Monday, March 16, 2009

A few words for the other Mr. Steele.

*
I am going to make a statement that might surprise some of you: I actually like Shelby Steele.

Unlike other black conservatives I find him to be genuine in his conservative beliefs, and I think he writes in an intellectually lucid way which I find refreshing. (His book, "The Content Of Our Character" is a must read for all A-merry-cans, regardless of ideological preference) Unlike Sowell, he doesn't seem to be writing to impress his intellectual colleagues on the right. What he does seem to try to do, is inject an honest thought out point of view in the ideological debate for our souls. And who knows, maybe it's because we share a certain embarrassment in our predictions about the chosen one this past election. ( I bet he won't have to run anywhere naked)
Now having said that, I must take issue with some of the things that Shelby said in his Wall Street Journal oped today.

Shelby Steele's issue with liberalism is a classic one. It is typical of what you hear from conservatives: Liberals give blacks handouts, they promote big government, and liberalism creates dependency. Conservatism, on the other hand, offers nothing but a chance to make it in our great country. But it takes hard work and discipline, and with conservatism, there is no handouts. He argues that Lyndon Johnson, with his Great Society programs, took the moral high ground at a time when A-merry-ca's morality was being questioned for her shameful racial legacy. Republicans never recovered from that, and they are still playing catch up today.
Of course, he argues,that as black people, we are misguided in our loyalties. Liberalism actually takes away our humanity, while with conservatism, on the other hand, we can maintain our dignity as humans, and not get caught up in victim hood and racial identity politics.

"The appeal of conservatism is the mutuality it asserts between individual and political freedom, its beautiful idea of a free man in a free society. And it offers minorities the one thing they can never get from liberalism: human rather than racial dignity.... What drew me to conservatism years ago was the fact that it gave discipline a slightly higher status than virtue. This meant it could not be subverted by passing notions of the good. It could be above moral vanity. And so it made no special promises to me as a minority. It neglected me in every way except as a human being who wanted freedom. Until my encounter with conservatism I had only known the racial determinism of segregation on the one hand and of white liberalism on the other -- two varieties of white supremacy in which I could only be dependent and inferior."

Right there, Shelby, is the problem with your well written essay. You only saw yourself as a person of color in two ways: "A racial determination of segregation" and the subject of "white" liberal paternalism. You should have said no to both of those choices. It wasn't one or the other. Both were destined to make you the man you became: Someone who chooses a selfish ideology which is predicated on chasing a carrot that you will never be able to grab. By embracing that ideology you have bought into the false premise that your people seek the liberal handout and are not willing to work as hard as the conservative to grab the carrot. It is not true. I submit to you that your people (and poor people of all colors) are willing to work harder. The problem is that their government has never been willing to work as hard for them. Instead, their government has worked only for a special few, and contrary to what you might believe, it didn't neglect you, it used you to achieve its own goals. At least with liberalism, with all its faults, there was a realization that it should make you a promise, and that promise was that never again will you be subjected to second class status, and our government will always work to make it so. Our government will finally give you an even playing field to compete on, after tipping the field against you for so long.

"So here stands contemporary American conservatism amidst its cultural liabilities and, now, its electoral failures -- with no mechanism to redeem America of its shames, atavistically resisted by minorities, and vulnerable to stigmatization as a bigoted and imperialistic political orientation. Today's liberalism may stand on decades of failed ideas, but it is failure in the name of American redemption. It remains competitive with -- even ascendant over -- conservatism because it addresses America's moral accountability to its past with moral activism. This is the left's great power, and a good part of the reason Barack Obama is now the president of the United States. No matter his failures -- or the fruitlessness of his extravagant and scatter-gun governmental activism -- he redeems America of an ugly past. How does conservatism compete with this?"

Sorry Shelby, it can't. And I, for one, am glad for that.


*Pic stolen from my girl Danielle over at the Black Snob blog.

49 comments:

The Christian Progressive Liberal said...

I linked your post over at JJP. Good writing and smackdown.

Javier said...

Hit it out the ballpark with this post, Field.

I respect that you are able to see the positive aspects of conservativism as an ideology and not as the joke of a political movement it is today. Conservatism is a valid ideology if it remains true to it's core values. Please note I am not referring to today's social conservatism and fiscal destructivism. I myself would probably be a conservative if they actually believed in small government and the 50 states responsibly ensured the rights of all its citizens. But that would disregard the globalization of our interests and our economy and the evils that have followed.

Thanks for the post.

Anonymous said...

Good read there, Field. Just one to add, both major parties pretend they're really libertarian when they're out of power, strange how that works.

pork

Anonymous said...

Shelby Steele...another tired azz house nigga...ain't he the one that said Obama wouldn't be elected?

Enuf said!

Vérité Parlant said...

I'm thinking Shelby got a copy of "Obama the Magic Negro" as his Christmas gift from Chip Saltsman and cherishes it even now as gospel truth.

Hathor said...

Shelby Steel is old enough to know when his party changed. Does he have blinders on?

It remains competitive with -- even ascendant over -- conservatism because it addresses America's moral accountability to its past with moral activism...How does conservatism compete with this?"

They might have if the Republican radicals had not been usurped by the market types in the 19th century.

If liberals have stale ideas, the conservatives have failed ideas. The free market failed, not as an individual company or bank, but the whole financial system, which had a domino effect on the world economy. They still cling to the idea that left alone there would be winners. They are looking for the Phoenix to rise from the ashes. Wasn't that Greek mythology?

Self determination never had an ideology until the libertarians and conservatives claimed it. The black people I grew up with were a determined people. Now, the blacks who may appear to depend on the government always have a hustle on the side. Most people know that one can't survive on handouts. I would guess Steel even knows that.

Lola Gets said...

Excellent post Field!

L

rikyrah said...

thank you for this.

That Steele had the nerve to even write Malcolm's name sent me over the edge.Malcolm X LOVED Black people and the Black Community, and gave his life trying to improve the Black community.


Who does that self-hating Sambo think he's fooling?

He's not fooling anyone.

And, I'm tired of folks telling me that his viewpoint out to have credibility.

Let me state this plainly.

The ONLY thing a Black man who has made a living off of HATING BLACK PEOPLE can teach me...

Is to stand strong in opposition of him.

Shelby Steele HATES Black folk - including himself.

He couldn't utter his garbage in front of Black folk, because they would clown him for the fool that he is.

So, he makes his living TALKING ABOUT AND DISRESPECTING Black folk

TOOOOO White folk.

That's why he gets paid.

There is nothing that he has written in 20 years that makes me believe he's anything other than a self-loathing Black man who despises the general Black community, and wants to be White so bad he can taste it.

Anonymous said...

Regarding embarrassing predictions, I was with you and Shelby. Thank God I didn't make the prediction on a book jacket or promise to do anything daring.

When I saw this headline I thought it was you making good on your promise.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/41299802.html

SouthernGirl2 said...

Field,


Good smackdown! Kapow!

Anonymous said...

nice, good post.

They found a brown man that can write as well as Obama and still sounds like shit.

AbdulAlim said...

Having read Shelby's latest treatise in the WSJ reminds me of something that a great scholor wrote about black conservatives once:

"Black conservatives are really frustrated slaves crawling back to the
plantation, figuratively, letting their master know that they are willing to go back into bondage. One needs to question their words because, as slaves and enemies of their people, they will say what they are told to say and do what they are told to do. The Black conservatives have nothing to conserve except their miserable obscurity and their tragic cowardice. These pathetically lost creatures and avid White-behind kissers don't have the nerve to be African or Black."

John Henrik Clarke

I find that too often Black conservatives are so satisfied or even drunk from applause and gestures of agreement from predominately White audiences, that they have either forgotten the value of or do not care about three things: 1) speaking more truthfully and comprehensively about the dynamics on the ground in the Black community 2) engaging a wide range within the community of Black leadership and organizations in civil society, not for the purpose of recruiting them, but for the purpose of finding a path to unity that will lift the condition of all Black Americans and 3) INDEPEDENTLY developing solutions and ideas that correct, refine, or build upon what White conservative intellectuals have authored and fathered.

On this third point I have to say that the majority of Black conservatives that I have met are too satisfied with regurgitating talking points fed to them by their White peers and think tanks, none of which are truly led by Blacks. And they are too satisfied with going to the same network of financial benefactors to support their movements aimed at reaching Black Americans

Saleema said...

"it used you to achieve its own goals"

You nailed it.

Unknown said...

Great post. I think Shelby is an idealist, in the sense that the philosophy and the ideas behind what the party is supposed to stand for seem to overshadow his understanding of what it is.

He talks about the social conservatism of blacks and Hispanics in that article too, both of which I think are a little overplayed. I mean sure black folks came out and voted for Prop 8 and there is considerable homophobia in the black community but that should not be a blanket statement about black social conservatism. I mean how many black folks do you know who are against abortion rights, stem cell research, or are pro-gun rights.

There are a good number of black folks with money who are intimately ashamed and angry at other blacks who remain in poverty and represent this reality they worked their entire lives to escape. And the handout thing works in that respect. But it also falls apart in reality because those same black folks who might wish their brethren weren't so dependent and dehumanized by the system also know the realities of living in this society.

Field sometimes I read your blog for a laugh. Today, you gave me much more. Thanks

Devona Walker
theloop21.com

Anonymous said...

This might catch me some brickbats from some of your readers, but I really enjoyed "Losing the Race" by John McWhorter, another so-called "Black Conservative" (at least that's the way he's been labeled; he supported Obama in the election).

Stanley Crouch's stuff is also often thought-provoking.

Anonymous said...

I think it is interesting that Steele mentioned Malcom X- Malcom hated white liberals b/c even back then they were taking advantage of our vote....however malcolm wouldn't call himself a republican either i think he would want us to hold politicaians accountable no matter what party they came from.....at the time he saw no difference btwn democrats and republicans......i voted for obama but i dont think in the future we should blindly vote democrat b/c they have never really done anthing for us accept use our vote to get in the white house (see bill clinton)....i dont agree w/Steele all the time but it is unfair to call him a "coon" or "sellout" just b/c he isn't a democrat...our condition will never change untill we come together democrat or republican....we need more dialogue and diverse opinions are good...everyone should listen to malcolm x's ballet or bullet where he really breaks it down about democrats and republicans....i think obama is an exceptional candidate that rises above the old two party argument

Anonymous said...

The resident conservative columnist in my local newspaper split from the neocon Repugs 4 years ago, he had never supported the Iraq War, & he didn't vote for McCain. The way he explains his conservative positions - which have a good deal of Libertarianism - it is possible to engage in rational debate. He gets more crap from the Limbaughers than he does from liberals.

field negro said...

Hathor, co-sign with you.
And I love this:

"Self determination never had an ideology until the libertarians and conservatives claimed it. The black people I grew up with were a determined people. Now, the blacks who may appear to depend on the government always have a hustle on the side. Most people know that one can't survive on handouts. I would guess Steel even knows that."

Amen!

Rikyrah, why don't you tell us how you really feel? :)

AbdulAlim, thanks for the John H. Clarke quote. Hopefully people like Steele will start engaging folks like the ones who post here. Sadly, I don't think they will, but I am holding out hope. As a-boogie said above, we need to come together with constructive dialogue and move forward as a people.

Anon 12:01 AM, why did you have to remind me:)

Christopher said...

Meanwhile, SCOTUS judge Clarence Thomas says we're selfish.

Or, pot meet kettle.

In speech to 400 students at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, U.S. Supreme Court judge Clarence Thomas expressed his dim view of Americans:

"Our country and our principles are more important than our individual wants."

Thomas next dared to bastardize the famous President Kennedy speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you," and said Americans today are more likely to say, "Ask not what you can do for yourselves or your country but what your country can do for you."

Poor Clarence. He still thinks one day he'll get to sleep in the Big House.

Anonymous said...

Field,
Sorry for reminding you. I actually don't want you to make the run. I know we are living in a post racial society and all but I still don't think its safe for a black man to run naked down the street.

Anonymous said...

"Unlike other black conservatives I find him to be genuine in his conservative beliefs, and I think he writes in an intellectually lucid way which I find refreshing."

are you a conservative, or just grammatically challenged??

Geoffrey Philp said...

"What drew me to conservatism years ago was the fact that it gave discipline a slightly higher status than virtue. This meant it could not be subverted by passing notions of the good. It could be above moral vanity."

"Passing notions of the good"? One of the reasons I was drawn to Obama's campaign was that he spelled out virtues from his Mid-Western heritage: honesty, plain speaking , etc.(Dreams from my Father).
"It gave discipline a slightly higher status than virtue." Discipline without virtue is inhuman--loses sight of the human and continues to reward those who hold power.
Love is subversive.

Anonymous said...

I tried to read Steele's article when I saw it yesterday but it was just so much bullshit that I couldn't get through it. When he speaks of conservatism what he means is Republicanism. He's not speaking of a thought process but of political support for ruling elites. He pretends that blacks don't join the Republicans because we're ignorant, dependent, or brainwashed. The fact the racists like Rush run the party or that racists like Bush sit back while black folk float dead in the water is totally lost on him.

Anyone who proclaims themselves "Democrat" or "Republican" is extremely politically naive. Usually what I hear from them are party talking points, not independent thought. Steele is useless.

BTW: Stanley Crouch is an idiot too.

Anonymous said...

Field,

Good post, man!

I like your analysis of Steele's writing.

The truth is that we need both "individualism" (the prize of conservatives) and "egalitarianism" (the prize of liberals). To have one run amonk (culturally, socially, economically) at the expense of the other is disasterous.

The more I read your entries, Field, it seems to me you do not take issue with conservative thought per se, but you take issue with the punditry and those who have hijacked it.

When the rubber hits the road, most people of color I know are, on a personal level, very conservative.

Anonymous said...

I like this post.

I agree with one comment that Shelby Steele is very idealistic. If individualism is an important value, then what is the point joining a group of any kind? If you are an individual, then you are a person to have individual thoughts and purpose. An individual can decide his or her morals and values. I think there is a problem with being part of the collective because it can create a group think mentality and cripples the ability for looking problems and solutions differently. The ideal of conservatism does not real enough room for change because it's about having and maintaining tradition. To a certain degree liberal ideas are steep in tradition and does not leave much room change either. It is simple not practical to continue traditions that no longer with in an ever-changing society. Perhaps Steele was also influenced by Ayn Rand. I think there is room where you can be an individual and inter-conntected. Perhaps we should realize that we have an interest in working for others to succeed because it does directly or indirectly affects us. Just think if we could eradicate hunger and poverty how it would make us a more secure society in that it could reduce crime.

However, here is a question, does individualism have a place in the political process when the goal is to work for the many?

Anonymous said...

David Duke is genuine in his beliefs...

Which doesn't say a damn thing about whether he is nutty as a fruitcake.

The glaring holes in Shelsquat's arguments are simply this -

The black poverty rate under the Great Society dropped from 65% in 1960 to a constant 22% under Raygun, Bush, and the Bushit. The only time that number has dipped below 20%, was under Clinton.

The region of the country led by conservatives since Nixon's Southern Strategy, continues to trail the rest of the country in virtually every positive indicator - from income levels to educational attainment. Indeed, they continue to have the lowest income levels, lowest educational attainment rates, highest violent crime rates, highest teenage birth rates, highest High School dropout rates, and lowest literacy rates...

And that just for the white folks.

So... If conservatism has been this "good" to white folks...

How the mo' freaking hell could anyone be stupid enough to believe these Southern chicken fried scum sucker's "philosophy"...

Is going to be "good" for black folks.

BT

Anonymous said...

I hate to pile on but I saw this quote when I scanned the article again:

I always secretly loved Malcolm X more than Martin Luther King Jr. because Malcolm wanted a fuller human dignity for blacks -- one independent of white moral wrestling.

Why did you "secretly" love Malcolm you cowardly bastard? Because white folks at the time wouldn't approve? And did you denigrate him publicly the way conservatives now denigrate Jesse Jackson?

That's classic American tricknology at work right there. When King and X were alive King's ideology was promoted because it more easily fit the needs of the power structure. 40 years later Jesse is made racial public enemy #1 even though he was standing on that balcony when King was shot. He put his black ass on the line for black folk by helping to carry out Kings agenda. He has essentially followed the same non-violent, civil rights style tactics for the last 40 years. The same tactics for which King was given a national holiday.

Now a conservative boot licker like Steele has the nerve to say that X had a better agenda? No shit asshole. Fools like Steele need to be called out for the traitors they are.

Anonymous said...

Field:

Well said, sir.

Anonymous said...

Field-

Good post. Unfortunately, your blog-site, this arena for a free exchange of ideas, must also include and suffer the rants and raves of the semi-literate and profoundly ill-informed who loudly proclaim their ignorance. Where do some of these posts (False1; Rikyrah) get off labeling anyone?
I appreciate but respectfully disagree with your analysis of Mr. Steele's article. Don't you think that we do ourselves an injustice when we confine our ideologies to "conservatism" and "liberalism"? IMHO both ideologies enslave their adherents.
Finally, some of us out here are independent and self-reliant; AND, we READ!! With that said, check out John McWhorter and Stanley Crouch(when he publishes); go back and reread and listen to what Malcolm was really saying. Thanks.
"Flash"

Anonymous said...

Adam said - "When the rubber hits the road, most people of color I know are, on a personal level, very conservative."

One of the more persistent fantasies is the conservative flim-flam about having personal values.

The reality is, it's an individual issue and doesn't have a damn bit to do with political philosophy.

Else, why would the news be filled with near daily reports of this conservative or that caught by law enforcement diddling their kids?

BT

DJ Black Adam said...

Field, I see where you are coming from.

Anonymous said...

Hey Anonymous (if that is indeed your real name), where do YOU get off?

At least Shelby Steele is a public figure who gets paid to put his "ideas" out there on the national stage for public scrutiny.

Well, I scrutinized.

Then you have the nerve to restate, admittedly more politely, what I already said in my post of 9:47, paragraph 2.

I may have been too harsh in calling Steele a traitor though, so I'll change it knucklehead.

Crouch is still an idiot.

Anonymous said...

Field,

Great job!!!

You've got the black conservative bloggers quaking in their tapshoes!

Anonymous said...

Shelby sez....

"It (conservatism) neglected me in every way except as a human being who wanted freedom."

Does he realize that the conservatives opposed Civil Rights legislation thus denying the humanity of the black?????

Anonymous said...

Love this post. You really nailed the argument to the wall Field.

I would also add that Obama's presidency does not redeem America of an "ugly past" rather, it finally allows us to peel away the bloodied and ragged bandages so that we might take a look at the wound.

Anonymous said...

So what the &*^%! happened to Malcolm XI???? Way y'all carry on figured we'd be up to LX by now...

Anonymous said...

FALSE1, don't you apologize for what you said about STELLE! he is a TRAITOR, point blank, and he need's to be called out, these so called BLACK CONSERVATIVE'S, walk hand and hand with the WHITE MAN and assist in the never ending PERSECUTION of the PRESIDENT!

I could care less about their so called BELIEF'S, I am a DEMOCRAT, and I do not agree with everything the democrat's believe in, but, you eat the meat and spit out the bone's!

Black Conservative's, are afraid to deal with RACISM, so they cross over, and they are afraid to look back, because the truth is, RACISM is a hard thing to deal with, it's ugly, so BLACK CONSERVATIVE'S try to hide out with WHITE FOLK'S and accuse their own people of being LAZY, and SHIFTLESS.

SHELBY STEELE think's he is better than his own people, and where has he been? did he see the watermelon's on the WHITE HOUSE lawn? did he see the CHIMP being killed? who raised these confused black folk's?

Conservative Black Woman said...

UTS~"You've got the black conservative bloggers quaking in their tapshoes!"

FN~Your post was quite thought provoking but this black conservative who btw UTS has no proverbial tapshoes was hardly quaking...lol. Just trying to understand FN's processing of Steele's op-ed.

Anonymous said...

yea, right neocons are quaking your boy up in the big house already screwed the pooch most of the country inculding most of the libs are pissed at your boy for not doing anything about the big ass bonuses that are being paid out and he an't but giving it lip service! yea, they are probably in these dicks contracts but if they hadn't gotten our hard earned money they wouldn't be getting the bonuses!!! hummm

that's fine he can let'em keep our money.....don't think for one second it won't be brought up atleast the next several years.....LOL

Anonymous said...

Flash sez - "With that said, check out John McWhorter and Stanley Crouch(when he publishes); go back and reread and listen to what Malcolm was really saying."

McWeenie tries to hide his lack of logical thinking in flowery passages and high dollar verbiage. Occasionally there is a nugget there, but digging though it can be like panning for pennies...

After the Gold Rush.

The Grouch, every since he rediscovered his man thing in his infatuation with Mrs Obama, actually has been pretty good - cutting through the bullshit dynamic so common of the febrile minds of the coonservative set.

Grouch is now "must read", and is awfully close to losing his official House Negro card.

Saw an interesting article the other day stating that Larry Elder had lost his radio gig, at least in the LA Market. Conservative radio apparently has been hit by hard times with the free falling economy with ad revenue declining precipitously. Needing desperately to lighten the boat, of course the first to go are Negroes...

Followed by the women and children...

This IS conservative radio after all.

Wonder if Uncle Larrie enjoyed being leveled by that playing field?

BT

Anonymous said...

And uhhhh... Flash - About the Malcom thing...

As a card carrying young radical in training at the time, I think I have a bit more than just a Librarian's perspective ...

And Malcom would have strongly suggested you current crop of coonservatives trying to glom onto his and Martin's material, in some sort of perverted reverse symbolism...

Are operating on 300 years of borrowed time...

On a 299 year clock.

Couple of us Old Skooler's floating around the WWW. Suggest you talk to Prometheus 6 or Nanakwame for a little perspective if you ever cross their paths.

BT

Constructive Feedback said...

My man Filled Negro!!!

How's it going homeboy? (Please note - the word "homeboy" is not calling you "boy". It is an expression of endearment noting our common linkage to the city of Philadelphia. I realize how sensitive some of my people are these days with words and thus I figured that I'd clarify this for you.)

You know Filled Negro - I have been side tracked on so many fruitful projects that I have put aside my monitoring efforts of your propaganda. It was "Conservative Black Woman" who noted your latest rant and thus - Here I am.

[quote]The problem is that their government has never been willing to work as hard for them. Instead, their government has worked only for a special few, and contrary to what you might believe, it didn't neglect you, it used you to achieve its own goals. At least with liberalism, with all its faults, there was a realization that it should make you a promise, and that promise was that never again will you be subjected to second class status, and our government will always work to make it so. Our government will finally give you an even playing field to compete on, after tipping the field against you for so long.[/quote]

This is what frustrates me the most about your antics Field Negro. Today I learned about the gory details of yet another failing school system - this time Detroit Michigan. (
Report: Detroit schools at bottom in progress

http://www.freep.com/article/20090225/NEWS01/90225087/1003/NEWS/Report++Detroit+schools+at+bottom+in+progress)

Filled Negro - Detroit, like Philly, DC, Baltimore, Camden, Newark, Milwaukee, Chicago and Cleveland are indeed run by the political establishment that is FAVORABLE TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY!!!

You see, Filled Negro - the problem with you and too many other Blacks is one of IDEOLOGICAL BIGOTRY. Having worked so hard to eject the closest Conservative from office - Upon the VICTORY in the context of your agenda - your favorable position on paper had not been obtained on the streets.

Now for most people, Filled Negro these political and ideological victories that haven't translated would cause them to back up, consider the FUNDAMENTALS that they may have been incorrect about, TRANSFORM and then proceed smartly. In your bigotry and your bondage - these problems drive you to "keep chasing"! Instead of doing such introspection you make the assumption that YOU ARE RIGHT and thus the greater system must be the problem!! Thus you rally the troops that SHOULD BE TURNING AGAINST YOU and then you go chasing once again.

WHY did you bother to take over the CITIES, Filled Negro if you were not prepared to deliver all of the services that were required for the system that you now control to be successful?

This SECOND CLASS STATUS that you speak of as rendered by RACIST CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENTS of the past is STILL PRESENT TODAY among the failing school systems that are run by Progressives to-damned-day.

The biggest difference this time, Filled Negro, is that because those who are failing our community are beloved PROGRESSIVES, just as you are - they avoid the attacks that you and Jack & Jill and other "Afro-Spear" operatives render.

How about this Filled Negro - Let's give all public school teachers who are failing our children a TASER and then make note to Afro-Spear every time they make use of the device. I ASSURE you that this is the only way to motivate AfroSpear into action, focused upon the REAL PROBLEMS in our community.

If the Republican Party was to close its doors TODAY this would not translate to any forward advancement for Black America. Today any voting district that has 35% or more African Americans as voters DO NOT HAVE REPUBLICANS running it. Baltimore and Milwaukee and Rochester NY have 100% Democratic city councils. (Chicago has 49 of 50 Democrats). Philly as you know has 14 out of 17 and New York City has 54 city council seats - 49 of them Democrats.

I fail to see why some of you focus so keenly on the Republicans while quickly EXITING THE BLACK COMMUNITY where your beloved Democrats are failing you greatly.

Constructive Feedback said...

[quote]
SHELBY STEELE think's he is better than his own people, and where has he been? did he see the watermelon's on the WHITE HOUSE lawn? did he see the CHIMP being killed? who raised these confused black folk's?[/quote]

Some of you have no clue how much you sound just like White folks who you call BIGOTS.

Didn't we just go through a round of "Obama the Uppity Negro" issue among some White Conservatives?

What about Shelby Steele's words has impacted your inferiority complex and allowed you to assume that he believes that he is better than you?

I am far more concerned about Black folks who don't appear to have any particular standard by which they view themselves. They always seem to live down to these standards.

I have no doubt that some of you have learned well from your former oppressors.

Anonymous said...

Oh Wow... The Porch Simian has improved his blathering!

He's actually learned to use the bold command!

Of course he still has that sticky Caps Lock key issue, and an IQ lower than dirt resulting in nonsensical ramblings...

DOGBERT: I once read that given infinite time, a thousand monkeys with typewriters would eventually write the complete works of Shakespeare.

DILBERT: But what about my poem?

DOGBERT: Three monkeys, ten minutes.


Indeed.

Unknown said...

I actually agree with the article. I'm sick of being apart of grievance linked struggle. The beauty in Israel is that they have merged we might disagree with their policies but I disagree with "Africa's" policies 400 years ago that took away our culture as well.

Anonymous said...

Tell me,

Are the NRA, Christian Coalition and Americans for Tax Reform "grievance groups"?

If not, why not?

Constructive Feedback said...

[quote]Oh Wow... The Porch Simian has improved his blathering![/quote]

Good ole BET Uncut.

How's it going BT?

I am thus far mistaken with my assumption that with the new Democratic Control over the Federal government that "Crooks and Liars" (and Jack and Jill) would continue their SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER dogma rather than switch to cheer leading. (Hi "Christian Progressive Fundamentalist". Damn. For this shout out I know I am going to receive an arrest warrant for harassment).

I wonder, BET Uncut - if we will see any CHANGE out of you?


NOTE TO EVERYONE WHO FEIGNED OUTRAGE OVER THE NY POST A FEW WEEKS AGO.......A Simian IS A MONKEY!!!

BET Uncut just called ME - a Black man - a MONKEY.

Don't worry - I understand your desperation BET Uncut - you are hoping and praying that no one from "Trinidad DC" moves out to where YOU live.

Anonymous said...

"Don't worry - I understand your desperation BET Uncut - you are hoping and praying that no one from "Trinidad DC" moves out to where YOU live."

One of my neighbors grew up in Trinidad you freaking fool.

Daktari said...

Two thoughts on this post. Well, three. First, thanks for the thought-provoking essay. Second, I'm constantly perplexed when conservatives think they own the desire for an America where every individual, without qualification, competes on a level field. I am a staunch white liberal, eagerly working toward the day when my racial background does not automatically grant me preference...but until then, I own that legacy. I can't believe that an educated member of the black community actually believes that such an experiment would work today, right now, even with an African American president. Thirdly, does Mr. Steele truly believe that the disparity between racial groups is solely the result of liberal social programs holding minority communities back? Wow. That's all I got for that.