Black and White

One of the people I most admire is Condoleeza Rice (see info on Dr. Rice and the others in this blog at the bottom of the post). She was an accomplished professor and (later) provost of Stanford University even before she became the first black female secretary of state. Funny, though; her name seldom appears on those annual Top 10 Women to Admire lists posted by women’s magazines. Why is that?

I also have deep admiration for Thomas Sowell, economist, writer, and former Yale professor. He has a knack for explaining economics and the application of its principles in a way that even someone as math-challeneged as I can understand. In contrast, Robert Reich’s socialist rantings about minimum wage never made any sense to me.

Also on my personal “most admired” list is Shelby Steele, the historian who looks impartially at our past and writes about it with care and passion. There’s Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whose clear mind and integrity should be used as a model for all aspiring lawyers. There’s Michael Steel, the former Maryland lieutenant governor, whose reasoned positions on the proper role of government should be included in college texts. There’s also Tony Evans, founder of the Urban Alternative, and Dallas pastor and teacher, whose biblical messages on society and relationships have inspired me and millions of others.

You may have heard in passing about Frederick Douglass, the former slave and abolitionist whose intellect stunned and shamed his contemporaries; and Martin Luther King, Jr., whose prescient letter from a Birmingham jail still gives me goose bumps because of its eloquence and substance (inconveniently for current-day activists, he was a – gulp – Republican, and you can bet your bottom dollar that’s one salient point never mentioned in liberal speeches). But you might not have heard of former ambassador Alan Keyes, who has yet to be bested by anyone with whom he has debated, black or white.

These are all distinctive men and women with impressive credentials; they’re role models for all Americans of every color who dream of living a good and successful life in America, and their names should be included on those February Black History Month lists of luminaries. The only name I ever see is MLK, because the politicians on the left have claimed him as one of their own. But the politics of these men and women were and are conservative, and most belonged to the Republican Party, so you won’t hear much about them. If you do, the coverage will be negative.

It is shameful that these black public figures are condemned by their contemporaries for their divergence from liberal philosophies. (The Democratic Party slogan – “We believe in diversity. Unless your views are different from ours.”) These conservatives are shunned by colleagues, are told they’re “acting white” (which, apparently, must be something really bad), and are ridiculed for their political views. Their achievements are dismissed or ignored by members of their own race, by liberals, and by the media.  Golly, if tolerance is such a lovely, world-changing experience, how come it’s not in full motion when liberals are discussing black conservatives?   

It is a disgrace that marginal and dubious characters like Angela Davis, Louis Farrakhan, Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson are celebrated, while people like the ones mentioned above are derided for their convictions and their courage, and undervalued as important contributors to our national heritage. When the next Black History Month rolls around in February, I’ll be watching, as always, to see if these competent, and extraordinary individuals will be celebrated by our country. But I won’t hold my breath.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sowell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_Steele
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Thomas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_S._Steele
http://www.tonyevans.org/site/c.feIKLOOpGlF/b.2017593/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=16500
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Keyes