Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema
precepts at claremont.org wrote:
> The Claremont Institute--PRECEPTS | | June 18, 2001
> Visit <http://www.claremont.org> | | No. 284
>
> Claremont Institute Precepts: To Be, or Not To Be: Ebony
> Magazine and the Non-Existence of Black Conservatives
>
> By Michael Finch and Thomas Krannawitter
>
> Remember the 1970's sitcom, Good Times? Set in the housing
> projects of Chicago, it starred the young black comedian
> Jimmy Walker as "JJ," and made "dy-no-mite" a catchphrase
> for a generation. In some ways, though, the most
> interesting character was JJ's kid brother, Michael.
> Studious and conservative in dress and manners, Michael
> cared about ideas and politics, and his dream was to follow
> in the footsteps of Thurgood Marshall and become a justice
> of the United States Supreme Court.
>
> Imagine that Good Times had been reality. Imagine that
> Michael went to law school, and after years of hard work
> now stands among the nine Supreme Court justices -- a
> lifetime appointment to the highest judicial body of the
> most powerful country on earth. This would be a rare and
> great achievement for any American, but especially so for
> an American Black who overcame poverty and racism. You
> might think that black organizations would honor such a man
> as an example of what others like him might accomplish.
>
> Then again, if you worked at Ebony magazine, you might not.
>
> The May edition of Ebony lists the 100 most influential
> Black Americans in 2001. To be sure, some worthy names made
> the list: Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Kweisi Mfume,
> Charles Rangel, Michael Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey are among
> the 100. Whatever one thinks of these individuals, there
> can be no question that they all wield great influence.
>
> But then there is Clarence Thomas, who grew up in the Jim
> Crow South, came from a background of poverty and a broken
> family, and now sits on the U.S. Supreme Court. And he
> happens to be black. But Ebony magazine thinks Justice
> Thomas is not among the most influential Black Americans.
>
> Scanning the pages of Ebony, one is struck by the fact that
> Justice Thomas' name does not appear. Anywhere. He is not
> even mentioned in the article preceding the list of the
> 100. It's as if he does not exist. Which of course is
> exactly the point.
>
> For the liberal editors at Ebony, Clarence Thomas simply is
> not "black." Neither is Eloise Anderson, William Allen,
> Janice Brown, Ward Connerly, Roy Innis, Alan Keyes, Star
> Parker, Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Armstrong Williams,
> or Walter Williams. All of these Black Americans have had
> an influence that has touched millions, black and non-black
> alike. But what unites them, and what disqualifies them
> from Ebony's list, is their patriotic love of country, and
> their defense of America's first principle: human
> equality. Each of them, in their own way, has attempted to
> teach their fellow citizens the color-blind principles and
> industrious practices of freedom. For this service, Ebony
> has chosen to ignore them.
>
> Their conspicuous omission points to an important but often
> misunderstood way that liberals have transformed American
> political language. According to an older understanding of
> things, the word "black" used to mean, in this context, a
> person of black African descent. But today the term "black"
> has little to do with skin color. Rather it is a code word
> for acceptance used by the political Left. Thus Toni
> Morrison could announce with a straight face in 1998 that
> Bill Clinton was America's first black president. In the
> parlance of modern liberalism, Bill Clinton is "black"
> because he supports the modern liberal welfare state.
>
> Such a distortion of language is not only disingenuous, its
> purpose is to attack and discredit the highest thing in
> America. From the point of view of the principle of human
> equality, distinctions of skin color ought to play no role
> in our civil rights, thus encouraging Americans to view
> each other first and foremost as equal citizens and
> neighbors, if not friends. This is possible only if we
> believe, along with Justice John Marshall Harlan in his
> famous dissenting opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, that "our
> Constitution is color-blind," and that "the law regards man
> as man, and takes no account of his surroundings or of his
> color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme
> law of the land are involved."
>
> For the folks at Ebony, any black American that adheres to
> the principles of color-blindness and human equality -- the
> principles championed by Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther
> King, Jr., and, today, Clarence Thomas -- is not in fact
> black.
>
> Rejecting those principles and their most prominent
> defenders of all colors, the editors at Ebony are left in
> the shameful and ridiculous position of saying that Edward
> Darnell (the Imperial Potentate of the Nobles Mystic
> Shrine, for those who don't know) is more influential than
> a sitting justice of the Supreme Court. The message Ebony
> is sending to young Michaels in America is clear: If you
> wish to be judged by the content of your character and not
> the color of your skin, don't bother. You don't exist.
>
> Michael Finch is Director of Development at the Claremont
> Institute.
> Thomas Krannawitter is Director of Academic Programs at the
> Claremont Institute.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Copyright (c) 2001 The Claremont Institute
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