As 2012 comes to an end one sad feature of our racial politics remains firmly in place:

It is still common for black conservative voices to be dismissed as traitors to their race, and the tokens of powerful whites. Any black person who is openly Republican or conservative in their beliefs is immediately viewed as suspect -- ‘inauthentic’ a ‘sell-out’ and not true to the history of black struggle for equality.

This stubborn mind-set came to mind last week from a surprising arena – the sports world.

The nation’s fastest rising pro football star, Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins, was publicly disparaged as a “cornball brother” and “not one of us,” by a Rob Parker, a black newspaper columnist and ESPN analyst on December 13.

What did Griffin do to spark that attack?

The journalist said he heard that the 22-year-old Griffin is a Republican. He also said that Griffin is engaged to a white woman.

"My question, which is just a straight honest question: is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother?" Rob Parker, a black journalist said on ESPN. "Well, [yes] he's black, he kind of does his thing, but he's not really down with the cause, he's not one of us…He's kind of black, but he's not really the guy you'd really want to hang out with, because he's off to do something else."

After making his remarks Parker tried to explain his comments, telling an interviewer that he didn’t mean to demean Griffin.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “We could sit here and be honest, or we can be dishonest… [People] look at who your spouse is. They do. And they look at how you present yourself.”

Wednesday, six days after the controversy began Parker, who has been suspended by ESPN officially apologized for his comments.

But despite his tardy apology, Parker’s original remarks make a good point that is worth discussing.

The sad truth is that being black in America still automatically places you in a box. Yes, there is rapid growth in America’s minority population. Yes the President is black.

But as Parker suggested, some black Americans still think they have to act, speak and behave in a certain way that conforms to the identity that a white, liberal media has created.

In this perverse racial order, you simply cannot be authentically black if you are conservative – politically or culturally.

The criticism of Griffin – both in public and private – is not really that different from the way black conservatives are disparaged in media, law and politics.

Whenever the mainstream media wants to know what the African American community is thinking, they invariably go to the usual old, left-wing voices, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, as if they speak for all black people.

How much better would the debate about improving education, about dealing with high rates of unemployment and crime in black America if black America allowed itself the freedom of an honest, balanced approach to those issues that was open to conservative views?

Imagine the new vitality in the political discourse inside black America if serious weight was given to the ideas of people like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of Transportation William Coleman and professors Walter E. Williams and Thomas Sowell?

Instead, these brilliant people, apparently including RGIII, are dismissed as “Uncle Toms” or “cornball” brothers and sisters.

He works for Faux.... who cares?

Here is an excerpt from a commentary written by Juan Williams:



Any thoughts as to what Williams says?




Juan Williams

Here is an excerpt from a commentary written by Juan Williams:



Any thoughts as to what Williams says?




Juan Williams

my first thought is that, truly, sharpton may still pop his head up every few years, but noone has really paid attention to or asked Jesse Jackson about anything in many many years,,,,lol


my second thought is, this is the same juan williams dismissed for saying he gets nervous flying with muslims. So I can understand his sensitivity.


my third thought is,, if someone is black, they can indeed be a 'cornball brother'

just like a woman can be an 'easy woman' or a 'mean woman' or a 'stylish woman'

by itself I see nothing innately racist about it. However, the clarification from the speaker said about someone being 'kind of black' , which is a racist statement if based on anything other than that persons ancestry.

I dont know how well the commentator personally knew this athlete, so he may have had a better and more unique prospective about him as an individual. And depending upon how the speaker views himself, who he views as being like him or not like him is also not especially racist.

I do think it is sad that people believe anything but ancestry makes someone 'white' or 'black'.

My last thought is that a network has sponsors and viewership that it has to consider. It has to make decisions about airing those shows and giving voice to those people who can manage to not cause them considerable sponsorship or viewership. On another station, with different demographics, perhaps the statement would have been let to stand as an ignorant opinion. Apparently the station in question though, saw too much potential risk to their demographics to allow it to do so.

So, are you agreeing with Williams?
Are black Republicans just as black as black Democrats?

It is still common for black conservative voices to be dismissed as traitors to their race, and the tokens of powerful whites. Any black person who is openly Republican or conservative in their beliefs is immediately viewed as suspect -- ‘inauthentic’ a ‘sell-out’ and not true to the history of black struggle for equality.

EVERYONE regardless of race needs to come to grips with two things (1) the USA was founded, built, "discovered", colonized, expanded or pick another word on RACISM and (2) RACISM still exists ---- what "race" you belong to is a matter of contemporary subjective perception.

As for political parties, consider these tidbits (1) A Republican, Lincoln supposedly abolished slavery, (2) Blacks (when they could) voted Republican from 1860 (when Lincoln became the first Republican President) until 1932 when their Party of choice became Democratic, (3) Eisenhower (before he had a stated political preference) integrated the troops under his command before Truman circa 1950 issued the directive to integrate all branches of the armed services (4) Eisenhower (now a Republican) federalized the National Guards to force the integration of schools, (5) Democrats formed separate parties/groups i.e. Dixiecrats to deny Rights to Blacks and hinder the Civil Rights Movement, governors blocking the doorways to schools, fire hoses, attack dogs, the KKK, poll taxes, literacy tests (some of these tactics were used by BOTH parties)


This is why Blacks as a people (and for that matter all ethnicities) need to become ISSUES ORIENTED to select their leaders ---- examining closely the pettifoggers, the verbose new agenda-ized, camera moths, and front men for the selfish elite.



WEALTH is not so much as what you own, but what you DISOWN


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