As an African American Democrat, I have often joked that to me, a black in the Republican Party is like a deer joining the National Rifle Association.
"Yes, I'm a deer, but I'm not one of 'those' deer."
That said, I was amazed by the level of vitriol and outright racism directed at black Republican candidates this political season. Racism directed at them by other blacks.
Four African American Republicans sought major political office this year. Michael Steele of Maryland and Ken Blackwell of Ohio ran for the U.S. Senate; Lynn Swann of Pennsylvania and Keith Butler of Michigan sought the governorships of their respective states. These men were called everything from Sambos to minstrels to Uncle Toms. They were labeled 'house slaves,' Al Jolson candidates, and white men in 'black face'. Steele was even pelted with Oreo cookies during a campaign appearance, another 'you're white on the inside' slur.
I'm a Democrat, but I feel their pain. As a middle class black male, raised and currently residing in the suburbs, I too have been the target of scurrilous remarks like these. Not too long along ago, I received an anonymous letter at the radio station where I work. It was clear and concise:
"As an African American, I am disgusted every time I hear your voice because YOU are not a genuine black man!"
That letter inspired me to discover why this charge continues to be leveled at me and at other successful black Americans. It's a comment I've heard for years by people both black and white. I have had white people say to me, "I don't really think of you as black."
Why do people say this to me? Is it because of the way I dress and speak? The music I like to listen to? My spouse? The fact that I TiVo reruns of Frasier? More importantly, who has the right to decide what it means to be 'genuinely black' in this society?
My dilemma is not unique: the race police exist in all hues and all cultures. Asians whose interests are 'too Eurocentric' for their ethnic peers are taunted as 'bananas' and 'Twinkies'. They are 'yellow on the outside and white on the inside'. Latinos accused of racial betrayal are labeled 'coconuts', again brown on the outside yet inwardly white. A well known network newsman told me that he gets letters accusing him of being a 'self hating Jew' because he reports in an unbiased fashion on the Middle East.
The most disturbing aspect of this tendency to demonize people who don't fit a preconceived notion of ethnic authenticity is that it reinforces and perpetuates bigoted stereotypes. Just take a look at the four black GOP candidates who were so viciously maligned.
Michael Steele is a sitting Lieutenant Governor with degrees from Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities.
Ken Blackwell is the Ohio Secretary of State and a former United Nations ambassador.
Keith Butler is a pastor whose ministry has been nationally recognized and honored for its work in trying to solve inner city problems.
Lynn Swann is a prominent businessman, motivational speaker and NFL Hall of Famer.
Whether you agree with their politics or not...and believe me, I don't...all of these men are accomplished and successful in their respective fields. And yet society perceives them as 'sellouts'.
Young men selling crack on the street corners of East Oakland or Compton or Detroit or any other major urban area in the United States have five babies by five different women and support none of them. They are dropouts, addicts and aspiring thugs, yet no one questions their racial authenticity. When did we get to the point where gaudy, gold-toothed wannabe gangstas rhyming about 'bitches' and 'hoes' became representative of all black people Americans? When did we arrive at a place where young men are harassed for bringing their books home from school because studying means that they're 'trying to act white'? Something is wrong with this picture.
Had I been given the chance, I would not have voted any of the four black Republicans who ran in major elections this fall (incidentally...they all lost). Our differences of opinion regarding public policy are too great, and if I remember my high school civics classes correctly, that should be the main criteria when casting your ballot. For our country to achieve genuine representation in government, a bogus racial litmus test cannot be part of the picture. Black people are not a monolith with one point of view. The second that we accept that misperception, all racial progress in this country has been negated.
If deer are willing to pay the NRA dues, they should have the right to join...no matter what the rest of the herd thinks.
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