The Black Informant

Move over security moms, back off value voters, now it’s time for a new voter category: The “Uncle Tom” voter.

How would I describe these voters? Well, I guess the best description would be that they love white women/white men, live in the suburbs, read only Fortune magazine, listen to only classical music, think that America’s Funniest Videos is actually funny, and most importantly, have a secret desire to be white. Stereotyping? Yes. However, these are the images that many black liberals have of blacks who are not. Actually, I would describe this type of voter as someone who is not afraid to think outside the box, does not always consider themselves Republican, and most importantly, they are black.

For the past few decades, Democrats have come to rely on their “ol reliable”: The black vote. Democrats have had to do very little beyond the civil rights movement to hold such a prized possession. All they had to do was to make empty promises like make our schools better and “cha-ching” the votes came pouring in. Little did most of us realize is that between 1972 and 1992, funding for the public school system has increased 400%. Despite all of this, we still have black children that are graduating at an 8th grade reading level. This type of spending took place under both Democratic and Republican administrations, so as far as I am concerned, both sides are guilty. However, I must lay most of the blame with the Democrats for not delivering to the black community when they had the opportunity. It is the lack of attention to these issues that has caused many blacks like myself to look elsewhere for political solutions.

Putting politics aside for a little, blacks who consider themselves liberals were faced the opportunity to confront blatant racism weeks after the election that was seen in newspapers all across the country. This same racist attitude could be heard in Madison, Wisconsin via radio where radio host John “Sly” Sylvester called Dr. Rice “Aunt Jemima” and secretary of state Colin Powell “Uncle Tom”.

Some of them dealt with it head on, but many remained silent. Even groups like the NAACP, CBC, and other black social activist groups who typically would have at least called some kind of boycott seemed to almost avoid dealing with the whole issue. Eventually, the NAACP came around to finally condemn these actions.

Black liberals have longed accused blacks who do not vote Democratic to be something less than black…an “Uncle Tom“. Name calling is one thing, but when you question someone’s blackness based on a political preference, that is entirely something different. This is no different than belief that a person’s blackness is based on weather they have lived in “the hood” of not.

I recently visited a blog in which the author of the site was being lectured to by a black liberal who pretty much accused her for being a sell-out as well as being out of touch with other black folks just because she shared views on her website that were different from what you will see in much of black media today. Have we now merged “blackness” with a political persuasion?

Janeane Garofalo — comedienne was also given a pass by black liberals when she called Larry Elder a “house negro“. To my knowledge, the black press totally ignored it. Has racism now become justified just as long as it is targeted towards blacks who see the world differently?

Here is what Gerald Walker, a black teen experienced when he shared his views with some of the people in his church:

“I shared with them my disappointment with the so-called “Black Leaders” of the African – American Community. I shared with them my disapproval of the NAACP, Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Push Coalition, Louis Farrakhan, Barack Obama (voting record), and Al Sharpton. As being a black male, their only conclusion was that I hated black people and was a sellout to my race…..that isn’t true. “

I was just recently involved in a debate/discussion with a fellow black man covering a wide range of issues. Throughout the debate, he kept mentioning that conservatives were wrong to push for legislation that would take a person’s choice away from them (this was in the context of abortion and same-sex marriage). He even went far to say that because God has given us all a free will, He (God) too must be pro-choice. It was at this point I posed the following statement to him:

If God is pro-choice, then that means that based on your logic, although those who took us in as slaves in this country were in the wrong, their right to choose to enslave us was something that should have been protected.

Here was his response:

It depends on whether there was a law in place to protect it or not. At one point in history there was a law, that was enacted by the forefathers that you spoke so eloquently about. At a later point in history, the law changed and it was unlawful. So, in answer to your question it would depend on what the law said. (emphasis are mine)

It depends on the what the law said? Needless to say I had to discontinue our discussion at this point. How could a black man be so reluctant to denounce slavery just because it conflicted with his (common; however not exclusive) liberal view on choice (again, this was in the context of abortion and same-sex marriage)?

Why is it that black liberals have not demanded Planned Parenthood to recant its founder Margaret Sanger’s own statements in her book “What Every Boy and Girl Needs to Know“?:

It is a vicious cycle; ignorance breeds poverty and poverty breeds ignorance. There is only one cure for both, and that is to stoop breeding these things. Stop bringing to birth children whose inheritance cannot be one of health or intelligence. Stop bringing into the world children whose parents cannot provide for them (full article). (I provide more background on this here)

Liberal groups have always found it easy to force states to remove state flags that contained the symbol of the confederacy (a past historical scourge on blacks in this country). Why is it that scourge of genocide directed towards blacks, Hispanics, and poor whites has not been met with the same tenacity?

These are just some issues that we as blacks are going to have to deal with head on if we are to continue to make progress in this country. In the meantime, we still have to deal with the light-skin versus dark-skin thing.

Until then, just call me “Tom”. “Uncle Tom” I guess (or maybe T for short. At least urbanize it).