A letter is making its way across the black blogosphere denouncing the Congressional Black Caucus/ Fox News Democratic Presidential Debate. I don’t think I have to recap the many sins of Fox Noise against the black community. I signed the letter without hesitation and commend the three leading candidates: Senators Edwards, Obama, and Clinton for their refusal to appear.
Dear [candidate],
Your decision last month not to attend the debate sponsored by Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus institute demonstrated truly principled leadership.
Now, a group of CBC members, led by Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Congresswoman Carolyn Kilpatrick(D-MI), is asking you to reverse that decision. But the truth about Fox and its partnership with the CBC institute has not changed. A Fox-CBCI partnership will use the brand of the CBC—perhaps the most prominent and powerful Black political institution in America—to lend legitimacy to a propaganda network that regularly denigrates black people, black culture and black institutions. This partnership is bad for Black America, and it is a huge mistake.
Since before the debate partnership was announced publicly, Black bloggers, community newspapers, columnists, and radio hosts have expressed outrage that such a partnership would even be considered. Over 16,000 members of ColorOfChange.org reached out to individual CBC members and the CBC institute in hopes that they would be responsive and accountable to the community they purport to represent. But the leadership of the CBC institute has continued to willfully ignore the voices of Black Americans, and amazingly, also dismissed voices of dissent from within the CBC itself (nearly a quarter of CBC members have expressed opposition to the debate, either publicly or privately). Now, more than ever, it’s obvious that the CBC’s leadership is painfully out of step with Black America.
It has been suggested that by skipping this debate, you are missing a valuable opportunity to speak on issues of concern to Black Americans. However, the CBC institute debate broadcast by CNN as well as Tavis Smiley’s debates on PBS provide similar opportunities to address these issues without sending the message that you are willing to validate a network that is consistently hostile to Black Americans and Black political interests.
You did the right thing by rejecting Fox. We applaud your leadership and will continue to support your decision.
Skeptical Brotha
Skeptical Brotha 
I could not agree more.
Great letter.
They need to stop this mess with the White Citizens Council Network.
Follow the money..for pennies on the dollar, they’re willing to sell folks out.
I don’t watch FoxNews … ever.
I will take your word for it that there’s no chance for redemption.
Bravo.
UPDATE:
Richardson and Dodd will NOT be attending the debate
rikyrah,
Excellent News. Thanks for the update.
If you want to understand why CBC is caving in to CBC/FOX Democratic Debate sponsorship, go to CBC website and review the companies listed in their “Partners & Sponsors”. CBC dare not say “NO” to FOX!!
When someone gives a candidate a lot of money to run for office, there’s a debt to paid by that candidate. The black people need to investigate this partnership between CBC & FOX establish how blacks elected officials benefit from these companies they are affiliated with. Otherwise those of us who support these black folks when election comes are just being taken advantage of by black elites who are just interested in their standing with other powerful white elites while ignoring people who elected them.
I do care about minimum wage increase because black youths are looking for jobs regularly ignored. The keyword nowadays is “We wnt someone who speak Spanish”. Attorney general had set the tone through Miss Goodlings whatever her name is.
I support the ban also. Why the CBC signed up with Faux News is a mystery to me.
There are many gifted black youths out there. Let us get togather and investigate what is going on with this CBC/FOX alliance. Is this organization just a bunch of black elites in a “members only club”? I never heard one positive message about black youths uttered by anybody at FOX.
The pattern emerging here is similar to what is taking place in the continent of Africa where those in power are burried in corruption.
For a continent with vast natural resources, these leaders are unable to provide leadership that would enable them to put price tags on natural resources leaving the continent, thus, be able to build roads, provide healthcare facilities, sound education or create jobs for their own young citizens. The foreign corporations plunder the continent’s natural resources by giving small bribess or providing arms which are used to slaughter or maime those who dare to complain. Additionally, most of these leaders are provided with foreign trained secret securities.
Please, google the name “Teodoro Obiang” the president of Equatorial Guinea and you will understand the concern I have about my black race.
test
(First time)
I don’t understand why it is that all African-Americans are supposed to dislike the Fox news channel and conservatives. What about all the conservative African-Americans in the U.S….do we not count? Are we ALL to have the exact same opinion on everything? Give me a break. I don’t see how you guys can call whites racists with a straight face with some of the commentary I’ve read here. Amazing. When are you going to move on? When are you going to ask African-Americans to look in the mirror first…are you doing everything you can to raise your children in a FAMILY? Are you keeping them off the streets….are you commanding good grades in school. You will find these demands in almost all white families. Why should those values only be common in white families? When will people wake up and realize that your problems are not solved by simply blaming someone else. How many generations does it take before you realize that apparently…white people are not the ONLY problem you have. If you took white people completely out of the U.S….do you really think things would be any different in most black communities?? When the youth are more impressed with the careers of doctors, lawyers, etc. instead of 50 Cent and Ludacris, they might start making up for lost time….but I guess they can keep blaming white people until then.