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Forum nameOkay Activist Archives
Topic subjectUmm...
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=22&topic_id=502&mesg_id=614
614, Umm...
Posted by Wisdom9, Wed Jul-07-04 10:44 AM
thanks dude, but I don't need any lecture from you on how to investigate sources.

I was just saying that from what I have read of Sowell and McWhorter (just some op/ed-type articles over the years, no books), I'm not exactly tripping over myself to spend my money on any of their books.

I definitely know exactly who they are (McWhorter teaches at my alma mater), and where to find their books if I want them, so there's no need for you to assume that I don't know how to do this.

I view Cosby as being more sincere on the whole than McWhorter and Sowell, because he has a long and distinguished track record of supporting black education.
I can't really take these right-wing wonks like Sowell, McWhorter, Armstrong Williams, Larry Elder, etc., seriously, because I don't see the same level of dedication on their part to actually *helping* blacks, as opposed to just criticizing them. Again, I would be happy to be shown otherwise, but I just don't see the sincerity on their part, in terms of a track record in the community.

Most of these people's shtick actually seems to be designed for the consumption of right-wing whites who have *never* cared anything about the advancement of blacks, as opposed to actually trying to educate black people on how they should change.

Somehow, I don't really think that individuals like Elder or McWhorter would have the balls to lecture to a black audience and talk the kind of yang I've seen them talk in their articles. It bears repeating that Cosby's recent controversial remarks were made in front of predominantly black audiences, in both cases.

Frankly, I don't see any evidence that these black neocons are trying to actually engage the black community itself. Like I said, their comments seem to be geared more toward enabling whites (many of whom never supported the civil rights movement in the first place) to say "'See? I always knew those people were no good."

Cosby, on the other hand, has given literally tens of millions of dollars to further the cause of black education in this country, so his words carry more weight with me than all of these black neocons, who are largely the creation of white-dominated conservative organizations like the Hoover Institution and the Manhattan Institute. Maybe the neocons lack Cosby's disposable income, and thus his ability to donate tens of millions to HBCUs, but they still have a long way to go before they can show the same level of involvement and concern for black people's advancement.

I know that I have read somewhere that in the 1970s, the American right wing made a conscious decision to search for and bring forward a group of black intellectuals who could be used to counter the ideological thrust of the leaders of the civil rights movement, which had obviously gained a considerable amount of ground in the previous decade (I believe that this occurred during the Nixon administration).

The conservatives saw that they had lost the *moral* high ground in their struggle against the civil rights agenda in the 60s, so they reasoned that they needed a countervailing group of black intellectuals and policy wonks who would advocate for the right-wing agenda on race issues. This change in strategy paved the way for rise of the black neocons, such as Sowell, Shelby Steele, Ward Connerly, Elder, McWhorter, et al.

It is interesting to see that this conservative strategy has borne fruit, given the presence of a number of strongly conservative young black individuals on this board in particular. While I can appreciate that these people may feel very strongly about their political affiliations, I would encourage them to investigate the history of the rise of these black neocons. Who was it that opened the door for these people, and for what purpose? My point is that I know for a fact that the masters that these people serve actually opposed the advancement of blacks during the civil rights movement, so I am disinclined to take them seriously. They are bought and paid for by the right, just as much as Jesse Jackson or Sharpton is by the left wing.

Caveat Emptor.