The Oreo, the Coconut, and the Banana Part 1

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Race in the Age of the Tea Party and the First Black President

Herman Cain. My initial impression was that he was a novelty. I liked him but he had no chance. And when he interviewed with Chris Wallace on Fox News and didn’t even know what the Palestinian right of return was I thought he had no business being president. I loved his straight talk but he sounded a little rough and maybe the elitist in me didn’t like him for the same reason Sarah Palin makes me nauseous. Still, every time I heard him speak, I liked him more and more.

Jeanine Garafolo suspects the whole thing is astroturfed and that Herman Cain is being paid to run by the Koch brothers or Karl Rove just to try to disprove the “inherent” racism of the Tea Party. OMG.

Cain has knocked the last two debates out of the park and, according to some polls, is the new frontrunner. He is frequently asked if he is just the new political flavor of the month. His response? “Haagen-Dazs black walnut tastes good all the time.”

Conservatives keep saying we’re not racist and liberals keep saying, “Yes you are”. Are we? I think my own father is a good case study. He is the kind of man the left loves to hate, the quintessential white devil. He is deeply religious, a creationist, staunchly pro life, pro second amendment, has some good things to say about George Bush, fewer good things to say about Jane Fonda, and is a proud Republican. The only thing worse would be if he was rich. Too bad on that one. He is not savvy about race and is unapologetically un-PC. He still calls black people “colored”. I scolded him about this recently, not because I thought he was being condescending but because I was worried someone, maybe one of the six black people in South Dakota, might get the wrong idea. I remember the 1996 presidential primary. Who was my dad’s choice? Black man/frog Alan Keyes (Seriously, listen to his voice. It’s weird). Keyes simply aligned with my father’s values and he thought he was a good debater. He also likes Herman Cain. I think my dad is truly color blind. Like a lot of conservatives, he doesn’t really care about race and the whole issue seems to befuddle him. He’s old fashioned but is he a racist? Ridiculous.

The liberal paradigm says that the world is divided into three kinds of people, the sheep, the shepherds, and the wolves. The sheep are largely good, hard working people who are often ignorant of their true self interest. The shepherds are the “educated and enlightened liberals who understand what is really going on and want to help the members of the first group to live a better and more satisfying life”. Who are the wolves? Conservatives, of course: smart, ruthless business types, capitalists, the rich, and all who support them in their lust for selfish gain.

As a social worker, I have learned a thing or two about race. On CNN, Herman Cain said blacks are so unified for Democrats because they are brainwashed. Impolitic as that was, I think it’s somewhat true. The liberal gospel about race says that blacks and others have less opportunity than whites. If they make it out of high school or college, they face a world that doesn’t want them to succeed. If I was a young black man with a hard life, what would I think? Work my butt off and still get screwed by the haters? Nah. Might as well hustle. In my social work classes, I was frequently told that the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality was unrealistic. They don’t seem to understand that their “compassionate” liberal message is a deeply disempowering one.

In a well received speech to CPAC in 2009 (Watch the first two minutes and see how conservatives really view race), Rush Limbaugh explained the real conservative agenda: “We want everyone to succeed!” To which someone in the audience shouted, “Well, except blacks and Mexicans, right?” To which Limbaugh replied, “Oh, of course. That goes without saying”. No, of course that didn’t happen. Everyone cheered when Rush said that. And if you are so certain that Rush hates gays, he had Elton John sing at his wedding.

Herman Cain recently made another giant gaffe and his numbers might tank. But will the fact that a black man is the most popular man in the Republican Party change the left’s mind about the “inherent” racism on the right? Not likely. Janean Garafolo ran logic over with her Prius and didn’t seem to notice. Conservatives are racist like the sky is blue.

So what are the Oreo, the Coconut, and the Banana? You’ll have to read Part II.