"Union Leaders Must Confront Racism on the Campaign Trail"... Leader Tells Unions

[louis c]

Well, I know I posted here, about a week ago, that our union brothers and sisters have this election in our own hands. We're the swing votes here. If Obama loses, it will be because of us and racism is the "unspoken reason".

I'm a union president of a small local in Boston, and my mentor has been AFL-CIO President Bobby Haynes. As a matter of fact, in my third election victory, I stressed my local's connection with the Mass. AFL-CIO and the role we play in it. I've been to New Hampshire three times campaigning for Obama, and I'm a member of the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Eduction (COPE). Haynes is someone special. A straight shooter and a straight talker. I was at yesterday's Labor Day breakfast in Boston and heard one of the most inspiring political speeches of my life from Brother Haynes. Bobby was very instrumental in helping to elect Deval Patrick here. In addition to his connection, my late father was an Administrative Assistant to the first African-American Senator in U.S. history, Ed Brooke. I, in fact, was raised in a liberal Republican household where it was politics all the time, however, my first vote was for McGovern, and I've been a Democrat ever since, and an active "Union Democrat" at that.

Anyway, enough about me. We've been confronting racism among our members while working union households for Obama. It's not everyone. It's not even a majority. I'd say 10% to 15%. That's enough to lose a swing state. We've discussed it at our meetings. We know it's there. Sometimes subtle, sometimes overt. I have a meeting about this in Dorchester tonight. We set up phone banks to New Hampshire and Maine. We canvass Union members in these two states, also. If any DUers can give me some suggestions, I'll bring them up at the meeting. This is something we must confront. I like Bobby's direct approach, as he said in yesterday's speech, "I'll be damned, and you'll be damned, if I let racism scare this country into voting for john McCain"

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/09/02/confront_racism_leader_tells_union/