Recently, two top ranking Congressional Democrats have been charged with ethics violations by the Office of Congressional Ethics, where members can anonymously accuse their peers of wrong doing. Whether or not there is any merit to the charges remains to be seen but it is interesting that, of the last 10 ethics investigations the Office has conducted, eight of those under scrutiny were black.
New York Congressman Charles Rangel is charged with 13 congressional ethics violations and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters is charged with three. Among the charges Rangel faces are improperly using his office to secure donations for a school of public in New York that is named after him, failing to pay taxes on rental income from a home he owns in the Dominican Republic and for using a rent-controlled apartment in Harlem for his campaign office. Waters has been accused with using her influence to arrange a meeting between the Treasury Department and a bank her husband owned shares in. Both plan to fully fight the charges against them.
Eliminating government corruption is important but the fact that blacks make up less than 10 percent of Congress yet comprise 80 percent of the most recent ethic violation investigations is a cause for concern. The fact that the charges can be levied anonymously only ups the suspicion factor. Political enemies on the other side of the aisle can bring the charges in hopes of tarnishing a politician’s image. Even if the accused isn’t up for re-election, his or her party could suffer from the negative publicity. In an election year, this could mean a few extra Republican seats in Congress. Singling out black politicians could also be a tactic to play up on the racist undertones of growing movements, like the Tea Party, sending a message that “they”-blacks – “can’t be trusted”. Since our achievements – and failures – as a people are often lumped together by the main stream, hurting black politicians could have a negative impact on the President’s 2012 re-election bid down the road.
Congress is right to heavily scrutinize its members. But it should also scrutinize the way charges are made. Has no one outside of the Congressional Black Caucus wondered why so many black Congressmen and women are being “nominated” for investigation? That, in itself, warrants an investigation. Let’s hope that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in her quest for a clean Congress, works to bring any underlining racism to light.
I can certain appreciate your insight and views on the issue Judge Mathis. I am in totally agreement with the fact that there are some strange things going on up “on the hill.” Additionally, whatever the motivation of the investigative body, my money is on “Mad Max!” Have a good one.
should restraunts be allowed to ask parents with loud children to leave?
Until these charges are proved to be without merit, I am going to error on the side of caution here. Perhaps, and this is going out on a limb, but just perhaps they were ‘nominated’ because of the wrong doing they were involved in. This victim mentality of ‘whitey is trying to get the black’ doesn’t help anyone. How can we truly end racism if mentalities like the one you just expressed are entertained?
To say that 10% of congress must not be responsible for 80% of the corruption is myopic. Maybe those 10% are really bad apples who happen to be black. To dismiss an investigation or possible ethical misdoing because they are black is pretty racist to me.