Cobb: The Sambo Paradox

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October 30, 2005

The Sambo Paradox

This week Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, a man I respect and admire, was called a 'sambo' because of his association with Gov. Erlich of Maryland. The rationale behind a particular nasty smear of Steele was given as follows:

In an e-mail interview with The Sun, Gilliard said he considers Steele a traitor to his race because he initially dismissed news that his political partner, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., held a golfing fund-raiser this year at the Elkridge Club of Baltimore, which at the time had never admitted a black member in its 127-year history.
"Generally, it is an accurate depiction of Steele's groveling, lackey behavior," Gilliard said of the image. "It is 2005, and such an institution [as the Elkridge Club] should not exist, nor should a governor with as many black people as the state of Maryland attend a function at such a place.

I've been thinking about causality recently vis a vis the permanence of the American black ghetto. The first is the issue of ghetto brain drain. Does the black ghetto fail to flower because all of the talented people leave and integrate the mainstream leaving nobody capable of improving the place? Or do the young, gifted and black leave the ghetto because it is such a failure and holds no promise for them? A difficult question indeed. Connected with that question is whether it is in the interest of the getting investment is good for the ghetto. Is it better for poor people to retain the benefits of lower cost housing which is affordable for their low pay jobs? Or should they deal with the challenges of gentrification as proof of a higher standard of living?

These questions are tricky to plumb, but I think I've found one that is not. That is the question of blacks and Republicans. I'll quote an argument that is very common. In fact, a thoughtful person emailed me such an argument just this morning:

The failure of the politics of conservative thought in the Black community has never been a surprise for me I have always known that black people are very astute in rejecting backward ideas, underdeveloped thoughts and philosophies. The media fiction that the GOP and conservative principles are gaining a new foothold with Black folks is nonsense and is nothing more than the exaggerated press releases of GOP balloon blowers and black apologists seeking affirmation from conservative whites as they mine the lucrative cottage industry of black conservatism.

Even absent the bloviation and my claim that such propagandists wouldn't know Hayek from a kayak, there is one thing clear. Most African Americans have looked upon the GOP as a white bastion and have decided to steer clear. Let's assume for the sake of argument that the vaunted '98%' of blackfolks who have recently polled in opposition to GWBush were even more - say 99.9%, and presume that the GOP was in fact, 99.9% white. It would be very easy to see how a top official in the GOP like Governor Erlich of Maryland would be attending all-white clubs and functions. So here's the tricky question.

Are such GOP functions all-white because of white racism or are they all-white because '99.9%' of blacks refuse to join?

Everybody knows, or should know as black Republicans daily attest, blacks are more than welcome into the GOP. Nothing quite speaks to this fact as the Senate campaign of Michael Steele itself which brought heavy hitters in the GOP to raise over $400,000 recently. He is their best chance to swing the state of Maryland, so this race is key. But if the identity component of some black politics is to have its way, Steele and other African American candidates, movers, shakers and grass roots Republicans will never be considered legitimately black. So despite their presence in the GOP, for cynics like Steve Gilliard a reverse one-drop rule is in effect. If you're black and you have one-drop of Republican blood, then you are considered white. And as long as such twisted logic is taken seriously by black voters, the GOP's 'whiteness' remains an implacable stumbling block.

I have argued in 'The Worst Case Republican Scenario' that if there is any good to be had with influence in America's majority party, then African Americans ought to shed their fears and cross that Pettus bridge into the heart of the GOP. But in this crossing they won't be met with billy clubs, or at least not from Republicans. It seems that black Democrats are the ones with the biggest axes to grind.

You will note that here at Cobb, there are no advertisements. I've gotten a free hotel room for speaking at a conservative function, but even though C-SPAN was there, they didn't even turn on the camera at our session. If that's a cottage industry, I'm still at the curb. But I am fully in the Republican party and doing my part to do Republicanism the way my experience and values dictate. I don't happen to think that this is a very courageous or dangerous operation. I endured being called a 'sambo' in highschool.

I'll paraphrase Gilliard to show the flaw in his logic. In 2005 a whites-only political party should not exist, nor should a country with as many black people as America allow such a place to exist. So who is involved in integration, and who is making racist threats against those who cross the lily-white line?

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Posted by mbowen at October 30, 2005 07:53 AM

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Comments

Most African Americans have looked upon the GOP as a white bastion and have decided to steer clear.

No, most African Americans have looked at how the GOP has treated or appears to have treated African Americans and have decided to steer clear.

When I first told you of Michael Steele, I told you that, unlike many public Black Republicans, Steele:

Has said the GOP was wrong to use the Southern Strategy.
Has said the GOP was wrong to ignore the Black community.

Now, you have the GOP chair, a white man, saying the same thing in speeches that Steele has said.

Look, you can't take a part of Steele's message and appeal while ignoring this part of it. Well, you can, but you may risk losing, or rathing not gaining, some credibility.

I believe I told you then that I though his approach would work because he said those things AND THEN goes from there to hit issues that Blacks should resonate with.

Will the national GOP show Steele's support of Black business set asides? Will the national GOP show Steele's anti-death penalty stance? Or will the national GOP show his pro-life side?

Posted by: DarkStar at October 30, 2005 02:52 PM

Everybody knows those things. They are simply common sense. My point is that #1 & #2 were never a sufficient condition to keep him out of the party, and that it's only natural to expect blacks who join the party would say the same. That's how the history of integration has always worked in this country, it takes a clear and present black plurality in place.

But what Steele's message is, is almost beside the point. What's on Steele's head is the electability of black GOP candidates. He's like Diahanne Carroll at the beginning of color TV.

What ultimately matters is what blacks who join the GOP change it to be. That happens one candidate at a time. But so long as knuckleheads like Gilliard say that they are not black, and people believe them, that negligence has responsibility for the fate and direction of the GOP.

I think I've learned enough about politics and campaigns (and opinion writing) to know that a lot of things are going to be pitched, and whatever sticks to Steele is going to be what Steele represents. You don't have much choice in that when it comes to campaigning - you never know what your audience is going to respond to until it's out of your mouth.

In the meantime, he was out here in California as part of the CRPs outreach program and he struck the right chord with me. He's a very good politician, but I suspect that he's a better administrator.

Posted by: Cobb at October 30, 2005 05:22 PM

My point is that #1 & #2 were never a sufficient condition to keep him out of the party, and that it's only natural to expect blacks who join the party would say the same.

True, but it's also reasonable and natural to expect that #1 and #2 were sufficient enough to keep some out of the party.

Anyway, look, Steele made a political blunder. He gave a flippant response to a situation that, politically, he should have known better not to do. The resulting fallout is the foolishness shown by the blogger.

The Republican party made the bed. Black GOPer's, unfortunately, have to lie in it, meanwhile, trying to craft a new bed.

The GOP == racist whining is getting on my nerves. So is the woe is me, Blacks treat us unfairly attitude of Black and white Republicans.

Deal with it or not.

Posted by: DarkStar at October 30, 2005 06:48 PM

My question: Democrats ALSO held fundraisers at the same country club. Is Gilliard chastising any black Democrats for their alliances with folks who held fundraisers there? If you're gonna go there, then go there across the board and don't be party selective.

Posted by: shay at October 31, 2005 07:46 AM

This is truly an amazing occurance. I'm rather stunned by what appears to be a lack of resonance among the usual black left suspects.

Posted by: Cobb at October 31, 2005 08:02 AM

I posted on your piece Bro, but your trackbacks are not working.

Posted by: David Anderson at October 31, 2005 12:29 PM

Hey, I don't have a problem with calling people a Sambo, and I don't know enough about Steele to call him one or not. But simply having a fundraiser at an all white club doesn't necessarily indicate that he is.

But more to the point, I would argue that Conservative thought has a strong resonance in the black community when framed appropriately, but I would concurrently argue that Republicans aren't conservatives, nor do the conservatives out their market their message in an appropriate way.

I remember when I wrote that post a while back about how the Republicans must change their language, and people from the right tried to dog me on it. What I was advocating was a simple business principle, if you want to attract a market, you have to market to that market, and that marketing has to be relevant. When have conservatives or the Pubs done that? Errr...never.

However, the Democrats market very well, even though much of their platform sucks ultimately for blacks.

So any Republican who truly wants blacks to join have to first look at themselves, how they are perceived, how they can change that perception for their target market, and how to minimize the negative impact vitrolic figures such as Jesse Lee Peterson and his ilk have on blacks coming 'to the party'.

Posted by: Dell Gines at October 31, 2005 01:44 PM

And I think the solution to that is letting blackfolks speak for themselves in a place (cyberspace for the moment) where Republicans can and will see and hear them.

Posted by: Cobb at October 31, 2005 01:57 PM

True, that did happen. Here's a link of interest. I wrote about it when it first broke: http://www.visioncircle.org/archive/004222.html

Posted by: DarkStar at October 31, 2005 06:21 PM