Is
Black GOP Chairmanship a Victory For Black People?
A
Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford
"It
proves only that we have arrived at the end of the road of a politics
that is consumed in promotion of Black faces to positions in high
places."
The
election of Michael Steele, a Black man, as chairman of the
Republican National Committee is viewed by many as additional proof
that America is becoming less racist. If one measures racism entirely
by headcount - that is, by the number of Blacks or other minorities
represented in places of power or prominence - then one would
conclude that racism is now a dead issue in the two major U.S.
political parties. American politics can at long last be declared a
racism-free zone. Right?
Wrong.
In the real America, the ascension of Michael Steel to the GOP
chairmanship, on the heels of Barack Obama's presidential victory,
proves only that we have arrived at the end of the road of a politics
that is consumed in promotion of Black faces to positions in high
places. There is no place further to go. A Black man heads the party
in power, and the major party that is temporarily out of power. If
that's all the centuries of Black struggle was about - to place a few
dark-skinned individuals at the highest positions of party and
government - then Black folks should do as Prof. Francis Fukuyama
suggested 20 years ago and declare the "end of history" -
the end Black history, that is.
But
of course, Black history is not over. What needs to end is the
foolish mode of thought that equates individual Black victories with
progress for the race as a whole - an assumption that has led to
today's state of mass Black political confusion. Many if not most
African Americans have lost site entirely of the issues that define
the lives and fortunes of their families. They thought they had their
eyes on the prize, but were really just fixated on a single
personality - Barack Obama, a man who never promised much in the
first place, and will certainly deliver far less. If one believes
that Obama represents the ultimate Black victory, then Michael
Steel's capture of the Republic National Committee chairmanship must
be rated as at least a significant advance for African Americans.
Right?
"Why
not give Clarence Thomas his due?"
That
depends on what you mean. The Republicans remain the White Man's
Party. They have simply become more polite in their race relations,
as have white Americans in general. The suppression of overt
expressions of white racism is a bona fide victory achieved over the
last 40 years. Whites now accept the inclusion of certain acceptable
Blacks as players in their political games.
Michael
Steele's individual good fortune may owe something to Barack Obama's
singular victory. But then, Obama may owe something to the
Republicans for elevating Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice to
previously unheard of heights, which conditioned the white public to
seeing Black faces in high places. In that sense, why not give
Clarence Thomas his due? In nominating Thomas to the U.S. Supreme
Court, George Bush The Elder was acknowledging that the retiring
Thurgood Marshall's seat should be filled by another Black person. By
"Blacks in high places" standards, this was a Black victory
- despite the fact that Clarence Thomas became Black folks' worst
enemy on the High Court.
The
Republican National Committee decided not to elect Black former Ohio
secretary of state Kenneth Blackwell, who was an early candidate for
chairman. Blackwell single-handedly denied many thousands of Blacks
the right to vote, in 2004. Would his victory have been an example of
Black progress? By the standards of "Black faces in high
places," yes, as much a victory as Michael Steele's. The lesson
here is: be careful what you celebrate.
For
Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
BAR
executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at
[email protected].
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