With the neutralization of Cliff Kincaid’s campaign to misrepresent Frank Marshall Davis’s “radical” influence on Barack Obama, and the auspicious inauguration of President Obama immediately after Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2009, it may be an appropriate time to close the circle between Frank Marshall Davis and Martin Luther King, Jr. When asked to comment on any parallels between Dr. King and Davis, University of Kansas Professor Edgar Tidwell, commonly acknowledged as an expert on the life and writing of Davis, wrote:
“Frank and King are aligned along a historical continuum, in a determined effort to destroy the yoke of racism. People often make the mistake of seeing Dr. King's civil rights work as the only effort made to effect social change in this country. But Frank represents only one of many such efforts, each conducted in different venues. A. Phillip Randolph's famous threatened March on Washington in 1941 (which produced the FEPC), the "Double V" campaign, the work of the NAACP, and much more paved the way for Dr. King. Add to these the various labor initiatives and you have further evidence of predecessors to Dr. King.”
Even before Inauguration Day, it was painfully obvious that the Right-Wing Fantasyland seriously misrepresented Barack Obama. While some right-wing critics of Barack Obama suffered under serious delusions themselves, other critics deliberately misrepresented Obama’s values in order to portray him as a threat to the United States of America. Guilt-by-association smears linked him to the radical background of family friend Frank Marshall Davis, Reverend Wright, and William Ayers.
The smears were produced through a three-stage disinformation campaign. First, the radical background of Obama’s associate was exaggerated. Second, the association with Obama was exaggerated. Third, the associate’s effect on Obama was exaggerated. This deception was epitomized by Accuracy In Media’s (AIM) campaign against Frank Marshall Davis, in which AIM claimed that “his values, passed on to Obama, were those of a communist agent who claimed allegiance to Stalin” [1]
While the smears concerning William Ayers can be debunked by examining the Obama-Ayers association in Chicago’s Annenberg educational board, the smears regarding Davis and Wright were more ominous because they also insinuated a radical racial agenda. Since the Davis-Obama disinformation campaign is more closely examined in other posts on this blog, the Rev. Wright misrepresentation deserves a closer look at this time.
I am John Edgar Tidwell, University of Kansas (tidwelje@ku.edu), and editor of the oft-mentioned books by Frank Marshall Davis. Although prior commitments prevent me from actively participating in this debate, I would like to take this opportunity to confirm the identity of Mark Kaleokualoha Davis, who posts comments as "Kaleokualoha," and who has a blog at [1]. He is indeed the son of Frank Marshall Davis. I can also verify that Kaleokualoha's Alan Maki post [2] contains an accurate copy, through Jul 12th 2008 at 11:13 pm EDT, of the COMMENTS section from Alan Maki's blog at [3]. Alan Maki subsequently deleted critical comments, falsely claiming they were "part of a racist, anti-Semitic hate campaign," when in fact they were only critical of Maki's actions. A comparison of both blogs will verify that Kaleokualoha's comments were NOT part of a racist, anti-Semitic hate campaign.Although my research indicates that Davis joined the CPUSA as a "closet member" during Word War II, there is no evidence that he was a Stalinist, or even a Party member before WWII. Further, to those attempting to make the specious stand for the concrete, there is no evidence that he instructed Barack Obama in communist ideology. Frank Marshall Davis did NOT believe in overthrowing the USA. He was committed to what the nation professed to be. For him, communism was primarily an intellectual vehicle to achieve a political end-a possible tool for gaining the constitutional freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for ALL Americans.
References:
1. http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/Kaleokualoha
2. http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/Kaleokualoha/gGxk2C
3. http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/alanmaki/gG5GqK/commentary#comments
(See Frank Marshall Davis "Rice & Roses" PBS program at
http://www.hawaii.edu/uhwo/clear/HonoluluRecord1/Frankvideo.html)
Every person of integrity will probably agree that slander and libel are wrong, especially when the target is a dead poet who cannot defend himself. Yet this is exactly what is happening. By defaming the character of my father, Frank Marshall Davis, and exaggerating his radical influence on Barack Obama as “Obama’s Communist Mentor”[1] in February 2008, right-wing bloggers seek to portray Barack Obama as unworthy of becoming President of the United States.
Conservative opponents of Barack Obama face a dilemma. Some are determined to stop him by any means necessary, but most know that direct appeal to racial prejudice is unacceptable in the 21st century. Because Obama is a relative newcomer to the political scene, he does not have enough of a voting record to make him vulnerable in that area. As a last resort, they are trying to convince voters that he is unfit to be President by making false accusations regarding his character.
Cliff Kincaid and his colleagues have accused Frank Marshall Davis (1905-1987) of being a Stalinist, a lifetime member of the Communist Party, and “Obama’s Communist Mentor.” Kincaid heads “Accuracy In Media” (A.I.M.), an organization dedicated to “fairness, balance and accuracy in news reporting.” Kincaid and his colleagues are all honorable men.
Having asked Kincaid to substantiate some of his accusations, and having received no reply, one can only conclude that Kincaid must be preoccupied with more important questions, because Kincaid is an honorable man.
Although the ironically named “Accuracy In Media” has yet to substantiate that Davis actually mentored Obama (a claim specifically rejected by the Obama campaign), such a relationship could have provided a bi-racial teenager with the key to success in mainstream America. To minimize criticism and maximize their potential, bi-racial African-Americans must walk a narrow identity path between group expectations. Davis was uniquely qualified to show the way. He may have significantly facilitated Obama’s vision of an inclusive society.
