Roland S. Martin/Tom Joyner Morning Show, 08.19.09: House Majority Whip, Rep. James Clyburn, on healthcare reform

You are right Roland! Where are the blacks now. This health issue did become an hate issue and I have not seen one civic leader speak out. So far color of change is the only group that is getting something done with this glen beck sicko.

Hi, Mr. Martin I am a black woman who live in Louisiana, and the reason why I did not attend my Senator’s recent town hall meeting was, because he is a Republican, and I know the majority of the people who was there would have been angry like they show on the television later that day. I am for health care reform, but I not believe that going to the town hall meetings is the right settings for me, because I don’t know if they would give me a honest answer to my question, or if they would talk over my question, but I do believe the President would make a difference. Thank You and God Bless.

The town hall planning meeting that I attended last week was comprised of about 40% African Americans. There were also Latinos. It was a very organized meeting and we worked to expand the information resources within our communities. I have spent much of my vacation ( I normally work 2 jobs and attend college) on working the phones and computers to alert others about Health Care Reform. Participation in a meeting is affected by Jobs and schools. We are out there as part of the foot soldiers and on the web blogging, tweeting, emailing, texting and calling. The media go where they believe they can raise their ratings.
Thanks for tweeting the site

We need your HELP, and hope you encourage your colleagues to report on this as well. We are starting to see people bring loaded weapons to meeting where the President is attending. This has never been allowed to happen with any previous Presidents, and should not be allowed to start now. The right to bear arms is one thing, but when it threatens the security of our President, there is no right greater than his right to be protected. No matter how you look at this, it is a threat directly and indirectly to the President safety and should be outlawed. If someone show-up carrying either a loaded or unloaded weapon at a Presidential event, it should be made to be a felony, with the hopes of protecting the President, and discouraging this senseless and irresponsible behavior? If the President was on a foreign trip and one of their citizens brought a loaded fire weapon to where the President was attending, claiming that it was their right, we would be outraged. Obama is this Nation first Black President, and if for some unfortunate reason he gets shot it will most certainly start a race riot, and this is something that we don’t need and will scar this Country forever. There might be many that will love for this to happen, but as you well know it will destroy the Country. So please report on this and encourage your colleagues to express their disgust with this crazy behavior, Please, Please help stop this madness. Our Secret service is already under enormous strain protecting the President against countless other threats, from bombs to just about everything else that can be imagined. So imagine for a second having fifty people or more showing up at a Presidential event packing loaded weapons, this is a disaster waiting to happen! We have White Supremacist and other questionable groups and individuals lurking out there, this is something that should be taken quite serious. The People of this Country have always relied on the media to be the voice of average citizens, when their voice has other wise gone unheard. If there were ever a time for the News Media to intervene, I think that this should most definitely be that time? No matter how you try to dice this up or color it, there can never be any rationale to justify putting our President safety at risk, PLAIN AND SIMPLE!