Ward Connerly is "having a difficult time determining what it was that Mr. Reid said that was so offensive." Nevertheless, he's decided that:
As far as I'm concerned, Messrs. Bond, Sharpton, Jackson and a host of other Americans formerly identified as "negroes" have forever forfeited the right to be outraged whenever a Republican or a talk show host makes an inappropriate or "insensitive" racial comment.
Why? Because none of these men came to Rush Limbaugh's aid when he tried to buy a football team:
When Rush Limbaugh wanted to buy into the St. Louis Rams last year, many of the same individuals who instantly accepted Mr. Reid's apology expressed outrage over allegedly racist statements made by Mr. Limbaugh, despite the fact that zero evidence of these statements existed. They demanded that his participation in the bid be rejected. Ultimately, they got what they wanted.Connerly, who has devoted his entire life to ending affirmative action on the premise that it denies blacks agency, apparently believes that Julian Bond, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson are a Black Triumvirate who rule over all black people everywhere and can tell the players in the NFL who they can and can't have as an owner. But it wasn't the Black Triumvirate who scuttled the deal -- it was the players themselves and their union representatives. They didn't want to have someone like Limbaugh, who is prone to racially inflammatory rhetoric, as an owner.
Connerly can't acknowledge that, because it stifles the fiction that Limbaugh "never said anything racist." It's true that CNN fabricated some racist Limbaugh quotes, but the man regularly characterizes the relationship between Democrats and their black constituency as rape, describes Obama using racial slurs and poorly veiled stereotypes, refers to Obama's agenda as "reparations," and suggested having a black president puts white people in violent danger. Reid's use of "Negro dialect" was offensive, but here's Connerly defending the originator of "Barack, The Magic Negro."
So to reiterate, Connerly doesn't think what Reid said was racist. But the Black Triumvirate forgiving Reid for not having said something racist means that Republicans can't ever be criticized for being racist, regardless of what they say, because Rush Limbaugh didn't get to own a football team. Or something.
At any rate, Connerly's strategy isn't really distinct from the larger GOP's in suggesting Reid's comments were racist, in the sense that the idea is to make discussion of how racial discrimination might affect opportunity illegitimate, and to protect future Republicans against charges of racism, regardless of the substance of their individual comments.
I've written before that I think discussions of race and racism are harmed by the fact that (a) everyone succumbs to racial prejudice and therefore (b) the social sanctions for racism are too high, because they require us to be dishonest about our private views in a manner that sustains prejudice, and that (c) racist behavior should be seen as individual actions rather than the sum of an individual. But Connerly isn't looking for a more constructive racial conversation -- he is looking for absolution for his conservative allies.
-- A. Serwer
