Newsom Backpedaling On Promises To Black Women for Senate Seat & Black Reparations

The Southern Truth

 By Gloria Zuurveen
Editor-in-Chief

“Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes.”  Amos 2:6

 

My, my, it looks like our good Governor Gavin Newsom is ruffling some feathers in the State of California. Yes, he is and he is not too much different than President Joe Biden who once said about Black people that they weren’t Black if they voted for Donald Trump. Yes, Biden made the statement because, he, like our  Governor Newsom, appears to follow a pattern of taking Black people for granted as staunch Democratic voters and they get in line every time given the appearance that the way they are being treated is just fine. Yes, they, the Democrats, the Black Democrats, are stone cold Democrats no matter how they get treated. Like the recent Meet the Press show where Newsom blatantly backpedaled on his words he said in March 2021, a time when he so desperately needed the Black votes to keep him afloat in the battle to win a recall election against Republican candidate Larry Elders. Well it was then that Newsom seemed to salivate for the Black votes and their allegiance. He received it. He received it based on promises he made like the one California Black Media reported on this week after Newsom spoke with NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.”  Joe W. Bowers Jr. and Edward Henderson from California Black Media (CBM) reported that when Newsom was asked by Todd what he would do if Feinstein were to step down due to her

failing health, the Governor said he would appoint a short-term caretaker to replace her. This answer infuriated many in the Black community and especially Kellie Todd Griffin, founding convener of California Black Women’s Collective ( CBWC), who said she expected Newsom to keep his promise that he made in 2021, when Newsom appointed Sen. Alex Padilla to replace former Sen. Kamala Harris, he promised to appoint a Black woman to the U.S. Senate. “I fully expected that he will keep his word. We ran a respectful campaign, “Keep the Seat,” that highlighted the need for a Black woman to be appointed as well as provided two highly qualified options with Hon. Karen Bass and Hon. Barbara Lee. He appointed Senator Padilla instead,” said Griffin. “His commitment after that act was clear and a promise to appoint a Black woman if there was another opportunity to appoint to the US Senate arises. The notion of a caretaker is not what was promised nor is it expected to be acceptable,” Griffin continued. “Appointing a caretaker has not happened since the 1930s in California history. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) is the only Black person in the U. S. Senate race to replace Feinstein. The two others Democratic contenders are U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA-30) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA-47). Lee, in a statement to CBM, said “Black women deserve more than a participation trophy. We need a seat at the table. I am troubled by the Governor’s remarks.” After appointing Alex Padilla, he appeared to have satisfied some by the appointment of Dr. Shirley Weber to Secretary of State but listening to the news that’s going through the grapevine, for many in the Black community, it is not good enough.

No, it is not good enough, and the disappointment in Newsom’s backpedaling is causing alarm and it may be causing him harm when it comes to Newsom and his future political moves with the Black community backing him. Inmate Kevin Cooper would know best. A promise to him that he may be declared free from the results of a genetic testing which ended up showing that Cooper’s DNA was found inside the Ryen home, as well as on cigarette butts recovered from a station wagon stolen from the family’s home after the slayings, according to the 243-page report. There wasn’t any DNA evidence, the report said, that “points to any other person as the culprit.” “There is no reasonable possibility that more investigation beyond what has already been conducted in this matter could affect the conclusion that evidence of Cooper’s guilt is conclusive,” the report reads.

 

The promise to Cooper a test extended to him from the governor that instead of proving his innocence is alleged to have shown that his guilt is conclusive. At the same time, even today, a man name Lee Furrow who is a likely suspect and whose DNA could possibly be on several pieces of evidence found at the murder scene but the results have never been revealed according to the Cinemaholic website article entitled “Where Is Lee Furrow Now?” by Shraman Mitra on July 24, 2021, it said, In 2018, former California Governor Jerry Brown ordered four pieces of evidence, including the hatchet and the tan t-shirt, to be DNA tested. However, the results of the DNA test are yet to be made public. Lee Furrow is an ex-convict who was long suspected of being responsible for the 1983 Chino Hills murders. It is suspect that Cooper’s case was chosen at the opportune time to make a promise with no intent to have it fulfilled.   Cooper’s legal team characterized the investigation as  “demonstrably incomplete” and that their client, Cooper is innocent. Why are these promises being broken? Is it because these are Black people? Could it be so? Evidence certainly show after looking at the Meet the Press television show. This blatant backpedaling seems to be a pattern when it comes to Blacks getting what they deserve in the great state of California. Look at the vacillating and waiting for the governor long after the meeting, greeting and conceding yet not succeeding on the subject of paying Black reparations in the state of California. This pattern of backpedaling must be considered when Blacks in this state cast their vote for Newsom or anyone for that matter.  It is time for the backpedaling to cease when it comes to promises made they should be kept. This is the time to stand up for the principles of what is ethical and what is right and it is because the promises were made and they should be kept and nothing less from Newsom should be accepted by the Black community.  In an article by Kathleen Ronayn in the Associated Press published on March 15, 2021, Newsom said he’d appoint a Black woman to replace U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she retires before her term is up in 2024. Newsom in the AP report continued, “We have multiple names in mind and the answer is yes,” he said during a interview on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” when asked if he would name a Black woman to the seat if given the chance.

Newsom made the statement that he would appoint a Black woman to replace the Senator and not simply appoint a caretaker. So, what has changed his mind? Who has changed his mind? Or Why has he changed his mind? Newsom is now backpedaling when he said on Meet the Press on Sunday,  “I don’t want to get involved in the primary. It would be completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off. That primary is just a matter of months away. I don’t want to tip the balance of that.” He said he didn’t want to tip the balance of that. What is that when he made a promise? He is in charge. He is the king at the top and if anybody can tip the balance it is he and yet now he is talking about he doesn’t want to do it. This is the same old pattern of injustice when it comes to Black people who simply must not say a thing. Black people are suppose to not say anything even though it is the government who is doing the wrong.  We, as Black people, have hundreds of years to remember and to be reminded that the promise of 40 acres and a mule have never been redeemed by Blacks according to the Freedman Bureau’s rules.

The Southern Truth