lone republican draws attention at naacp

Photo credit: USA Today

According to the USA Today blog, only one Republican candidate for the presidential nomination showed up to the annual NAACP Convention in Detroit. Ten candidates were invited, but either didn't respond to the invitation or cited scheduling conflicts.

The audience gave Rep. Tom Tancredo a standing ovation as he stood amid nine empty lecterns on stage. "Do you think we should wait a few minutes to see if these other guys show up?" he asked.

Rudy Giuliani was fundraising in Michigan, anyway, but still couldn't be bothered to appear at the convention of more than 8,000 NAACP members.

On the other hand, all eight of the Democratic candidates that were invited showed up to discuss the issues at hand. Sen. Barack Obama reportedly drew the most applause.

All the Democratic candidates were warmly received, but Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, an African-American appearing before an African-American crowd in the nation's most African-American city, drew by far the loudest applause.

Obama said that while government cannot guarantee success, it is "a betrayal of our ideals" for people to be held back from opportunity because of their skin color or their economic class.

"If you're poor in this country, that's hazardous to your health," Obama said. "If you're poor and a minority that's downright lethal."

the new tyc scandal: shaquanda cotton

Via Capitol Annex we learn of Shaquanda Cotton, a 14-year-old girl that was sentenced for up to seven years in the Texas Youth Commission for pushing a hall monitor at her high school in Paris, Texas.

The Chicago Tribune broke this story nationally March 12, comparing Cotton's sentence to that of a white teenager that committed an arguably more heinous act:

Just three months earlier, [Lamar County Judge Chuck] Superville sentenced a 14-year-old white girl, convicted of arson for burning down her family's house, to probation.

"All Shaquanda did was grab somebody and she will be in jail for 5 or 6 years?" said Gary Bledsoe, an Austin attorney who is president of the state NAACP branch. "It's like they are sending a signal to black folks in Paris that you stay in your place in this community, in the shadows, intimidated."

Photo credit: Chicago TribuneVince at Capitol Annex suggests that this story has been underreported by the Texas media. NTL searched the websites of the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for Cotton's name and found no results.