Prometheus 6

David at In Search of Utopia is bugging over Black Conservative rhetoric. When he says:

The thing that I think is saddest about all this, is that MANY Black Conservatives forget or choose to ignore that in 2004 in this country, they are to the Majority, FIRST BLACK and then anything else... That is why even today, news reports start when describing a Black person of note, with... African American _____________ Leader, Politician, Executive, etc. etc.

…and of course, in his comments he got the typical responses well-meaning, somewhat conscious conservative white folks give, in descending order of reasonability:

As part of that majority, I have to raise my hand in protest. I know very few of the majority who see it that way. Those who do, such as the media folks you mention, tend to be liberal.

This country is divided more along those philosophical lines than by color. It is difficult to see because the division within any skin color group differs. I think that is where you will see the division you feel.

Birds of a feather flock together. Like attracts like. If most of the people you know aren't racist that's most likely because you personally shun them, not because there are few racists.

I mean, c'mon. How many times have you heard a white person say "nigger" when there were no Black folks present? And don't try to tell me they meant "my nigga."

In fact, this is a great time to pull out a Washington Post editorial I was emailed by one Black Magic:

Black Like Whom?
By Vanessa Williams
Thursday, August 5, 2004; Page A19

I am stumped.

Scott L. Malcomson, writing in Sunday's New York Times, declares that Barack Obama, the Democratic Senate nominee from Illinois, "is not black in the usual way." To bolster his argument, he cited an article in the New Republic by Noam Scheiber, who voiced the opinion that Obama is "not stereotypically African-American."

How is one black "in the usual way"? What does it mean to be "stereotypically African-American"?

Malcomson tried to explain by emphasizing Obama's mixed-race heritage -- his father is a black Kenyan, his mother a white Kansan. He pointed out that Obama was raised by his mother and her parents in Hawaii, as opposed to being brought up in a black household. He argued that Obama's keynote address at the Democratic National Convention last week "did not . . . sound the familiar notes of African-American politics."

After noting that Obama identifies himself as a black man, Malcomson seemed to be trying to prove that the Senate candidate is mistaken about his own identity. "[W]hile he is black, he is not the direct product of generations of black life in America: he is not black in the usual way," Malcomson wrote. I wonder: Is there a "usual way" to be white?

Understand there's little difference between saying "Most of them are bad" and "some of them are good." And understand that all your white friend that say things like, "I'm not prejudiced. I know this Black guy and I voted for whatshername on American Idol," have at least a few issues.

This behavior is the converse a philosophy that I do my best to follow, which is to look at the person, not the color of their skin.

However, the bulk of your discussion seems to be taking to task people who's skin color happens to be classified as "black" for not putting the concerns of blacks higher, if not first. So it appears as if you are asking that they think of themselves as "first black and then anything else". Did I misunderstand your point?

As I read it, David was taking them to task for not recognizing the above reality in their discussion.It's not that they don't put the concerns of Blacks higher.

Though I myself will say those who really don't give a shit about Black folks should just drop the "Black" and call themselves "Conservatives."

Republicans sponsored the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed with 82% Republican Senators and 80% Republican Representatives voting in favor, while the Democrat totals were 69% and 61%. And the first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln.

Yes, I am white. I'm white and I live in one of the whitest states in the Union (I grew up in "the hilltops of New Hampshire"). I didn't get to know any black people until I got to college. But to argue that people cannot embrace a political philosophy based on the color of their skin seems fundamentally wrong.

I'm tired of living in the past. My ancestry is pretty well mongrelized, with ties to Scandanavia, England, France, and Ireland. But I feel a hell of a lot more kinship with you, David, than I do with a bunch of white Europeans. You and I (even though you're currently abroad) share more than I do with them. And even though I often feel the impulse to whack you upside the head with a baseball bat (Nerf, of course), I'd defend you against those with whom I share skin and ancestry.

This would be wonderful, if it weren't for the first two thirds of it. How you gonna be tired of living in the past and defending Republicans with 40 year old legislation, all the opponents of which quit the Democratic Party to join the Republican Party?