More from the UWM Times

The double standard in racism has been around for a long time. I felt it was time to start addressing the issue - so in our last issue of the UWM Times I wrote about it. Here's my article from the February 9th issue:

It’s Only Racism If You’re Conservative

You can call it the exploitation of one’s political views. You can call it willful ignorance by those who are so easily offended. Whatever you want to call it, the fact is this: shameless people are often too quick to label a statement from a conservative as “racist” – but a blatant racial epithet from a liberal is quickly overlooked.

Why is there a double standard when it comes to racially insensitive remarks? Perhaps, liberals believe they are the standard when it comes to political correctness; therefore, they can be racist and sexist whenever they feel. After all, everyone knows that liberals would never say or do anything that would diminish the worth of all cultures and sexes.

In order to give the proper attention to some of the most offensive remarks that have occurred, a review of these instances is warranted. Therefore, let us revisit some of the stories that might not have received the dominant airtime that it would have if these comments came from a conservative:

The 2004 presidential election was a hotly contested race with very high stakes and in the end Bush prevailed to return for a second term. After the 2004 presidential election, liberals simply could not get over the reelection of President Bush. Despite having the most diverse cabinet in U.S. history, the personal attacks on Bush’s cabinet members were relentless. Previously, Secretary of State Colin Powell had to face the accusations of being “Bush’s puppet”. Funny how that works, considering that if Al Gore would have won the presidency in 2000, Colin Powell was being speculated for the same job. After it was made known that a conservative black woman would be the new Secretary of State, liberals started firing away.

Wisconsin’s own liberal talk show host John Sylvester called Rice “an Aunt Jemima”. Others decried her lack of “competence” for the position. Political cartoons came out depicting Dr. Rice with exaggerated features that looked like they were taken out of the Jim Crow era. Forget about the fact that she is a strong, accomplished woman with a PhD. None of that matters if you’re a conservative minority because then, you’re called a “token”. That’s classy.

One of only two black Supreme Court Justices in the history of the court, Clarence Thomas is “Scalia’s puppet” according to liberals Mary McGrory and the ACLU’s very own Alvin Bronstein. Democratic Senator Harry Reid agrees because “[Clarence] has been an embarrassment to the Supreme Court…his opinions are poorly written”. Poorly written opinions? Has Senator Reid even read one of Clarence’s opinions? Justice Thomas has a proven track record to go along with his extensive background. However, considering he’s a conservative justice on the Supreme Court, he must not be that bright.

These three prominent black leaders have all had to face discrimination due to their political views. The sad reality is that these sort of demeaning comments do not get enough coverage throughout the media outlets. What does it mean when you call a black person a “puppet”? I’m sure that if any conservative leader, columnist or talk show host made a reference to a liberal minority being the “puppet” of another white person the political fall out would be staggering. Calls for the person’s head would be made, retractions warranted and they can forget about ever running for office again. Most likely, it would end in a resignation. In the cases of these three leaders, they are all deemed sell-outs for their views. The racism doesn’t just stop at the national level. In fact, at the state and local level it can be much worse.

Take the recent incidents involving current Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, a black conservative Republican. He is currently running for a seat in the U.S. Senate against former NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume. The tremendous amount of racial vitriol directed towards him is unfathomable. So far, Steele has had Oreo cookies thrown at him during a campaign appearance, been called an “Uncle Tom” by his liberal foes and depicted as a black-faced minstrel on a liberal website that contained the caption, "I's Simple Sambo and I's running for the Big House”. Apparently, such degrading treatment is justifiable according to black Democrats.

Black Baltimore Democrat Delegate Salima Marriott believes such actions are not racial. She claims that “if they call him the ‘N’ word, that’s racial…just because he’s black everything bad you say about him isn’t racial”. Oh really? She further states that Mr. Steele welcomes comparisons to a slave who loves his cruel master or a cookie that is black on the outside and white inside because his conservative political philosophy is, in Marriott’s view, anti-black. Conservatives would NEVER be able to get away with such lowly, pathetic stunts to a man who was Maryland’s first ever black man to win a statewide election. No matter how hard you try and say otherwise, there is no justification for the actions against Mr. Steele. Furthermore, remarks don’t have to contain the “N” word in them to be racist. Just ask Rush Limbaugh.

Conservative pundit and a minority, Michelle Malkin knows all about these types of attacks. She’s been called names ranging from “whore of the Republican party” to being told to inject more collagen in her lips so that she can “play the part” better. It’s hard for liberals to get over the fact that there are minorities out there who don’t adopt liberal policies. Liberals simply cannot tolerate conservative minority dissenters. The liberal left does not believe that minorities should have the right to an opinion – unless they espouse liberal ideals. So, they’re labeled as sell-outs.

And now the latest accusations from current chairman of the NAACP, Julian Bond. Bond is no stranger to wild and outlandish comments. Back in 2001, he claimed Bush’s nominees came from the “Taliban wing of American politics… whose devotion to the Confederacy is nearly canine in its uncritical affection”.

Bond, whose organization represents the “advancement of colored people”, has fallen back on attacking his own people. In a speech at Fayetteville State University, Julian Bond compared the Republican Party to the Nazis and called out Colin Powell and Condi Rice. According to Bond, these black conservatives are nothing more than “tokens”. However, later in his speech he claimed that black people “have to fight discrimination whenever it raises its ugly head”. Funny he should talk about discrimination when five minutes earlier he was attacking two black people for being “tokens” of a political party. His speech so offended some members in the audience that one black family got up and left during the middle of his speech. Resorting to name calling appears to be the norm when debating the issues no longer works.

It is people like Julian Bond that exploit their own people when they resort to such pitiful tactics. The list continually grows every day and there is little that is done about it. When will people wake up to this blatant double standard and realize that political affiliation does not matter when it comes to racism?

Racism has been a problem throughout our history and has been a problem since before our country began. I realize that liberals and conservatives alike can be offenders in regards to racism and bigotry. However, allowing one group to get away with such obvious racial remarks belittles the cause towards equality. It is time for people to call out these delinquents regardless of their political views if they will resort to attacking the person’s racial composition rather than the issues. If we do not do so, we are merely promoting the racial tension we so desperately want to stop.