DAVIS SELLS OUT BLACKS IN ALABAMA

Jesse Jackson called out Artur Davis for his shameless vote on healthcare reform last night at a Congressional Black Caucus event:

“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”

Jackson went on to say that black lawmakers should vote the interests of the people in their districts, and the healthcare bill would help Alabama because it’s one of the poorest states in the country.

“The poorest people need healthcare protection,” Jackson said. “They have the highest infant mortality and the lowest life expectancy. They’re dying from lack of access.”

It took a man of Jackson’s stature to tell the public what we have known for a long time here in Alabama. Artur Davis does not care about the black people of his congressional district or this country. We agree with Jackson that Artur ought to be ashamed. In a bid to become Alabama’s first black governor, Davis has sold us out completely. He abandoned us on the toxic coal ash issue in Perry County. He abandoned us on Cooper Green Hospital in Birmingham.

And Jackson is right, you can’t call yourself a black man and expect other blacks to vote for you, when you don’t understand nor sympathize with the plight of blacks in Alabama. Artur, this is just one more vote that makes it hard for you to call yourself black at all.

Walt Wilson, President, Community First Birmingham

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill.

“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”

The remark stirred a murmur at the reception, held by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation as part of a series of events revolving around the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s run for president. Several CBC members were in attendance, including Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who’d introduced Jackson.

Davis, who is running for governor, is the only black member of Congress from Alabama. Attempts to reach his spokeswoman for comment were unsuccessful.

He is also the only member of the CBC to have voted against the healthcare bill earlier this month, a fact pointed out by his opponent in the gubernatorial primary, Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks.

“He was the only Black Caucus member to vote against it. I don’t get it,” Sparks said last week, according to The Associated Press.

Davis has countered that Sparks’s position on healthcare has changed over time, saying he’s being “deliberately dishonest.”

The primary will be June 1. All of the GOP candidates for governor have been critical of the healthcare legislation, according to AP.