March 4, 2009

Message to Black Republicans/Conservatives: Man Up my Brothers (or Woman Up my Sisters)


I missed it!!! Last Saturday night I was busy watching W on pay per view. My usual nightly bachanal of liberal banalities, Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow do not air on Saturdays, and I have not yet gotten into the habit of watching D.L. Hughley's comedic experiment on CNN. I like D.L. Hughley, he is among the most articulate commentators on politics and society in the comedic world today, and among black comics, I believe that he is extremely intellectual, well informed and analytical (even more so than Chris Rock, who, though he is probably sharper, funnier and as well informed, is not quite up to Hughley in the "policy wonk" category). But like the Daily Show, I previously could not figure out if Hughley's weekly is a news program or a comedy show. But last Saturday it became a news show--with humor.


What I heard is that Hughley hosted his program with guests Michael Steele, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Chuck D. the leader of Public Enemy. This was certainly quite a combination--the head of a Black Nationalist hip hop group and the black leader of the Republicans, hosted by a black leftist humorist on a news network. The talk turned to Rush Limbaugh, who has created quite a stir over the last few days in his incessant criticism of the Obama Administration, Keynesian economics, and anybody who does not kiss his ring. The exchange went as follows:


HUGHLEY: You know what we do, we talk like we're talking now. You have your view. I have mine. We don't need incendiary rhetoric.

STEELE: Exactly.

HUGHLEY: Like Rush Limbaugh, who is the de facto leader of the Republican Party.

STEELE: No, he's not.

HUGHLEY: I will tell you what ...

STEELE: I'm the de facto leader of the Republican Party.

HUGHLEY: You know what? I can appreciate that. But no one will actually decry down some of the things he says. Like when he comes out and says he wants the president to fail. I understand he wants liberalism to fail. Like, I get it's not about the man. But it is still about the idea that he would rather have an idea fail so his idea can move to the forefront. And that would succeed. And that to me is destructive.

STEELE: How is that any different than what was said about George Bush during his presidency?

HUGHLEY: You're absolutely -- let me say something. You're absolutely right.

STEELE: So let's put it into context here. Let's put it into context here. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. He has his an incendiary. Yes, it's ugly.

Chuck D: You do get a sense that he would say anything.

When three black men as diverse as Chuck D, D.L. Hughley, and Michael Steele sit together and engage in spirited and respectful banter, agreeing on the basics, though not the specifics, we have reason to celebrate.

Two days later, Rush Limbaugh responded:

RUSH: Okay, so I am an entertainer, and I have 20 million listeners, 22 million listeners because of my great song-and-dance routines here. Yes, said Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, I'm incendiary, and yes, it's ugly. Michael Steele, you are head of the RNC. You are not head of the Republican Party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the RNC and right now they want nothing to do with it, and when you call them asking them for money, they hang up on you. I hope that changes. I hope the RNC will get its act together. I hope the RNC chairman will realize he's not a talking head pundit, that he is supposed to be working on the grassroots and rebuilding it, and maybe doing something about our open primary system and fixing it so that Democrats do not nominate our candidates. It's time, Mr. Steele, for you to go behind the scenes and start doing the work that you were elected to do instead of trying to be some talking head media star, which you're having a tough time pulling off. I hope you figure out how to run a primary system. But it seems to me that it's Michael Steele who is off to a shaky start.


And now (drum roll please), Michael Steele's response:

I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren’t what I was thinking said. It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people … want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he’s not.

I’m not going to engage these guys and sit back and provide them the popcorn for a fight between me and Rush Limbaugh. No such thing is going to happen. … I wasn’t trying to slam him or anything.

Hm.

I watch only one conservative commentator on television. Most mornings are taken up prior to my workout with the conservative ramblings of Joe Scarborough and his sidekick Pat Buchanan. Mika Brzesinski , Zbigniev's daughter and a solid liberal journalist, is his co-host and Scarborough has the good sense and taste to pepper the program with a good mix of liberal and conservative commentators--so much so that one feels after having watched an hour or so of the program that one has enjoyed a full course meal, or an evening of lively debate at a Cambridge University discussion group. The program is that good. While acknowledging that Rush is his good friend, Scarborough and his gang that morning (no Buchanan) parodied Steele unmercifully as not being a MAN. See video.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/04/michael-steele-gets-repea_n_171750.html

When a black man gets parodied by a mix of conservative and liberal white political pundits for not standing up like a man to the likes of Rush Limbaugh, we have a problem.

Its a problem of Steele's own making.



If the Republican Party is going to ever become serious about attracting and maintaining its people of color, then leaders like Blackwell must stop prancing around this problem inside the party, speak up and condemn these statements and divisive actions once and for all.

--Yvonne Davis, Black Republican and Columnist, the Huffington Post


Davis is referring to the sorry spectacle that involved Chris Saltsman, a candidate for RNC national chair, circulating as part of his Christmas greeting to committee members a recording of a parody song, "Barack, the Magic Negro". The typical ploy of apologists for this kind of behavior is to point to some similar lapse on the part of someone on the left or, even better, in the Democratic Party. Heck, some might even break out old Richard Pryor albums to prove Saltsman is no backwoods redneck. But among serious people, this is just another example of the fact that the GOP has a lot of backwoods rednecks in its midst that the GOP has failed to root out. Part of the reason why it has failed to do so is because of several psychological factors ranging from complete indifference, naivete', or just outright racism. And yes, there are folks like that in the Democratic Party as well (this point is included to avoid the inevitable sidetracking that occurs when one talks about racism in the Republican Party with Black Republicans). But one does not expect this from any black man:


Unfortunately, there is hypersensitivity in the press regarding matters of race. This is in large measure due to President-Elect Obama being the first African-American elected president...

I don't think any of the concerns that have been expressed in the media about any of the other candidates for RNC chairman should disqualify them. When looked at in the proper context, these concerns are minimal. All of my competitors for this leadership post are fine people.


That's from Ken Blackwell, a black man and a former Secretary of State for Ohio and candidate, at the time, for chair of the RNC.

This is shocking and discouraging. It does not have to be. As a liberal Democrat who sees a need (especially after that white liberal temper tantrum we experienced last spring) for black participation in both parties, I am disappointed in both Blackwell and Steele. But moreso, I am disappointed in Black Republicans (with the exception of Yvonne Davis). Among that community are people that I know and respect who do not agree with me on a number of issues. But among my closest friends and acquaintances of the Conservative/Republican stripe, each of them believes in the basics of black dignity. There are exceptions among Black Republicans generally, but I do not associate with those exceptions if I know them, and most likely will not if I do not know them but meet them in the future.

A man has his limits.


But what makes the whole matter sad is that Black Republicans (BRs) with all of their personal pride and black dignity shoot themselves in the foot for not speaking up against this kind of crap. We have Steele totally destroying a wonderful moment last Saturday with a hat in his hand (or is it handkerchief in his hand) apology to a blowhard--so much so that white conservative television commentators are laughing. And Blackwell failing to stand up against this magic Negro mess is beyond the pale (no pun intended).


None of the following issues have anything to do with black consciousness: school vouchers, gay marriage, private sector vs. public sector solutions to economic problems, aggressive militarism vs. diplomacy, unilateralism vs. multilateralism, tax cuts vs. Keynesian economics, green vs. productive sector approach to the environment, regulation vs. de-regulation, federalism vs. centralized approaches to some problems, prayer in school vs. prohibiting prayer in school, Ten Commandments in the public square vs. No Ten Commandments, or any other religious display in the public square. If black conservatives want to disagree with me on any of these issues, fine. I will work for my position as a believing liberal and have a beer with my conservative black friends after a good day of debate.


I believe most black people feel the same way, especially those whom I know harbor conservative ideas on most of the above issues but vote Democratic everytime. What they say is that Black Republicans are sell outs. This is not true, but it is hard for me to make the argument, even to a black conservative that does not know he/she is conservative and votes Democratic, that BRs are not sellouts with examples like the ones discussed here happening way too often.


The best way for BRs to capture the imagination of conservative Black America is to do more than say that the Republicans are different from the Party that opposed civil rights (in fact, the Rockefeller wing of the party supported civil rights in the 60s). And please, BRs must drop the party of Lincoln business. I hope the battle against slavery has nothing to do with today.


BRs have to show that conservatism and Black Consciousness are not in conflict. Under no measure can anyone claim that this has been done so far. But it is not too late. And it is easy to do.

So here it is, my unsolicited advice to BRs: Simply follow the example of Yvonne Davis. Next time Rush tries to put someone in their place, or somebody like Saltsman tries to get away with some silly mess, very publicly tell them to go to hell, and not to even think about getting mad. Say this in large numbers. Write about it and have shouting matches at the next county Republican luncheon. It worked on Ferraro, and all of the other white Dems who could not imagine supporting a black candidate last year, it will most certainly work in your party.

It might mean a slower track in your party, but what does that tell you? Obama spent a whole year dissing the establishment in the Democratic Party and became President. If you are telling me that the only way to get ahead in the GOP is to not get mad at stuff, well, again, what does that tell you?

In the end, if you man up, you might get beat up, but there will be genuine respect from the community. And with that respect, there will be some votes.

And finally a two party system in the Black Community! Now that's a good thing.