OntheWilderSide

From Kimberly:

It is so difficult to discuss race. It is so difficult to acknowledge that one has white privilege, and some internalized stereotypes about race. I am posting the article below, because I think it addresses concerns about race and fairness in the Green Party in a kind of balanced way.

I am finally reporting here that Elaine Brown withdrew from the Green Party Presidential race. I did not want to believe it was true. And, I also think you should give a person some time to reconsider, especially when she has been treated unfairly. But, another of Elaine’s supporters left the party today. And, it seems like this is a done deal. (I will keep Elaine Brown’s name up at the People’s President Page, because Brown is still on the ballot for the California primary on February 5th.)

Wish Elaine Brown had not left the race. Wish that some people in our party handled things better. I like Polidoc’s recap of what happened…

Posted at Polidoc on
Monday, December 31, 2007
Elaine Brown Bails Out on Green Party

Elaine Brown, former Black Panther leader and relentless prison system reform activist, withdrew her bid for the Green Party’s nomination for President, accusing party leaders of steering away from some of its most progressive reforms: economic and social justice.

Ms. Brown said, the “Small clique that has captured control of the Party has transformed it into a repository for erstwhile, disgruntled Democrats, who would violate the Party’s own vision and sabotage the good will and genuine commitment of the general membership,” she said in her recent open letter to the Green Party.

A publicized private e-mail from Green Party Political Director Brent McMillan appeared to have inflamed an already tenuous relationship between Ms. Brown and some members of the party. Brown, who has been in and out of the campaign due to feelings of mistrust for some high-ranking members, has been energizing previously unregistered voters and leading them to the Green Party, according to a post by the unnamed California Coordinator, Committee to Elect Elaine Brown.

Also, the announcement was made almost two weeks after former Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney pledged her allegiance to the Green Party and made her candidacy for President official. Ms. McKinney and Ralph Nader (who has not yet declared that he is running) are considered the frontrunners in the party’s race for the White House. Ms. Brown has been critical of Ms. McKinney and had called the new Green Party member out for a debate.

Ms. Brown, originally from Philadelphia now lives in Ms. McKinney’s home state of Georgia. She continues to fight for the removal of the death penalty and the 3-Strikes Law. She also strongly criticizes “celebrity” black people whose enrichment within the white power structure, she says, enables the continued subjugation of blacks and other minorities.

The empowerment of blacks, Latinos and other minorities has long been a stated goal for the Greens of the Unites States, but it became a driving theme this year. At the last Green Party national convention, members organized a race relations workshop to address the grievances and misconceptions between whites and minorities. The party also actively sought the candidacies of Afro-Americans Jared Ball, Cynthia McKinney and Elaine Brown, each of whom address the institutionalized and demoralizing prison system and seek to grow the Green party through hip-hop communities.

rest of the story is at Polidoc…a worthwhile read

Filed under: green, Green Party Websites, president, presidential race, third party, US Politics Tagged: | cynthia mckinney, Elaine Brown, hip-hop, Jared Ball, race relations, third parties