Whether it is freedom from slavery or freedom to express one’s political philosophy, members of the Democratic Party and their media allies take issue with free-thinking black men.
What is the point of the Democratic Party and their political allies promoting diversity and inclusion if all they will do is deny it oxygen when it is no longer advantageous for them? It makes one think what the political left’s culture machine really thinks about diversity and inclusion if they feel entitled to deny someone their cultural identity and cast aspersions against their experiences when they go against them.
Recently, Georgia Republicans have been advancing a proposal to honor U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a native of the state, by displaying a statue of him at the statehouse. However, Democratic Georgia Rep. Donna McLeod found the idea reprehensible. She told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “I’d rather them keep a Confederate monument than a statue of Clarence Thomas.” As if to suggest the Supreme Court Justice is more contemptible than someone that espouses racist sentiments.
An incredibly shocking position, to say the least. At face value, the statement is completely ridiculous and illustrates a despicable kind of cynicism that cultivates gratuitous ignorance. However, McLeod is entitled to her opinion, albeit a poorly informed opinion. And if I am honest, such an opinion would be of little interest if not for the fact that I believe a pattern of contempt for free-thinking black men from the political left has started to emerge.
This contempt for free-thinking black men has a theme: to go against the political philosophy espoused by the Democratic Party makes you—in the political left’s eyes—a white supremacist.
This was the argument made by the Los Angeles Times against Larry Elder, Republican candidate for governor during the Californian recall election, with their headline “Larry Elder is the Black face of white supremacy. You’ve been warned. It was the same sentiment advanced against our own lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, by WRAL with their editorial cartoon.
Again, one of these opinions, while still insidiously ignorant and corrosive to civility, would not generally warrant attention because of the absolute absurdity of the claim. However, there appears to be a clear pattern of denoting free-thinking black men as white supremacists in the Democratic ranks merely because they do not subscribe to the party’s agenda.
This nefarious attitude being fomented within the political left is antithetical to the proposition of living in a diverse and inclusive society, which has been their rallying cry for as long as I can remember. And yet, a person of color is not deemed to represent their unique set of experiences and ideas and even ejected from their cultural identity when they do not pledge allegiance to the Democratic Party. What an affront to the ideas of diversity and inclusion. You ain’t black because you didn’t vote a certain way, or you are an Uncle Tom because you advocate for one political philosophy over another.
To see these three men, in three different states, with three different life experiences, attacked by three other individuals in a specific, singular manner is disturbing, especially from the lot that is obnoxiously outspoken about diversity and inclusion and how much they care about people of color. It demonstrates that the political left’s current worldview has a twisted, amoral attitude such that three independent events converged on the same type of reprehensible response to black men not affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Joshua Peters is a philosopher and social critic from Raleigh, NC. His academic background is in western philosophy, STEM, and financial analysis. Joshua studied at North Carolina State University (BS) and UNC Charlotte (MS). He is a graduate of the E.A. Morris Fellowship for Emerging Leaders.