Vision Circle

Rough and Tumble Black Politics

"Black politics" can be dirty, just like "regular" politics. From memory, these are some of the things that have happened, in no particular order:

• In Baltimore, Black Democrats for city council seats have tried to "out Black" their rivals by saying they would fight for the interests of "Black folk" in their district and that their rivals were beholden to "Johns Hopkins" or other outside interests.
• Again in Baltimore, some Black talk show hosts have called Black Democrat politicians names like "buck dancing negroes", "sellouts", "coons", etc.
• In N.J., Corey Booker's run for mayor saw his opponent use the "not really Black" charge against him.
• In D.C., the mayoral race often has politicians and "local leaders" saying that this person cares about people "east of the river" or saying that that person only cares about the ward Georgetown is in. "East of the river" is the mostly Black and poor area of D.C.

Those examples are given to show the "Black flavah" of "our" politics. Frankly, I don't like it because when I see it used, sometimes (many times?) it's used to hide and ignore some of the real issues involved in the race. In the case of Corey Booker, it was used when polls showed Cory Booker was leading in the race.

Now, the question of the day: how often do those antics reach the level of national attention of the incident with Michael Steele and the doctored picture?

Does this mean I condone it? Uhhhh.... "Hell to da naw!!!!".

But I'm increasingly starting to wonder why "Black conservatives" or "Black Republicans" are getting special treatment or protection and/or asking for special treatment or protection from "normal" Black politics?

I'm serious.

Is it OK for Black Democrats to call other Black Democrats sellout but Black Republicans/Black conservatives are so fragile that they must be protected from it?

Hat tip: The Black Informant