Allen West on growing up in Atlanta, and ladders versus hammocks
A first-term South Florida congressman may seem an odd headliner for one of the year’s biggest fund-raisers for Georgia Republicans. To understand, you have to know Allen West.
West grew up in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward and graduated from Grady High School before going on to college and a career in the Army. Last November, he was one of the first two black Republicans elected to Congress since 2000, and already he has become a crowd pleaser among conservatives and a lightning rod for the left.
His speech at Monday’s GOP dinner in downtown Atlanta upheld both reputations. West compared America’s journey to Homer’s “The Odyssey,” with the hero beset by the siren song of “hope and change,” twin monsters of debt and the deficit, and the Calypso-like complacency and dependency of the social-welfare state.
But earlier, West’s theme of “coming home” was personal as the 50-year-old played back-seat tour guide of his old stomping grounds.
He led a small party down Boulevard to his old elementary school at Our Lady of Lourds: “You grew up in the shadow of [Martin Luther King Jr.’s] gravesite.” Then down Auburn Avenue: “Look at all the closed-up stores. Once upon a time, this was the center of the black community.” And on to the Sweet Auburn Curb Market on Edgewood Avenue: “My dad was an awesome cook, and this was where we’d come get our fresh fruit and also fresh fish.”
But it was a bit farther north, past the Fort Street United Methodist Church that West’s family attended, where he had the car stop and got out.
Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., stands in front of his boyhood home on Atlanta's Kennesaw Avenue, March 21, 2011. (Photo by West's staff)
Kennesaw Avenue runs one way from Ponce de Leon to North Avenue, a pretty street you hardly notice whizzing down either of those thoroughfares. In 1959, Herman and Elizabeth West bought the brick home (price: $17,000) where young Allen lived until he left for the University of Tennessee.
He spoke fondly of the street where he played stickball for fun and mowed lawns for spending money. “This was a typical, nice, black lower-middle-class street,” he said. “Everyone knew each other and looked out for each other.”
West hasn’t repressed negative memories from that time. He pointed to a rock house across the street — “We used to call it the Flintstone House” — where drugs were sold. And down on Ponce, “We used to have prostitutes that would hang out, and my mom would come and chase them out. People think I’m bold, they should have met my mom.”
But he can explain why many people here aren’t as well off as before. “They have fallen into a trap of policies that say, we will provide you enough subsistence to exist by, but really they erode the access to opportunities that [people] have. …
“Conservatives believe that every child in America is born with a ladder. And that ladder is the one for the equal opportunity by which you can achieve whatever dreams or hopes you have. Conservatives believe you should have that safety net that will allow you not to crash, but we want you to climb back on that ladder.”
Instead, he said, “Liberal social-welfare policies provide a hammock.”
Back in the car, we were pulling away when West yelled “Stop!” and pointed to a home’s window — and a symbol of how attitudes have changed in his old neighborhood.
“That’s something you would have never seen when I was growing up: a freakin’ Che Guevara flag, on Kennesaw Avenue! That’s concerning. Aw, man.”
– By Kyle Wingfield
Find me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter
Or tweet this blog post: Tweet
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
75 comments Add your comment
Left wing management
March 26th, 2011
4:51 pm
Michael Smith: Yeah and I dare you to read sometimes before you speak so foolishly. As you say, go ahead, prove me wrong next time. LOL
You’re not following me. I’m challenging you to criticize your own side instead of always contributing your little squirts of verbiage to the streams that pollute these columns so regularly, the rah rah thinking which is so much stuffing that packs the heads of people with little inside them to begin with.
So don’t do that, Michael. That’s boring. Why not try instead to not be boring for a change. Tell me something about how the Republican party is wrong, for example, then maybe we can have a conversation.
Georgia Voter
March 26th, 2011
5:03 pm
Allen West grew up attending “government schools”, attended “government subsidized universities”, most likely with the help of “government-backed” loans or “government” grants, and possibly, affirmative-action entry requirements. He was on the “government payroll” until he was forced to retire for threatening a guy by firing a gun near his head.
But yeah, “Liberal social-welfare policies provide a hammock.” What a hypocrite.
Michael H. Smith
March 26th, 2011
5:32 pm
You’re not following me. I’m challenging you to criticize your own side instead of always contributing your little squirts of verbiage to the streams that pollute these columns so regularly, the rah rah thinking which is so much stuffing that packs the heads of people with little inside them to begin with.
I have done more than your damn insults insist I’ve done, so don’t go lecturing me, Mr. Dolt.
Your gibberish is no better than the other leftwing crap that flows through these blogs. One or two objective thoughts doesn’t change that fact.
Tell me something about how the Republican party is wrong, for example, then maybe we can have a conversation.
First, I really don’t want a conversation with YOU, considering your ad homenin insult direct at my person: Bad assumption on your part, point one. Point two: If you were so all observant of me and what I post on these blogs as you think yourself to be, then you would know I consistently challenged the right, which includes REPUBLICANS and Libertarians repeatedly on their claims of a so-called “FREE MARKET” that is simply unconstitutional based on Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Capitalist market is a “Limited Capitalism” by the enumerated powers under what is commonly referred to as the Commerce Clause. This challenge remains unanswered by those to whom it was issued.
As stated many times in the past, here once again for the willfully blind: The Republicans are wrong on Trade and Immigration, wrong on Energy and wrong on healthcare; though, not nearly as extremely wrong as are the socialist liberal Democrats on these issues.
killerj
March 26th, 2011
5:48 pm
Please stay in florida,when I grew up the regular girls gave it for free,Go Tea Party.
Left wing management
March 26th, 2011
6:32 pm
Michael Smith: “The U.S. Capitalist market is a “Limited Capitalism” by the enumerated powers under what is commonly referred to as the Commerce Clause. This challenge remains unanswered by those to whom it was issued”
Ah yes, now it’s coming back.
Ok then, we’re clear. Which is to say, we’re on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Hipster Intolerance Ruining Atlanta
March 26th, 2011
8:11 pm
In today’s Atlanta Mr. West’s family would have been driven away from the 4th Ward, like most people of color, to make room for underemployed Che Guevara flag-waving God-hating hipsters.
Hipster hatred of all things good and decent is a warning for people of color, destroying communities like the plague all across Atlanta. All in the name of “New Urbanism,” code for “get the Black folks out of Atlanta.”
Michael H. Smith
March 26th, 2011
9:00 pm
Hedge Funds Take on Dodd-Frank Act
This is going to be worth watching, as a mostly “unregulated” part of the investment market comes under regulatory scrutiny.
Reminder to the Republicans in Congress now being lawyer-ed and lobbied by the hedge funds for protection from government oversight:
In 1992, the lead fund, Soros’s Quantum – hedge - Fund became famous for “breaking” the Bank of England, forcing it to devalue the pound. Soros had bet his entire fund in a short sale on the ultimately fulfilled prediction that the British currency would drop in value, a coup that netted him a profit of $1 billion.
In 1997, Soros was blamed for forcing sharp devaluations in Southeast Asian currencies.
Now, Soros is trying to change how global currency works to chip away at the value of our U.S. currency.
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4608347/hedge-funds-take-on-dodd-frank-act?playlist_id=87063
~ Mr. Speaker
Article 1
The Congress shall have Power…
Enumeration 4
To coin Money, “regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin”, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
Always Skeptical
March 26th, 2011
10:05 pm
Interesting piece Kyle…But I’m a resident of The Old Fourth Ward and Our Lady of Lourdes…and I’d say that the neighborhood is experiencing a renaissance in spite of all of the things that his party holds dear…as well as the struggling economy. He should have been paying more attention to the nuns that taught him as well as the legacy of St.Katharine Drexel the founder of our parish. Something tells me that he would have been a little more social justice progressive and a little less unfettered capitalist…His perception of what’s going on in the neighborhood is atypical GOP…the same folks that would give tax-breaks to millionaires and then try to balance the budget on the backs of teachers….
He's still on the plantation
March 26th, 2011
10:45 pm
itpdude
March 26th, 2011
3:51 pm
“One brother made it out and he’s the example. You might as well feature a brain surgeon and tell people they are losers if they can’t become brain surgeons. This guy is an exception to the rule of social policies that have been keeping people down for a long time.”
The irony of this idiot’s post is that the world’s foremost brain surgeon is a black man who grew up in very humble, poor beginnings to a single black mother who was illiterate. She couldn’t read a lick but instilled in him and his youner brother the importance of an education. He began to appreciate reading, excelled in school, worked hard and won scholarship after scholarship. And then you got this guy. Despite all the advantages of affirm action, especially in education, you will always find excuse making losers like this clown.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
March 27th, 2011
9:14 am
Our little socialist geniuses at the Urinal have questions for us this morning-
Why have so many Republicans been so slow to officially join the race?- al- Jazeera Central (AJC)
Well, let’s see here, to give the sissies in the mainstream drive by media less time to unleash their screeching blood curdling whining panty waist yellow attacks on our candidates?
And that’s just their reaction to our male candidates.
They abuse, spy on, discriminate against, hate, rage, wig out and totally freak over our women.
So let the little weanies wonder who will be relieving obozo of his “duties.”
Do names really matter anyway?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
March 27th, 2011
9:20 am
Yeah, let’s apologize for the islamic abuse and torture of women this morning-
Woman detained after rape claims
TRIPOLI, Libya — Her story could not be independently verified.
Al-Obeidi had scratches on her face and she pulled up her robe to reveal a bloodied thigh.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim originally said that investigators told him al-Obeidi was drunk, but he retreated from that position later Saturday. He said she was in safe custody and her claims were being investigated. – Urinal
Nice little allies you got there, left wingers.
By the way, this woman came to a group of western urinialists seeking aid and safety from them, thinking that they were decent, caring human beings. And this is what they did for her.
Zilcho.
Michael H. Smith
March 27th, 2011
9:59 am
Unfettered Capitalism is not Conservative!
Reed R. Heustis, Jr.
I once thought that in order to be a “good conservative,” I must embrace unfettered capitalism.
But I soon realized that unfettered capitalism is really unfettered libertarianism, which promotes licentiousness and immorality at all costs.
If the government were to intervene in the marketplace, I once thought, then somehow it would be “unconservative.”
Something smelled rotten in Denmark.
To my pleasant surprise, I came to learn that the United States’ early economy was neither communistic nor capitalistic.
It was simply an economy that was American.
Let me explain…
Unfortunately, today’s young “conservatives” are bamboozled into thinking that there are only two kinds of economies: communism and capitalism, the difference being who owns the “means of production.”
Communism calls for the “public” ownership of capital, while capitalism calls for the “private” ownership of capital.
However, both ideologies are materialistic twins: they both are obsessed with the concept of “capital.” Thus, communism really is just a form of capitalism, the only
difference being Who owns the capital.
Both ideologies see the greatest good in its own ends: communism sees the greatest good as the public ownership of all capital, while capitalism sees the greatest good as the private ownership of all capital.
Notice how any other positive “good” is completely ignored: patriotism, family, nationalism, communitarianism, Christian good will…. They all take a back seat to
the “real” aim of Who owns the capital?
In a pure capitalist society, the greatest “good” is the mere fact that capital is in private hands without government interference. To the capitalist, even his own national sovereignty is for sale to the highest bidder. It is through pure capitalist policies that allow foreigners to buy American real estate without even being citizens or residents here.
Similarly, it does not matter to the communist that his own national sovereignty can be sold out to the highest bidder. To the communist, as long as the “working class” or the “Proletariat” owns the means of production, then his own national sovereignty is expendable.
It is no surprise that Karl Marx, author of the Communist Manifesto, urged the “workers of the world” to “unite!” In Marx’s mind, nationhood and boundaries were impediments to the “greatest good” of public ownership of capital.
It is also no surprise that today’s fierce dog-eat-dog multinational corporate capitalists are also seeking a one-world government whereby individual national laws are abolished so that private capital can be more “freely exchanged” on a “global basis.” As you can see, to the capitalist, concepts such as nation states and boundaries are “outmoded” impediments to their “greatest good” of private ownership of capital without compromise.
Communism and Capitalism both want one world government. Marx called for global free trade, as do our contemporary capitalist “leaders.”
Today, Big Labor supports unfettered communism, while Big Business supports unfettered capitalism.
We must reject both Big Labor and Big Business.
Neither concepts are concerned about the Christian principles upon which America was founded, nor do they care about the preservation of American sovereignty, independence and the U.S. Constitution.
We must realize that we can be both Pro-Worker and Pro-Business at the same time without supporting Big Labor and Big Business.
Our Founding Fathers were not communists, and neither were they capitalists, and yet they indeed were pro-worker while simultaneously being pro-business.
I encourage you to read Alexander Hamilton’s 1791 Report to the Congress on the Subject of Manufactures.
Hamilton’s ideas were adopted by our early national government in an attempt to strengthen and nationalize the union. It is Hamilton’s ideas embraced by other famous American leaders, including Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson. In fact, even Patrick J. Buchanan embraced Hamilton’s economics.
Hamilton’s idea was called, “The American System of Economics.” It was not communistic and it was not capitalistic. It was a market based economy which specifically seeks a strong moral nation.
Essentially, it is this American System that Pat Buchanan calls, “economic nationalism.”
The Hamiltonian model used protectionism and tariffs pursuant to the U.S. Constitution. This obviously protected American industry from foreign predators,
allowed American workers to keep what they earned (without using an unconstitutional income tax), and encouraged a cooperation between both labor and capital.
The main tenet of this form of economics was the Christian idea that harmony between capital and labor would be encouraged. Hamilton understood that when
capital and labor are in harmony, nationalism flourishes and loyalty to community and country abounds.
This system definitely was a recipe for strong love for country and a prosperous people, and Buchanan points out in his book, The Great Betrayal, that it was through the American System of Economics that America went from an agrarian society to the mightiest industrial nation on earth.
One of the reasons why I left the Republican Party was because it walked away from these economic principles also championed by Lincoln and Roosevelt. The Republican Party had once been the party of tariffs and protectionism, just like our early American Presidents. But soon the GOP was hijacked by globalists who want exactly what the communists and capitalists want: a one world government without borders where the greatest “good” centers on capital.
Thankfully the Constitution Party stands for the U.S. Constitution which would allow our national government to pursue policies that strengthen the nation while strengthening the people.
Hope this helps,
Reed R. Heustis, Jr.
So?
March 27th, 2011
10:10 am
Mr. West is just like all the rest of the Republicans these days. They got elected telling us they were going to help fix this broken economy and help get people back to work. But instead, they just trot around the country bashing anyone who is not a conservative and doing NOTHING to better this nation. Just another empty suit (uniform) with no ideas… just a big mouth.
Dirty Dawg
March 27th, 2011
10:29 am
Allen West…just another black man looking to cash in on right-wing tokenism. Kinda like a ‘conservative’ version of Jessie Jackson and in West’s case there’s the added advantage of being pushed out front so that the ‘Tea-partiers’ can say, ‘See there, we told you we weren’t racist.’
DD
March 27th, 2011
10:58 am
Vudu and Rafe,
move to Detroit you will both love it there, don’t bring Detroit to us please. Check the black on black crime rates, wake-up!
DD
March 27th, 2011
11:04 am
So, what uniform did you fill? West is my Infantry Brother and served, empty uniform my ass. So you are the empty one.
Left wing management
March 27th, 2011
11:05 am
Michael Smith:
There are interests working hard to gut the tiny bulwark we’ve managed to erect to protect against another, more catastrophic collapse the next time from unregulated speculation and you’re worried about Soros?
C’mon MSH, don’t you know Glenn Beck is not a good source on the topic of financial regulation?
You see, to come back to what I was saying yesterday, the problem is with Barack Obama’s Treasury secretary who wants to exempt currency derivatives from the regulation, claiming that this sector performed fine during the crisis. So why are you focusing on a small player like Soros when the problem is at the highest levels of leadership and in both parties?
DD
March 27th, 2011
11:10 am
Reed one name, George Soros
metoo
March 27th, 2011
11:49 am
End the entitlements to the rich and corporations.
vietnamvet
March 27th, 2011
1:56 pm
rafe hollister:
Google Allen West and do-as I did- the research yourself. Then too, what is disrespectful to me might not be disrespectful to you.
A careful reading of my article would imply that I did not condone the disrespect of President Bush. Moreover, as someone said: An eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth leaves both blind and toothless.
Question: Do we disrespect one President because another has been disrespect. If we do we diminish the office.
Hillbilly Deluxe
March 27th, 2011
2:06 pm
“Everyone knew each other and looked out for each other.”
Most communities around the country used to be that way. We’d do well to get back to that.
So?
March 27th, 2011
3:13 pm
DD — Mr. West has chosen to use his uniform for political gain, hence I am allowed to criticize him. Are you suggesting that if military people decide to run for Congress they should not be questioned or criticized? That sounds UN-AMERICAN and goes against everything Mr. West swore to protect when he entered into his contract with the Department of Defense.
Junior Samples
March 28th, 2011
12:00 pm
why couldn’t this country have elected him instead of the empty suit that we got stuck with.
Allen
March 28th, 2011
2:03 pm
Conservatives see societal ills — i.e. poverty, crime, unemployment — largely as defects of individual character, a failure to climb the ladder.
Liberals see the same problems largely as systemic failures. Liberals imagine a ladder with many broken rungs and think that our popular conceptions of social and economic mobility are mostly overstated.
Both sides would do well to consider the other perspective seriously.
Jahbalon
March 28th, 2011
6:25 pm
Allen West = President 45