Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17
THE MAROON TIGER
PAGE 10
Far left and ready to jump
By Yasheve Miller
Every time a president addresses his pub
lic, there are still some questions that re
main unanswered. Who does not wonder
what the state of the union actually is? It is
true that the universe heard America shout
ing for change in 1992 as well as 1994, but
who will answer our cries? I have to won
der if the condition or state of the union
today is a result of the Republican Party
doing their best to help President Clinton
fall on his face. Will we see the liberals
become the better people now and work
together with the conservatives for a stron
ger economy and government?
President Clinton has not done such a
horrible job. Besides, he made it to 1995. I
am surprised he was not assassinated al
ready for having such an open mind. Or
will Newt Gingrich take care of that this
year? Clinton did create six million jobs to
bring this country the lowest unemploy
ment rate in 25 years. Our businesses are
more productive, the deficit is down, and
trade is expanding. Because the people
who work the hardest get paid the least,
Clinton has proposed to raise minimum
wage.
This is by far the most radical govern
ment this country has ever seen. William
Clinton is the youngest president in Ameri
can history. His liberal views can really be
an asset to this country. Who else would
have a lesbian dominated cabinet? We can
make it all easier on ourselves and appoint
Betty Shabazz and Hillary Clinton Supreme
Dictators.
We better act fast. Soon, Gingrich will
finalize his deal with the Mafia to get Gore
and Clinton out of the way. He will pay for
the assassination with the money he sup
posedly turned down for his book deal. We
live in a time of assassins and an era where
Jeffery Dahmer kills fifteen people and gets
life sentences. Susan Smith murders two
bad kids, and there are talks of her getting
the electric chair. I think the government
should give her fifteen million dollars and
patent her idea. She has created a new form
of birth control. You see where kids have
gotten O. J. Simpson. If he was not trying
to take up for his son, he would not be in
this predicament. All he has to do is ex
plain what happened. O. J. was there. He
walked in after the son went into a rage
because his step-mother would not give
him any money to support his Hollywood
hot life.
What is the state of the Union? America
is just tense. We, as a country, need to let
off some steam. I have the solution. Pro
claim a national holiday, and have a spec
tacular prime time exclusive. On this show,
we would give Mother Gingrich the electric
chair and see what she thinks about the
'bitch' who pulled the switch.
This could be a monthly event. Next,
we could fry Marcia Clark, lead prosecut
ing attorney in the Simpson case. She should
be charged with impersonating an attorney.
Follow her with Anita Hill, Rush Limbaugh,
Denise Brown, and give Michael Jackson a
wake up call.
The Nation is not in a total state of
mental depression, though. We still have a
keen eye for the crooks. Most will agree,
though, that Gingrich seems to have the
right kind of attitude for battling the tasks-
at-hand, but cannot be trusted. In a recent
Time magazine survey, 52% of Americans
say Gingrich is a leader that cannot be
trusted. Why should we trust anyone with
a white hood, and a white cloak hanging in
the front of his closet? Some of the issues
captured in Gingrich’s “Contract with
America” are almost acceptable. But his
ideas on welfare reform and middle-class
tax cuts must be changed. Even if statistics
say there are more white Americans than
Black Americans on welfare, Black Ameri
cans will still be affected more than whites.
What about tax-cuts that directly benefit
the lower class? What about the state of the
entire union, not just the affluent?
Since PBS’s yearly spending equals
what the Pentagon spends in one hour, Con
gress should zero in on the Pentagon’s
spending. Instead, the G.O.P screams about
the immoral state of the nation, but wants to
get rid of television’s means of education.
I personally want to ask Newt how much of
our money is funding the Conservative
Party’s cable station, NET. NET, operat
ing in a new $10 million Washington Stu
dio, expresses for 24 hours a day the Right
Wing viewpoint. The biggest show is the
weekly Gingrich hour, which costs $ 125,000
a year. I see another method for capital
punishment.
Capital punishment is what John Salvi
deserves for violating other people's rights.
Salvi was accused of shooting at two Bos
ton abortion clinics. It is sad to see and
hear about the ignorance of pro-lifers. Pro
lifers are people who do not understand
sacrifice, suffering and depression anyway.
This is the state of our union.
We live in a good era. I mean, we will
see the first Black president sworn in, in the
1997 inauguration, when Colin Powell wins
the next presidential election. Johnnie
Cochrane Jr. should support Powell in the
Vice-President’s slot. After he defeats
Marcia Clark, he will bring a new aura
among Black Americans. His fame and
fortune will definitely exceed most celebri
ties’ peak.
We live in a time and country where
white supremacy organizations function as
a regular legal corporation. Why can’t
there be a legal Black Organization of such
caliber? In this day and age, Black Ameri
cans help support groups like the KKK.
Both the Arian Nation and KKK are ex
panding financially at a rapid pace. They
mass produce goods, and we seem to be
their biggest consumers. We are financing
our own defeat. Whatever happened to the
effort to keep the money, consumers and
producers Black? I feel that there is a need
for Black Organizations, something other
than a religious group, or a semi-assertive
social movement. I don’t think it should be
underground either. It should be up front.
Why don’t we just grab our young
(Continued on page 11)
Black conservative with attitude
By Obinna Lewis
After being a student at Morehouse Col
lege for over a year a half, I have been given
many opportunities both in and out of class
to hear students articulate what direction
they believe black America should take.
What I have found out is that Morehouse
Men tend to subscribe to a uniform, liberal,
Afrocentric orthodoxy that somewhat dia
metrically opposes the political philosophy
to which I subscribe. So, I have set out on
the task of presenting my somewhat differ
ent approach to the question of what Black
Americans should do now. What will fol
low is a continuing column detailing the
philosophical rationale behind the present-
day Black neo-conservative movement. My
goal is simply not to persuade, but to
“demystify” this new breed of black con
servatives (to borrow a line from Cornel
West). I openly admit that much of what I
subscribe to stems from intellectuals who
are currently at the forefront of the black
neo-conservative movement. However, it
should also be made clear that my opinions
are not exclusively conservative in nature.
It is only appropriate that I begin with
what I consider to be the Black neo-conser
vative philosophical statement. The basic
premise behind the creation of such a phi
losophy is that New Deal Liberalism is
dead, and more importantly, that the liberal
platform has failed the black community.
With this said, black conservatives assert
the following political philosophy. (The
following points have been extracted from
National Minority Politics)
Strong Families — “The foundation of
any stable society is, first and foremost,
strong families in every community.” Many
of the Black community’s current problems
stem from the deterioration of this impor
tant institution.
Individual Responsibility — “Almost
every human being is endowed with the
necessary means to be successful: a sound
mind and the ability to think, reason, and
make choices. These natural gifts are ac
companied with the equal obligation to take
responsibility for one’s actions.” Blacks
must not become so blinded by the notion
of race that we make excuses for our own
individual actions.
Free Enterprise — “Our nation has been
the most successful on earth in fostering
and promoting a free enterprise system with
opportunity for all.” While such a system
can never operate completely without gov
ernmental regulation and safeguards, it does
have the potential to dffer equal opportu
nity to Black American that embrace it.
Less Government — “The size and in
fluence of government at all levels must be
minimized in order to guarantee a free soci
ety.” Blacks must avoid becoming over
dependent on the government as the solu
tion to all of our problems as a community.
Community-based Problem Solving —
“Rather than looking to the federal govern
ment to solve local problems, such as crime
and education, we can and should develop
solutions in our local communities.”
Compassionate Conservatism — “While
v DC .1 ;J ciiii jSii.uK-. ii
stressing the importance of free enterprise
and less government, we must recognize
our responsibility as a society to help those
who help themselves, or who are unable to
help themselves through no fault of their
own.”
Now that the philosophy is explicitly
stated, let me say that most black conserva
tives are not a bunch of “Toms” running
from the fact that they are black. In fact, I
am very comfortable with my blackness
having been born into the Nation of Islam
and raised by two Black Nationalist par
ents. Secondly, black conservatives are not
a bunch of upper class black folk who can
not relate to the plight of the black
underclass. The two leading black conser
vative figures are both very familiar with
the struggle of the underclass. Dr. Thomas
Sowell was born into the much talked about
ghettos of Harlem while Justice Clarence
Thomas was born into the underclass of the
Jim Crow South. The point to be made here
is that blackness should not be limited to
the underclass; indeed, it cuts across nu
merous cleavages including class. In fact,
a primary tenet of black conservatism is
that blacks must come to accept our diver
sity as a race. Such labels as “Tom,” “Sell
out,” “House negro,” “White-washed,” and
“Oreo” (I could go on), do very little for the
progress of our race. In addition, the Black
neo-conservative ideology is also quick to
critique the black liberal establishment
which still holds on desperately to notions
of governmental dependency, affirmative
action, and various tenets of New Deal Lib
eralism.
It is very simple to explain the problems
that black neo-cons (conservatives) have
with governmental dependency. Here, the
problem can be stated in a slightly con
strued form of a question once posed by
Janet Jackson: What has the government
done for us lately? Not what did it do in the
past, but what has it done for us lately.
Essentially, the government has lead black
folk down the road of dependency. For the
black underclass, such dependency is sym
bolized by the cycle of Welfare. For the
black middle class, such dependency is
shown through the number of black profes
sionals employed by the government. In
either case, when government programs
come under tighter scrutiny, blacks stand to
lose the most.
A second battle that black conserva
tives are waging is against affirmative ac
tion. Here, the goal is not to completely
dismantle affirmative action programs. In
stead, the objective is simply to recognize
that affirmative action carries a “price” as
Shelby Steele would put it or a “stigma” as
Joseph Perkins would exclaim. Shelby
Steele explains that “affirmative action tells
us that racial preferences can do what we
cannot do for ourselves.” Such an idea has
a profound impact upon the individual ini
tiative of blacks. And as for the glass
ceiling that numerous blacks make refer
ence to, Steele concludes that “affirmative
action makes a glass ceiling virtually nec
essary as a protection against the corrup-
(Continued on page 11)