The Irrational Fear of a Brown Planet

About a weak ago Right wing Luminary and Brother in Arms, Thomas Sowell was Charged with letting the Cornerites know that for the first time mud people gave birth to more babies than were born of the descendents of white European ancestry. And for some reason i was sucked into opening the link, but as tintin had taken Sowells column to pieces already, I thought I'd see what the Genii of the Corner commentariat had to add to the discussion.

ZacJ said:
"I'm glad Dr. Sowell is a realist here. I keep hearing some conservatives say that Latinos will vote for republicans because Latino immigrants come from socially conservative backgrounds. They often say the same about the future of the black community. They cite things like black voters supporting prop 8 in California and Herman Cain running for president as evidence that black voters will move in the conservative direction. People believe that because Cuban Latinos dislike Castro and often vote republican that the whole Latino community will soon come around to fiscal conservatism, free markets and all other conservative platforms."

Aside from the first sentence, Zac gets off to a surprisingly rational start, like he might be one of those conservatives you might have a friendly debate with, In fact if he had not let the cat straight out of the bag, I might be inclined to think that this was some material with which I could work.

"Unfortunately that is completely naive. Pointing at outliers and believing them to be a trend is not sound reasoning. It may be true that Latinos and Blacks have some conservative views but that is not the way they see it. The vast majority of most ethnic and racial minority groups have voted democrat (and more to the point voting for liberal candidates and policies) for quite some time and there is little sign at all that the future will be any different. In fact, most children of Latino immigrants end up more liberal than their parents, mostly because of how our public schools teach them how to view their ethnicity and place as an "oppressed group" in society."

So far so good, and as every good artist knows it is good to mix it up from time to time to keep your audience guessing, keep their attention, maintain their interest. Once we move past "...end up more liberal than their parents,..." he let's another cat out of another bag and one suspects that he might have a bushel of individually bagged kittens waiting in the wings. At this point it becomes apparent that most of these jamokes have absolutely no respect for the minorities in question and seem to assume if they just consumed the never ending line of bullshit from conservative outlets, they would come into the light. They seem completely unaware of the impact their seething contempt might have on groups of people who might be a bit more sharp than they realize. I'll admit (to my eternal shame) that I had a glimmer of hope for this character. I also expect that a fusillade of un-bagged kittens is near.

"If conservatism is to maintain any power it will require the ability to reach out to these groups. Unfortunately, the left has so rigged the system that most Americans want to identify with some "victimized" group and demand their share of victim hood."

Whineth the oppres-sed white man.

"Elizabeth Warren in a sense is part of that (though I know there's more to that story than just wanting to be a victim.)"

Do, pray, tell! It being perfectly clear that he has a substantial understanding of the ways and motivations or the Negro and Latino population, it should not surprise that he understands the mysterious ways of the Female.

"In modern America it is assumed that reaching out to different groups is to give them certain benefits and vote a certain way on various pieces of legislation. It is assumed that reaching out to Latinos means supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants and decreased border controls. It is assumed that reaching out to blacks means supporting Affirmative Action in college as well as businesses and allowing statistical disparities as proof of bias."

Zac, Zac, Zac, I can tell that you were rushing it, that you were really trying to keep it together before you blew the last of your wad. Again you get a good start out of the gate with the first sentence, though the subtext of that first sentence is clear once you parse the meaning of "different groups" as opposed to business as usual which means spend all of your political capital serving the interests and funneling all of the benefits you can to the privileged monied interests. The rest descends into a nearly Palinesque whinge implying the oppressive nature of not getting all of the goodies all of the time.

"The conservative answer is to say "We don't see people as belonging to groups but as Americans." That is a wonderful answer but the left already has most minorities convinced that such a mentality is just "cover for continued racism." We as conservatives have to realize that many minorities are now convinced that in order to reach out to them we have to change our positions and view them according to their group identity. I wish it were otherwise but that is reality. We should not change our views to get voters but it is tough to know what to do, especially when minorities have been taught not to even listen to conservative voices."

He stumbles right out of the gate like a blinder-ed pony that has had the smoke of pretty stories blown up its wazoo for its entire life. Then it becomes every thing you can do to avoid the cloud of terrified kittens coming at you from seemingly every direction (and while cute as hell, a terrified kitten flying through the air has some very sharp claws and will use them, and it will hurt if you are in the line of fire). Add the condescension, the patently explicit implication that the "coloreds" can't think for themselves. Following that train wreck with " ...but it is tough to know what to do,..." Of course it is, especially when you so thoroughly demonstrate a complete lack of respect for, a complete lack of understanding of, the very people with whom you wish to communicate. What you fail to realize is that when you showed up at the plate thinking you were the lead off hitter, you find that your team has two outs, no man on and the count to you is 0 balls and 2 strikes, such is your lack of self awareness. And you finish with that great conservative canard, that minority are little more than well trained dogs, or maybe monkeys who have no agency, but "..have been taught not to even listen..." Do you even read the shit you are saying? It is patently offensive, and all of you bastards repeat the Tropes over and over again. We are very near the end, I promise.

"I don't know really what can be done. We absolutely cannot compromise our principles hoping that will gain us minority support but many minorities believe that is the only acceptable form of outreach. I think the only thing conservatives can do is decide to participate more regularly in the institutions that propagandize liberalism: the media and education. How many conservatives get upset that liberals run the schools? Most do, but I know very few conservatives who wanted to become teachers when they grew up. I know a LOT of liberals who did. In college most of the students choosing to study teaching were liberals, even before they got to college. I know very few conservatives who want to be teachers. Can we be surprised that liberals run the schools if only they want to go into education? The same is true but to a lesser extent when it comes to journalism. I don't really know what else can be done but the choice must not be between compromising our principles and losing every battle."

I will only add that in the main this persons seems like he might come to see the error of his ways at some point. He might have some nice wingnut welfare sinecure waiting for him, but unfortunately, he actually believes this shit, and if he ever actually became aware of the truth, he could no longer fight the "good" fight.  In other words I think Zac here is in earnest if not completely missing a few points, and i don't think an earnest man can earn to many paychecks from spouting that which he knows to be lies.
.....

The first sentence of Sowell's original piece has prompted me to think more about the nature of the continued fear of a brown planet that seems to have the right wing terrified. It might end up being one of the longer things I have written and as I finally feel like taking up the metaphorical pen again, this is a good thing. I just discovered (followed a link from somebody in some comment section yesterday) the Open Yale courses and have chosen to start with this one. And if I am going to discuss the nature of race relations and the generally hyperbolic reactions to that reality by the sons and daughters of the Confederacy, boning up on this particular class would be a good thing.

I have gone through a couple of lessons already and am quite happy with what i have seen so far. Check out the first link for the entire list, I am sure you will find something interesting.

Cheers