Perpetuating the Racial Divide: Enough is Enough

It is both regrettable and counterproductive when self-proclaimed “real” black people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson spend their time excluding and ex-communicating fellow blacks instead of working for inclusion and genuine equality. They, along with their sympathizers and enablers, have erected two complementary barriers that prevent genuine debate about important issues and discourage dissent. First, by zealously pushing an agenda of political correctness and carelessly using the word “racism”, they have silenced some of their white critics and demonized countless others. One need not look any further for evidence of this first barrier than New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd’s assertion that Congressman Joe Wilson’s “You lie” outburst was racially motivated. Dowd used the isolated flare-up to conclude the following: “Some people just can’t believe a black man is president and will never accept it.” Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson offered up a similar assessment, but took it a step (or three) further: “"[Wilson] did not help the cause of diversity and tolerance with his remarks -- if I were a betting man I would say it instigated more racist sentiment…And so I guess we'll probably have folks putting on white hoods and white uniforms again and riding through the countryside intimidating people. ...That's the logical conclusion if this kind of attitude is not rebuked, and Congressman Wilson represents it. He's the face of it."

This bizarre, politically self-serving interpretation of the Wilson outburst fits in nicely with the efforts by many members of the liberal establishment to marginalize and dismiss angry town hall attendees and tea partiers as uneducated racists. While there are undoubtedly some individuals out there who harbor racist feelings toward the president, the vast majority of citizens who vocally oppose the Democratic Party’s agenda couldn’t care less about the president’s skin color. The gaps between Obama’s job approval ratings and the approval ratings for his individual policies bear this out. His overall approval ratings, though sinking, remain several points higher than the approval ratings for his handling of the economy, health care, and Guantanamo, to give just three examples. And his approval ratings positively dwarf those of Congress. Americans are primarily uncomfortable with and angry about the policies being pursued, not the man pursuing them. The vast majority of citizens who participated in the August town halls and the tea parties did so out of frustration with profligate government spending and fear of another massive government entitlement program, not because their president happens to be half black.

Whereas the first barrier has been erected and perpetuated with the help of liberal elites in the Maureen Dowd mold who shamelessly play the race card to delegitimize their political opponents, the second barrier is solely the work of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and their cohorts within the black community. They seek to suppress dissent within their own ranks by marginalizing black people who challenge their ideology, their version of identity politics, and their politics of victimhood. Instead of moving past skin color, they continue to place undue emphasis upon it; indeed, their livelihood depends upon perpetuating the very divide that they claim to abhor. Intelligent, upstanding members of the black community who express opinions (or state facts) that contradict the views held by Sharpton and Co. subject themselves to the blind fury of influential fellow blacks and face the unfortunate prospect of being ostracized from that group. In the last month alone, we have seen this exact sort of situation manifest itself not once but twice in our public discourse.

The first incident occurred near the end of a heated debate on The O’Reilly Factor about Rush Limbaugh’s failed bid to buy the St. Louis Rams. Radio host Warren Ballantine, in response to a suggestion from the accomplished author, journalist, and NPR-contributor Juan Williams that he get his facts straight, told Williams: “You can go back to the porch, Juan. You can go back. It’s OK.” (Watch the video here: http://hotairpundit.blogspot.com/2009/10/oreilly-guest-to-juan-williams-go-back.html) Why hasn’t there been an outcry about Ballantine’s ugly, racist remark? Well, Warren Ballantine and Juan Williams are both black. Remember when Don Imus lost his radio show for referring to members of the Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos”? Al Sharpton was out in front, leading the charge to get Imus fired. Where’s Al Sharpton now? Could his decision to keep his mouth shut be explained by the simple fact that Warren Ballantine’s skin is a different color than that of Don Imus? That seems awfully shallow yet sadly true. So much for treating everyone equally regardless of their race, eh Reverend?

Speaking of demagogic black reverends, Jesse Jackson had this to say about Representative Artur Davis’s (D-Ala.) decision to vote against the Democratic health care bill in the House: “You can’t vote against health care and call yourself a black man.” (Follow the link: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/68451-jackson-you-cant-vote-against-healthcare-and-call-yourself-a-black-man) Setting aside the absolute stupidity of Jackson’s comment (no one is voting “against health care,” but rather against one possible proposal to reform the health care system), the quote is indicative of an attitude that has taken hold among too many people within the black community: that there are “real” black people (folks like Sharpton, Jackson, and Ballantine, whose careers are firmly rooted in the politics of victimhood) and “fake” black people (those who, like Juan Williams and Bill Cosby, courageously reject much of the victim approach, instead emphasizing the need for personal responsibility in the black community). Al Sharpton articulated this divisive approach of discriminating between “real” and “fake” black people when he remarked that “just because you’re our color doesn’t make you our kind.”

Racism is a powerful word and a serious charge. It should not be a term that is cavalierly thrown around by anybody, and whenever it is, we should call those people out for it, no matter what color skin they have. We should also call out the demagogues in the black community who, rather than working toward a society where race is no longer an issue, have embarked on a mission that not only maintains but reinforces the racial divide by engaging in hateful attacks upon fellow blacks who refuse to adhere to their creed. When Glenn Beck (a white man) said that President Obama has a “deep-seated hatred for white people,” there was an outcry, and rightfully so. That is an irresponsible statement without any factual foundation, and there is no use for it in our public discourse. But until there is parallel outrage over race-baiting by minorities and their enablers too, all we are left with is rank hypocrisy and double standards that cripple our ability to have frank discussions and find solutions to real problems. I’ll end by quoting the title of Juan Williams’s 2006 book: “Enough.”