Brother Maurice M. Spence
7 ^ Aiew. Pefuudicatt Gowj/ieAA,: Political fja>iaQ44, QSI Political RealUii,?
Brother Maurice Spence, Southern Region Assistant Vice President
top the presses! Hide the women and children! Clear the streets! Hoard all your financial resources. Search for the basic necessities! It's die new Republican Congress! This past November, blacks in America suffered one of die most devas-
StoyfX tUe {iteAA&i! taring political losses in their history. Eighty percent of die voting blacks voted Democrat, but diat was not enough to prevent removing the Republican Party from its majority position in Congress. We direw our eggs in one basket. What does this mean for Black America? Is the Republican Contract with America simply political jargon, a cloud of smoke, or political reality, flammable materials waiting to ignite? I will give credit where credit is due. Newt Gingrich and the 104th Congress have successfully set the public's agenda; mean-
while, the Democrats were recovering from a highly criticized but active 103 rd Democratic-controlled Congress. Let's slow down a minute and analyze die rhetoric put forth by the Grand Old Party (GOP). Our villages won't be pillaged and our women and children will be fed. First of all in my candid opinion, this "Contract witli America" is jargon, a
cttubetke women and cUMteti! planned and calculated "infomericial" to get votes. This contract promised to put popular but sometimes wanton issues on the House floor widiin one hundred days of die new Congress' inauguration. Remember, it is a relatively simple political task to introduce legislation, but a more monumental task to pass legislation through the Senate and House. In addition, approval is needed
22 • The Sphinx T Summer 1995
from a majority of the states in the case of an amendment to die U. S. Constitution. So, the contract is political jargon in die sense that this new GOP majority carries the mind-set of a large majority of Americans who are cynics of government. Now, let's analyze some of the ideas advanced by die GOP majority. First, religion and morality. Newt Gingrich promised to introduce a constitutional amendment to permit prayer in schools. If Newt means mandating prayer, in effect, he means putting religion back into public schools. Newt seems to have missed class on the day the
Glean, tke *ÂŁ>ieeti! professor taught U. S. Constitution 101. This idea is contradictory to the "Establishment" clause of the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution which states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...."