Health & Fitness
Harry Belafonte Calls Herman Cain a Bad Apple
Harry Belafonte says Herman Cain is a tool of the right wing.
Sometimes it takes an elder statesman to put things in perspective; someone who has seen it all and recognizes a wolf in sheep’s clothing because he’s actually met them in person. I’m talking about the 84-year-old actor/activist Harry Belafonte and his comments this week about pizza man Herman Cain, who is masquerading as a GOP candidate for President.
In Atlanta it seems we’re overwhelmed with Herman in the news, in part because he lives here now. But the main reason is that a local media powerhouse is invested in Cain’s future.
In case you’ve forgotten, Herman had a radio program on an Atlanta radio talk show where he always told a right-wing audience exactly what they wanted to hear. The station is owned by the same media conglomerate that owns the local newspaper and a rather large local TV station. What a coincidence that Herman Cain gets so much local media coverage right? Yeah RIGHT!
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Anyway, if you hadn’t heard, Harry Belafonte was a guest this week on the Joy Behar show. Belafonte is an incredible man who was a strong and vocal supporter of the U.S. civil rights movement from the very beginning. Behar was interviewing Belafonte about his latest project, “My Song,” his memoir about his life which was made into a documentary by HBO.
During the interview, Behar took the time to ask Belafonte about Herman Cain. Belafonte at first pretended not to know Herman Cain, but then he answered her question. He lit into Herman with both barrels, reminding us why Cain is both irrelevant and dangerous at the same time.
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There were so many excellent quotes, but this one is perhaps the most telling. Belafonte describes Cain as the kind of black man who can’t understand why all blacks aren’t rich like him, because Cain believes racism doesn’t hold anyone back.
"He knows very little," Belafonte said. "Because he happened to have good fortune, because he happened to have had a moment when he broke through — the moment someone blinked – that does not make him the authority on the plight of people of color"!
Belafonte’s thoughts on Cain are so insightful that it makes you remember why Cain is distasteful to most African-Americans. During his campaign, Cain’s smug attacks on President Obama are often completely false and are based mostly on the campaign slogans of the Tea Party.
Here’s a link to view the entire Belafonte interview in which he says Herman Cain is being used as a tool by the right wing of the Republican Party:
If you’re interested in the Harry Belafonte documentary project, it will start airing on HBO on October 17th. When you watch it, you’ll get to see many of the things Harry Belafonte has been involved in during his lifetime.
You’ll be ready to say thank you to a man who is continuing to fight to make a difference in our lives. And say thank you again, Mr. Belafonte, for making it plain about what’s wrong with Herman Cain!