by Tiffany Shorter
Hip Hop Republican misquoted and misinterpreted by the Village Voice.
Yesterday the Village Voice, a New York City newspaper, published an article about young black conservatives cheering for Sarah Palin at the vice-presidential debate. Comments such as “Obama is kicking the poor people out of the South Side”, were reported but never said. This quote was supposedly stated by me when I referred to Obama’s record as a state senator in Illinois.
As a resident of Chicago, I can confidently say that Obama is not doing any such thing. With three other witnesses, I also state with full certainty that I NEVER accused the Illinois Senator of hauling anyone from his or her home.
Instead, I posed the question, “What has he done in Illinois?”. Hype Park located on the South Side of Chicago, which Obama represented as an Illinois State Senator continues to struggle with drugs, poverty and crime. The only major change to the 13th district since he was elected is gentrification. Problems such as unemployment and violence were not resolved they but displaced to the South Suburbs along with Obama’s constituents who depended on his leadership. They hoped for change like many in America do today.
There are a few other defamatory statements made but not by Brandon Brice or myself. We were the only content contributors of the Hip Hop Republican who interviewed with the Voice. Most of the opinions written in the article do not represent my views nor the views of Hip Hop Republican. I urge the Village Voice to correct this miscommunication.
6 comments:
Tiffany,
I sent and email to Ms.Hillard as well. I feel that my comments were grossly misrepresented.
I am a republican voter who is very disappointed by the Palin selection, and getting increasingly disillusioned by McCain. I am ideologically a libertarian, and usually vote republican as the lesser of two evils. I am also one of those republican voters who has seriously considered voting for Obama because I would like to see the US have a president who is black (not withstanding Dwight Eisenhower, who nobody considered black, but whose mom clearly was).
"The only major change to the 13th district since he was elected is gentrification."
Is your problem with the sentiment or the words themselves? Its seems as though the sentiment is consistent with the one posted here. I can understand frustration from being misquoted or having comments taken out of context; My intent is to understand your stance, both from the original article and your request for a retraction.
-- "The only major change to the 13th district since he was elected is gentrification."
Hmm, it appears you just wrote, in essence, "Obama is kicking the poor people out of the South Side."
The first definition for the word, gentrification, in Dictionary.com Unabridged: "the buying and renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, thus improving property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses."
Why get mad at the Village Voice for reporting what you did say -- and apparently still saying?
it would be dangerous for the GOP to reschedule another VP debate...
If the Village Voice misquoted you, then they should apologize and print a correction (although saying that his only record in his Chicago district is further gentrification, does sound like "he's kicking people out of the South Side", just prettier).
In any event, I wish you would also denounce the flat out lies that the McCain campaign is spreading about Obama, and the general turn towards the ugliest side of Americans that his rallies have become. Just my two cents.
Post a Comment