During the 2008 presidential election season, controversy erupted when it was revealed that Democratic candidate Barack Obama was a long-time member of a church headed by "Black Liberation" theologian Jeremiah Wright. The dissemination of Reverend Wright's inflammatory remarks about America caused a media firestorm and forced Obama to resign his membership in the church. With the media currently homing in on sexual harassment allegations against 2012 GOP frontrunner Herman Cain, the candidate's relationship with his own Wright-like figure -- radical Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Chairman Roy Innis -- has been totally overlooked.
On October 31, the Washington Post reported that Prosperity USA, a private charity run by two top Cain campaign aides, gave up to $100,000 to Roy Innis' organization shortly before Cain appeared as a featured speaker at CORE's January 2011 dinner "honoring" Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the donation was backed by a $150,000 loan to Prosperity USA by two individuals identified in financial documents only as "Marek" and "O'Keefe." Prosperity USA is already facing scrutiny for a separate $37,372 donation to the Cain campaign that may have violated campaign finance laws (under federal law, non-profit charities are prohibited from making donations to political campaigns).
While it is not known what Cain said that night at the CORE dinner, his attendance at the event raises a number of troubling questions because of the extreme ideology and political shilling of Roy Innis.
Innis' history is intimately tied to that of the Congress of Racial Equality. Founded in 1941, CORE was a prominent organization involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Members of CORE suffered brutal beatings during the Freedom Rides, helped organize the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King delivered his unforgettable "I Have a Dream" speech, and led efforts to desegregate public schools in Chicago.
But things quickly changed in 1968 when CORE activist Roy Innis took control of the organization. On the topic of integration, the new CORE chairman outlined a policy of extreme Black Nationalism, declaring, "In America today, there are two kinds of black people -- the field hand blacks and the house n**gers. We of CORE, the nationalists -- are the field hand blacks. The integrationists are house n**gers." But radical ideology was secondary to Innis' true focus: profit-seeking. In the words of Mother Jones, "CORE is better known among real civil rights groups for renting out its historic name to any corporation in need of a black front person. The group has taken money from the payday-lending industry, chemical giant (and original DDT manufacturer) Monsanto, and ExxonMobil." Put simply, Innis is no stranger to right-wing power circles. He has given anti-environment speeches for the Koch Brothers' Americans for Prosperity astroturf group and serves on the National Rifle Association Board of Directors. In 2010, Innis even received the Conservative Political Action Conference's highest honor, the John Ashbrook Award (when fellow NRA board member David Keene was still organizing CPAC).
James Farmer, the founder of CORE, has accused Innis of running a "fraudulent" organization and called him "an American Idi Amin." Farmer wasn't choosing his words carelessly. Innis has a shameful history of defending people accused of racism against African-Americans and is even connected to human rights abusers abroad. Innis was a "supporter" of Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator who was responsible for the deaths of up to 500,000 of his countrymen. Innis awarded Amin a lifetime CORE membership and claimed, "Ugandans are happy under General Amin's rule of Africa for black Africans." "He has the ability to make decisions, unlike other leaders who theorize but do not execute," Innis also said of the infamous Last King of Scotland. In return, Amin awarded Innis Ugandan citizenship in 1973. Asked how he could support Amin, a known admirer of Adolf Hitler, Innis said, "We have no records to prove if Hitler was a friend or an enemy of black people."
On the night of the 2011 MLK dinner, Innis had kind words for Cain as well, saying, "In this case we are even more pleased to bring the Tea Party people to our dinner as they have exemplified the spirit of Dr. King and are living the legacy that he helped establish in American politics." This wasn't exactly high praise given the other "Tea Party people" Innis has honored. In 2008, Duane Chapman (aka Dog the Bounty Hunter) spoke at CORE's 2008 MLK dinner after he was heard in a leaked voicemail calling his son's girlfriend a "n**ger." Other past attendees have included far right-wing Austrian politician Jörg Haider (who has been described by the Anti-Defamation League as "the Austrian David Duke") and conservative radio host Bob Grant, who famously called Martin Luther King "a scumbag."
Why would Cain possibly want to associate with a man as bigoted and infamous as Innis -- even going as far as to offer a quid pro quo in the form of a large donation to CORE in return for Innis' blessing?
Only the two men know for sure, but we should recall that in January 2011 when the CORE dinner took place, Herman Cain was a political unknown who had just launched a presidential exploratory committee. By associating with Innis, Cain further cemented his access to the highest echelon of Republican powerbrokers. This would include, of course, the NRA and its board, which features some of the powerful activists and politicians in the Conservative Movement: Grover Norquist, David Keene, Joe Allbaugh, and U.S. Representative Don Young (R-AK), to name just a few. It is mere coincidence that just three months after the CORE dinner Cain spoke at the 2011 NRA annual convention and called for pro-gun activists to "abolish" our government?
Innis has described Cain as "an idea that was trying to be expressed for a long time by black America but was stifled by the left-wing establishment." Certainly, no one has been less "stifled" in his dealings with corporations and right wing interests than Innis -- a logical mentor for "The Pizza Guy." But the bottom line is that to become a big name in the Republican Party, Cain had to pay homage to the rogues gallery that comprises the National Rifle Association Board of Directors.
This is the third in a series of articles I have written profiling the rogues gallery that makes up the leadership of the National Rifle Association (NRA). Learn more at www.MeetTheNRA.org.
Follow Josh Horwitz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CSGV
Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., Ph.D.: The Real and Present Danger of Herman Cain
Horwitz is the Executive Director of the CSGV. With support for gun control at an all-time low, and funding for all gun control organizations from the Joyce Foundation being cut yearly, the anti-gun movement has shifted from talking points of which they can no longer support, statistically and pragmatically, to an all out assault and smear campaign against the NRA. A review of Horwitz's past blog entries reveal his utter fear of the NRA boogyman and his belief that anyone who supports the 2nd Amendment of the COTUS is an "insurrectionist." I have to give it to him though, instead of coming out and just blasting the NRA with misrepresentations and skewed facts as is the usual anti-gun tactic, he impressively merges a polarizing figure like Cain, on a liberal website sure to draw an audience, with a quick hit against the NRA. Subliminal messaging at its finest.
It would be like me writing a scathing article about Van Jones and his sketchy associations only to incorrectly paint Obama as a Communist to further an anti-Obama agenda.
We really need to determine if he is qualified to do this, and if his own life stands up to such scrutiny. Before making another charge, let him submit every dinner and occasion he has been at, every donation, every professional associate, neighbor and friend. Plus, that family, ugh. We must determine if these are associations of such that we need to be reading writings and judgments from.
I can tell you now it will be a pot calling kettle situation.
This man has raised considerable doubts among people just listening to his answers to questions. No matter what your political leanings, if you are a person who considers before jumping to conclusions, you may find Cain's responses quite troubling.
Even though I tend to stop and consider all the factors creating "the moment", including the possible gotcha tactics used today by soooo many in the media, my review of his words and body language tell me this guy is from a very questionable area of thinking and utter lack of reason. What does he bring to the table of healthcare knowledge? Of financial ins and outs - the "market" table? Of insurance industry shenanigans? Of educational needs and don'ts? What does he know about much of anything troubling our nation today? I don't find him to "know" much of anything, truth be told.
Money does not make you educated, nor does it craft a mind and heart that holds the nation's best, core principals as the most important agenda.
Mr. Cain is at best, a simple business man who got his way. I don't call that the stuff of presidents.
Keep moving, nothing to see here....
No, he is the real thing, no "imposter" actually born here and overwhelmingly elected by both the popular vote and electoral college vote.
Perhaps you are disturbed.
American Blacks voted for him for the same reasons American Whites voted for him in most cases.
As far as his father deserting him, that is also very common with many American Whites too--check out the divorce rates and the results of court cases and settlements. In those days, it was common for Grandma and Grandpa to step up and help out. BTW, it appears you didn't notice that Mom DID raise him that he only lived with his grandparents for a certain period of time. No, he was not "deserted" by his mother. He does not need his ego pumped up constantly as he does many things quietly and does so out of the limelight and does not seek attention and applause. Like this group hug with the armed forces was not heavily publicized like the bottom photo particularly --the soldiers are happy with him
Hawaii is and has been part of the United States of America for quite some time now.