The Richmond Voice Endorses Sen. George Allen

This endorsement of Sen. Allen from Richmond's largest African-American paper, The Richmond Voice, was read at the UCV bookclub meeting this evening. The reaction? Wow!

"This has been an election year in which Blacks have had to listen to allegations about which U.S. Senate candidate is a racist, who said the n-word, and so forth. It is sad that when they talk about Black people, it’s only in the context of these trivialities and not about the issues that affect the everyday lives of Black folks.

There are myriad issues that should be dominating conversations—how to ensure that our children grow up in safe, drug free and crime free neighborhoods; how to guarantee an equal playing field for our small businesses when it comes to getting government contracts; how to change the schools in our neighborhoods so they can all pass benchmarks; how to fight the HIV/AIDS ravage of our community; and how to help single parents discontinue the cycle of poverty that governs their lives.

History has shown us that when we are out of sight, we are out of mind. When the elections are over, you just might be out of mind. And if only the campaign was dominated with real issues, at least you would know that you said your piece before you were out of mind.

It was refreshing to learn that state Sen. Benjamin Lambert III had stepped out of the box and was thinking for himself instead of letting his political affiliation think for him. Regardless of what you think, what he did was gigantic because the Democratic Party has always had a noose around Black folks’ necks.

Bishop Gerald O. Glenn of Chesterfield County also spoke out against race baiting, and this newspaper, always an independent thinker, is speaking out too.

We can’t live in the past forever, we must build new bridges and our first step across the bridge is to endorse Sen. George Allen, who is running for re-election. The past allows our slave masters to always tell us how to vote, and this newspaper is doing its part in breaking away from the slave shackles.

Sen. Allen’s record with the Black community may have started out blotchy, but we feel that he has learned the most about what is important to the Black community. We don’t have to justify our endorsement, but we want to tell our readers that a new breeze is blowing and you can either join it or stay shackled in the past."

We welcome that "new breeze" and would remind Democrats and Republicans alike, "These ain't your daddies' parties!"