DNC: Excerpts of DNC Chairman's Remarks to the AME Church's Political Empowerment Agenda
Houston, TX - Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean today addressed the Political Empowerment Agenda at the 29th Biennial Convention of the Connectional Lay Organization of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). The following are highlights from his remarks as prepared for delivery:
"The AME church was founded in response to discrimination - when black Methodists were asked to worship separately from their white counterparts. Since then the church has been a cornerstone of the black community...and it's an honor to be here...
"The church has an essential role in America and in nations around the world. It provides social services, outreach, and refuge to the poor and downtrodden...
"Although we work on different paths, we are united by many of our common goals...
"Our values are far closer than some would have us believe...
"I want to talk to you about what Democrats stand for, and why we are Democrats. We believe that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. We want to bring people together around the common good, and we have a strong belief in the fundamental value of community...
"Many in the political arena want to distort moral values for their own purposes and ignore what's really important. Universally throughout multiple religions and faiths, the idea of reciprocity and treating your neighbor as you want to be treated is a basic tenet...
"I am not a preacher. That is not my calling. But in my public role as Chair of the Democratic Party and in my private role as citizen, I believe that I and we collectively are called to serve one another...
"You can not lift up your fellow man by cutting education programs such as Head Start, Pell grants, or by cutting community development block grants. You can not lift up your fellow man by cutting job training, and Social Security, and small business opportunities. And you can't lift up your country, if you cater to the lower laurels of human nature by using a political strategy that divides Americans by race or religious denomination to win elections...
"Today all across the country the Republican party is driving an anti-immigrant hysteria, intended to divide America ahead of the 2006 elections. In 2002 they used the racially coded word "quota" to incite fear and prejudice on the part of those who thought they would lose jobs and educational opportunities to minorities...
"The Democratic Party will not divide Americans to win elections. We have much to do...and we need to do it together...
"The Republican leadership likes to talk about their connection with African Americans and their heritage as the party of Lincoln. This new stump is chock full of apology but light on true repentance...
"Like America, the Democratic Party has grown and evolved and our relationship with the African American community is a progressive movement...
"We are the party of the Congressional Black Caucus and Senator Barack Obama...It is no mere coincidence that the vast majority of African American elected officials are Democrat and that Democrats continue to lead the effort to put African Americans in office around the country...
"We have to be in the African American community today and year round and not just two weeks before an election. The African American community has been a loyal constituency of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has taken the African American vote for granted - we will not do that again...
"Decency, lifting up our fellow man, bringing hope to the those left out of the process and ensuring that our nation's prosperity is shared by all...these are things that the African Methodist Episcopal Church has stood for and these are things that Democrats stand for...
"I commend the AME Church for your commitment to opening the doors to opportunity through education. Since Brown v. Board of Education, we have made tremendous progress, but there is work to be done. We must ensure that every child in America regardless of race, class, economic status receives a quality education...And we must provide more than paltry funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
"It is unacceptable that we are the only industrialized nation where illness can be met with uncertainty, even poverty. Only 58% of blacks have private health insurance in comparison with %79 of whites. HIV/AIDS has been disproportionately affecting the AA community. We need a healthcare system that works for everyone...
"The new civil rights struggle is the fight for economic opportunity, for entrepreneurship, jobs, prosperity, and home ownership. It is a struggle for equal access to loans, small business training and assistance and financial literacy...
"It is the idea that every American is entitled to a fair shot at the American dream...
"Finally, I want to commend the AME on the creation of the AME V-Alert initiative. There is no democratic right more basic to our democracy than the power of the vote...
"Democrats understand that you can't ask for the vote of African Americans if you're not willing to support the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act...the very thing that empowered African Americans to participate in the political process...
"Last month the DNC Voting Rights Institute issued a report on the 2004 Ohio elections that found that if you were African American you had to wait three times as long to vote and were twice as likely to experience problems while trying to vote...
"This is not right. This is not the American way, and it's not good for our democracy when our citizens don't have confidence that their voice is being heard...and Democrats will continue to fight to guarantee that no American is denied the right to vote, and that their votes are counted."
Posted by Hannah at July 28, 2005 05:44 PM