Prometheus 6

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I don't believe it can happen. Caring about unique Black issues (and by extension working with Blacks on a grassroots level) is by definition liberal.

It does seem that way, doesn't it? But it hasn't always been, and it doesn't have to be.

Although I'm pleased that someone is in 95 percent agreement with what I wrote for BlackElectorate.com I did not take issue with La Shawn Barber's ceaseless critiques of what she identifies as liberalism. I took issue with her point regarding why she and her ideological soulmates have not been successful to date in persuading any statistically significant number of black folks to give up their support for Democratic Party candidates. My take on liberal Democrats is, at bottom, probably more severe than Ms. Barber's but I don't allow my views on them blind me to the fact that at a certain critical point in black people's stuggle for justice that many liberals, not all of them Democrats, stood with us when nobody else would. Some of them, like Viola Luizzo, even died for our cause.

What she identifies as liberalism is not the progressive position. And I'm not thrilled with the Democratic position (which is ALSO not the progressive stance) but it's far closer to humane than the Conservative stance.

Why would efforts on the part of black conservatives or black Republicans to try to persuade, for example, African American churches or fraternities and sororities, to do more to arrest the appalling rate of HIV infection among black children be, by definition, a liberal position? I am beginning to think that too many of these brothers and sisters are more worried about their credentials and standing with folks outside of the black community than they are interested in creating a new political paradigm or structure within the black community. White conservatives, for example, toiled for years at the grass roots level following the well deserved Goldwater debacle before they began to achieve any substantive credibilty within their larger polity. If black conservatives and black Republicans are truly interested in gaining political power then they need to give up their own liberalism and focus some of their energies toward issues that have a direct bearing on black people's lives. What is the black conservative position, for example, on economic development issues within the inner-city? Black Republican candidates at the local level who can address these types of issues and formulate policies that are credible and pragmatic and don't simply parrot some "party line" emanating from Washington can have enormous appeal to black voters and others.

Why would efforts on the part of black conservatives or black Republicans to try to persuade, for example, African American churches or fraternities and sororities, to do more to arrest the appalling rate of HIV infection among black children be, by definition, a liberal position?

Two reasons: first, the self definition of Conservative excludes specifically addressing specifically Black issues. Black Conservatives and Black Republicans on the whole are Conservatives and Republicans with an adjective prepended, that's all. This is shown by your own article, Darryl. You correctly take them to task for not doing so.

Secondly, you and Ms. Barber keep talking about "liberalism" and there is no such position being set forth here. It's a straw man, much as it would be if I were to attack Christianity as a whole because of the Christianism shown by the Identity Christian movement.

"Liberalism" is apparently the Conservative misunderstanding of the Progressive…or Liberal, if you prefer…platform and the misunderstanding is as deep and subtle as that of the Black folks held by those who neither have nor desire contact with the Black communities.

I am beginning to think that too many of these brothers and sisters are more worried about their credentials and standing with folks outside of the black community than they are interested in creating a new political paradigm or structure within the black community.

Alan Keyes.
Ward Connerly.
Condoleeza Rice.
Clarence Thomas.
Jesse Lee Peterson.
Larry Elder.
What-his-name from Texas.
Every Black Republican that came to Trent Lott's defense.

Yes. Again we agree.

What is the black conservative position, for example, on economic development issues within the inner-city? Black Republican candidates at the local level who can address these types of issues and formulate policies that are credible and pragmatic and don't simply parrot some "party line" emanating from Washington can have enormous appeal to black voters and others.

No doubt. Like you, I'm not saying they can't. I'm saying they won't. But I'm also saying they show startling hypocrisy in accusing Black Democrats of bowing to party demands when they do the same and worse.

The fact that they haven't begun to do any substantive politcal work in the black community is a contingent fact not an immutable one. Their behavior could change. I am surprised, however, that for a group of folks, at least for those who are so publicly identified as being black Republican conservatives (or is it black conservative Republicans) there seems to be no real desire to garner any political power. Real political revolutionaries always recognize when power is laying in the street and they know how to pick it up.

The fact that they haven't begun to do any substantive politcal work in the black community is a contingent fact not an immutable one. Their behavior could change.

If their behavior changed they would no longer be Black Republicans.

In past conversations I've noted the difference between Black Conservatives folks and conservatives Black folks can be summed up by noting which is the noun and which is the verb.

I am surprised, however, that for a group of folks, at least for those who are so publicly identified as being black Republican conservatives (or is it black conservative Republicans) there seems to be no real desire to garner any political power.

I'm not. But I have to get into Maslow again. First four human needs:
- Physiological: hunger, thirst, bodily comforts, etc.;
- Safety/security: out of danger;
- Belongingness and Love: affiliate with others, be accepted; and
- Esteem: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition.
…must be met in order. Black folks are working the third one. The opportunities being offered are gatekeeper and guard/censor. Some few truly believe they can gain positions of greater power through service.

Heh.

Real political revolutionaries always recognize when power is laying in the street and they know how to pick it up.

The phrase "real political revolutionaries" makes me suffer severe cognitive dissonance. Part of my problem is that I've noticed people who seek power tend to be exactly the sort of person who shouldn't have it. It's become my starting assumption.

"The phrase "real political revolutionaries" makes me suffer severe cognitive dissonance. Part of my problem is that I've noticed people who seek power tend to be exactly the sort of person who shouldn't have it. It's become my starting assumption."

This danger is always present in any political system and particularly one in which rapid and unprecedented change is taking place. The political situation in the United States and especially in the black community is not, in my opinion, close to any revolutionary tipping point. I do think, however, that the black community needs to create more political capital for itself.

Black conservatives are getting a lot of ink and tube time as a result of their claims that they have a set of solutions that would benefit black people specifically and American society generally. One of their problems is that they have made little or no headway in convincing everyday, regular black folks of the efficacy of their proposals. The folk ain't buying what they're selling.

I wrote my piece, which appeared in BlackElectorate.com, because I was growing increasingly weary and annoyed at what I perceived as attacks on the intelligence and judgment of black voters. I also thought that black Republicans, in the main, lacked any practical understanding of how electoral politics takes place at the retail level. I simply wanted to challenge them to make an effort to reach out to black folks at the grass roots level. To date, I have received one email from a young brother who described himself as a Republican and who said that he was in full agreement with what I had written. Ms. Barber, on the other hand, who, incidentally, I have decided is not serious, adopted her usual churlish and dismissive tone writing that she couldn't be bothered to read what I had written and rhetorically asking anyway who was I.

Black conservatives are getting a lot of ink and tube time as a result of their claims that they have a set of solutions that would benefit black people specifically and American society generally. One of their problems is that they have made little or no headway in convincing everyday, regular black folks of the efficacy of their proposals. The folk ain't buying what they're selling.

Subtle but vital disagreement: Black Conservatives do not claim their solutions will benefit Black people specifically. They say their solutions will benefit some Black people too. Black folks on the whole know that and have a pretty realistic assessment of the likelihood of their being in that number, which is why no one believes them.

I wrote my piece, which appeared in BlackElectorate.com, because I was growing increasingly weary and annoyed at what I perceived as attacks on the intelligence and judgment of black voters. I also thought that black Republicans, in the main, lacked any practical understanding of how electoral politics takes place at the retail level. I simply wanted to challenge them to make an effort to reach out to black folks at the grass roots level. To date, I have received one email from a young brother who described himself as a Republican and who said that he was in full agreement with what I had written.

Sounds about right. Activism would interfere with their primary function as gatekeeper or censor.

And that's what you have to keep in mind, that they serve a function in the rather disciplined Republican machine. Politically, everything else is subordinate to that.

Ms. Barber, on the other hand, who, incidentally, I have decided is not serious, adopted her usual churlish and dismissive tone writing that she couldn't be bothered to read what I had written and rhetorically asking anyway who was I.

Ms. Barber is basking in the afterglow of her discovery by the National Review. Her rhetoric makes that like bragging about the existence of gravity.

Yes, my brother, I have come to the conclusion that an overwhelming majority of these folks are not serious about addressing some of the more pressing problems of the black community. What finally pushed me into this camp was having read this morning an absolutely hysterical (and I don't mean funny) piece by a brother named Ken Hughes called "Why Should African Americans Vote." Mr. Hughes, who is described as a "political junkie who's passion is the re-education of Liberals (sic) and Term Limits (sic) for Congress."

Mr. Hughes asserts, for example, that the Democratic Party controls the black vote but he offers not one piece of objective, credible evidence to support this claim save, I suppose, his own beliefs in magical thinking and extreme determinism. The problem I find with Mr. Hughes and those who share his views is that they have an extreme reductionist view of politics. In their minds, one is either for them or for the evil empire ruled by Democrats. They seem to be incapable of having a discussion about politics that is not reduced to a dialectical tug-of-war with Democrats on one side and Republicans on the other side. Their insatiable desire to best and finally vanquish the Democrats drives them to such extreme viewpoints that they simply appear to raving. No wonder black people aren't listening to them.

Mr Hughes is just doing his job. He's a censor.

Well, my plans extend a bit beyond your standard blog but right now I'm all conversation too. If you like, I'll email you when the post-discussion phase begins.