joe thomas burke south africa and so it seems almost like a distraction. it's not that big a deal like don't think personally. my personal opinion there is so much more to be concerned about. really i think the irony of this book and barack obama is at the
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time we import this black president we are black people, african american people are more isolated from the mainstream, from the neighbors than ever at any point in the history of america. if you think about sort of their jim-crow is gone which in some ways kept a lid on how far we could go and now we have an incredible distance between wealthy african-americans and everybody else which is true of the entire country and that is unsustainable. that is how and tires and communities and people collapse. so i am just kind of diagnostic on the whole sense this issue. >> [inaudible] [laughter] >> i grew up in alabama so i know the deep south. thank you for the book. i'm looking forward to it. one, you say in the book there
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is a wide variety of opinions for people in the african-american community. do you consider that a demonstration of the fact that the notion of the style leadership one hersman person lead people to the promised land and that diversity of opinion kind of, the failure of president obama ghaith a significant agenda that would lead black people pleased that he is going to be a will to deal with the advice and the fact he can't do things does it suggest a gay king or malcolm x speaking for the whole group that is antiquated because even the most powerful position on the planet and yet prior to his ability to move his position all needs to not be considered as a black leader. the flip side is sometimes we
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should be careful of what we ask for because we get it because in terms of president obama becoming the first black president is now the icon for the meritocracy like he has risen from the place that any black people, he has risen from the place many black people start and we know his pedigree. two things one, the leadership of state and number two, our presence has become an indictment against us. >> the country when we start talking about how the media, i mean it's hard to -- it's easy to do that though. it's hard in the media environment in which we operate. that is what ends up -- i don't want to say that sells necessarily the that is how you
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end up our community is different than it was when martin luther king. there are different voices and i guess what me step back a little bit. when we talk about what barack obama's agenda is and what he has not been able to get accomplished first of all a lot of things people ascribed to him as he wanted to get accomplished he never said he was going to do and so i feel we have to sort of back up and say what did he say he was granted a for instance when we talk about afghanistan he's doing exactly what he said he was going to do. people say we should be out of the war but he said on the campaign trail i'm going to increase the troops in afghanistan. so that's not something you can knock him on because he said he was going to do that and a number of other issues similar. so i think that is one issue. the second part is i'm not sure -- i think going back to the question earlier there were certain segments of the
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community who may be some who were not participating, young people and people who otherwise feel like they are left out of the sort of mainstream who thought that you could get things done right now. but most of the people that we talk to that understood clearly that the sort of improvement or a process, people like for instance the couple that we talked her out of prince george county they wanted one thing, largely one thing. they are small business owners. a day say don't get rid of bush's tax of people overturning triggered $50,000. they aren't looking for a party in this guy thing. that is a very specific thing and do for me what you did for the big corporations. that is one level of folks. and angela in the chapter we are talking about with a thud to mixed-race daughters, she wanted something done about health care, very specific.
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i want to focus on the environment and health care. so i think that her basic thing was the disappointment in barack obama for them is not that he hasn't achieved all of those things but they don't like he has thrown a rock on their behalf it. it's like all we want you to do is a throwback to the structure john is talking about that says all these corporations get whatever it is that they want to but i want someone -- i want to feel like you recognize the problems that by having and we will try to at least in packed them. >> i just want to say one thing because i think the idea of the figure in politics is so strong it goes back robert and buyer both privileged to live in south africa for a short time and the idea of the messiah test, we've got it honest. that is something that africans and african-americans that we've always believed in but i have to say i'm not sure that it's ever
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existed in this country and to some extent, it's been a failure of the messianic figure in barack obama or even the last 30 years it is always i think emblematic of just the sort of polarizing class division of erupted within the last 40 years in our karan bhatia, and so what you have for people who are more and more distanced from working-class people and concerns of working-class people and i don't want to get to a satiric about this but this is the theory and one of the things we talk of the factory workers in chicago and these are essentially there is -- when they decided they were going to strike and they were arguing about should the strike should have a sit-down strike basically there was discussion came down to whether or not mexicans most of whom just came over the last ten years many of whom didn't have their papers to be honest,
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would they be deported the blacks many of whom had previous arrests would they be arrested and again they just sit screwed if we are to board we are deported of we are arrest a we are arrested, whatever. and i think so much of when you look at king of course was from a middle class family in a land of but if you look to the rest of that movement so many of them were from working-class families the people who really in power king or from a working-class environments. i think that is what is missing. so the messiah was always in some ways if you look at king and malcolm definitely from a working-class family. fred hampton, you know, who i am a huge fan of. very much working-class families and even if you look at all over the world sort of the power and impact of unions and radicalizing people and making them sort of understanding what their rights are and what their rights should be and that is what is missing on this because
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ultimately isolation of people and that is i think the greatest danger for the community now that we are isolated from one another. rich from poor and that is true for the entire country that to me is the messiah figure comes up short and we can't produce them anymore. >> good evening. thank you for sharing. [inaudible] that is when barack obama campaigned [inaudible] personal responsibility for your issues. so it seems like you said, you started to talk about this a little bit, i'm not so sure
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[inaudible] utah gave little bit about this and say first of all we just want to make sure taxes are not [inaudible] so my question is to the extent can we really have the discussion when we decide what is we actually want besides saying we want our children to perform rather than saying we want our children to graduate from high school the matter with the rate is for black children we just want to make sure [inaudible] >> yeah but that goes back to the question of who is we and we isn't a monolith because when you start crossing those things there are some folks whose issue isn't there. their kids are graduating at a high level.
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if you've got money your kids are doing fine. and so those black people, it's not their main issue. we are good with that. i don't know. i think there is -- anyway i think the question you have to go back to who is we again and is that just when you start talking about the community is to have to live in a same place, and that affects sort of having one of waste. >> i feel a little bit differently than robert on this. surprise. in that i think this gets back to the on responsiveness of the government and i think it's complicated but i think we are very clear on some issues not just african-americans but the country as a whole when it comes to health care we are very clear poll after poll shows we want
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some sort of government finance health care system. we are close on that. we clearly want us to be out of iraq and afghanistan. we've escalated those war at least in afghanistan and i think this gets to i know this is critical among black people, but i think in some ways it raises the question of what is -- people talk about how smart barack obama is and i never met him i don't have any idea but, you know, the first thing he did in the health care debate was to take single-payer off the table. what good does that do? the employee free trade pact with talk about a labor unions, this is something that was originally authored plus probably the most progressive piece of legislation in 50 years and what it could have done was to strengthen the labor unions and strengthen the democratic
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base most people want to join labor unions. poll after poll shows people want to join labor unions. why would it to pass that piece of legislation which wouldn't just sort of strengthen workers and their ability to make a living and raise their family and contribute to the economy which is what is wrong with the economy but would also contribute your main base and so this is my question which is who is he listening to and why and i think obviously we are not articulating -- we are not meeting the demand in a way that he feels that but again the distance between our political class and average on celebrated americans is just a fast and hard and almost insurmountable what seems. >> i think you had the next question. >> first full congratulations on the book.
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[inaudible] [laughter] i disagreed, jon, on one particular thing and that is to call it a failed state. i have the complete opposite view. and something from the story that you broke [inaudible] about race and politics and that is that when a diverse society becomes a virulent and conservative and states like minnesota, nations like sweden and scandinavian countries to develop the social safety net [inaudible] who are the beneficiaries when a show is different than the majority of the population it is seen as i am getting my money.
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[inaudible] what i saw is the "washington post" reporter troubled public some local state and national. the best majority of the country doesn't and their influence on politics and a democracy lead the democracy to do exactly what they want them to do. so i don't think it is a failed state. i think in the sense that the poll that you are looking at and talking about our asking people the basic question of the single parent after system yes most of them say yes but as soon as you say what if all these people like this immigration debate and floods and people coming that isn't happening support to the debate on health care. those people are going to be the beneficiaries of that? u.s. this the one single payer health care system to benefit those people i believe a vast
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majority of this country so i think that to the extent democracy works the way that it's supposed to work is we have to change the mentality of the majority of the population but they don't think like we do. and i think the reason my the opposition of barack obama is so virulent is because we see the embodiment of someone like no one before which is to get the benefit for those people who have been disenfranchised. it's not just because he's listening to a few people who disagree, he's listening to a majority of people that they they don't want to take their money and benefits people. >> you must me specifically so i want to explain i think what you are saying i agree there is no coincidence that if you look at a country like one piece of been
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thinking about writing recently is how chile in 1990 was faced with almost this exact same sort of economic environment where the head the cycles of boom and bust where the econ money was geared towards speculation and not production and they switched course like that and it's not perfect but they created basically almost from whole clause because pinot sherwen this country's centrally and they created the most productive economy in latin america the last 20 years and it's not a coincidence that country's white it is overwhelmingly white. i agree completely argentina if you look what they've done the last five or six years the scandinavian countries i agree completely it isn't coincidence these countries are white but i do think there is having said that there is still a step in the industrial process that we never took and i think this happened in the 40's where we
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never sort of recognize our eletes, our political class was clear they were never going to let what happened in your shop where you have a working class movement, flyable working-class movement they were never going to let that happen. if you look at something like the taft hartley bill we talked about this in the book and about the union movement but if you look at that bell was meant and intended so that is one of the reasons we don't have the single payer health care because wherever you have single-payer healthcare you have a viable low-cost unions so i think you're right. reese is a huge component but it's more than that. i think it's the corruption of the political class and also the sort of isolation again of the political class and then of last. so i guess i'm saying that i agree with you to some extent. >> we will take two more questions and then have time personally of robert and jon so
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they can sign your books. now don't forget that they are honored by your presence but are more honored by your money so go by the book. [laughter] this gentleman had the next question and this lady will be the last. three questions. and then you will buy the book. >> yes, i must say i agree with a lot but i disagree with some and let me see if i can sum up. i think that one of the big issues -- i grew up in the caribbean so i think the man from south africa was [inaudible] but in a strange way i met tremendous resistance like why are you against -- i'm not
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against obama. it's just i'm telling you african-american people this is not going to [inaudible] [laughter] and so what we not -- a figure who is going to transition things if he was a great leader in the first place -- [inaudible] >> for him it was a step forward it was a step forward. >> there was a great sense of donner african-american, but the fact he's from the purely symbolic standpoint i think his election needs to be seen against he was coming in against a very important issue at the time and here was a guy using
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that space of bankruptcy. one of the things you were talking about it seems that for example barack obama and the future of american politics in which it is a frightening look if you read. this is obama completely. it sums up to obama is completely. ..
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>> our presidential elections are not that complicated just a few states.
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i am from indiana if the vote was today i don't care he was running against you will not win ohio if you are telling me that some laid-off autoworkers as unemployment benefits expire six months ago will go and go for barack obama because he saw hope and change title believe it. i do not believe it. road apiece recently saying i believe right now i think sarah palin is an ex-president because it really if you look at the history of this country that any time there has been this sort of recognition and idea from the right to wean voters there is the egalitarian post ratio of our -- post ratio thomas summarize them black power movement there is a backlash
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that have been based on the right to weighing anger and people of color will not come to the polls. it does not matter if it is george bush or barack obama they will not come out that is what we're looking at. [inaudible] >> congratulations on your buck. whether your expectations for barack obama? the second part of that i have never seen changes come solely by the ballot box. it has always been a
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historical changes in become public from a popular movement. and to say he is a failure because it has only been one year that in some ways it has been abandoned. that movement that led to him with his campaign and i have to say finally that to to be taken vantage a democracy in this country of the historical and economic
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position completely on the outside to push her way and. i don't think they made a mistake from this point*. >> i don't think they've made a mistake i think it is the best possible candidate but i think we both understand if you look at have washington was affected , up 30 years ago? almost. if you look and we talk about flipping the book, the movement led by workers as said we need change and identified the candidate, what would happen? and with the one term and a few days that he had had but
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it was a response to the people elected i think that is a 0.i was trying to make that we have been so isolated there is no hope for write now. there is no social movement to make him respond. i agree it is now barack obama is called. what does the ozal labor union when he only represents 12% of the work force? nothing. >> did your grandmother have a chance to read part of the book. >> she read the book and she said you did not put that in there did you? [laughter] it is interesting. she did read the book first
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of all, when she was coming of did not have time to think about these and said when i was raising 13 kids come i didn't have time to look at tv and it did not matter and did not have television initially but her thoughts after the election were interesting because she was afraid he would be killed like a lot of people but secondly, she didn't have a lot of expectations because she was not sure, that is where we talk about what he would be able to do. but to say this guy would be elected president and particularly six or seven months into the term with the entire year of the presidency obama, obama's, obama. so in some ways like every other politician that was totally different from her
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primary caregiver, my mom that was say big supporter. my grandmother had it much more and be she live longer and did not have as much believe that the political structure would change as much with just the election of this one man. >> thank you for coming and for the excellent presentation. [applause]
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>> we're at the annual cpac conference in from isi books chris gen what are your biggest sellers in 2009? >> we had the bug iconoclast the history of the supply-side economics. that did very well also rounded do with it destiny when it is the history of the reagan campaign for president and also matt
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spalding's book of restoring the principles of the constitution. >> what you have coming up in 2010? >> a biography of volume of buckley called the founder of the movement from the heritage foundation and also have a book called all whitaker chambers from the library of modern think you're a series and we have a book called the down by eight thaddeus mciver about conservative as some in the coming years and finally we have a book called the closing of the mind by a robert ryan a that is an that needs to be resolved before we go further. >> you have any offers that are signing books today? >> matthew spaulding he will
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be signing books also craig shirley two roach ron diddy with destiny will be here tomorrow. >> can you tell us about isi bookspan general? how long has the country -- company been around are they part of other publisher? >> we have been around since 1993 and are part of the heritage studies institute that works with college students, professors, a student newspapers and to an extent we facilitate that by having intellectual and cultural events with the aim to restore the culture we have lost. before that we have published books but also not under our publishing house but went outside but 1993 we have been integrated. >> host: is say
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ideological concentration? >> more to bring back the cultural underpinnings of conservatism not so much this is what we need to do now or take action by bring back the thought of the culture and to the movement to get people to think about it and ruminate what is being played out. >> thank you for your time christian

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