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December 14, 2007
"Candidates' diversity is a legitimate topic to cover. When voters go to the polls next year to elect the 44th President of the United States, it's unrealistic to think a candidate's race, gender or religion won't matter to some people. For the first time in history, a woman, an African-American and a Mormon all have a legitimate shot at the White House."
So wrote Angela Tuck, the public editor of the ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION on December 8, 2007. She was responding to a flood of critcism stemming from an article by Sonji Jacobs which suggested that black women faced a dilemma — facing the opportunity to cast a vote for an African-American candidate or a woman for the first time.
Bill Moyers' guest Dr. Ronald Walters is well-placed to evaluate how race will play out in the presidential race. Dr. Walters worked for both of Jesse Jackson's presidential campaigns, and is the author of, among other books, BLACK PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS IN AMERICA: A STRATEGIC APPROACH. Walters notes there is no platform as powerful as a race for president: "We don't get much of a shot in the media... And so this theater is the biggest in the country. And this is the time to get these issues out. And if we can't do it through an African American then we have to do it, oddly through other kinds of dynamic instrumentalities."
Dr. Ronald Walters Dr. Ronald Walters is internationally known for his expertise on the issues of African American leadership and politics, his writing and his media savvy. Walters carries three major titles. He is director of the African American Leadership Institute and Scholar Practitioner Program, Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, and professor in government and politics at the University of Maryland.
In 1984, Walters served as deputy campaign manager for issues of the Jesse Jackson campaign for president, and in 1988, he was consultant for convention issues for the Jackson campaign directed by former Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. He serves as a senior policy consultant to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Dr. Walters is the author of over 100 articles and eight books including: BLACK PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS IN AMERICA, PAN AFRICANISM IN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA, WHITE NATIONALISM, BLACK INTERESTS: CONSERVATIVE PUBLIC POLICY AND THE BLACK COMMUNITY and FREEDOM IS NOT ENOUGH: BLACK VOTERS, BLACK CANDIDATES, AND AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS.
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Guest photo by Robin Holland Published on December 14, 2007
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Kathleen Hall Jamieson
James H. Cone
VOTE GARFIELD !!!
