We Need To Be More Open To School Choice Here In Georgia, Especially In The Democratic Party

A better-educated Georgia, and a better-educated family, is a major void in current school reform efforts here in the state. The issues of competition and accountability are all too often ignored in efforts to improve public education. 

Now I'm a strong supporter of public schools, in fact I am a product of the public school system.  But I'm also in favor of school choice, which is a change from a few years ago. Quite simply, I believe in giving parents more choice about where to educate their children. My support of school choice is founded in the common sense premise that no parent should be forced to send a child to a poorly performing school.'

Unfortunately, however, countless parents, especially in the urban cities, are now forced to do just that. Parents in middle and upper-class communities have long practiced school choice. They made sure that their children attended schools where they would get the best possible education. There is no reason why this option should be closed to low-income parents. Education used to be the poor child’s ticket out of poverty. Now it’s part of the system that traps people in the underclass.

Why school choice? 

Two reasons: excellence and accountability. Parents want academic excellence for their children. They also want to know that there is someone in their child’s school who is ACCOUNTABLE for achieving those high academic standards.

In most cities/towns in this state, however, if your child is zoned into a school that is not performing well academically, and where teachers and administrators don’t see themselves as being responsible for academic performance, parents have no recourse. Parents can only send their child to that school and hope for the best. Under a school choice plan, a parent would have options. There would be consequences for a school’s poor performance. Parents could pull their children out of poorly performing schools and enroll them someplace else. If exercising this option leads to a mass exodus from certain underachieving schools, schools will learn this painful lesson: schools will either improve, or close due to declining enrollments.

 Nonetheless, believe that the Democratic Party should re-evaluate its position on school choice issues. 

Choice should not be included in partisan tones. School choice should be about giving our state’s children the best possible educational foundation. Some low-income Black parents here in Georgia have shown they care so much that they will even go so far as to look halfway around the world.....well not around the world, but a neighboring county/city in order to find a good school for their children.

And I've also hear people say that school choice is elitist, or even racist. The truth is that black low-income children are among the prime victims of the state’s failing public schools. Black parents know this all too well. This is why they have been so open to the idea of school choice.

With time, and through open dialogue, critics of school choice will come to see this movement for what it is: part of an emerging new battle for the millennium, the battle for education equity. We need to give poor children the same right that children from more upscale households have long enjoyed. The right to an education that will prepare them to make a meaningful contribution to society. It is that simple

Why Black Voters Are More Forgiving Of Scandalized Politicians?

African American support for tainted politicians comes from the same ethic that has allowed Democrats to maintain black support despite poll after poll showing black attitudes on abortion, religion and, until recently, gay marriage line up more closely with the GOP’s positions.  In a perfect world, one might prefer a governor who addresses your interests and doesn’t sleep with prostitutes. In the imperfect, racially and economically stratified world we actually live in, the former takes precedence over the latter—especially in communities where political attention can be a life and death issue.

So why does it seem that many black voters rally behind corrupt or disgraced political figures and in many cases still cast votes in their favor? Well for starters, many other black elected officials, represents districts that suffer from relentlessly poor economic prospects. Once elected, these professional politicians seem to abandon all sense of judgment as they seek to enrich themselves and expand their influence, all while doing little to improve lives for their voters.  Look at former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Washington D.C. former Mayor Marion Barry as examples of corrupt politicos who still won despite mounting proof of their corruption.


The above cases illustrate a profoundly misguided tendency of Black Voters rallying to the side of an embattled politician because he or she is “one of their own.” Even before President Obama was elected, black voting patterns were, or are nearly monolithic -virtually any Democrat could win black votes; and indeed, most have. Black voters have developed a dismaying habit of remaining fiercely loyal to their public servants. This is built largely on the idea,  perpetuated by many Democrats, black and white, that the political system is stacked against black interests.

So long as entrenched black politicians continue to cultivate myths of victimhood within their electorates, corrupt politicians will forever win elections whether they deserve to or not. Many of these public servants exist in cosseted worlds where the needs of their voters don’t affect them, and they stopped attending those concerns long ago.

Conservative Values Are Apart of the Lives of Black Americans

The truth is that conservative values and goals have been deeply embedded in African-American life for generations. The problem that most white Americans never recognized this. Instead they created a myth of black liberalism. That myth largely grew out of the New Deal years when blacks abandoned their traditional Republican loyalties and became a key cog in the liberal-labor-ethnic coalition built by FDR and the Democrats.


For the next century blacks were staunch Democratic devotees. Soon the public became accustomed to regarding blacks as the biggest advocates of federal spending on welfare, education, jobs and social programs. During the late 1960s, mass civil-rights demonstrations, protests, black-power takeovers and the urban uprisings turned the myth of black liberalism into the myth of black radicalism. Many Americans now firmly believe that blacks were permanent rebels out to subvert the nation's values.

But these myths do not square with the fact that African-Americans are among America's oldest native sons and daughters. They have been totally shaped by American ideals. Going back to the 19th century, black leaders like Booker T. Washington talked as much about self-help, family values, crime and patriotism as they did about segregation and poverty.

In this century, black churches, social organizations, political and economic associations have generally advocated conservative programs of self-help and legal protest. If not for the great stumbling blocks of racism and economic exclusion, blacks would have gladly trodden the same path to assimilation as non-black groups.

Critics miss the mark when they assume that the likes of Judge Clarence Thomas and other latter-day black conservatives owe their political existence to Republican Party patronage.

While the Republicans certainly are happy to cultivate and promote them, they did not create them. More accurately, they reflect the prospering of the black middle class during the past three decades

Organizations like the Urban League understand this and have shifted with the changing economic and political winds. They have hit hard on the themes of self-help, economic independence and family values. Look the bottom line is that black America must do much of the work itself, for it is our future we must save.''


Here are The 10 basic Conservative Principles:

-Government money' does not belong to government. It belongs to the taxpayers who worked hard for it, and who had funds deleted from their paychecks even before they got to see them.

-The government that governs best governs LEAST.

-Government normally does not solve problems. People do. Big government usually IS the problem.

-Oppressive large governments are responsible for more murders of citizens than all of the wars in history.

-The private sector is where the juice of society lies. There you will find ingenuity, creativity, and the creation of wealth--provided government gets out of the way.

-Government social programs reward pathological dependency. True adults, unless hindered by debilitating physical impairment, seek independent living as free persons who are not stuck in an infantile dependency on the government nanny.

-The one role of government mandated by the U.S. Constitution is to provide for the national defense.

-Human rights are not granted by government. They are inherent and automatic. We are 'endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.' Government can only choose to recognize and protect those inherent rights.

-The right to self-defense, as encapsulated in the 2nd Amendment, is the key to all of the other rights described in the Bill of Rights. Free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and a free press are secured and kept secure by an armed citizenry.

-Our form of government is NOT a 'pure democracy' or 'majority rule.' In a Constitutional Republic such as ours, the will of the majority is tempered and limited by the rights of the minority, which are always intact and unalienable regardless of the 'will of the majority.'

For Over 45 Years, The Plague of Liberalism has been Destructive To The Black Community

As a Result, the Black Community Needs to Kick it to the Curb......The sooner, the better!

By embracing liberalism, Black America became a broken shell of its former greatness. Miseducation, black-on-black crime, economic injustice, abortion, and the curse of corrupt and self-serving community leaders, the unhealthy relationship between blacks and liberalism has caused these problems to fester and remain largely unaddressed.



Founders of racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan would surely marvel at how many in the black community now welcome inequity and virtual segregation, perhaps realizing that their violent intimidation tactics weren't necessary after all. Appalled would be those who worked hard, risked, and sometimes lost their lives to ensure that legal discrimination, also known as "Jim Crow," was forever abolished.



Back then, the fight was for individual equality and bringing America together as a whole. Today, pursuing advancement and assimilation earns one the derogatory accusation of..... "acting white."

Too many of us are now content to park our children in failing government (Public) schools, and we seem too self-absorbed chasing the high-life..the " bling-bling," overpriced and outlandishly stocked cribs and Lexus's and other expensive cars and SUVs purchased to worry about them. All this time, the blood, sweat, and tears of our angry children flow in the streets.



How can Blacks claim to believe, as the long-used slogan of the United Negro College Fund goes, that "a mind is a terrible thing to waste," when our children are shackled to schools that are often little more than a government-run babysitting service? While our kids fall further behind, we eagerly support the politicians and policies that only promise to throw money at the problem and demand no accountability.

Along the same lines, how have law enforcement policies helped defeat the scourge of black-on-black crime? Our neighborhoods are becoming war zones, yet police are seen more as objects of scorn and ridicule than respect and order. African-Americans also seem largely unable and sometimes even unwilling to put their financial affairs in order and do what it takes to start businesses and improve our economic health. As a result, we end up working for and resenting people of other races with ambition who come to our neighborhoods and set up shop.



While my father used to say that the "most dangerous place for a black man is on the street," I now contend it is in the womb. Since 1973, an estimated 13-14 million black children have been aborted. Considering this butchery, how can we, in this enlightened era, support the willing destruction of innocent children? We allow liberal special interests such as the NAACP to claim the mantel of civil rights, even as they ignore the most basic freedom passed down from God.... the right to life.

All this time, we never seem to hold liberal black leaders to any level of accountability. We go along with their antics and make excuses for their failures and immoral behavior. They often retain power through threats and smear those who disagree with their politics. They keep the majority of us in line by claiming to fight for social and economic justice but use their race as a tool to garner personal wealth through shakedowns, while leaving our community to wallow in the self-pity and anger they helped foster.


Liberalism is not just a problem for black America. Its failure can be seen by visiting any Martin Luther King Street, Avenue, or Boulevard. White America has the financial wherewithal and ambition to choose to escape it. Black Americans, due to long-term abuse by liberal policies, don't always have that option. That's why black America as a whole needs to wake up and shake off the liberal chains that bind them & begin to embrace principles of conservative minded individuals that will lead to more success & away from the cess pool of poverty, dispair & hopelessness

Nightmare Scenario for the Democratic Party: After a 45 Year Sleep, Blacks are beginning to look for alternatives to the Democratic Party

Anyone who follows politics knows that African-Americans are perhaps the most loyal voting bloc in the nation. Black voters here in Georgia and nationally give better than 90 percent of their vote to the Democrats. Maybe it is time for blacks to re-evaluate their loyalty to a party that has not been particularly loyal to them. Blacks were not always so loyal to the Democrats. After the Civil War and the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, newly enfranchised blacks were almost exclusively Republican voters. Hundreds of blacks were elected to political office after the Civil War, and almost all of them were Republicans. Blacks were Republicans because the Republican Party was the party that ended slavery and treated blacks as political equals.

Why did blacks move from the Republican to the Democratic Party? To a great extent, it was because blacks felt that they were being taken for granted and they were not receiving the benefits that their support of the Republicans merited. With the end of Reconstruction in the South in the 1880s and the withdrawal of Union troops from the South, white Democrats were free to eliminate black voters with devices such as the poll tax, white primary and literacy tests. Even apparently benign policies such as residency requirement, proof of age and proof of residency were used to exclude black voters. Blacks were primarily agricultural workers who moved from one area to another to plant and harvest crops. Because of their migration, they were not able to meet the long residency requirements the South imposed. Most blacks did not have birth certificates, and there were usually no street addresses in black neighborhoods, so they could not establish proof of age or residency.

Many blacks retained their Republican Party allegiance even though they had lost the right to vote. This would change when Republicans no longer pursued policies that were beneficial to black interests. FDR and the New Deal Democrats provided jobs through the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration, and also provided economic benefits that were available to both blacks and whites in the midst of the Great Depression. The Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and '60s solidified the bond of blacks to the Democratic Party. In other words, Republican neglect combined with national Democratic Party appeals to blacks resulted in black voters changing their political allegiance.

Republicans, if they have any sense, will continue to reach out even more to blacks instead of waiting and hoping that a political conversion takes place.

If even one-third of blacks voted Republican, it would fundamentally change the political dynamics in Georgia and across the nation, and blacks would be in a better position to win concessions from both parties.

But politics reflect the times, and the times, they are a-changin'. Increasingly, but slowly blacks are beginning to realize there is another truth about the ethnic group's loyalty to Democrats: It hasn't been a resounding success.

Former Rep. J.C. Watts, (R-Ok)., once called the Democrats' chosen black leader Jesse Jackson and his ilk "race-hustling poverty pimps" for their continual support of Democrat-leftist policies that keep blacks on the government's dole, Other have also noted that Democrats who say they are the champions of black civil rights have really only led blacks down a road of poverty.

For example, it was President Lyndon B. Johnson whose "war on poverty" and "Great Society" programs led to today's massive welfare system, which author Perryman and others argue has kept blacks in poverty, in poor neighborhoods with bad schools, and left them with few options to improve themselves

Poor, Inner-city blacks, who have given their vote to the Democrats for the past forty years, are left wondering what that party has done to remedy the still-prevalent problems within their community.

Democrats claim that they care about diversity, but readily demean black professionals who do not toe the Democratic Party's liberal line, slandering blacks as "vile," "Uncle Toms" and "Sellouts," including Dr. Condoleezza Rice, General Colin Powel, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Janice Rogers Brown and Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele. Democratic Party operatives even insulted black independent Juan Williams, calling him a "Happy Negro" for daring to expose the failed policies of the Democrats in his book Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America

SO SHOULD BLACKS DITCH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?

Well it depends......

Nothing is more important to the to the future advancement of blacks than the quality of their children's education. But any attempt to give black parents real options as to where they can send their children to school runs into a brick wall because the teachers' unions are the 800-pound gorillas of the democratic party. Others include Housing & Crime.

Another great problem for blacks is crime. Liberal Democrats have long resisted efforts to crack down on criminals. Instead, the great liberal dogma is that we seek out the "root causes" of crime and set up government social programs to,salve the problem by "prevention" of crime.

Democrats cater to blacks are largely symbolic issues, such as naming streets for Martin Luther King or throwing money at the pet projects of various community "leaders." So long as Democrats can get the votes of blacks by promoting symbolism, and the support of other groups by substantive policies, they are in good shape on election day. But blacks are not, because symbolism does nothing about education, housing or crime.

If Republicans ever come off some of their hardline positions & begin to address some issues that are the root problem for African-Americans living in poverty stricken, high crime, economically disadvantaged areas, believe me more Blacks will begin to vote republican, which will effectively spell the end of the Democratic Party as we know it. Here in Georgia we've already have a few black democrats switch to the GOP, while we have also seen the election of Tim Scott of South Carolina & Allen West of Florida get elected to congress as republicans. Two of my closest friends WHO ARE CONSERVATIVE DEMOCRATS LIKE MYSELF, both who won local races last year (CityCouncil, County Commissioner) almost ran as republicans because they was "Very Discouraged" with the Democratic Party, but remained with the party because of "LOYALTY" & "the sharp move to the far-right of the GOP". But they are open to running as republicans in 2014 if the Democratic party doesn't get its act toegther & fast

African-Americans & Voting: Why is it so Damn Difficult to get them to the Polls?

Coming from a very complex family, I can remember my much older family members telling me the first time they went to cast a ballot for the first time in their entire lives due to the system of Jim Crow that kept if not most, but all African-Americans in their place. They were joyous, happy to make their voices heard. It was 1966. The year before, in 1965, the Voting Right Act became law which gave all African-Americans the right to vote. Many before gave their all, including their lives to make that happen.

Too bad my generation don't realize that.

The history of black voting in America nor does it honor the thousands of blacks who sacrificed their lives (like a few of my family members did) obtaining the right to vote and who exercised that right as long as two centuries ago.

Today it seems like Black Americans really don't give a Damn about what their elected officials are doing for the most part. The very ones who point their finger & complain about the lack of jobs, high unemployment, the lack of a educational opportunities & financial security & there are those who still blame "The Man" for all their problems are the very ones who sit on their tails & not cast their vote. There is no excuse for anyone not to get out to the polls this time around & vote in his/her best interest.

Yes they came out to vote for Barack Obama, but it was only to be apart of history in seeing the first African-American elected to the highest office in the land.

That was then...

Here we are approaching another election as democrats face a complete massacre at the polls next tuesday due to a overzealous president who badly misread the voters in thinking that they wanted more government in their lives like the passing of a controversial Healthcare Bill that more that 2/3rds of the American People was absolutely against. It has some stuff in it that will help, but overall, that thing was a debacle.

If you listen to the pundits, they say the GOP base are more jazzed up in turning out to vote, while the Democratic base are dispirited. But the most loyal voting bloc for the party is African-Americans & unless this voting bloc is motivated, a team of mules could move them to the polls.

The Black vote won't save the democrats, but it'll damn sure help them in key races across the country.

African-Americans are so different in their perspectives and opinions that it's hard to think of their votes existing as a collective. Nevertheless...here is my opinion. Yes, I know what they say about opinions, but I fully intend to take advantage of the privilege of expressing mine. This is done in an effort to encourage your participation in the political process.


If you've already pondered what's at stake and have decided not to vote, then there's just no getting through to you. You're a lost cause. Not voting also renders you mute and insignificant. Although, I can't help the feelings of overwhelming curiosity as to why you don't think you should vote. Perhaps you never actually decided not to vote. In that case, you desperately need to be informed that indecision is a decision.


Voting is a privilege that was hard to come by. It was many years that women and minorities could not let their voices be heard in the political arena. People were brutalized and murdered so that you and I can have the luxury of going to the polls to vote, free of charge and without anyone standing in our way. Come to think of it, we don't even have to physically be there. Have you ever heard of the term, "absentee"?

If you have ever complained about the current state of affairs in this country or this state (of course you have) then by all means, either vote or shut up! The time to speak is at the polls. Vote now or forever ( potentially 4 years of Nathan Deal will seem like forever) hold you peace.

The Government is useless, there is nothing they can do to make our lives better, the rising prices, the unemployment, the escalating crime rate…they have no answers. Well, if you are really concerned about all these things, you should have voted. "May be a better candidate would have won, and may be he would have taken some effective measures for improvement…Unless you vote you just can’t blame the government, because you have failed your duties!

Well if you are one of those people who think voting is a waste of time and keep on complaining about how the government is a complete failure; then it is time you realize the importance of voting, and do your bit towards enhancing the government functioning! The GOP have already made up their mind that the government ain't worth ****!

Voting ensures that your opinion is taken into account while appointing the person who holds the reins of power. People who are elected have the power to formulate educational policies which are instrumental in shaping the future of children and hence the future of the nation itself.

Health care, highways, jobs, taxes or even food, the elected representatives have the power to take decisions over some of the most vital issues in our life. So would you be comfortable in letting "anybody" take over these powers, without exercising your right to vote? Voting is one of the fundamental processes, which is instrumental in the development of a healthy democracy.

I sometimes sit back sometimes & listen to fellow African-Americans complain about what's not right, or what needs to be done. And I always ask myself: "Did they vote"? Probably not!

Here in Georgia, unemployment is at 10%, higher than the National Average. School Days have been cut to 4 days, budgets have been cut that taxes like property, hospital taxes & etc were raised by the party in power here in Georgia. Income Tax Cuts aimed at helping senior citizens here were eliminated & in return, a $120,000 Tax Cut was give to wealthy retirees. Poverty has risen drastically in this state, especially in the Black Belt Regions of Georgia (Southwest, Central & upper east central Georgia)

If Black voters, (democrats in General) are unhappy with the way things are going in the state & this country of ours, vote for people who will make a difference in your everyday lives. I have seen too many good candidates with their heart in the right place not get elected because of lack of turnout by so-called loyal democrats. Instead I have seen crooked candidates win seats for all the wrong reasons.

Like Nathan Deal for example.......

I never seen anything like this in my years being involved in politics since 1999.

This is a man who is the most "UNELECTABLE", "UNETHICAL", "UNQUALIFIED" candidate to run for office in this state ever.

From shady tax returns to attempted weakening of the state's Rape Shield Law , for some reason this guy remains ahead in the polls. I know this year favor republicans, but come on let's be real here!

That's why its important for dems who I've been very critical of over during the past year to get their base of support to the polls. Lord help us if Nathan Deal is our next governor.