I had a conversation with an older black man recently who no doubt lived through Jim Crow. We ended up talking about the election. He’s casting his vote for John Kerry and I’m voting for George Bush. I really didn’t want to get into a political discussion, but before I could object, he was already laying out a litany of charges against Republicans, namely the war in Iraq and the black-folks-are-too-dumb-to-vote routine.
Of course he didn’t put it that way. Sneaky white Republicans and their diabolical voter intimidation schemes. Grown, educated people are spreading rumors that Republicans are preventing blacks from voting. But the black person I happen to be talking to at a given moment never considers himself one of the disenfranchised voters. It’s always the other guy.
So I told him that unlike the white man he planned to vote for, I didn’t think blacks were dumb. I assume a certain level of intelligence from most people until proven otherwise. If anyone of any color can’t operate a voting machine, I expect him to open his mouth and ask for help. Others, like white liberals, presume that blacks just got their freedom papers yesterday and need all kinds of remedial help in every area of life. He backtracked and made clear he didn’t think blacks were dumb, either. Good. We agreed on something.
I stole the title of this post from Ann Coulter’s Townhall column. I think she sums up what white liberals think of black voters quite nicely:
Here are your crumbs, your scraps, your measly handouts. Too bad you’re so childish, incompetent and dependent, huh? Now run along and cast your vote for the guy with the “D” next to his name and we’ll see you in four years, ‘K? Buh-bye, now.
Read the whole column. It is vintage Ann Coulter and good for releasing stress.
White liberals can be very condescending and nasty, in person and online. Would it surprise you to know that the residual attacks from this week’s high-profile blogger controversy have come from white liberals who think they’ve been given license to throw racist-tinged invective in my face?
They are intimidated, in my opinion, by someone who isn’t grateful accepting the scraps of white paternalism, and their profanity-laced e-mail and comments show just how vacuous and hare-brained they can be. Hypocritical scoundrels, every last one. But pray for them I must.
Back to the older man. A conversation-stopping moment occurred when he asked what George Bush ever did for me. I can do for myself, I told him. Why are blacks looking to the government for what it can do for them?
I’m voting for Bush because as a Christian, I believe his policies and values are more in line with my own, unlike John Kerry’s. Following biblical principles trumps my skin color. I went down the list of issues, emphasizing child killing. After a few seconds of silence, hoping I’d made some headway, he started talking about the war in Iraq again.
Wake me up on November 3.
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Speaking of child killing, Captain Ed analyzes an interesting story from today’s Washington Post. Sheila O’Malley had an intriguing exchange with a woman taking responsibility for her own life. Refreshing.
Update (10/29): Michael King on Coulter’s column.
