steveox
Well-Known Member
Why I called Herman Cain's CPAC speech a minstrel show
The longshot GOP White House candidate and his conservative allies are furious, but I stand by what I said
At its core, politics is a projection of our collective fantasies and wishes. What are our hopes, dreams, wants, and desires for our community? How are they embodied by those individuals whom we elect to office and whose causes we champion?
Over the weekend, after watching Herman Cain, the longshot black conservative running for the Republican presidential nomination, speak at the right-wing CPAC convention, I addressed some of these questions in a short piece that I posted on the news and opinion website Alternet (where I am a contributor) and at my own site, We Are Respectable Negroes. My essay, "Black History Month is Herman Cain Playing the Race Minstrel for CPAC," made what I believe to be a simple and forthright suggestion: Many prominent black conservatives are as much performers for the pleasures of the white conservative imagination, as they are "principled" politicians and activists. Much to my surprise, that essay has drawn attention, ire and rage from conservatives.
Ultimately, any reasonable discussion of the role of black conservatives in the right-wing movement (especially as highlighted by the racially reactionary politics embodied by CPAC and the Tea Parties) must seriously consider the proposition that race is central -- as opposed to secondary or peripheral -- in how and why black conservatives are beloved by the right.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/.../index.html?source=rss&aim=/politics/war_room
Now what if Fox News said that on Barrack Obama? Youll have Rev Al Sharpton and the NAACP comming after them.
The longshot GOP White House candidate and his conservative allies are furious, but I stand by what I said
At its core, politics is a projection of our collective fantasies and wishes. What are our hopes, dreams, wants, and desires for our community? How are they embodied by those individuals whom we elect to office and whose causes we champion?
Over the weekend, after watching Herman Cain, the longshot black conservative running for the Republican presidential nomination, speak at the right-wing CPAC convention, I addressed some of these questions in a short piece that I posted on the news and opinion website Alternet (where I am a contributor) and at my own site, We Are Respectable Negroes. My essay, "Black History Month is Herman Cain Playing the Race Minstrel for CPAC," made what I believe to be a simple and forthright suggestion: Many prominent black conservatives are as much performers for the pleasures of the white conservative imagination, as they are "principled" politicians and activists. Much to my surprise, that essay has drawn attention, ire and rage from conservatives.
Ultimately, any reasonable discussion of the role of black conservatives in the right-wing movement (especially as highlighted by the racially reactionary politics embodied by CPAC and the Tea Parties) must seriously consider the proposition that race is central -- as opposed to secondary or peripheral -- in how and why black conservatives are beloved by the right.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/.../index.html?source=rss&aim=/politics/war_room
Now what if Fox News said that on Barrack Obama? Youll have Rev Al Sharpton and the NAACP comming after them.