Jim Crow, Roland Burris and the 111th Congress

By Charles Mombo

Illinois Senate appointee Roland Burris

With an uncomfortable resemblance of scenes from the Jim Crow era, the Illinois Senate appointee Roland Burris, who is an African American was escorted out of the Capitol in the rain after being turned away when he arrived for the swearing-in ceremonies of the 111^th Congress. Legislation known as Jim Crow laws separated people of African American from whites in schools, housing, jobs, and public gathering places. The racial composition of the 111th Congress is 94 Caucasians, 3 Hispanics,2 Asians and 0 African American. Burris will be the only African American in the Senate after he is sworn in.

Mr. Burris, 71 years old, said "I am not seeking to have any type of confrontation" over taking the seat that he was appointed to by embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But Mr. Burris also said he was looking at options for taking the seat. He left the Capitol offices of the secretary, Nancy Erickson, after a meeting of about 20 minutes.

Mr. Burris, an outstanding trailblazer and former Illinois attorney general, also dismissed the Senate Democratic leadership’s position that he cannot be seated because he was appointed by a governor accused in a criminal complaint of trying to benefit financially from his authority to fill the seat that Mr. Obama vacated after winning the presidential election.

Illinois Gov. Blagojevich, made a legal appointment of Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate. This is under the legal authority granted him by the U.S. Constitution. The governor has not been convicted of any crime. According to Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, Roland Burris appointment by a sitting governor was rejected on grounds that his certificate hadn’t been signed by Illinois’ secretary of state. In reality, it appears that Burris was rejected because the Democratic party had an hidden agenda which does not include a Black person in the mostly -white senate club.

Appearing on the Cliff Kelly Show, WVON (1690 AM) – The Talk of Chicago, the Illinois Secretary of State Jessie White said that he had issues with Illinois Gov. Blagojevich because the governor had reduced his operating budget by $50M and he refused to signed Burris’ appointment certificate to proved a point to the governor. Jessie White appears not only to be acting as a stumbling block but also as a de facto governor with the influence of Senator Harry Reid.

On January 3, 2009, Illinois Gov. Blagojevich signed an order for a special general election to fill Rahm Emanuel’s seat in the Northwest Side’s 5th Congressional District. Appearing to be cherry picking, Jessie White

as Secretary of State for Illinois signed the special election order on January 5, 2009 without any problem. The election is scheduled for a March 3 primary and April 7 general election. Just about a week ago, Governor Blagojevich recently signed a bill into law granting clemency to 20 individuals.

It appears as if the Senate have a black/white interpretation of the law. It may be recalled that unrepentant Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, convicted on federal ethics charges was allowed to stay in the Senate until he eventually lost his bid for a seventh term. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June 2008 at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom. He signed the petition to enter a guilty plea. Despite his arrest, he was allowed to stay in the Senate.

Upset and outraged listeners to radio stations around Chicago have expressed their concerns and anger against the democratic establishment. There is a scheduled protest demonstration against Jessie White for Tuesday, Jan. 06, 09, 2:00 pm at the Illinois Secretary of State office, 9901 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Chicago, IL 60628. Frustrated users are also encourage to call the Illinois Secretary of State office to express their concerns: (773) 793-1010 and (217) 782-7017.