Home > Rhythm & Views > Archives > 2008 > September > 23 > Entry
Are Blacks for McCain Not Black Enough?
Simpkins says that blacks who vote for a candidate just because he or she is black play into society’s racism. And those who question his blackness for not supporting a black candidate stifle independent thinking.
“All too often I am challenged by peers and by “friends” on how really committed I am to my community. There is generally an underlying and sneering disbelief and sarcasm evident in these conversations, as Blacks “on board” with Obama (even those that supported Hillary Clinton before Obama showed himself a viable candidate, and “Black enough”) assume they have a monopoly on Blackness. Often times this criticism comes in the form of good-natured ribbing, but sometimes it is more insidious than that.
“The sad part is that this byproduct of Black groupthink regarding national politics - the political homogeneity of Black America - only serves the purposes of racism by ostracizing independent-minded Blacks from the community and by seeking to silence their voices altogether. And this type of behavior is no respecter of persons, insofar as it targets even those who have proven their commitment to their communities.
I come from a broken home. I come from a drug-abusing household. I have been cold and homeless. I have parents with criminal records. I have attended public schools all my life, until Harvard Law. This is not an attempt to garner sympathy, but an attempt to provide the context needed to understand my commitment to those groups and organizations that helped me rise above circumstance.”
Simpkins raises valid points that transcend this year’s presidential election. There is a tendency for black people to question the “blackness” of those who don’t go along with the masses. And those who “air our dirty laundry.”
Bill Cosby gets castigated for telling black people to spend more money on their children’s education than designer sneakers.
Jesse Jackson wants to castrate Barack Obama for telling those black men who don’t take care of their children to man up.
They are seen as somehow betraying the race by speaking truth to empower.
Blacks who want the rest of the world to judge us by the content of our character, should judge other blacks by the same measuring stick. Not, according to some secret code of so-called “blackness.’
Comments
By anonymous
September 23, 2008 4:14 PM | Link to this
Amen.
By jay
September 23, 2008 4:55 PM | Link to this
“character” that’s something new.
By lucky
September 23, 2008 4:56 PM | Link to this
This man GETS IT.He will be shunned just like Chris Darden who prosecuted OJ. Can’t get a job with a black law firm.
By lucky
September 23, 2008 4:57 PM | Link to this
This man GETS IT.He will be shunned just like Chris Darden who prosecuted OJ. Can’t get a job with a black law firm.
By manny
September 23, 2008 5:19 PM | Link to this
You tell them Claudio !! Vote with your conscience, not your skin color.
By Philly
September 23, 2008 6:22 PM | Link to this
It seems to me that there is an irony in running this blog a day after the one you ran yesterday. Who is it really who votes based on color?
Answer seems obvious to me.
By Ron
September 24, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this
Why would he or any black person continue to be so wedded to the democrat party? Look at their records and results of their “leadership”. The democrat party has been in control of every major “urban” city that lies in ruin. Whether it was Dinkins, Kilpatrick, Nagin, Berry etc. How many times can the same failed policies they perpetuate be repeated?
I remember in high school, the black kids who carried books, studied, raised their hands with the answer when called on, and worked hard to get good grades, were constantly being harrassed by their peers for “acting white”. They weren’t acting white, they were acting smart.
Just as voting republican is not voting white, it’s voting smart.
Notice where Obama and Rev. Wright bought their homes when they got rich?
You guessed it. In lily white neighborhoods where his kids go to lily white private schools. Is Obama “acting white” or acting smart? Neither. He’s acting like a hypocrite. He’s black enough to get your vote, but not black enough to live among you.
By Camille
September 24, 2008 8:22 PM | Link to this
Ron, there’s no logic in your argument. Black kids who succeed are not acting white, they’re acting smart - ok. A black man who succeeds is not acting white or acting smart, he’s a hypocrite - for wanting to live in a good neighborhood, which, for many reasons, like it or not, are predominantly white in most of our country. Your logic implies that we should choose where we live based on race. Hmm, what does that sound like to me? Racism? Segregation?
By Prettyskin
October 3, 2008 12:00 PM | Link to this
Partisan fisticuff for non-white people is drivel.
It is up to this generation and any after to remove the misconceptions of non-white Republicans.
Republican views are not white people views. They are views shared by all white and non-white men and women of this country whom seen a clarion call for renewal of America.
“There is always the need to assert and defend the humanity of non-white people, including their ability and capacity to reason logically, think coherently and write lucidly” (West, 1985).
Lincoln’s party, Republican party should be taken back from God’s warriors and war criminals. It has been robbed by treason.
Rethugs(republicans) greed, lies and deceptions to hold on to power in which they are failing miserably.
Demostatics(democrats) are moving on the notion that ‘it’s my turn and recyclable misleading selling points.
Collective recklessness by both parties.
More importantly, Parties should be dismissed when the nation is on the brink of destruction.
The President and VP are public servants of, and representatives of the American people. We are a Republic and a Democracy.
So, matched the needs of the moment. Welcome all non-white people for McCain. And, an equal welcome all non-white people for Obama.
By TC
October 9, 2008 2:20 PM | Link to this
Rhonda, I am so attracted to you right now. I love what you’ve done here with subjective validation. Maybe we could also explore the phenomena of Obama powered interracial attractions together sometime - ya think? :-)
In the1960’s, folksinger Phil Ochs sang his signature, half tongue-in-cheek, “Love me, Love me, Love me, I’m a Liberal” and that was probably a little before your time, I’m sure, but no doubt you’ve experienced your own “Summer of Love,” just the same.
You know, when you get to loving someone, believing in someone, and you begin to love everything about them and their associations. You open your heart and the light shines in and there’s a certain unbridled sense of compassion that naturally takes over. That same sort of compassion that had folks joining hands together during the Civil Rights Movement, during those folksinger years, that succeeded in breaking down some of the major racial barriers at the time that were holding us back as a nation.
Right now, we’re still confronting remnants of those same racial barriers. But at the same time, you can’t deny there’s a whole lotta love out there being generated for the man and his family. That love and respect is growing and it’s going to last, don’t you know. The possibilities are endless. I’m just so in love with you right now. Do you feel at all like I do?
By TC Professor
October 10, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this
Now Playing: ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’ - by Marvin Gaye
Lets see now, are blacks for McCain not black enough… no, they’re just rather queer. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) The entire premise exists because such an allegiance goes contrary to thoroughly established cultural beliefs, and those beliefs are based on overwhelming evidence. Nonetheless, I personally wouldn’t fault the black brother for loving the “dark side” any more than I would fault him if he had decided to bleach his skin and have a sex change operation. Everyone’s entitled to their own decision making, more or less.
“There’s no accounting for anyone’s taste in their choice of wives or a President.” - Will Rogers circa 1930’s
There are some black “Log Cabin Republicans” out there (has something to do with a fetish for wood, I think) and even black Mormon republicans, for that matter (oh, Lordy). I don’t think such choices involve a question of personal philosophy so much as they do a particular set of circumstances and bad timing. I see it as the P.T. Barnum effect coupled with a, “you just happened to be coming along at the right time!” More happenstance than political circumstance, if not something entirely more… well, primeval perhaps.
The CONTRARIES of the western plains Indian tribes provided a unique service in keeping their tribes “fair and balanced” and in harmony with the dualistic nature of the universe. A dialectic saw horse that effectively eliminated the wishy-washy from society. Who knows how they (Contraries) got that way. The Indians themselves claim it a chance visitation of a great big bird (Thunderbird - also referred to as The Trickster). And similar were the FOOLS of European culture that were anything but feeble minded and in fact, like most Contraries, were quite the opposite (no pun intended). Probably they were born with unusually high I.Q.’s but otherwise unusually tweaked genetically. All of today’s political satire, by the way, is patterned after the same societal role of the fool.
Are all men created equal, really? Certainly, as members of a “free society” we are entitled to certain “inalienable rights” (whatever THAT means) but beyond that we are influenced by the interplay of both external AND biological constructs. Recent studies of the human brain, for example, have revealed that homosexuality may in fact be a genetically predisposed condition, that there is an area of the brain that accounts for a belief in God, and that a person’s tendency to be either liberal or conservative may also be determined by genetics, or just how the individual brain is arranged, thus giving even more meaning to “left brain” or “right brain” tendencies. Ain’t THAT peculiar.
By Bill Isom
October 23, 2008 5:53 PM | Link to this
I guess I’m a White American; part German part Scottish and part Cherokee Indian. On the other hand I identify more with my Indian ethnicity than the others. Yet, my Chinese wife has whiter skin than mine. Oh well, maybe you get the point. It is refreshing to see there are many Americans, with darker skin color, that are independent thinkers just as myself. People of “color” (uh…isnn’t pale white a color?)that see themselves as a color are persived as that color by others. Those that do not perseive themselves as a color are not seen as a color because they blend in. Living in a small East Teas town, the Home Coming Queen looked as those she was a shade of light brown yet maybe was Black. Yet, my first thought was how well adjusted and happy she looked. The Home Coming King had a very white skin color but I really didn’t notice any differences in the two. I’m wondering how long it will take Americans, that decended from an African race, to see themselves as just Ameicans. Obama is half and half but considers himself as African-American yet raised but the White half of his family. This is very confusing to me. When my Mother was little, a Black Lady took care of her and no she was not rich. Let me tell you, this Lady was as much loved and any other member of our family. My God help us to come, one day, to see each other as just people who all live in America. What’s in ones mind and heart is what counts, not our skin color.
By Terri
November 3, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this
Senator McCain, Is a proven hero, a real true American! He has bleed for you and I! Obama is a great speaker but McCain has not just did the speech he bares the scares for our freedom
By michael
November 4, 2008 12:17 AM | Link to this
DARE TO THINK FOR YOUSELF! Why do blacks have this unfounded loyalty to the democratic party. For years the black elite have embraced the democratic party. The black elite have been very successful at controlling the way the black community thinks and how to vote. Sadly enough, the black elite has convinced the black community that they can’t compete with whites so we need special treatment. They told us that the biggest concerns in the black community are the conservative republicans who speak of personal responsibility and want to put an end to murder, I’m sorry, abortion. Never mind that the number one killer of black males between 16 and 35 are other black males. They have told us that they represent tolerance and unity. But we know that the tolerance they speak is quite fickle. As soon as any black person dares to think for himself or has a differing point of view, the black community will often consider that person an ‘Uncle Tom’ sellout and harshly rebuke that person. We live in a nation of many different races of people Middle Eastern, Asian, Hispanic, etc. Why is it that black are the only group that has to have a leader? It is as if we can’t think for ourselves. It’s insulting to think we need Jesse, Al and some black ministers to tell us what to think and how to vote. GOD forbid any black person who doesn’t follow along might be consider not black enough or a sellout.