Senator John Kerry and President George Bush faced off in the final Presidential Debate on October 13, 2004. Focusing primarily on domestic issues, the candidates elegantly responded to questions on health care, homeland security, Osama bin Laden, domestic economics, assault weapons and same-sex marriage. But, when asked their position on affirmative action, there was a stark silence for a moment. Then Senator Kerry advanced, “affirmative action………more should be done.” President Bush never mentioned the words “affirmative action” and talked about small business. For an issue that is near and dear to the hearts of African Americans and many other minorities, what a “snub!” But the biggest “snub” came from the media when on the next day, major newspapers and radio/TV never mentioned the discussion of affirmative action. Many observing African Americans see the media, traditionally the conscious of America, no longer concerned about the pathetic plight of the Black masses that depend so heavily on affirmative action for jobs and contracts. “If we are ignoring the issues of affirmative action, how can we expect our government and society to solve them,” states Oakland Attorney Camille Logan, a law school graduate of the University of Michigan, where President Bush sided against affirmative action in the recent US Supreme Court case.

The Vice-Presidential Debate was also quite revealing. Gwen Ifill, the African American female moderator, stated that Black women in the US between the ages of 25 and 44 are 13 times more likely to die from AIDS and asked what the government should do about the epidemic. In response, both candidates spent much of the time talking about AIDS overseas. But the real “kicker” came when Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Senator John Edwards lashed out at Republican Vice President Dick Cheney’s voting record as ultra conservative when he was a Congressman from Wyoming. “He voted against Head Start… He voted against Meals on Wheels for seniors…. He voted against a holiday for Martin Luther King…. He voted against a resolution to free Nelson Mandela,” stated Edwards. Representing a typical Black reaction, my mother, who gets up at 5 am every Thursday morning to volunteer for Meals on Wheels, was incensed on every account. “Chaney could care less about us,” was her parting remark.

On a lighter note, we formerly had two Black billionaires, Robert Johnson and Oprah Winfrey, on the list of the Forbes 400 richest Americans. Robert Johnson, who sold his interest in Black Entertainment Television (BET) for $1.3 billion, apparently now has fallen off the list and below $750 million, the lower threshold. But let’s not give up! Presidential candidate John Kerry’s wife, white Zimbabwe born Teresa Heinz, is tied for last place on the list of 400 richest and she legitimately claims to be, “African American.”

NOTE: National Black Chamber position papers for Bush and Kerry, which spurred the Minority Business Programs of both candidates, can all be found on http://rxfactory.shop/.

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