Monday, October 3, 2011

Boy You Best Know Your Place! Herman Cain's Criticism of Rick Perry Gets Him Checked by His White Republican Masters

You might have anticipated that Perry would face a firestorm for being associated with the property, but it's Cain whose remarks are drawing the most criticism from the right. At RedState, Erick Erickson concluded, "It also seems to be a slander Herman Cain is picking up and running with as a way to get into second place." Glenn Reynolds remarked that until now, Cain's "big appeal is that he's not just another black race-card-playing politician." Over at the Daily Caller, Matt Lewis called Cain's remarks "a cheap shot, and, perhaps a signal that Cain is willing to play the race card against a fellow Republican when it benefits him."

The key phrase here is "fellow Republican." Because, you see, no one thought Cain was "playing the race card" when he said in the same program that black people are "brainwashed" into voting for Democrats and suggested that black people who vote Republican are "thinking for themselves." Cain wasn't rebuked by conservatives when he previously suggested President Barack Obama was not "a strong black man," implied liberals were out to commit genocide against blacks through support for abortion rights, and said he wouldn't appoint a Muslim to his cabinet.
Adam Serwer at Mother Jones brings the heat again...

Malcolm X famously asked, "what do you call a black man with a Phd?" His answer? You call him a nigger because that is how the white man sees him.

I wonder what is the corollary to Brother Malcom's sharp wisdom as applied to black conservatives who dare to call out white racism among their Republican brethren?

Once more, we see that black conservatives like Cain, Steele and others are just convenient upright walking racism shields for the Tea Party GOP. They are dispensable. And they best know their place on these matters as rule number one is 1) never call out white conservatives on their racism and 2) no reckless eyeballing or back-sassing against white Republicans:
None of that, in the eyes of the conservatives who cheered him for those remarks, constituted "playing the race card." But when a man who is old enough to recall living under American apartheid gets a little emotional over a piece of land called "Niggerhead," that's where the right draws the line.

Not just because Cain is attacking a fellow Republican, but because he stepped out of the proper role of a black conservative, which is to reassure Republicans that their political problems with race are the inventions of a liberal conspiracy. Cain just ran head first into the brick wall of conservative anti-anti-racism, the attitude on the right that accusations of racism directed at white people are of far greater consequence than any lingering vestiges of institutional racism nonwhites might face.
I do hope that the black pundit class is politically sharp enough to let Herman Cain suffer the barbs of his white masters in the Tea Party GOP. He should not benefit from our habit to rally the troops, leverage linked fate, and defend a person who is actually working against the interests of black Americans simply by virtue of their melanin count--remember the Clarence Thomas debacle?
 
In all, and as I called this over at Daily Kos, Rick Perry's Niggerhead moment and the criticism he is quite rightly suffering for his naked blindness to white supremacy may actually endear him to the Tea Party base. For them, Niggerhead is ultimately one more battle where they must protect their "cultural memory" and "freedom" against those complaining liberals, blacks, and others who have "stolen their America" from them.

In a Republican Party where a significant number of its members believe that the Confederacy was on the right side of history, Niggerhead may actually be a clarion call for conservative rectitude.

The question remains, how low and for how long will Herman Cain grovel in order to get back into the big house where the vittles be tasty and the beds aren't made out of straw and hay?

13 comments:

Abstentus said...

As usual, you are more eloquent on the topic than I am, when we post on the same matter. But re Mr. Cain? Even if for one moment that lawn jockey let go of the horse, I am not expecting him to have a road to Damascus moment, here. I would instead expect some sort of walk back that would be consistent with any GOP wing nut candidate, who dared challenge the delusional narrative that is the alternative reality that the wing nuts neurotically if not psychotically live in.

That's all I've got, so far.

Plane Ideas said...

CD,

I affirm 99% of your analysis yet I think Cain will pivot from this and now back down or genuflect to the GOP TeaParty..

At some point even Black apologists have a Black soul somewhere in the layer of thier blackness even when they operate as role players for white folks..I say this because Cain could have been mute on this but his ancestor's and Black dna would not allow it..

I think I am right..I hope I am right..I would love to be right...

Anonymous said...

As quoted by Frederick Douglass in his book Life and Times of Frederick Douglass "on the week before Christmas slaves were able to entertain the slave holders after getting drunk drinking from bottles of liquor with the name FREEDOM writing on the label, as they stumbled around drunk singing , fighting and dancing around acting like buffoons, and theys would ask..." can wees hav sum more of dat FREEDOM mastsa cause we's niggas really likes us sum FREEDOM...Herman Cain, Michael Steele and the other Republican stooges likes theys. Sum FREEDOM too! From... Steven Grizzell, Las Vegas

CareyCarey said...

OH NO, Mr. Herman "Big Daddy" Cain is an old school pimp, he will not turnaround, nor back off his words.

Pippin' ain't easy but he's gotta a special kind of black DNA. See, those of us who can never understand the mentality of women who sell their ass and gives their money to a dude, does not understand the pimpin' game.

Listen, love is a strange thang and Huey Lewis said it best... "the power of love is a curious thing, make a one man weep, make another man sing. Change a hawk to a little white dove... more than a feeling, that's the power of love. Don't take fame, don't need no credit card to ride that train"

THAT'S THE POWER OF LOVE!

So, enters the big-pimpin', skinnin' and grinnin', pompous peacock "The Cain Thang", and all his hoes. We then have the power of love that bonds with a supernatural hold. See, for whatever unexplainable reasons, Cain has some fools riding his jock... and loving it.

To the educated and wise, that's some dumb-ass shit, but alas, just as the street-walker gives her love and money to a black geechie talkin' negro, so goes those who loves Cain's dirty drawls. It's just what they do and they don't know any better. All their friends are doing it so it must be right (so they think).

In short, pimpin' Cain could put a flashing "jiggered niggerhead" sign on his forehead and keep on rolling. His pimpin DNA will not allow him to turn around.

Shiiit, com' on now, pimpin' ain't easy but all true pimps know ya gotta dance with the whore you took to the [tea]party and there ain't no turning back. Hear him cry.. PIMP OR DIE, AIN'T NO HALF-STEPPIN'!

chaunceydevega said...

@Abstentus. Equally articulate. We are playing instruments in the same band.

@Thrasher. Cain is not at all redeemable. As you say, his dna dictates surrender and political fellatio for his white conservative masters.

@Anon. Now that is a visual. Classic!

@Carey. Why gonna make me spit out my beer! I got to teach tomorrow and need a few sips of Sapporo before finishing WWE, playing Starcraft, and reading a comic book before bed time. You ain't right!

Batocchio said...

Gosh, how did I know you'd comment on this one? You and Serwer are dead on. (BTW, is a link to the piece you're quoting missing currently?)

As I wrote elsewhere, when I saw Cain raise the issue the other day, it surprised me, because this response was so very predictable. Cain's main appeal to the racist conservative base is that he's a black man who tells them they're not racist. He must know this. Did that straw poll delude him into thinking he actually had a chance?

Meanwhile, this story remains extremely telling about Perry and the right-wingers leaping to defend him. (The funniest "defense" so far is the invocation of George Allen and "macaca," as if Allen wasn't racist, too. As usual, they're only convincing themselves.) Keep it up, CdV.

Sherry Peyton said...

I too mentioned this yesterday that Cain would be steppin' on the toes of his teaparty nuts. And so it goes. I'm making bit more fun at his expense today about it, and have linked to you here so that my readers can benefit from your excellent writing on the subject. So very predictable all of it is.

Plantsmantx said...

OH NO, Mr. Herman "Big Daddy" Cain is an old school pimp, he will not turnaround, nor back off his words.

Uh...

CareyCarey said...

Oh no Mr. Plant Matrix, I'm not doing you today.

A thousand times NO, I'd rather die than say yes.

Plantsmantx said...

I just wonder what made you think he wouldn't jump back into the place they defined for him after they popped his ass with that whip one or twice.

CareyCarey said...

Well Plant, you've already found the key.

See, if you were reading along (and obviously you don't know nothing about pimpin') the Big Daddy Cain Thang -- since he has that special pimpin' DNA -- defined his own position. They didn't invite that negro to the party.

And check this, I've never said he wasn't a good pimp. Oh no, like all good pimps, he has shown his funky black ass and strutted around like a good pompous peacock, but that boy is crazy like a fox. Shiiiit, The Mack ain't got nothing on Hermain Cain.

But wait, I don't know if you're familiar with Max Julien? Not Julian Bond the politician, Max Julien the Pimp. Anyway, ask a street wise black man about him, because he was a bad mofo but he couldn't carry Hermain's jock strap. That's right, the Cain Thang is pimpin white women from 18-80, and he does not care if they're blind, crippled and crazy. In fact, he has a few gay tea party dudes in his staple of gullible fools.

So Plant Matrix, you better ask someone before you blink on a brotha with that special DNA. He has that non-pop-able-ass pimpin' black DNA. He's just like the Br'er Rabbit (also spelled Bre'r Rabbit or Brer Rabbit or Bruh Rabbit. Yes sir, you know... that famous trickster with African roots. You heard about him, right?

Well, I ain't got time to school you today but the trickster is not to be admired in every situation; he is an example of what to do, but also an example of what not to do. The trickster's behavior can be summed up in the common African proverb: "It's trouble that makes the monkey chew on hot peppers".


So, in the end, a whip here and a whip there, a scratch here and a scratch there, is right up Mr. Cain’s alley. Didn't you know... he was born and raised in the briar patch :-)

Plantsmantx said...

You're even more of a minstrel than Cain is.

CareyCarey said...

Plantsmantx, tell me something I don't know. I have done a little pimpin in my time, and a wee bit of tricksterations. Didn't you know my uncle was the man who played Kingfish in the 1950's Amos & Andy television series? The apple didn't fall far from that tree, so you better ask somebody...

And I've been to jail for bank robbery, so come on, talk to me and tell me something that I don't know.

b/c every closed eye is not asleep.