Black conservatives find themselves in a difficult position, as their beliefs and actions often pit them against other blacks.
Fox News contributor Juan Williams, who does not identify as a conservative but will defend them (like his son, RNC Deputy Press Secretary Raffi Williams) when he feels it's necessary, wrote in March that "Black Americans must be obedient liberals on all things or risk being called a race traitor or an Uncle Tom." It's not quite that simple.
Blacks who lean to the right politically are free to do so, it's just puzzling because it's quite clear that the right isn't very concerned with the African-American community's interests, and hasn't been for some time. Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele admitted that the GOP hadn't given blacks any reason to support them in the past, and what has the party done to change that?
Furthermore, attempts by some black leaders to align themselves with conservatives have resulted in failure. For example, New York State Senator Malcolm Smith tried to hop on the GOP bandwagon for career advancement and fell flat on his face.
The following are a number of prominent blacks who draw the ire of liberals. This is not an attack as much as it is simply voicing the issues that people have with them. They should all be used to that by now—it's politics as usual.
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Allen West
Occupation: Fox News contributor; former Congressman; retired Army Lt. Col.
Why they're hated: Pompous fire and brimstone
Signature quote: "In Obama's case we've enabled affirmative action to find a home in the nation's highest office."
There's always that one person in the barbershop with the loudest, most outrageous opinions. Allen West is that guy, and politics is his barbershop. The former colonel and Congressman has a distinct way of going from zero to 100 in the blink of an eye, as if someone pressed an "Allen West button" to trigger an overreaction.
That's why he snaps on colleagues via email for challenging his Medicare position, launches anti-Obama tirades, and sounds off on black liberals. His book, Guardian of the Republic: An American Ronin's Journey to Faith, Family and Freedom, is the black conservative's "Hit Em Up," only the punches don't land:
I suspect that by now, those of you with a different perspective are reading this and steaming. Good. Those of you who are black and who follow the progressive socialist ideology and philosophy are most likely shouting at these pages, calling me an Uncle Tom and a sellout. In return, let me say you are the ones who are the Uncle Toms and sellouts. You have sold your own once regal and proud black community for less than thirty pieces of silver, and to what end?
Right. West is the Guardian of the Republic, the loud guard dog who attacks when unprovoked. Then again, he was a Florida Congressman, so it makes too much sense.
Clarence Thomas
Michael Steele
Stacey Dash
Stanley Crouch
Walter E. Williams
Occupation: Economist; academic; author and columnist
Why they're hated: Denial, oversimplification of race in America and possible self-plagiarism
Signature quote: "Today I doubt you could find any significant problem that blacks face that is caused by racial discrimination."
As an economist, Williams takes pride in being practical. However, his attempts to simplify complex matters always miss the mark. There are his views on minimum wage and affirmative action which, in his eyes, hurt African-Americans more than racism and discrimination. Beyond that, he feels that too much emphasis has been placed on slavery and racism as they pertain to the current struggles of the black community.
As an opponent of anti-discrimination programs, you can probably predict what his response to Ta-Nehisi Coates' reparations argument was. In a weak response, Williams said "I think the call for slavery reparations is simply another hustle." Coates, convinced Williams didn't even read his piece, proceeded to shred him:
Pretty sure Walter Williams wrote this five years ago and then just inserted my name and @TheAtlantic http://t.co/Tji6YyjuCh
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) June 16, 2014
The word "slave" or some variant appears 32 times in this rebuttal. The word "housing" does not appear at all.. http://t.co/Tji6YyjuCh
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) June 16, 2014
So yeah Williams just plugged name and @TheAtlantic into a canned column. http://t.co/l6jHlKGiAt http://t.co/XUvPB9Wgz4
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) June 16, 2014
2000-"First off let me say that I agree with reparations advocates that slavery was a horrible, despicable violation of basic human rights"
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) June 16, 2014
Today-"First off, let me say that I agree with reparations advocates that slavery was a horrible despicable violation of basic human rights"
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) June 16, 2014
Recycling arguments is like recycling verses, only you look even worse.