Putting a Black Face on Racist Racism

Black folks can be racist. Ask republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain. In a a blog entry at Your Black World, Dr. Boyce Watkins says republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain's recent statements about African Americans disproves my premise that racist cannot be black. Watkins says racism is more effective when the perpetrator is black .

Herman Cain has become, in many ways, the perfect racist. America lives under the interesting premise that a racist can't be black. That's like believing that a man can't hate his sibling, or that a woman can't advocate for a man to beat his wife (as Whoopi did to Oprah in "The Color Purple"). The truth is that racism is typically most effective when you put a black face on it, and Herman Cain has volunteered to become the cute little political puppet which allows white America to say the things that they are afraid to say.

I call it putting a black face on racist, racism.
It is their ability to put Cain out front to absorb the criticism for racist remarks that makes millions of Right Wing Americans so happy about his racial politics. Cain validates and brings security to a set of ideas that are generally unacceptable to those who understand America's ugly racial history. In this regard, Cain is a breath of fresh air because he is the only Republican who doesn't change the subject when the issue of race is brought to the table.

Herman Cain is not only the perfect racist, he is a sellout.
As an older black man, Herman Cain certainly understood the challenges of Jim Crow. But Cain was also able to evade Jim Crow by willfully standing to the side in the fight for Civil Rights (yes, he has admitted that he avoided the Civil Rights struggle). So, Cain cannot, in any way, connect his contributions to the black community, nor his readily marketed ethnic legitimacy to that of his fellow Morehouse graduate, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While he might have validity among those who gladly accept the rewards that come from the sacrifices of others, Cain cannot profess to have been willing to make necessary socio-political sacrifices himself. He stands on the backs of the brave, yet joins forces with the descendants of their historical oppressors.

And he is the perfect Weapon of Mass Distraction for republican Presidential Candidate Rick Perry.
Even within the Republican ranks, Cain’s candidacy merely deflects attention away from the flaws of more serious contenders, like Rick Perry’s love for the Confederate flag and all the other things that make Republicans just so darn interesting. But when the dust settles and the smoke clears, Republican leadership will ask Cain to walk off the track in the same way the pace setter is removed after the first two laps of a big Olympic race.

Herman Cain is the media made flavor of the week.
So, not only is Herman Cain a political gimmick, he is also a coward. Those are just a couple of the many reasons that Cain can never be President of the United States of America. He's no Colin Powell, and he's no Barack Obama. The most he can ever be is entertaining.

The End.