Commentary
As I was drafting my commentary on the Supreme Court’s decisions on affirmative action and student loan forgiveness for my Fourth of July edition, I needed to keep it brief because I had so many topics I wanted to touch on – topics that took the joy out of celebrating America’s birthday.
As I perused the photographs taken at the steps of the Court, one in particular captured a thought I had on those activists who show up whenever decisions are about to be handed down; a group of young blacks with headwear and commercially printed signs no doubt provided by the NAACP along with a stipend for demonstrating.
I was reminded how the NAACP took Leo Terrell, a long-time civil rights attorney, to task for supporting as white female judge in California nominated by President George W. Bush to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Terrell referred to it as a “backdoor power play” as he resigned his membership in the NAACP. He has since left the Democrat Party and now appears regularly on Fox.
There were a number of activists at the Court, representing various factions. Many with handmaid signs that made no sense whatsoever. While the group of blacks were but one segment of the crowd at the steps it was their presence that compelled me to write today’s commentary.
It provides me with a rationale to elaborate on a subject I’ve touched on in previous editions of this blog – blacks who aren’t black enough, blacks with conservative viewpoints.
Most recently it was when I wrote about Sen. Tim Scott’s decision to enter the race for the presidency, noting my admiration for him but stating my fear that he wouldn’t be considered black enough.
Of course, I’m reminded of Joe Biden’s appearance on “The Breakfast Club” radio show telling the black host, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump then you ain’t black.”
There are a number of black commentators who provide insight on race in America and the liberal black mindset. Mention their names to most blacks, however, and you will get a blank stare. Who?
Like Shelby Steele of Stanford’s Hoover Institution, who said, “To be black in America today means that you must subscribe to preferential liberalism – government programs and government preferences – and if you don’t then your identity itself is kept from you.
“The black conservative who does not agree with preferential liberalism is by definition not black. So we say Clarence Thomas is not black, Colin Powell is marginally black, and Condoleezza Rice is marginal.”
Steele opposes any form of racial preference.
Then there’s Thomas Sowell, the widely-published commentator, also with the Hoover Institution, who said, “When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.”
There are a host of blacks with conservative viewpoints, who for the most part, are unknown to the black community. Even Niger Innis, of the Congress of Racial Equality, Jason Whitlock a sports columnist who hosts “Fearless with Jason Whitlock on Blaze Media, and Jason L. Riley, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, who authored the book, “Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed.”
Blacks in Virginia are getting to know Winsome Sears, a black woman who made history being elected lieutenant governor. She recently reminded us how Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who dissented on affirmative action and student loan forgiveness, was chosen “because she’s black and because she’s a woman.”
Rep. Byron Daniels of Florida is new to the House of Representatives but has been making a name for himself as a black conservative, a fact that blocked him from becoming a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. He’s not black enough.
I often hear how blacks are tiring of Democrat leadership assuming they will to the line and vote Democrat. You can be sure that former President Obama, Vice President Harris, Sen. Raphael Warnock, Rep. Jim Clyburn, commentator Van Jones and racist rabblerouser Al Sharpton will be seeking their support of Biden.
The organization FiveThirtyEight that looks at a wide range of polling, published a piece, “Are Black and Hispanic Americans Abandoning Biden?” In it they report the findings of an Ipsos/Washington Post poll showing only 34 percent of blacks believing that Biden’s policies helped black people.
A YouGov/Economist poll revealed that 46 black respondents and only 37 percent of Hispanics want Biden to run in 2024.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
