Is America afraid of black conservatives? Glen Beck seems to think so.

"And for my peeps I truly care Cause without some of them I wouldn't be here And they all know how I feel Cause suckers be like playin themselves to have mass appeal" ~Gang Starr~

A lot of my conservative cousins were on Glen Beck's show this past Friday seeking mass appeal. (They called it "Friday The 13th Nightmare for Liberals: Black Conservatives." Honestly, Beck scares me every time I hear or see him. He didn't need a bunch of black conservatives to be frightening.) I am sure they got it, too. But who was the masses that they were appealing to? And why would they even want to appeal to these people?

Now don't get me wrong, (And this is going to surprise some of you left leaning black folk.) but I have nothing but love for some black conservatives. Contrary to popular belief I do not consider them all "Toms" or House Negroes. I understand, as much as anyone, that black folks are not monolithic, and my ideas and way of thinking is not necessarily by itself the paradigm for how success should be achieved within the black community. So when I hear conservatives -be they black or white- with what they think are real and meaningful solutions to solving some of the problems within the black community, I am usually all ears. Their stance on school vouchers and education, for instance, is closer to mine than you would think. I am also all for economic empowerment and a lightening of the tax burden in certain economically deprived neighborhoods. Not to mention tax incentives for companies who invest their money and resources in poorer urban communities. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. There just might be more that unites us than separates us.

Now, having said all of that, I still have to take issue with some of these conservative Negroes.

I like analogies, so I will use one here. Imagine, if you will, that Colin Powell is the republican president of these divided states of A-merry-ca. Imagine he has some very bold programs which are pissing off left wingers and progressives. Left wing commentator, Keith Olbermann, has built his entire schtick on tearing down president Powell, and he has gone as far as to call him a self hating Uncle Tom on his program. Olbermann is now catching heat from his sponsors and various folks in the main stream for his daily vituperation about Powell and his overall vitriolic tone. To show the world that he is not a bad guy and that he really loves black people, he asks a bunch of black progressives to come on his show and take a stand with him against the current path of the Powell administration. Now I ask you, how many left leaning black folks do you think would appear on his show? Take a minute and think about it, and try to be honest with yourself when you come up with your answer.... Here, let me help you; Keith Olbermann would have more camera men than he does people in his studio. Unlike my friend Mr. Beck who had a studio full of you conservative folks- with probably as much lined up outside- Olbermann would find very little if any takers.

And this is the problem I have with some of you black conservatives; you are just so quick with the massa good the rest of dem Negroes bad rant that it's hard to be serious with you when you try to talk policy. I just keep hearing that music over your voices. The one with the catchy tune that makes me want to jig.

Still, I am glad for you folks and the fact that you got your shine on. Just be careful where that shine is coming from. (I once represented a guy who was on an episode of Cops. I am just sayin.) If you think Glen Beck is really your friend and that he really has your best interest at heart, go on and represent on his show. It might make you famous. Hell, you might even get a gig on Radio Rwanda. If, on the other hand, you are just trying to get your shine on, there has to be a better way. You don't want to be just props to further someone's agenda. Where did I hear that before? Oh yeah, I think it was "Gump" over at Crooks & Liars. Gump doesn't sound so scared to me.

"Let's bring in a bunch of blackies as props to further an agenda. It really doesn't get much more racist than this segment. What's even worse is these people willing to sell out their culture for conservatism. They know history and the truth when it comes to conservatives. I wonder how much cash Murdoch gave these people to stage this disgusting display.
This would be like me appearing in a segment about the mafia supporting conservatism because my ancestry goes back to Sicily. Fucking pathetic."

Stop it Gump, those are my cousins you are talking about. You pick on one of us, you will have to pick on us all. They were not "props", they did it for their people. They did it for America.