Armstrong Williams’s latest column has me thinking. His piece is about self-appointed black leaders and groupthink, but it prompted me to reflect on the reasons I became a conservative and started writing about politics.
So-called black leaders prey on fallen human nature and racial tensions. Even before I realized that was the case, I sensed something was wrong with black leadership. Black “leaders” were always angry, always stirring things up, and no matter what was gained, the victories seemed Pyrrhic.
When I was younger and foolish, I fell for it all. Indignation I thought was righteous was unjustified and misguided. If I faltered or failed, I could conveniently blame white people for “oppression” and racism.
Having come of age in 1980s when skin color quotas were in full force, I realized I wasn’t oppressed at all. Through my dark skin, I gained perks! I was still angry (about what?), though, because it felt good. I’d developed a sense of entitlement.
As I matured it dawned on me that I had only one life to live. Something so obvious hit me full on. I was still light-years away from becoming a Christian or a conservative, but I’d developed a distaste for Jesse Jackson and his band of merry men. The emotions their rhetoric evoked were anger, fear and helplessness, and I wanted to be a dignified young woman. Black liberal politics seemed utterly devoid of dignity.
My mind began to evolve away from they-owe-me to I-owe-myself. I slowly tuned out angry, disingenuous and disrespectful loudmouths and turned inward. What do I want out of life? To convince white people that because I’m black, they should treat me a certain way, or because I’m a human being they should treat me a certain way?
I’m simplifying this a bit, but I’m trying to find the catalyst that caused my political change. I didn’t have the benefit of a conservative upbringing. My parents were, and for the most part still are, politically apathetic, although I convinced my mother to vote for George Bush four years ago.
I’m pretty strong in my views (No kidding?), and it takes a lot of evidence and persistent argument to get me to budge. What I do everyday on this blog is present ideas, not change the world. I want to reach the truly undecided, the seekers, the moderates or the fed-up, not liberals masquerading as “Independents” or hard-core black liberals who refer to people like myself as “self-haters.”
Forgive my rambling. I’m preparing to write a why-I-became-a-conservative column as a “debut” for a web site, and I’m thinking out loud. I’ve been asked to write for Pop and Politics, a site run by Farai Chideya, who some of you may be familiar with. I read some of her work back in my liberal days, and I envied her. She was a published writer who seemed to be doing what she enjoyed, and I couldn’t imagine I’d one day do the same.
Anyway, back to Williams. Of course, I agree with everything he says in this column:
The black pseudo leader is a parasite. He nourishes himself on the suffering of others. He exists by satisfying the mob’s voracious appetite for excuses and easy solutions. If there is no easy solution for the complex problems of racism in our country, the black pseudo leader will create one. In a calm baritone he will talk about reparations. Sure, that causes people in the crowd to pump their fists in support. But what does it actually do to affect progress?Racial revenge fantasies do not confront the fact that the tenets of liberalism have failed us by putting us in the mindset that we need handouts in order to be successful. Racial revenge fantasies do not confront the fact that black Americans no longer need the Democrats to broker public policy for them. Racial revenge fantasies do not focus us on political activism because it is consumed with the notion of retribution for past crimes. We need to support choice and market-based reforms that will prepare us to achieve the American dream. Instead, our leaders spend all their time cleaving to century-old crimes and stirring racial tensions because this is how they make a living. That is why we’ve been held back. Every leader that comes forward has his or her own agenda. Like the old saying goes, “easiest way to control the mob is to agree with them.”
This is, of course, empty leadership, and it marks a sad decline. During the heyday of the civil rights movement, our community leaders were not apt to become household names unless they accomplished something great, something galvanizing. Now our leaders know that they can achieve this perch by pumping us full of vitriol about how all the problems we face as a community are the result of other people’s sins. They fill their speeches with the sort of racial rhetoric that shocks people into paying attention. And we have come to confuse the attention they receive with genuine leadership.
Williams is correct in his views. The race hustlers in America are a powerful, insular little cabal consisting of clownish cartoon characters like Al Sharpton, one of its most embarrassing examples. That a man like that actually got to speak on a national stage…
I keep searching for the moment or dramatic event that caused me to drift away from black groupthink. I know that becoming a Christian and seeing the world through spiritual eyes had a lot to do with it. Perhaps I’m closer to the answer than I think.
Addendum: Other questions: Why do I feel the need to even discuss why I became a conservative? Is it so unusual that a black person votes for Republicans?
Although I hate the photo (eyes half-closed — don’t laugh), I’m linking to a story written for CampusReportOnline by college student Meggie Sramek. The article is based on a speech I gave at Conservative University 2004.
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La Shawn starts to explain why she’s not a liberal. Good stuff.
Excellent commentary. I am certain that you have several books needing to get out of your head and the country would be served well if you wrote them.
Jesse Jackson has made himself and family rich by leading protests against US companies. Armstrong Williams had point in previous article about
republicans training young politicians. Where did I hear (on radio in car) or on web that the Whitehouse has sign no blacks enter here. Does not Dr. Rice work in West Wing. On Sept 11, 2001 Laura Bush pulled her to famiy quarters after hearing she was sleeping on courch in her office.
Jim Barber
When I was first arrived in America (I am a Canadian married to an American), I was introduced to my husband’s colleagues. They were very welcoming. One man even suggested that I should apply for a position at the college. We need someone like you, he said.
I thought, Wow! They’ve read some of my work.
No, they hadn’t.
He went on to say, We need more women here.
I felt very deflated and embarrassed.
Actually, I’ve read lots of “How I became conservative” pieces from lots of people over the past couple years – I don’t think it’s necessary, but it shows the different ways people think through a subject.
It’s very similar to stories I read about conversions of various types. Being Catholic, I read lots of Catholic blogs, and many are written by people who converted to Catholicism in adulthood — many have written articles (or even books) on why they chose the Church, even after, in some cases, years of arguing against the Church.
Perhaps you needn’t see it as a defense of what you think or who you are, but an explanation or a narrative as to the changes and thoughts you’ve gone through. I like reading stuff like that, as some of these involve experiences very different from mine and some are very similar (as Maria’s comment above, I was pretty cynical about the preferences for females in math & science when one sees the “you do math good … for a girl” prizes that proliferate. Dangit, I just beat everybody else! I don’t want a girlie prize!). I can relate to a lot of this, even if I’m coming from a different point of view and background.
And, as well you know, the historical oddity over 100 years ago would be a black person voting for a Democrat. How short our attention spans are…
The AnalPhilosopher has a “How I Became Conservative” piece that’s really good. In his case it was a gradual change. He just realized at some point that he didn’t really agree with liberals anymore on a lot of things. Since I can’t link to it, you can find it from the links on my blog under Philosophers’ Blogs. He has a link to it in his sidebar.
James MB,
I know how you feel. I was riding the train this morning, and heard one young black man rebuff his female friend, asking “What’re you, a Condoleezza?!?” because she was “dressin white” to go to a job interview.
Given comments like that, and one like those from folks like Harry Belafonte, I guess Rice, Powell et al don’t count in the eyes of some folks.
Jeremy – I read Keith’s column on why/how he became a conservative once. It was good. I’ll probably link to it.
I’ve often wondered… why is it that black people need “leaders?” Where are the white “leaders?” Where are the women’s “leaders?” Where are the Scottish-American “leaders?” For that matter, why is there no check-box on forms for MY ethnic heritage? We Scots can lay claim to just as much historical oppression as anybody else, but we don’t get special privileges. Darn. Guess we’ll have to achieve the American dream with (gasp) no help from anybody else! What a concept.
My point? I don’t really have one.
Excellent post, as always.
LB-
You and I must have been drinking from the same pot of coffee this morning. You can read my take at my site. Great insights as always.
La Shawn,
We are roughly the same age, so let me remind you of some things that you grew up with that may have helped you along.
cheesy “I’d like to teach the world to sing” Coke commercials
Barbie and her best friend, Christi
Frederick Douglas required reading in college
“equal opportunity” statements replaced by “whites only” signs (which we never saw, only heard about)
I’m sure that you can think of a few more examples of non-discriminatory ’signs’ that we grew up with. I think they are more important than the discrimination there was before because it indicates change. Some people seem to have ignored the signs of change, but we, the youngers, have grown up with them and they have helped to mold our young minds into what they are today.
Excuse me, “White only signs” replaced by “equal opportunity” statements…
I think the group-label thing is going to have to go away. “Black people” and “black community” no longer describe a meaningful entity in the US (if they ever did). I’ve never liked the racial labels from either side of the political spectrum; not the pointy-head racist crap from the John Birchers, and not the dippy MultiCulti stuff. “African-American” is a useless descriptior: many blacks are not African, and many white people have deep roots in Africa. Even to call someone “black” is awkward; that’s like calling me a “caucasian” — beyond a broad demographic description, it tells you absolutely nothing about me as a person.
So what is the answer? I’ll tell you, and it’s a bone-deep conservative answer: judge each person on their merits. Anyone who judges by the group is a peawit.
La Shawn,
You have shed your scales from your eyes, turned inward to seek truth. That’s more about being a Christian, or one seeking God than being a person of cultural or political maturity.
Had you shed these scales and chosen liberal ideals, it would have been equally good. (This is why I am technically not a “true conservative”.) The fact is, you chose a path politically that made sense to you and most self-made people. It also made sense to others that benefited from social experiments in the eighties.
My little brother (who is white) was so disgusted by bigotry at school that be became a believer in racial preferences. His belief is that we should elevate people from differing backgrounds to lift up those people as examples of the best of their communities and thus impact an entire generation, both through proximity (cultural exposure) and example.
Of course, he experienced bigotry against southern white males. So, the experience was made intimate.
The fact is, real racism still exists. My mother worked in a diner where she was told not to invite black patrons into the restaurant. Being somewhat of what we so loveingly refer to as a “royal bitch”, she took any opportunity available to rub her disrespect of this rule in her employer’s face. But, I was raized by people who lived through racial segregation – it made an impact on how I was taught to think of the issue. It’s not something that was distant.
When I was playing soccer as a young child, my black team-mates’ parents would site seperate from the white parents, in our small Georgian town. This isn’t ancient history. I remember this distinctly. I remember my dad pointing this out to me as a living example of how things weren’t “alright” like people would pretend.
We had black friends, would go to black friend’s homes. I didn’t understand what made the black people I could associate with different from those that chose to segregate themselves. It was something that stuck in my crawl from a very young age. Some of it was the racism of black families, perhaps a well justified distrust. Some of it was racism of white people in my white neighborhoods and small-circled white social cliques. But, all my life I’ve known that racism in America is alive and real. And, all my life I’ve known it was wrong.
The fundamental difference in liberal and conservative (compassionate, decent people) approaches to this problem is what seperates the ideologies. Liberals want to capitalize on the problem by using it as a crutch, an excuse to move toward a government controlled society. Conservatives recognize the problem and exclaim that people have to break through these barriers on their own, despite the hardships.
I tend to side with the conservatives about 80% and the liberals about 20% on the subject. The fact is, the fundamental tennants of conservative doctrine work for anyone. If you keep a good attitude, work hard and stay right minded, you’ll go further in life than keeping some chip on your shoulder and asking for handouts. Black kids who get into good schools using racial preferences are still better than 90% of their white counterparts. Just being black isn’t good enough. If you went to a good college and graduated, you worked hard. Nobody gave you anything! Whether you know it or not, you employed conservative doctrine. But, that doesn’t mean that some ideas liberals espouse weren’t partially good in their own way.
I like to look at politics in a Bruce Lee manner. Take what you can that is good, leave the rest. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about unity, peace. His dream was about little black children playing with little white children. Jesse Jackson sounds more like he’d like those little black children to learn how to extort money from the little white children.
I like the idea of using education and even government to elevate people that have been shafted over the generations. But, it’s urgently important that those people whom you try to elevate understand that they are always required to do the hard work themselves. Anything else is cruel. Because in the end, hard work and self-reliance will lift you up.
The discovery of fellow conservatives like Armstrong and yourself has been a great joy on my two year journey toward conservatism. Armstrong’s article is like a herald portending the death of a useless myth: the noble victim.
Thank you for the link.
When I was at UCSB between 1989 and 1993, it was required curriculum for all students to take an “ethnicity” course in order to graduate so we could all become the huggy wuggy Gen X’ers we’re fighting not to be now. Ironic.
Anyway, the class could be in Chicano Studies (haven’t heard that word since I moved to Texas), Asian Studies or Black Studies. That’s really what the course listings were called…no hyphen-”American” back then. Anyhoo, I opted for the Black Studies course and came out of it feeling like the worst person on Earth.
Things get a little uncomfortable when you have an instructor preaching oppression and not only do you have to agree with him, you have to also elevate his opinion to extreme levels in order to pass the class.
But, that was a long time ago…never forgot it though…and always wondered what levels of excrement would have hit the fan if a white teacher had taught a class the same way.
La Shawn:
Thanks for your honesty and, yes, courage (I don’t know how I would hold up if people routinely accused me of self-hatred: I hope that I would shrug my shoulders and say “whatever,” but I don’t know).
I agree that “groupthink” is a bad thing and that the self-appointed black “leaders” who’ve stepped onto the national stage (Jesse Jackson and co.) are no-goodniks (as my Jewish grandmother would have said) who thrive on it, to the great detriment of the people they claim to serve.
That having been said, the rejection of collectivism shouldn’t lead us to embrace the opposite extreme: individualism.
Human persons aren’t cogs in a collective machine. But they aren’t isolated monads, either. Individualism is a peculiarly modern, and, I would add, un-Christian, way of looking at human beings. As Aristotle would say, man is a “political animal,” meaning: man is the knd of being who is himself in political communities.
Once again, I’m not advocating collectivism. And I’m certainly not saying that self-appointed black leaders’ groupthink is the way to make things better for black people in this country. But does it follow from this that “old-fashioned Yankee individualism” is?
To put it another way: I agree that it’s crucial for people to get beyond victimology and to take responsibility. But it seems to me that you can’t want to take responsibility, or even know what it is, unless you’ve got a living sense of being part of a community of people who count on you. But that kind of community has to be small enough to make concrete demands on you.
I mean: let’s say that EVERYONR was well-educated, economically successful, and healthy—but lived by himself in one-room apartments in upscale neighborhoods in big cities. What kind of society would that be?
What I would like to see, practically speaking, is the revitalization of churches, leading to the revitalization of families, and, with that, to the revitalization of local communities of families, e.g., neighborhoods. In my view, it isn’t just the “black community” that needs this to happen. It’s all “communities.”
If there’s a reason to oppose “big government,” it’s not that big government gets in the way of individual self-fulfillment in the market-place. It’s that big government is both a sympom and a cause of the political and economic emasculation—and, indeed, of the dissolution—of the local communities that give the individual a human-scale context for meaningful participation in political, economic, and cultural life.
Thanks again.
Adrian
>Although I hate the photo (eyes half-closed
Where you see eyes half-closed, et al. I see someone in the midst of thought trying to navigate the sad morass in front of them…
I can soooo relate to what you have said. I came of age in the 80’s also. Grew up in a small suburb outside of Philly. I bought into the hype that the south was racist and that whites owed me something. In my family though, education was pushed hard and I did make it into advanced placement classes from 6th grade until I graduated highschool. I actually became a lazy student when I started “hanging” out in my highschool years. I didn’t really have a taste for college at the time and after meeting with an Army recruiter, I decided to join the Army. One of the first myths that broke was … all whites in the south are NOT prejudice. Matter of fact, I found them to be more honest that up north in the sense that, if someone is prejudice, you know right away. Where I grew up, it was a little more slick and hidden. You normally did not know until you moved into an all white neighborhood and your house was burned down. I also learned to be a part of a team (most times I was the only black on the team) however we all looked at each other as team members (not white team members, not black team members, etc.). This was also before PC’ism hit the military so the drill sergeants were able to intill “in their own nice way”:-), how unproductive being prejudice was to the big picture and mission accomplishment.
I never registered to vote prior to 1996 because I felt why bother, I was doing ok and there was nothing I could do to change things. However after Clinton became commander and chief and dealling with his disrespect of the military for four years, I made a point of registering and voting. Even if he won, I felt I had to vote so I would know, I did NOT help him win:-)
After getting out of the military in 1999, I was amazed at the mentality within my own family (sure I saw them once or twice a year during the 15 years I was in uniform but I never spent a lot of time talking politics or race issues). Now I do and I am sometimes shocked at what I hear. One of my relatives is an counselor at a community college and at our last family gathering, he was proudly telling us how if a black student is talking to him, he will make the white students wait. My lip dropped. A few minutes later he is telling us how he was passed over for a promotion or something and how someone else got it and of course it was becasue he was black. I asked him if it ever occured to him that it was because he does not treat his students fairly and that the only reason he is not fired is because the school is more worried about a lawsuit about race than doing the right thing? As you can guess, my comment did not go over well (I like it). I often think I am in a foreign country or another planet when I hear the complaining and gripes. For every gripe and whine against the “man”… I can point 20 reasons why they are in the position they are in due to their OWN actions (not a thing to do with the man keeping them down). Of course they don’t want to hear that and slavery and generations of racism is always the reason (as if they just got the chains off last week).
It also amazes me because my grandmother, who raised many of my cousins and family members my age, never taught us racism. On the contrary, she was very strict in teaching us that we judge and be judged by the content of our character. She also taught us two wrongs don’t make a right (everytime I hear about affirmative action I hear her words).
Oh well, what can ya do
Collective thought, aka group think.
What a concept.
At a GOP convention, Colin Powell said he supported affirmative action and he was booed. No group think there.
Better yet, let a white person agree with Blacks on issues and sooner or later, someone will accuse that white person of being a “guilty white liberal.”
So tell me why those who call people “guilty white liberals” NOT taking part in group think.
And if conservatives believe that Blacks don’t need Black leaders, why are conservatives trying to pass off people like Jesse Lee Peterson as a Black leader?
Count on DarkStar to look at a healthy tree and find the withered leaf.
DarkStar – I tried to post this comment on your blog but it didn’t work:
You pick the most mundate and strange things to focus on. Nobody on my blog, myself or anyone else, considers Jesse Peterson a “leader of black conservatives”, and I challenge you to find anyone on my blog who does, or any other black conservative in general. And by the way, simply because you say words like “groupthink” or “victimhood” and others are “silly” doesn’t make them so. They are apt words to describe observable phenomena. If you think the use of the word is inaccurate or silly, demonstrate that instead just calling them “silly.”
I take it this is in response to my post since you tracked back, but I see no challenge to my assertions or any of your own. You are merely reacting to the use of “black conservative” and trying to point out a supposed hypocrisy. It has nothing to do with the label. It is the mentality that black people in particular are somehow special and owed something. If a black person happens not to think so, they are not “authentically black” in a sense. The groupthink I refer to is part of a herd mentality that white liberals themselves use to their advantage. That’s why white rich idiots like Kerry will get blacks’ vote.
If you don’t think groupthink exists (or you actually consider yourself an “Independent” – that’s funny), then I’ll wait to read all about it on your blog.
(Reply to Vision Circle’s trackback since his comment section on his blog seems to be broken.)
“At a GOP convention, Colin Powell said he supported affirmative action and he was booed. No group think there.”
If this was an example of group think they would have cheered. Group think is not thinking for yourself and going along with your party or group. For political parties we call it partisanship.
“Better yet, let a white person agree with Blacks on issues and sooner or later, someone will accuse that white person of being a ‘guilty white liberal.’”
Not true. A “guilty white liberal” is someone who feels that he owes black people for transgressions that other people made. A guilty white liberal is someone who feels guilty for being white, someone who feels responsible for the slavery of past generations. Someone who feels responsible for actions not committed by him. Do you understand?
“So tell me why those who call people ‘guilty white liberals’ are NOT taking part in group think. Aren’t they assuming that all whites should think alike?”
Nobody is assuming that all whites should think alike. Where would you get that idea?
“And if conservatives believe that Blacks don’t need Black leaders, why are conservatives trying to pass off people like Jesse Lee Peterson as a Black leader?”
What conservatives are trying to pass off Jesse Lee Peterson as a “Black leader”?
“Identifying as a ‘Black conservative’. That’s not ‘group think’?”
How would it be group think? Explain.
“Isn’t it interesting that ‘Black conservatives’ seem to have a scream of ‘victimology’ when stating certain things? What’s not ‘group thinking’ on the misuse of such a silly phrase?”
You’re kind of vague here. Care to elaborate?
Nobody on my blog, myself or anyone else, considers Jesse Peterson a “leader of black conservatives”, and I challenge you to find anyone on my blog who does, or any other black conservative in general.
You don’t but World Net Daily, Shaun Hannity, NewMax.com have referred to him as such. And I didn’t state he was a leader of Black conservatives, I stated that conservatives are trying to pass him off as a Black leader.
If you think the use of the word is inaccurate or silly, demonstrate that instead just calling them “silly.”
I’ve done so a few times, you just don’t agree with it.
It is the mentality that black people in particular are somehow special and owed something.
That’s your opinion and I think it’s wrong. I’ve pointed out that the idea that _people_, in general, will grab onto the idea that they are “owed something.” The ideas that farmers want money to farm or not farm is a good example. Look at the diary farm “help” that has caused milk product prices to go up drastically. You think the politicians gave them subsidies out of the goodness of their hearts or do you think that farmers asked for it because they believe they are owed something?
If a black person happens not to think so, they are not “authentically black” in a sense.
And if white people agree with Blacks “too much,” they are called guilty white liberals. Look at the response to my comment. It has to be because of “guilt” not because of experience.
If you don’t think groupthink exists (or you actually consider yourself an “Independent” – that’s funny), then I’ll wait to read all about it on your blog.
It’s coming up. LaShawn, you never responded to when I posted links that showed my thoughts on Jesse Jackson. Like, when I said Clinton punked Jesse Jackson. Or when I said Clinton duped Black people and that I consider him a cracka in a suit. Why is that?
Do you understand?
Your premise is a false premise. I know a Black woman married to a white man who gets called “guilty white liberal.” However, when given a chance to cite his life experiences, it becomes clear that guilt isn’t what drives his thoughts. For example, it’s being caught by police when drinking under age and drunk, but being let go while his Black friend, also drunk, is arrested. It’s a white realator, making money because whites are moving out and Blacks are moving in, noting that the whites are fleeing Blacks who make as much money, if not more, then they are.
Nobody is assuming that all whites should think alike. Where would you get that idea?
Your defense of “guilty white liberal.”
How would it be group think? Explain.
Identifying yourself as part of a group, paints you into the corner of “all thinking alike.” I’ve pointed out what happened to Glenn Loury when he started to “challenge” conservatives. Shelby Steele dropped him as a friend. And Clarence Thomas throws away any intern application that lists a “Black history” class on it.
DarkStar, if nothing else, you make me laugh bringing up isolated incidents, apocryphal anecdotes and minutiae.
Thanks. I needed that.
Darkstar writes, “You don’t but World Net Daily, Shaun Hannity, NewMax.com have referred to him as such. And I didn’t state he was a leader of Black conservatives, I stated that conservatives are trying to pass him off as a Black leader.”
Okay. Some do. Here’s a WorldNetDaily article that proves your point. w114.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25549 But simple point is: most people who call themselves “conservatives” reject that sort of thinking. We don’t want a “black leader”. We don’t think that the black people need a leader because we see people as individuals that don’t need to be grouped in terms of skin color. It’s a silly idea to most of us. Not all conservatives are the same you know.
“That’s your opinion and I think it’s wrong. [in response to La Shawn Barber's assertion that a lot of black people feel they are owed "something" by virtue of their skin color]
You say that it’s wrong and then you go on to prove it with the next sentence of yours DarkStar? Which is it? (here’s your proof: “I’ve pointed out that the idea that _people_, in general, will grab onto the idea that they are ‘owed something.’”)
“And if white people agree with Blacks ‘too much,’ they are called guilty white liberals.”
Patently false DarkStar, and I don’t know if you’re being dishonest here for stating this or you’re just ignorant to what we mean when we say “guilty white liberals”. By the way I explained it in a comment directly above yours. So quit saying it.
“Look at the response to my comment. It has to be because of ‘guilt’ not because of experience.”
Will you explain what you mean by this?
“Or when I said Clinton duped Black people and that I consider him a cracka in a suit.”
“a cracka in a suit”? This comment says a lot about you.
DarkStar responds, “Your premise is a false premise.” [in my definition of "guilty white liberal"]
No it’s not. Those people exist everywhere.
“I know a Black woman married to a white man who gets called ‘guilty white liberal.’”
Well that’s not the definition I gave, now is it? Are you being dishonest purposely? Do you even realize it?
“However, when given a chance to cite his life experiences, it becomes clear that guilt isn’t what drives his thoughts. For example, it’s being caught by police when drinking under age and drunk, but being let go while his Black friend, also drunk, is arrested. It’s a white realator, making money because whites are moving out and Blacks are moving in, noting that the whites are fleeing Blacks who make as much money, if not more, then they are.”
What, exactly, is the point you’re trying to make here? That this guy isn’t a guilty white liberal because he saw this? Huh?
“Your defense of ‘guilty white liberal.’” [in my question asking him where he gets the idea that we think that all white people should think the same]
What? I don’t defend guilty white liberals. I just defined them for you.
“Identifying yourself as part of a group, paints you into the corner of ‘all thinking alike.’”
“Group think” is not thinking for yourself and taking the groups beliefs as a form of gospel. Do you not understand these definitions? Geeze. You can be a part of a group and not be afflicted with group think. Yet again I explained it and no doubt I’ll watch you twist it again.
“And Clarence Thomas throws away any intern application that lists a ‘Black history’ class on it.”
Without getting into how stupid the idea of “black history” and “women’s studies” are, how would you know that Clarence Thomas throws away applications?
Likwidshoe, DS, LB,
Personally, I think we have enough ‘black leaders’, but need more leaders who are black. that is, those who actually lead, by example, and will lead all who will follow, not just those of a certain color or creed.
On second though, we just need more leaders of high caliber…
DS,
“And Clarence Thomas throws away any intern application that lists a ‘Black history’ class on it.”- Do you have a citation on that? There’s nothing on that in Google or Lexis-Nexis. Or is this just another urban legend, like ‘picnic is racist’ or Al Gore Sr. lost his seat in Washington for supporting equal rights?
SCSIwuzzy wrote, “Personally, I think we have enough ‘black leaders’, but need more leaders who are black. that is, those who actually lead, by example, and will lead all who will follow, not just those of a certain color or creed.”
Agreed. There’s a difference between the so called “black leaders” of today and leaders who are black, which, by reading your previous comments SCSIwuzzy, you seem to understand.
Do you have a citation on that?
An article that appears years ago in Harpers Magazine.
Years ago? Would it be some article about Anita Hill, Dr of Victimology?
Years ago? Would it be some article about Anita Hill, Dr of Victimology?
*YAWN*
DarkStar, if nothing else, you make me laugh bringing up isolated incidents, apocryphal anecdotes and minutiae. Thanks. I needed that.
No problem. Funny though, when McWhorter did it, he was praised.
DS,
A search of Harpers also brings up nothing. Neither does a search on Snopes.
Until a citation pops up, I’ll file this one under F for figment.
I’ll file this one under F for figment.
So be it. But the fact that some Black conservatives were ticked off about it, is something I won’t forget.
DS,
I don’t want to sound like I’ve got OCD, but which BCs and when?
I am honestly curious, and not busting stones.
Wuzzy, are you an attorney? I didn’t think we layfolk could just go searching Lexis-Nexis on a whim, but I could be wrong. (My husband is a 3L and will take his Bar next summer. Woo!)
I’d say about 5 or 6 years ago. It was around the time of the previous election. It was some members of an email list that I was on. It was an email list that contained some members of Project 21. The email list wasn’t an email list run by Project 21, I want to make that clear.
LawWife,
I’m not a Lawyer, but I date one, and work for a company that has a rather large law department. Lexis access is just a few moments in the elevator away.
DS,
So… did you read it in Harpers, or did you see it in an email from someone who claimed to have read it in Harpers?
This is the greatest stuff! I am also a black conservative and walk with the teachings of Christ. It is refreshing to know that there are others out there who believe as I do.
My journey is such that I am an unaccomplished(as of right now) 37 year old black male seeking a better lot in life. I work as a mortgage loan officer and wait tables part-time here in Raleigh NC. About a month and a half ago, everyone discovered that I like George Bush and am a Black Republican/conservative. Well, you should have seen the uproar. Til this day, everyone shakes their heads at me when politics are discussed. Well, I laid out my reasons as why I believe that conservativism suits me the best. One point I made was as such: Every event that has occured in my life, be if fair or foul, has been a direct result of the decisions that I have chosen to make in life. There was no white man at fault, the system didn’t wasn’t to blame. Just myself, the sole perpitrator of wisdom,genius or bad decision.
Armstrong Williams has said it far more eloquently than myself when he called the black leaders “parasites”. Our communities have been brainwashed by the ever-faltering ideas and notions of soft bigotry by espousing the deeds of low expectations. I believe that the future of success and self respect among blacks must come from a collective effort of pushing one another across the road to success/victory.
Thank you to all those who stand in the gap and stand up for principles and ideas that transcend the modern day pop culture arguments of the elitist liberal and black leaders.
Saw it discussed in email. Went to borders and back ordered the edition. Read it.
Armstrong Williams has said it far more eloquently than myself when he called the black leaders “parasites”.
Are you saying that Blacks don’t have any ideas about an issue until “Black leaders” come out and give an opinion, which at that point, Blacks fall in line?
After 7 or 8 posts you finally reveal that you went out of your way to backorder a copy of Harpers. But still can’t provide anything substantive beyond “IIRC”? Interesting. I’ll keep that in mind — if Cheney can forget having met JohnBoy before… /YAWN/
Not remembering exactly something 5 or 6 years ago is not usual?
When I was younger and smarter than I am now I was filled with liberal ideals. My path from liberal to conservative was a slow and often painful look into what each offered. I had been kicked out of the service. I was a heroin addict. I was on welfare. I was homeless(a bum)..I was anti-government..anti-police..anti-society. I was against all these huge vague entities that had no spokesman. I could rail against “the system” without anyone to challenge me. I recall the one defining moment that stripped me of my liberal leanings. It occurred in a heroin clinic in Santa Clara,Calif. It was in a group therapy session of about 40 people. My life was like something out of Groundhog Day. It was an endless replay of clinics..sessions..and failures. Someone asked me why I used drugs. I launched into the same old tedious and familiar rant about a society and a system that was cruel and uncaring. It was all well rehearsed. Suddenly..a young intern just shouted at me. “Ray..you are a phoney!” I remember being shocked at his words. He followed it up by saying. “One of these days you’re going to wake up..look into the mirror..and scream.” Several yrs later I rolled out of a cot in my prison cell and looked into a mirror(actually a shiney piece of metal) and the young intern’s words came true. I screamed. It was not societies fault..nor the police..nor the system. Liberals had convinced me I had no control. They were literally loving me to death. They offered me excuses and I bought into them. I changed that day. I did not lose my humanity or my compassion by becoming a conservative. The truth does not generally explode..but rather seeps slowly into our lives. I am proud of who I have become. I am proud of being an American..and of being a conservative. Rainmaker..
Rainmaker, amen to that and to God be the glory.
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