Radley Balko reacts to DougJ calling Juan Williams a “lawn jockey”:
Which brings me to the Clarence Thomas Rule.* It goes something like this: When a black person expresses views that liberal elites have deemed unacceptable for black people to hold, it is permissible for good liberals to respond by implying that said black person is either too stupid or too corrupt to think for himself, and to then call that black person racist names. In fact, not only are both responses permissible and not racist, they are a recommended way of displaying your open-mindedness.
The fact is that if you believe in supply-side economics and you think global warming is a hoax you’re better off in the Republican Party no matter what race you are. This isn’t really a right-left thing though, it’s a cardinal rule of political commentary that when a black political figure is at the center of conversation white media elites become immediate experts in black authenticity. But yes, it’s irritating when liberals do this–try to find another justice on the Supreme Court who quotes Frederick Douglass in his rulings. I think Thomas’ reasoning is terrible, but the man is proud of being black, and to the extent that he has a problematic relationship with his own identity he’s a normal human being. The case against his jurisprudence can be made on the merits.
A distinction should be made though, between black person “adopting conservative views” and using their ethnicity as an alibi while parroting the worst kind of black stereotypes to white conservative audiences, like saying Michelle Obama looks like Stokely Carmichael in a dress. Obviously it’s a lucrative hustle, but one worth knocking.