Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Freedom Rider: Biden and the Shame of the Black Misleaders
Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
26 Jun 2019
Freedom Rider: Biden and the Shame of the Black Misleaders
Freedom Rider: Biden and the Shame of the Black Misleaders

The misleaders are tacitly admitting that black people can expect little to be done in their favor even if the Democrats manage to win.

“The CBC won’t drop Biden unless the 1% clique tell them to.”

The disgraceful promotion of Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy is all the proof one needs that the black misleadership class is a grave danger to their community and to the nation. Biden was chosen to be Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008 precisely because of his right wing credentials. But he no longer has Obama’s imprimatur to protect him and his racist history is now out in the open for all to see.

He was always a lesser light in the Senate and was no better as vice president. Even in 2008 he opined that Obama was “clean and articulate” -- a remark which ought to have disqualified him from vice presidential consideration with a black candidate. But Obama’s goal was to make clear his own rightward trajectory. Choosing a senator who was anything but progressive and a staunch zionist gave great comfort to the Democratic party donor class.

The unwavering support from the Congressional Black Caucus should be an embarrassment, but these are shameless people after all. One wouldn’t know that Biden thanked Dixiecrat Senator James Eastland for assisting him in bringing anti-busing legislationto a vote. These facts are inconvenient for people whose presence in office is meant to squelch any effort at black self-determination.

“Biden thanked Dixiecrat Senator James Eastland for assisting him in bringing anti-busing legislation to a vote.”

Biden began his political career in the 1970s and the hot issue of the day was how to integrate public schools. Court ordered busing was the remedy and attacking it was a political winner for Republicans and Democrats too. Biden called busing “asinine” and lamented that white people who were “good citizens” would be forced to send children to “inferior” (read black) schools. He didn’t bother with insinuations and code words. He opposed school desegregation and he said so quite openly and used all the common racist tropes of that era.

The duplicitous work of the CBC isn’t difficult to get away with. Black politics has been reduced to one overarching goal, keeping Republicans out of office. If black voters support Biden as much as they are said to, it is for one reason only. They have been convinced that he is best able to defeat Trump. The evidence for this claim is paltry. The Democratic Party establishment and their friends in corporate media are hoping to make this debatable point a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“Biden opposed school desegregation and he said so quite openly and used all the common racist tropes of that era.”

Black voters will again be the losers in 2020, even if the Democrats manage to defeat Donald Trump. The desire to defeat him overrides all else. Every issue of importance to black people is ignored, every need will be unmet in what we are told is a fool proof plan to get rid of the orange faced racist. Biden enablers like James Clyburn and John Lewis excuse the overt racism with claims that they too did business with the segregationists. But they won’t say anything about mass incarceration, police murder or displacement of entire communities caused by gentrification. The old canard of making do with a lesser bigot in order to forestall a worse one is an old and failed strategy. The misleaders are tacitly admitting that black people can expect little to be done in their favor even if they manage to win.  

Another failed strategy is to ignore the blatant sucking up to rich donors. Biden recently told a group of them that he wouldn’t “demonize” the wealthy and assured themthat “nothing would fundamentally change.” He didn’t need to but he added, “I need you very badly.”

“The old canard of making do with a lesser bigot in order to forestall a worse one is an old and failed strategy.”

Of course there is a Democratic candidate who can beat Trump who also speaks to the needs of the people.  But Bernie Sanders is unacceptable because he does that. The Democrats and their funders have already decided that we can’t have free college, Medicare for All, or an increased minimum wage. Sanders is an existential threat to the austerity project and so his candidacy is dead on arrival. 

There is no pretense among the CBC and up-and-comers like Stacy Abrams. They protect Biden because they are told to do so. They have no independence from the Democratic party donor class and they won’t drop Biden unless the 1% clique tell them to.

 “The Democrats are now left with the dregs, an old school party hack who can’t hide his mediocrity.”

For now the dim bulb former vice president is hidden. He makes few appearances and doesn’t talk to the press. That is because he is as they say “gaffe prone.” He isn’t just a cynical opportunist, he is also stupid and can’t be trusted to be unscripted with the media. No wonder Democrats miss Obama, who is very smart and could convince everyone that he was on their side. They are now left with the dregs, an old school party hack who can’t hide his mediocrity.

The 2020 election will end in disaster for black people no matter who becomes the next president. Dumping the democrats is the only solution to what ails us. They don’t want to change and they aren’t even likely to win. If Biden crashes and burns another puppet will be presented as the savior. Black misleaders will prop up that person too and their constituents will be the losers.

Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com . Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.       

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at [email protected]

2020 Election

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Joe Biden is a White Supremacist War Hawk, Too
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
Joe Biden is a White Supremacist War Hawk, Too
03 February 2021
No one in the Biden camp has spoken out against the past, present, and future war crimes which will undoubtedly shape the administration.
Biden’s Proposed Cabinet – A Kinder and Gentler Imperialism
Dr.Wilmer J. Leon, III
Biden’s Proposed Cabinet – A Kinder and Gentler Imperialism
02 December 2020
Biden, et al are planning to take us back to a romanticized Clinton and Obama eras.
Freedom Rider: The Real Trump Coup
Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
Freedom Rider: The Real Trump Coup
18 November 2020
Trump puts whiteness first and that means he will always have support and Republican leaders know it.
Biden-Harris and the Diverse Faces of U.S. Imperialism
Tye Salandy
Biden-Harris and the Diverse Faces of U.S. Imperialism
18 November 2020
From Obama v McCain to Biden v Trump, the good cop/bad cop drama of US imperial politics, continues.
Don’t [Mourn] Celebrate, Organize!
Riva Enteen
Don’t [Mourn] Celebrate, Organize!
18 November 2020
The same “injustice” system that unlawfully locked up the Central Park Five will continue unabated with Biden and his “top cop” sidekick.
Black Voters: “Contrarian” Men and “Communal” Women
Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
Black Voters: “Contrarian” Men and “Communal” Women
12 November 2020
A significant portion of Black males are “contrarians” that take positions at odds with the general Black political consensus – while Black women t
Freedom Rider: The Real Resistance Begins
Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
Freedom Rider: The Real Resistance Begins
11 November 2020
“Kamala Auntie” and Joe from Scranton will do as little as possible so that “nothing will fundamentally change” that would halt endless wars and th
Joe Biden’s Victory is Still a Loss for Humanity
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
Joe Biden’s Victory is Still a Loss for Humanity
11 November 2020
The Biden-Harris administration is good news for corporations, cops, war profiteers and banks too big to fail, but offers nothing to save the peopl
The Elusive Quest for Justice in Black America
Bashir Muhammad Akinyele
The Elusive Quest for Justice in Black America
11 November 2020
We as Black people must keep pushing, organizing, and demanding a Black agenda centered on reparations.
Now that Trump Has Been Defeated...
Popular Resistance
Now that Trump Has Been Defeated...
11 November 2020
We need to continue building power from the bottom up through organizing, political education and community assemblies.

More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 30, 2025
    30 May 2025
    In this week’s segment we talk about jails and prisons in New York City and State and the end of city control of the infamous Rikers Island jail. But first a Washington DC activist analyzes how the…
  • Democratic party where are you
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Afeni on Fighting the Bipartisan Fascist Consensus
    30 May 2025
    Afeni is an activist and lead organizer with Herb and Temple in Washington, DC. She joins us from Oakland to discuss politics in the U.S. and how the people can fight the fascism produced by the…
  • Rikers protest
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Eric Adams Loses Control of Rikers Island to Federal Receivership
    30 May 2025
    Our guest is Melanie Dominguez, Organizing Director, New York with the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice. She joins us from New York City to discuss the federal takeover of Rikers Island…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Charles Rangel and the End of Black Politics
    28 May 2025
    The late Charles Rangel served as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus for more than 40 years. But the goals of Black politics and electoral politics are not necessarily the same.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The Intellectual Origins of Imperialism and Zionism, Edward Said, 1977
    28 May 2025
    “In theory and in practice, then, Zionism is a degraded repetition of European imperialism.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us