Does the Congressional Black Caucus have a legitimate gripe about the investigations into ethics violations by Rangle (sic) and Waters or is it racism?
Originally Posted by oden
I found this article in Politico
http:////www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40533.html where a single anonymous member of the Congressional Black Caucus suggested that the investigations were tinged by racism. Since we don't have a statement from the CBC we don't know what it thinks as a body, do we? I suspect that many of its members are deeply conflicted about the situation and wish that Waters and Rangel would take their lumps quietly and allow the rest of Congress to concentrate on the November elections.
I don't doubt that this is a real issue, but honestly, how do we know if the investigations are tinged by racism? Simply because black members of Congress are being charged doesn't prove racism. So where's the smoking pistol of racism? But it does seem a little fishy that only black members are being charged? I just dunno.
There are a lot of smart people who contribute to this forum but I don't know if there is anyone here who has enough knowledge about other congressional investigations and ethics prosecutions to say with any authority that white members of Congress have been treated differently. It's all conjecture and guess work, and who wants to read that?
It seems like the real purpose of threads like this is to encourage us to let loose on the general issue of race relations in America. I'll probably pass on that part of the discussion.