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The attack on Colin Powell prompts questions I’m not supposed to ask
backwoodshome ^ | 1-2-03 | Dave Duffy

Posted on 01/05/2003 6:12:13 AM PST by SJackson

What’s wrong with black Americans?

Provocative question, isn’t it, especially when it’s being asked by a white guy like me. We white guys aren’t supposed to question what blacks do, because it automatically makes us a racist. Which brings up another obvious question: How come blacks can criticize whites, calling them honkies and racists at the drop of a hat, but whites can’t criticize blacks?

Let me break my first question down into some smaller, more obvious questions:

How come when Harry Belafonte recently called Secretary of State Colin Powell “a house slave” for serving in the Bush administration, few blacks came to Powell’s defense? Is it because they resented Powell’s heroic climb from the slums of New York to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then to the inner circle of the White House, without asking for any special treatment along the way?

How about when Congress was interrogating Clarence Thomas some years back during his confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court. When a lone woman accused Thomas of sexual impropriety, black leaders joined in the attack with a fury. But later, when Clinton was accused of the same thing and worse, by many women with many corroborating witnesses, blacks came to Clinton’s defense? When Thomas was exonerated and confirmed, his accuser, Anita Hill, went on the speaking circuit for years attacking Justice Thomas, but few blacks criticized her. Clinton was impeached over his improprieties, but just the other day he became the first white man to be inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame as an honorary member.

What gives? Is it because Clarence Thomas was another black heroic figure who broke ranks and rose to the pinnacles of the justice system by his own determination and hard work, and Clinton has always been the white crusader wanting ever more free federal dollars for downtrodden blacks?

How about the O.J. Simpson affair? Simpson brutally murdered two innocent people. DNA tests proved it, and overwhelming evidence proved it. Yet a mainly black jury voted him “not guilty,” and we all witnessed the TV scenes of crowds of blacks cheering wildly when the verdict was announced. Did they cheer because Simpson had killed two whites and got away with it? Sure looked like it!

Why did 85% of black congress people vote against America going to war with Iraq 10 years ago, and why do Congressional blacks now hold rallies against us going to war with Iraq again? They claim it’s because blacks represent a larger percentage of the armed forces so it is they who will be asked to die. But I think that’s just cover for the real reason, namely that they think America is the villain in this showdown. They empathize with Iraq as the underdog, just as they perceive themselves as the underdog in America. It’s America they hate, not Iraq.

And here’s a really racist question: Why haven’t blacks assimilated completely into American society, even after the federal government has spent more than $700 billion dollars on the poor—largely on poor blacks—since former President Lyndon Johnson vastly expanded welfare with his War on Poverty nearly 40 years ago? Irish people like me have assimilated, and my immigrant ancestors were valued below slaves when they arrived on the boats in places like New York and New Orleans at the height of their great flight from Irish hunger a century ago. And millions of Mexicans are assimilating right before our eyes. Is it really because racism continues to keep blacks down, or is it their own fault, a fault that mainly has to do with their desire—or lack of it—to stand on their own two feet?

These are all terrible questions for a white man to ask, I know. I must indeed be a racist to bring these things up.

But I can’t help it. When I watch Colin Powell, one of the greatest Americans of my lifetime, being viciously attacked by activists like Belafonte, with people like Jesse Jackson and Spike Lee joining in, I feel like screaming: What are you fools doing?

Powell is a black man who has lived the American Dream. He didn’t do it with the federal handouts that have done nothing for blacks but make them a permanent underclass in America. He did it by himself. Why aren’t you rising in outrage against Belafonte and the rest of the attackers. Isn’t this what the War on Poverty was all about, to make sure poor people, especially poor black people, could take part in the American Dream?

Of course we all, in our bitter, racist, heart of hearts, know the answer to all my questions. Black heroes like Colin Powell and Clarence Thomas believe in the wrong ideology. They believe in self-reliance. They are renegades from a liberal ideology that says blacks can’t take care of themselves. Rather than criticize those blacks who have made themselves a success, blacks should feel ashamed that they, as a race, have wandered in the wilderness from one type of slavery only to find another: the new nanny state of black slavery, with Jesse Jackson and a host of white bureaucrats directing how all the welfare freebies are to be divied up. But step out of line, as Powell and Thomas did, and they’ll be after your ass with a vengeance, accusing you of every crime in the book and calling you the white man’s house slave. That’s about as ironic as it gets!

My Irish immigrant mother has some advice for black Americans: She gave it to me in the 1950s when I was a boy in all Irish South Boston. I had been boasting about how great it was to be Irish. She told me curtly: “You are not Irish, you are American. Act like it!”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
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To: Kevin Curry
Racism is vital to the health of the Democrat Party. It is its oxygen.

An absolute truth.

Reminds me of a Star Trek episode where hate was the energy of the evil one ;)

21 posted on 01/05/2003 7:18:32 AM PST by evad
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To: Republican Red
You havent seen the last of JC in a long shot --

He is young enough for a couple of SENATE/GOVERNOR runs in the next future and a PRESIDENTIAL run 10-20 yrs from now

22 posted on 01/05/2003 7:20:33 AM PST by Nat Turner
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To: Kevin Curry
Liberals will lose substantial political power in this nation the day racism continues to exist..

I think you meant to say "ceases" to exist.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

23 posted on 01/05/2003 7:26:46 AM PST by evad
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To: Trueblackman; mhking; rdb3
Over here...
24 posted on 01/05/2003 7:31:01 AM PST by Unknown Freeper
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To: SJackson
Bump for an interesting discussion....
25 posted on 01/05/2003 7:40:58 AM PST by shezza
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To: SJackson
There is nothing wrong with black Americans, IN GENERAL.

The democrats hate blacks and are, in effect, today's version of the slave owners that existed before the Republicans destroyed them. These dems have followed the lessons they learned years ago, they have utilized a handful of black overseers to control the total black population.

The black overseers, the Belafontes, Waters, Jacksons, Sharptons, etc. of the country are black race pimps. In return for their own well being and wealth/status from the dem slave masters, they keep the blacks in line and deliver them to "work" on election days.

These black race pimps know that once blacks begin to think for themselves, the blacks will reject them and the white slave masters will toss them out.

Note that while the racist black hating dems SAY they support black interests, there are no black leaders in the the organization (other, perhaps, than the Congressional Black Caucus, field hands who've been given their own little plot of ground to work but with little influence on the entire plantation).

It may be about liberal ideology, but it is also about the traditional racism of black hating democrats. An honest press would examine the racist traditions of the democrats including Byrd, Hollings, Gore's father, and many of the old Southern dem congressmen who are still left.

26 posted on 01/05/2003 7:48:05 AM PST by Tacis
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To: Kevin Curry
Stated perfectly! Absolutely true!
27 posted on 01/05/2003 7:57:59 AM PST by TAIPAN22001
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To: Kevin Curry
When mentioning the RaceCard® I think it's essential that we all use the ®.

We must not fail to emphasize that the RaceCard® is the invention and sole property of the liberal Democratic Party.

Remember... RaceCard®...

28 posted on 01/05/2003 8:17:06 AM PST by IncPen
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To: Kevin Curry
"Therefore they work feverishly to keep racism alive."

Probably the easiest path to true equality for Blacks in general is obtaining a good education.

This said; the NEA and the liberal educators have stopped any attempt to give blacks a decent education at every turn in the last 50 years.

In our town we had a "court ordered busing" plan to obtain racial "harmony" in the schools. The emphasis was on counting the numbers and adjusting the racial balance in local schools to meet some quota. Education in all our schools lost out to this mindless attempt social engineer the next generation. In my opinion it proved that kids who came from homes where the parents were interested in their kids getting a good education got a good education.

B-T-W the busing has stopped but the schools are in such terrible shape that I don't know if they can be fixed!
29 posted on 01/05/2003 8:48:39 AM PST by BeAllYouCanBe
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To: evad
As long as there is a BLACK CAUCUS, BLACK HISTORY MONTH, NAACP, and The United Negro College Fund... there will be black on white racism in USA. I am part black, mostly white... and I think there should be no all black associations if there can't be all white ones. This is racism pure and simple.
30 posted on 01/05/2003 10:05:16 AM PST by buffyt
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To: GWELO
....and that is what the black conservative leaders are saying.... You are RIGHT.
31 posted on 01/05/2003 10:06:31 AM PST by buffyt
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To: SJackson
Blacks have been lied to by liberals, especially Democrats. They were led to believe that if they rioted and protested in the streets, voted liberals into office, and cried out against every perceived slight, their lot in life would improve.

In other words, they had to galvanize into action, but that action was to agitate for redistributionism.

I'd be pretty upset, too. But mostly at myself for being a dupe for some politician or would-be "black leader".
32 posted on 01/05/2003 10:25:52 AM PST by lds23
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To: wizr
Use that term one more time and you're out of here.
33 posted on 01/05/2003 10:35:51 AM PST by Admin Moderator
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To: SJackson
How come blacks can criticize whites, calling them honkies . . .

Has "honkey" ever had any sting as an epithet or even been uttered publicly since a late '70's Richard Prior comedy appearance on SNL?

As this is a predicate of this gentleman's arguments, his arguments will be dismissed by and then embolden the very audience he hopes to persuade.

This article does not advance the conservative cause.

34 posted on 01/05/2003 11:25:19 AM PST by RainDog
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To: RainDog
This article does not advance the conservative cause.

Think not? Why?

I saw it a week or so ago, and didn’t post it, in sympathy with your view.

Honkeys, that's verbal nonsense.

Did blacks cheer because Simpson had killed two whites and got away with it? I don’t believe that. A different perception of the system perhaps, but it wasn't about killing whites.

Do blacks empathize with Iraq as the underdog? No, it’s a political thing. Blacks align themselves with the democratic party, no surprise they’re aligned with dem issues, that doesn’t make them unpatriotic.

Why haven’t blacks assimilated? Well, the dems would say they’ve assimilated just fine.

Duffy is a little crude, but I think he addresses the essential question of large government vs small government just fine. He’s not racist, and, given some thought, I don’t think his view harms either conservatives or Republicans.

35 posted on 01/05/2003 12:10:16 PM PST by SJackson
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To: evad
Yes, I meant "ceases." (I've been away and just found your question).
36 posted on 01/05/2003 3:17:11 PM PST by Kevin Curry
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To: SJackson
Sorry, I can't agree with you. To me this represents a lack of character amongst the Black legislators. Bear in mind that I'm not saying the White ones have more character.
37 posted on 01/05/2003 5:25:07 PM PST by B4Ranch
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To: Admin Moderator
It seems that political correctness is still alive and thriving. Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me. Grow up.

Why is it so difficult, to point out ways that we are ALL alike. You can call me a honky, breed, etc., etc., maybe even black. I don't know my family history dating back to when the dinosaurs roamed.

All I know is, I AM AN AMERICAN. I tired of listening to those who want to be separate, but equal; and those who don't know all the many meanings behind words of the English language.

38 posted on 01/05/2003 6:23:38 PM PST by wizr
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