Liberal Racism: A Little Perspective

Liberal Racism: A Little Perspective

Both before and after her elevation to secretary of state, Condoleezza
Rice has been the target of a series of racist caricatures by liberal
cartoonists. Rush Limbaugh points out three: a Doonesbury strip by Garry
Trudeau that refers to her as "Brown Sugar," a Jeff Danziger cartoon
that portrays her as Prissy from "Gone With the Wind" (also the topic of
a Wall Street Journal editorial last month) and, most recently, a
Tuesday political cartoon from Pat Oliphant that depicts the
secretary-designate as a parrot with enormous lips. (This seems to be a
running feature; yesterday's Oliphant cartoon does it also, this time
with President Bush as a pirate.) Blogger Winfield Myers catalogues
other examples.

Limbaugh is incensed by these displays of bigotry and hypocrisy
(emphasis his):

"It is grotesque. It is insulting. It is vile. It is angry. It is
childish, and it is typical I think of what the left has become. They
claim to be holy [sic] than thou. They claim to be above all of us when
it comes to understanding the downtrodden and minorities. They claim to
be the only ones that have the ability to have the compassion and
understanding, and yet they get away with racism. They get away with
bigotry. They get away with sexism, and they get away with
homophobia--and in the case of Condoleezza Rice, they get away with an
attempted character destruction of a truly brilliant and accomplished
woman who came from nothing to become the first black female secretary
of state."

Myers echoes the point: "This is part and parcel of the left's embrace
of moral and intellectual nihilism, which in turn has led to a belief
that the ends for which they labor justify the means."

We don't really disagree with any of this, but it strikes us that the
outrage, while understandable, is perhaps a bit overwrought. It's not as
if the works of Trudeau, Danziger and Oliphant are going to provoke an
outbreak of lynching or cross-burning. These expressions of racial
prejudice don't actually diminish Rice's accomplishments, and they are
not going to prevent her from becoming one of the most powerful people
in the world. These cartoonists have merely proved to the world that
they are prejudiced against blacks who don't share their views--and
that's good to know.

The absence of outrage from the liberal sensitivity police, who would be
up in arms if a conservative cartoonist committed a similar offense (cf
the reaction to National Review's 1997 cover depicting the Clintons as
Asians, second item), shows that liberals are hypocrites when it comes
to race--and that, too, is useful to know.

We got an insight into contemporary liberal attitudes toward race on a
taxi ride not long ago. We were en route to Shea Stadium along with
fellow conservative commentator Joel Mowbray, and our driver was a
youngish Haitian woman who had her radio tuned to Air America. Mowbray
started a political discussion with her, and she told him that she
doesn't like Republicans because "they hate black people."

"Does President Bush hate Condi Rice and Colin Powell?" Mowbray asked,
to which she replied that Rice and Powell aren't "really black" because
they "don't think like black people."

The idea that black people are supposed to think in a certain way is, of
course, a racist assumption in itself. But what's most interesting about
this exchange is that our driver had in effect redefined race so that it
has nothing to do with race. When she said, "They hate black people,"
she meant merely, "They disagree with liberal ideology."

The charge of racism carries a certain sting because America has a long
history of real racism. But the progress the country has made on race,
especially over the past 40 years, has been nothing short of stunning.
Here we have a president whose detractors describe him as a "radical
conservative" appointing a black woman to replace a black man as the
most senior member of his cabinet.

Even the liberals who attack Rice on racial grounds don't have anything
against black people in positions of power per se. They're just
desperately upset because those on their side of the political fence no
longer have a monopoly on the belief in racial equality. They're lashing
out in an ugly way because they've lost the moral high ground.

It's good for the country that no one occupies that high ground
anymore--or, more precisely, that virtually everyone does. Secretary of
State Rice will stand as an example of the greatness of America, a
country where, after much struggle, people are judged not on the color
of their skin but on the content of their character. We're confident
that one day even liberals will appreciate this."

James Taranto
The WSJ
--------------

Bingo!

Dr. Condoleezza Rice is a:

Real American.

DSH

In article <eecnd.60$Om2.1039@eagle.america.net>,
D. Spencer Hines <poguemidden.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Both before and after her elevation to secretary of state, Condoleezza
> Rice has been the target of a series of racist caricatures by liberal
> cartoonists. Rush Limbaugh points out three: a Doonesbury strip by Garry
> Trudeau that refers to her as "Brown Sugar," a Jeff Danziger cartoon
> that portrays her as Prissy from "Gone With the Wind" (also the topic of
> a Wall Street Journal editorial last month) and, most recently, a
> Tuesday political cartoon from Pat Oliphant that depicts the
> secretary-designate as a parrot with enormous lips.

Do you understand the art of caricature?

Without defending *any* of the above - they all seem to be based on a
flawed aspect of the USAian psychosis - could you suggest an alternative
'handle' that the cartoonists might grasp and exaggerate?

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527
Qercus magazine & FD Games www.finnybank.com www.acornuser.com
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