I found this kind of interesting as I took one of my many daily travels through the blogosphere in search of interesting little nuggets. On the blog, Politics, Policy, Pathology and Hope WITHIN The Black Community, I found this finish to a blog entry:
There are two names that one will never be called in Black America (OK – 3 now that I think about it)
- “You are a left-wing extremist”
- “You are carrying the water for the Democrats”
- “You have sold out to Barack Obama where you care more about his political fortunes than you do your own permanent interests”.
Here are a few thoughts I had off the top of my head:
- First and foremost, this is pretty much assumed of many black people (in and out of the media). Secondly, does the name Van Jones ring a bell?
- Pretty much any black person who goes on television, as a liberal, is presumed to be carrying the water for the Democrats (so it doesn’t necessarily need to be spelled out explicitly).
- Oprah Winfrey was nailed with this charge during the campaign by conservatives who became angry that she did not give Sarah Palin, then the vice presidential candidate, a forum on Oprah’s popular syndicated talk show.
Those are just a few examples off the top of my head.
Now, for the most part, these are indeed labels a lot of blacks do not have to fear, but that is mostly because many people simply assume all blacks are in the corner of Democrats.
A FEW SIDE NOTES: I am not sure that everyone would agree with Sen. Evan Bayh about the Democrats moving too far to the left. Some would say (considering the Dems gave in on aspects of health care, sending more troops to war, etc., that President Obama has moved too far to the middle and has upset his base). That is just something to think about with this kind of discussion. Also, keep in mind, Sen. Bayh is trying to position himself as a centrist for political purposes.
