By now, you have all heard that Alan Keyes has changed his mind and decided that it is okay for someone to run for the US Senate in a state other than that which they commonly reside (Keyes Will Run for Senate in Illinois). What might be news to you is that Keyes has reversed another long-held belief and now supports reparations for the descendents of slaves (Reversal of attitude:
Alan Keyes on reparations). Feel free to peruse the reading material and then come back to help answer the question of this post: why?
Black Republicans insist that they should be taken seriously, that they have a legitimate and consistent philosophy that will provide better results to Black Americans than the Democratic Party has delivered over the last 40 years. How can they be viewed as anything but a joke (and a sick one) when every "strongly held" belief is tossed aside in service of their masters? Why should we believe their claims of insult when they hear themselves described as house Negroes?
For the record, Alan Keyes was the loudest voice railing against Hillary Clinton being a candidate for US Senate from New York. His claims in 2004 that his run is in no way comparable - Hillary chose NY as she believed she could win there, while IL chose him as they believed in him - is laughable. Let's pretend for a second that I believe a single word this man has ever uttered and that he was right in saying that Ms. Clinton chose NY because she felt she could win that race - what does that really mean? Nothing more than that the people of NY have the same values and goals of a Senator than Ms. Clinton represents. The most significant change she made to run for the office from NY was taking off a Cubs hat and putting on a Yankees hat. Alan Keyes has changed his position on an issue that has strong support within the African-American community (reparations) but one that is far afield from any Republican in national office in the country today. It is so far out of modern Republican political dogma, that it can only be viewed as a blatant attempt to pull some progressive Black voters from Barack Obama. Are their Black people so self-deluded to fall for this feint? There are, but they are already Black Republicans, a very small group indeed.
This blatant shilling for Blacks to vote Republican - regardless of there being absolutely no interest on the part of Republicans to do anything for Black people - is not unique to Mr. Keyes. Every member of this subclass we call "Black Republicans" exhibits this trait and it can be seen in their undying, unyielding loyalty to their white overseers to the obvious detriment of their own blood (and don't let any of them tell you that they are no kin of ours - the one thing slavery has surely done is destroy our family ties). Let's do a quick summary of the examples of this betrayal:
- Clarence Thomas - went to college and graduate school on affirmative action programs, now finds them objectionable.
- Colin Powell - went to Vietnam as an ROTC lieutenant and wrote in his biography of the distaste he had for the wealthy sons who bypassed Vietnam in the National Guard, now he works for the poster boy for keeping his ass out of danger.
- Armstrong Williams - this conservative commentator has made a living critiquing Black people who are not living up to his moral code, but he received his start from that old racist Strom Thurmond - now famous for raping a Black teenager and impregnating her with a daughter he never revealed to the public until after his death. Armstrong kept ol' Strom's secret and has never said one word against him.
One has to hope that the worst Keyes will do to African-Americans is lose to the third Black Senator ever elected since the end of the Reconstruction era, but hope is not a plan. Every person of good-will in this country should put their efforts to ensuring his defeat, but any means necessary.
2004-08-21
Why Do Black Republicans Play This Game?
2004-08-13
Is It Best For Blacks to Divide Our Vote?
Over the hundreds of years of our existence in this country - as well as the preceding centuries as inhabitants of this British colony - one common thread can be found: the desire by those outside our community to divide us one from another. The rationale behind this is obvious and clear: separately, our power is diminished. Indeed, separately, we cannot even discuss "our power" and must face the world as individuals, alone, with no more support than a single individual can claim. Arrayed against the largest empire of the modern world and the republic that has usurped its position around the globe - what can a single individual do? A good case can be made - in more detail than will be allotted here - that the American cult of individuality is the merely a tool of the powerful to disempower the majority of country.
Any person, who sees they have common interests with others - would do well in a democratic society to work in concert with others to achieve their common goals. To claim that Black people - regardless of the variety of African and trans-African cultures from which we originate - do not have common interests is a falsehood. We cannot survive without one another - to whom will we share the cultural traditions that have guided us for thousands of years; from where will we access the basic services we need to live - without others who share those same needs. Or perhaps you expect to have your locks maintained by SuperCuts? The drive - the fight - to have Black doctors, lawyers, police officers, etc. is not merely because we want those who look like us in positions of power and importance. It is because we want those who can look at a Black person and see a human being be the arbiter of our health, our liberty and our protection. For that is the only way we will be able to stand atop the steps to our own homes and not be seen as a terrifying criminal, worthy of being shot down in a hail of 41 bullets.
As a group, African-Americans must decide what our common interests are. Then, we must work together to see those interests area realized. That requires our voting in concert.
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