UPDATE #1 MARCH 2010 - Charlie has finally stepped down (under increased pressure from the Democrats) as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee until ethnic complaints are (or might eventually be) "resolved".
UPDATE #2 - Also read "Charlie Rangel: Harlem's Godfather - The Untold Story"
Everybody has been writing about his latest tax schemes and the injustices that he has perpetrated upon the American taxpayers...but I thought I'd take a slightly different approach with Mr. Charlie Rangel. (I hope I don't get audited by the IRS!) This post contains some information that was gleaned from his book: "And I Haven't had a Bad Day Since - From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress" (by Charlie B. Rangel with Leon Wynter)
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Charlie Rangel - "And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress" (Paperback)
The 19-term congressman from Harlem was a high-school dropout. He returned from military service in Korea with a Purple Heart, but little education. His foray into politics came via the Democratic Party.
Rangel revels in his role persuading Hillary Clinton to run for the Senate, while occasionally weighing in on
a "kind of racist algebra".
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The Timeline from 1893 to the Present
In his book Charlie Rangel writes about his great-grandfather, who hails from Accomac, Virginia - "Then as now, the wealth of Accomack County comes from the land and the accumulated labor of African-Americans since slavery times...and from slavery times, a lot of those children were fathered by white landowners on black women."
(Yes, as with Michelle Obama and Valerie Jarrett, Charlie Rangel also has "Roots".)
Charlie's great-grandfather named Frazer Wharton (a name Frazer inherited from a white slave owner in Virginia) had his first child named Charlie Wharton with a woman named Mary Dye (born around 1893) - they ended up having 14 children together.
Charlie Rangel's grandfather, Charlie Wharton, left the farm in Accomac, Virginia when he was 16 and traveled north to New Jersey where he met a woman named Frances.
His grandparents, Charlie Wharton and Frances, had two children together - his mother named Blanche Mary Wharton (March 20, 1904) and his uncle Herbert (born in 1902).
The family moved to 74 West 132nd Street in New York City. His great-grandfather Frazer put down the money for them on the brownstone at 132nd Street and signed the note, but eventually Frazer had to pay it off. (The brownstone is forever referred to by Charlie Rangel as "Seventy Four".)
His Grandmother Frances later died giving birth to her 3rd child. Now widowed, his grandfather (Charlie, who had never married) had Welfare officials threatening to take away his mother Blanche and his Uncle Herbert. (Rangel's grandfather later meets another woman named "Miss Indie" and is much discussed in Rangel's book.)
In 1920 Charlie's mother and father met at the 132nd Street brownstone. His name was Charles Bernard Rangel Sr. (Yes, another "Charlie"), who was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1900. They met when Charles had worked at the brownstone as a handyman in the building. Charlie Rangel writes that his parents "ran off together" when she was just 16. He also says his grandfather had to "force" his mother Blanche to come home on a few occasions - when Blanche would have been between 16 and 18 years old. His mother Blanche had worked as both a maid and as a seamstress in a factory in New York's Garment District.
When Charlie Rangel's parents married, Blanche became "Blanche Mary Wharton-Rangel". There first child Ralph was born in 1923 when Blanche was 19.
In 1930 (7 years later) Charles B. Rangel Jr. (Charlie Rangel) is born on June 11th in Harlem, New York City (and like his mother, he is also the second of three children). His sister Frances is born 3 years later in 1933. Growing up, Charlie mentions the times he spent in "Hell's Kitchen". (*See a note about this at end of this post)
In 1938 his Uncle Herbert (his mother's brother) ran off and joined the U.S. Army at 15 years of age, but he never went to war. (Maybe he looked 18 at the time.)
Some time after Herbert's discharge from the Army (exact date unknown), Charlie was sent by his mother to live with his Uncle Herbert and his wife Mariah at 1478 Brook Ave in the South Bronx for 2 years in the 1940's ("...the roughest 2 years in my goddamn life," Charlie Rangel writes in his book. By Charlie's own account, his Uncle Herbert had did a lot of drinking back in those days.)
(Charlie Rangell once attended, and was proud to have went to Harlem Junior High School # 139 and P.S. # 89 - and his grandfather Frazer's brother, Uncle George, was also an early influence on young Charlie's life.)
In 1941 (before Pearl Harbor) his older brother Ralph joined the U.S. Army. After his discharge in 1945, he and Charlie spent a lot of time together. Charlie Rangel (often truant from class during this period of time) dropped out of school at the age 16 in 1946 while in his junior year. He then worked in various menial jobs, including selling shoes. From 1945 to 1948 while "hanging out" in Harlem, he and his brothers were known as "The Rangel Brothers".
His mother Blanche eventually took Charlie back from his uncle's place to live with her for while at a place on 137th Street. And at 18 years old, Charlie (just like his Uncle Herbert and his brother Ralph before him) also enlisted in the United States Army. He served from 1948 to 1952 and Rangel earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his heroism in the Korean War. (The war lasted from 1950 to 1953. My father also served in this war.)
Charlie Rangel From 1952 to 1960
After his discharge from the Army, Charlie Rangel finished high school and graduated in 1953. Charlie then received a B.S. from the New York University School of Commerce in 1957 (with help from the Veterans Administration) where he made the dean's list. During this time Charlie also met his future wife Alma Carter (a social worker) while on the dance floor of the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Charlie's Uncle Herbert and Charlie's grandfather (Charlie Wharton) both worked as elevator operators in downtown NYC during this time while Charlie was attending college.
And like Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett, Charlie also obtained a *Juris Doctor (while on a full scholarship) from St. John's University School of Law in 1960. (*a degree where a research dissertation or thesis is not required, and is intended to prepare practitioners through a scientific approach of analyzing and teaching the law through logic and adversarial analysis.)
Charlie writes in his book that during this time in the 1960's "It wasn't until Malcolm X (the African-American Muslim activist) came along, that what his grandfather and his 'pan-Africanist militant' Uncle Herbert used to say, finally made sense [to me]. They [whites] really did think we [African-Americans] were chattel. They really did take away our identity...and even today, the stigma of slavery is still here."
This is where I would ask Charlie to read my post:
"Slavery in America - Revisited in 2009"
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog5.php/2009/09/13/slavery-in-america-revisited-in-2009
Charlie Rangel After College - The War in Viet Nam Years
After graduating from law school, Charlie passed the state bar exam and was hired by 'Weaver, Evans & Wingate', the city's most prominent black law firm, providing legal assistance to black civil rights activists. (Charlie later recalls in his book that it was because of reasons regarding his grandfather, that's why he became a lawyer.)
Charlie went on to become a counsel to the New York Housing and Redevelopment Board, an associate counsel to the Speaker of the New York State Assembly, and a law clerk to judge James L. Watson.)
In 1961 Charlie Rangel was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York by the U.S. Attorney Robert Morgenthau (by way of the U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy). Charlie stayed in that position for one year.
His interest in politics grew during the Democratic factional dispute in Harlem in 1963. (As a young man, Charlie first got involved in politics and met Carmine DeSapio and was involved with the New Era Democratic Club.)
In 1964, Charlie co-founded the John F. Kennedy Democratic Club in Harlem (later it was renamed the 'Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Democratic Club').
Charlie Rangel married Alma Carte on July 26, 1964 and they had two children together, Steven and Alicia.
In 1965 Charlie participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches.
In 1966 Charlie was selected by the Harlem Democrats to run for the New York State Assembly where he served two 2-year terms. He was also general counsel to the National Advisory Commission on Selective Service (The U.S. military draft board - when troops were being sent to Viet Nam. It had been argued that a supposedly disappropriate amount of "Afro-Americans" were being drafted into the war.)
In 1966 Charlie Rangel emerged as a leader among the black legislators in the state, and became politically friendly with Governor of New York Nelson Rockefeller, who arranged for Rangel to run on the Republican AND the Democratic ballot line during his 1968 re-election. Rangel supported the legalization of the "numbers game", saying "For the average Harlemite, playing numbers is moral and a way of life." He also opposed harsher penalties on prostitutes, believing it ineffective.)
In 1969 Rangel ran for the Democratic nomination for New York City Council President, finishing last. Rangel co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus (where he has also served as chairman, and of which he continues to be a member) - *The Alternative Minimum Tax Act is passed (See "Charlie's Dilemma" below)
In 1970 Rangel ran for election to the U.S. House of Representatives, winning with 88% of the vote.
In his book, Charlie also writes of this time, "When I was 40, I used to say that I couldn't comprehend how the black mind could be so bent as to adopt these prejudices. But now I understand. It was what my grandfather was trying to tell me all along. [But at the time], coming of age in Harlem after World War II didn't afford me a good angle on the truth." (Charlie's grandfather is now buried next to his grandmother in Accomac, Virginia.)
And this is where I would ask Charlie to read my other post:
"Racism and the Dust Bowl"
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog5.php/2009/09/13/race-and-the-dust-bowl
From 1971 and 1993 - U.S. House of Representatives (Democrat)
Since 1971 Charles B. Rangel has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the neighborhoods as Harlem, Spanish Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, Morningside Heights, and part of the Upper West Side, as well as a small portion of Queens in the neighborhood of Astoria (predominantly African-American neighborhoods).
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary during this time in 1971 - $42,400 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits...$815 a week was not a bad payday back in 1971 (Two years later in 1973 I was earning $7 an hour or $280 a week, when we had that oil embargo, and I though I was doing well!)
Rangel has won re-election every two years since then. (His district was numbered the Eighteenth District from 1971 to 1973; the Nineteenth District from 1973 to 1983; and the Sixteenth District from 1983 to 1993; Districts from 1993 to 2006 is unknown to this blogger.)
One of Rangel's first committee assignments was on the House Judiciary Committee where he participated in the impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
During this time his beloved brother Ralph, the oldest of Blanche's children, died in 1975 (when Ralph was about 52) - The "Rangel Brothers" were no more.
$$$ Charlie Racks Up the Dough in Congress $$$
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1975 - $44,600 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1977 - $57,500 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1979 - $60,660 minimum per year + Retirement and Health
Benefits
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1981 - Charlie Rangel's Congressional office on MLK Blvd. is only a few blocks from where Barack Obama, Bill Ayers, and Bernardine Dohrn are living. Most of the suspects that were arrested in the October 20th Brink's robbery were arrested in Rangel's district.
More here on Obama's and Ayers early years in New York City
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog6.php/2009/09/22/obama-ayers-and-dohrn-the-early-years-in
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Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1982 - $69,800 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1984 - $72,600 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1985 -
**** In 1985(April 4th) Rangel was also arrested for participating in an anti-apartheid rally in front of the South African Embassy in Washington.
Also coinciding with the April 4th Martin Luther King anniversary, were several hundred students at Columbia University in New York City to blockade a campus building...where Barack Obama most likely attended while still living in NYC before moving to Chicago.
See my post about Bill Ayers and Obama in their early years together in New York City:
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog6.php/2009/09/22/obama-ayers-and-dohrn-the-early-years-in
$75,100 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1987 - $77,400 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1987 - *$89,500 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1990 - $96,600 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
(Now over six figures - over an eighth of a million dollars a year!)
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1991 -$125,100 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1992 - $129,500 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1993 - $133,600 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
In 1987 Charlie Rangel purchased the 'Punta Yacht Club' for $250,000 in Dominican Republic. (Annual Average Savings of $9,250 a year for 27 years since graduating from college = $250,000 - - - Rangel's Congressional Annual Salary in 1987 at that time was then $89,500 a year+)
(Between 1994 and 2000 eighty-eight congressional seats shifted from Democratic to Republican control.)
In 1995 - Charlie's mother, Blanche Mary Wharton-Rangel, passes away on March 6th.
Congressional Salaries in 1998 - $136,700 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
1999 to 2009 - "Harlem's Godfather"
On March 15, 1999, the Congressman Charlie Rangel was arrested in NYC along with two other prominent African-American leaders (civil rights activist Al Sharpton and former Mayor David Dinkins), for protesting the fatal shooting of Amadou Diallo, a 23-year-old immigrant to the United States from Guinea, by four white New York City police officers.
Story here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadou_Diallo
Congressional Annual Salary in 1999: $136,700 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Congressional Annual Salary in 2000 - $141,300 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Congressional Annual Salary in 2001 - $145,100 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
Congressional Annual Salary in 2002 - $150,00 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
In 2003 (on November 10) Congressman Charles Rangel joined in honoring an American jurist with the dedication of the James L. Watson Court of International Trade Building in Lower Manhattan
Congressional Annual Salary in 2003 - $154,700 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
On July 13, 2004 Charlie was arrested again in Washington DC on trespassing charges, for protesting alleged human rights abuses in Sudan in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington.
Congressional Annual Salary in 2004 - $158,100 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
In April 2006 Rangel brought an action against President George W. Bush (R) for alleged violations of the Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. (The case was ultimately dismissed.)
Congressional Annual Salary in 2005 - $162,100 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
In August 2006, Rangel had stated he would resign his seat if the Democrats did not take the House that November (which they did).
Congressional Annual Salary in 2006 - $165,200 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
In 2007 Charlie Rangel becomes the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee ("Charlie's Dilemma" - *The Alternative Minimum Tax Act that was enacted back in 1969 was to prevent a small number of wealthy taxpayers from using legitimate deductions and credits to avoid paying taxes altogether.) At this time congressional annual salaries are $165,200 a year.
In 2008 (on September 24) the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into Rangel's alleged failure to pay taxes and other alleged questionable activities, such as failing to report at least $500,000 in assets. Beyond that, it's also reported that Rangel has failed to report assets totaling more than $2 million on legally required financial-disclosure forms going back as far as 2001. (To date Rangel has only paid about $10,000 in back taxes, but was not required to pay any penalties or interest.) - Google H.R. 735, also known as the "Rangel Rule Act of 2009". The rule says if you're caught cheating on your taxes, you simply pay what you owe, then write "Rangel Rule" at the top of your return, and you won't be charged any penalty or interest either. (Personally, I wouldn't try that...bloggers are not exempt.)
Congressional Annual Salary in 2008 - $165,200 minimum per year + Retirement and Health Benefits
A month after the announcement of Rangel's investigation on Oct. 28, 2008 the Washington Post wrote "Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted of lying on financial-disclosure forms to conceal $250,000 in gifts and expensive renovations to his house." (It was later dismissed for legal reasons).
In Charlie Rangel's book "And I Haven't had a Bad Day Since" (published 2 years ago in 2007) he also writes, "I want to understand how people are once again so silent when we're changing the tax laws to put the burden on working people..."
Ironic?
In the Year 2009
In 2009 (on March 9) when asked on camera by Hot Air TV producer Jason Mattera about his continuing tax issues, Rangel replied, "Why don't you mind your own goddamn business!"
Congressional annual salaries for our fearless leaders in Washington DC in 2009 - $174,000 per year + retirement and health Benefits - Charlie is doing well in America considering almost 10% of the population is unemployed. The most I ever earned in one single year was about $40,000 as a bartender in a Las Vegas casino. Did the "stigma" he refers to in his book really hinder his opportunities or accompliments in this great country of ours? Was being an African-American man in this country really the hell that most other black men in most other countries never had to endure? After 150 years, is sympathy and understanding and "tolerance" really the issue these days?
(**Majority Party and Minority Party Leaders - $193,400)
(**Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - $223,500)
If you want "justice for all" in this land, abide by the law of the land Mister Rangel.
CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) in their fifth annual report, named Charlie Rangel as one of the "most corrupt" members of congress for the second year in a row. (Why? Is there something else I don't know?)
In 2009 (on May 30) after the accidental shooting of an African-American NYPD officer by a fellow Caucasian officer, the New York Daily News asked Rangel what President Obama and Michelle should do during a visit to New York City. Rangel quipped, "Make certain he doesn't run around in East Harlem unidentified." (I though it was funny.)
In 2009 (on September 1) during a townhall debate about Obama's healthcare plan, Rangel said, "Some Americans have not gotten over the fact that Obama is president of the United States. They go to sleep wondering, 'How did this happen?' " (I must admit, I for one, was mildly surprised. But I wasn't shocked beyond belief, all the way down to the core of my very soul - - - and I still supported my President at that time - - - that is, until I found out later what he and his friends were really about.)
Charlie Rangel also compared the battle over healthcare to the fight for civil rights saying, "Why do we have to wait for the right to vote? Why can't we get what God has given us? That is the right to live as human beings and not negotiate with white southerners and not count the votes. Just do the right thing." (I was with him up until the point he mentioned "white southerners" - - - and then I got pissed because my family's ancestors were white southerns who immigrated here from Germany in 1865 to farm...and they never owned one single slave!)
I would ask that Mister Rangel read my post:
"My Ancestral Ties to Slavery"
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog5.php/2009/09/12/ancestral-ties-to-slavery
Rangel has been ignoring mounting calls for him to step down from his powerful position as chairman of the House Ways and Means Commission while the various investigations into his alleged dealings take place.
Sepember 2009
Charles Rangel "quietly" introduced into a health-care bill broad new provisions cracking down on taxpayers in proceedings with the IRS. The changes approved by the House Ways and Means Committee that Rangel chairs would strip away legal defenses and pile higher penalties on taxpayers facing IRS proceedings. The bill raises penalties and eliminates many of the reasonable defenses that taxpayers have always been able to use when honest mistakes are uncovered.
Very Ironic!
Final Note - My Dissertation
Charlie had a rich and interesting life - - - a turbulent and sometimes confusing childhood, facing death as a handsome young war hero in Korea, graduating from college with honors, overcoming cruel racial obstacles, enjoying a long and successful career in politics, and excelling and triumphing throughout it all...
...but it's just a darn shame that so near to the end of his life, he became bitter and overtly racial, and now leaves behind this ugly "tax-blemish" as his life's legacy. A low down shame.
"They really did take away our identity...and even today, the stigma of slavery is still here."
If the "stigma" is still there Mister Rangel, could it be because you never truly tried to sincerely integrate with the whites? All throughout your life, you have embraced your "blackness" like a comfortable old blanket, bouncing your racial ideas back and forth between like-minded people such as yourself ...all during your early years, since your job in the "black" law firm providing legal assistance to black civil rights activists, in your politics throughout your entire career (representing the demographics of black dominated neighborhoods because mostly only blacks would elect you), all of your life-time personal and professional associations and friends...and it's all revealed in the hypocritical dogma you preach. If a "stigma" still exists Mister Rangel, it might be because people like you have helped drive the wedge between blacks and whites...so you just may only have yourself to blame, instead of white slave owners from 150 years ago. Your grandparents, your parents, and you were never owned by a white man...so get over it already, and free your mind instead.
The chip you wear on your shoulder Mister Rangel will only manifest itself in the next generation of young black men, continuing the cycle of racism with attitudes that are handed down from father to son. It's "race indoctrination" of children (that's when the young are first taught to hate). Practice the "tolerance" you preach, and speak kindly of ALL people, despite that a few may be bad, and teach your grandchildren to always travel the high road in their journey through life...and not to hate whites. Remember, everything in our solar system, everything on this earth, is all of the same...we all are born from stardust.
Charlie is now 79 years old and has three grandsons in which to leave his wealth...and his legacy.
Charlie Rangel's "Seventy Four"
Located at 74 West 132nd Street in NYC
(Google photo - CLICK to enlarge)
*The brownstone mentioned as "Seventy Four" (pictured above) - - - During the 1950s, Puerto Rican immigrants moved into the neighborhood (Charlie's father is from Puerto Rico). The conflict between the Irish, Italians, and the Puerto Ricans is highlighted in the movie West Side Story. The movie was filmed from 65th Street and 69th Street between Amsterdam and West End Avenue. One of the sites seen are old the P. S. #94. By 1965, Hell's Kitchen was the home base of the Westies, a deeply violent Irish American crew aligned with the Gambino crime family.
Was 74 West 132nd Street in NYC ever considered a part of "Hells Kitchen", or was it just a part of the neighborhood that he remembers best?
UPDATE March 7, 2010
Charlie Rangel - Just as Bill Ayers - "Guilty as Hell, Free As a Bird!"
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/07/charlie-rangel-same-as-bill-ayers-guily
Are Members of Congress Above the Law?
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/17/are-members-of-congress-above-the-law
ALSO:
Charlie Rangel - Member: Trilateral Commission http://www.trilateral.org/about.htm (promotes globalization)
Charlie Rangel - Honorary Co-Chairmen of Afghanistan Relief Committee (a private tax-exempt organization)
** Sources for Congressional Annual Salaries:
http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:zse35ekkRqgJ:www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/97-1011.pdf+1987+congress+salary&hl=en&gl=us
and
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm
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