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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Clarence Page
Tea partiers are delighted that their support for Herman Cain proves they don't hate black people. Unfortunately, judging by some of his statements, Cain doesn't seem to like black people very much, either.
It says a lot about America's racial progress that the former
Yet, one also wonders how much the Hermanator's rise has benefited from his trash talk about black people and other minorities.
Exhibit A: He said on
Exhibit B: Cain has described the
Significantly, in that battle, it was moderate Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen of Illinois who enabled that act to become law over the strong objections of Southern segregationist Democrats. But many of those same conservative Southern Democrats turned Republican. They helped form the core of the historic "Southern strategy," using racial resentments and states' rights arguments to rebuild the conservative movement after Goldwater's resounding defeat.
In other words, as my own African-American father used to say, blacks didn't leave the party of Abe Lincoln -- "the party left us!"
Still, it is worth noting, Cain's social conservatism resonates with many black Americans, as polls confirm. But his small-government, anti-entitlement positions do not.
"If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself!" he said in a
Exhibit C: Cain recently revealed a telling slice of conservative political correctness in the dust-up following the
We did not hear conservatives complain about a "race card" when Cain previously suggested President Obama was not a "real black man" or "a strong black man." Or when he labeled Planned Parenthood clinics in black communities as "Planned Genocide."
The implicit message from conservatives to Cain: It is OK for you to talk about race, as long as you only criticize black people.
At least Cain knows his audience. A widely-cited 2010 survey by the
Support for the
Yet Cain should not imply that black people don't care about self-sufficiency. Polls since Obama's election indicate that, even with our short-term economic woes, black Americans are more optimistic than ever about our long-term prospects. The black American dream lives.
Even Cain's self-help message might have a chance to gain some traction among those optimistic black voters, if he were not so insulting about black people.
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Herman Cain's Anti-Race Card | Politics
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