“In America, don’t you have the right to have your own opinion- especially if it’s a well-thought-out opinion? And why would you have a well-thought-out opinion be denounced because of your race as reflective of a ‘sellout’- of someone who’s an ‘Uncle Tom,’ of someone who wishes bad things to happen to fellow members of his own race?” – Larry Elder
“You’re voting for Obama? But you said you don’t like him!” I marveled to a Black friend on my college campus in November of 2008- the year Obama won his first term. “I know, but my family will never speak to me again if I don’t,” she replied. That day I began to fathom what it takes for a Black American to speak out as a conservative, and it is something I have paid special attention to ever since.
While observing reactions and “hot-takes” from the 2020 RNC- which featured many prominent Black speakers from within the Republican Party- I once again contemplated the difficulty of being a Black conservative. No other group comes to my mind that is so constantly questioned, mocked, and second-guessed based on the combination of their ideology and their color. Among no other group would it be deemed acceptable to rain down opinions about their perceived servitude to another race based on their political choices- calling them “tokens” and “stunts”- ignorant tools used by White men. They are openly derided with racist epithets and phrases that would never otherwise by allowed or accepted in our culture.
I do not use the term racist lightly. In fact, I think I have never used it accusatorily in my writing before, but I can think of no other term strong enough for the denial of one’s right to be part of one’s chosen ideology without a barrage of racial harassment. A simple look at one “case study”- the reaction to the speakers at the RNC- is a good example of the typical accusations Black conservatives in the public eye endure daily and hourly. Here is just a small sample of responses that I could never imagine being accepted, spoken, or published in any other context:
As the convention wrapped up, MSNBC guest host Tiffany D. Cross called the RNC “a modern-day minstrel show,” saying, “I watched the Republican convention, and seeing the slew of Black speakers that they had, it really did look like a modern-day minstrel show to me.” 
For those unacquainted with the reference, these shows were incredibly offensive variety shows in the 1800s that featured White people in blackface depicting African Americans primarily as slow-witted fools. Cross’s implication was either that the Black people who chose to speak at the RNC were paraded out by Whites as fools and buffoons or alternatively that they were really just White people pretending to be Black.
Liberal outlet The Nation published an article by Elie Mystal entitled “We Need to Talk About the GOP’s ‘Black Friends’” which referred to the Black RNC speakers as “a crop of black Tokens” and “The Black people who were allowed to speak.” 
Similarly, The Daily Beast claimed that AG Daniel Cameron and other Black speakers were “token minorities.” The repeated claim in similar articles was that they were not invited to genuinely share their ideas as equal members of the party but merely orchestrated as distractions or tools by Whites.
Jacob Dershowitz wrote a piece called “2020 RNC Presents the ‘Step-N-Fetch Show'” for the Tennessee Tribune in which he claimed, “It didn’t take long for the coons and spooks who sat by the door to fight over each other seeking to be the minstrel of the day.” 
Once again, the minstrel reference was used- this time with far more offensive phrases attached to it.
Lance Strong of Hip Hop Wired wrote a piece called “Trump Trots Out Sunken Place Sambos Sen. Tim Scott & Herschel Walker For RNC’s First Night,” which included the line, “As expected, some of Trump’s Coon Squad members rose from the Sunken Place with their best tap shoes on and did a little jig.” 
Once again the implication was made that these Black Americans were just performing for their White bosses, and yet again it was done with racially disparaging slurs.
Mother Jones published an article coarsely entitled, “How Badly Did They Want to Say the N-Word” calling the speakers of color at the RNC, “a parade of Good Ones… These were the good kinds of immigrants, the good kinds of Black and Brown folks” and calling Daniel Cameron “the Good Prosecutor,” implying that their “good” status is achieved by being the Black and Brown people to do the White people’s bidding.
As blackenterprise.com and other outlets reported, the offensive phrase “Uncle Tom” started trending on Twitter after the speakers took to the stage.
For those unfamiliar with the unsavory term, the dictionary defines Uncle Tom as, “a Black man considered to be excessively obedient or servile to white people,” or “a person regarded as betraying their cultural or social allegiance.” Blackenterprise stated, “Twitter started trending with ‘Uncle Tom’ in response to the Blacks who are campaigning for the Republican Party.” Indeed, a simple Twitter search of the phrase and any Black RNC speaker’s name produces a wealth of offensive accusations connecting the term to their name.
Rev. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Mega-Church in Georgia called the Black RNC speakers “the slaves on TV this week endorsing Donald Trump.” Previously, Bryant called Black Trump supporters “prostitutes.”
Major networks repeated the narrative over and over that Black speakers were produced only to soften Trump’s image or (mis)represent the party’s true affiliations, as CNN’s Jake Tapper and Nia-Malika Henderson opined after one night of the RNC.
I could go on and on, producing more examples from this one event- the RNC- as well as countless similar narratives from public appearances by Black conservatives on other occasions and in other venues. The same accusations are repeatedly made- that they do not know their own minds, that they are controlled by White people, that they are performing for Whites, that they are “not really Black,” or that they are traitors to their race.
In the face of the constant onslaught of negative judgments, few (if any) people would choose to be Black conservatives unless they really believed in the conservative cause. In order to be a Black conservative, one must oppose the political ideology of approximately 80-90% of his or her community. One must be BRAVE.
This is not a choice many people would make merely to please a White majority in the Republican Party. No, Black conservatives do not choose to go against the tide merely for fame or fortune. It is a difficult path. We don’t have to guess why they affiliate with the conservative cause or theorize about their motives, because they often say why they have chosen conservatism, and their most common claims are: 1.) religious and/or pro-life leanings 2.) economic conservative principles and/or 3.) the conviction that decades of allegiance to the Democratic Party has not served their community well.
Are Black Americans not allowed to vote for religious reasons…like anyone else? Can they not oppose the Democratic economic platform…like anyone else? Are they not allowed to disagree with the efficacy of Democratic policies in their communities…like anyone else? Do any or all of these beliefs mean that they must be subjected to constant allegations of the most offensive and personal kind based purely on their color, ethnicity, or perceived community?
It is an insult to the agency, intelligence, and independence of Black conservatives to make any of the above claims. If one believes that they are in error, that their methods of trying to help their country and their community are faulty, or that their ideology is bad, then he or she should confront them on their ideas like they would confront any other political opponent. Instead, they are too often accused of having no right to their own ideas or of being manipulated into their convictions. How very demeaning and insulting. Give Black conservatives the dignity of having their own convictions- even if they are different than the majority. Whether you are Black, Brown, or White, if you disagree with Black conservatives, have the respect for your fellow Americans to oppose them apart from their color. It is not that they should never be critiqued or challenged but rather that their RACE should not be the basis for the critique.
I will close with Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s words to former Vice President Biden in his speech at the RNC, addressing Biden’s viral “you ain’t Black” comment:
“I think often about my ancestors who struggled for freedom. I also think about Joe Biden who says, ‘if you aren’t voting for me, you ain’t Black,’ who argued that Republicans would put us back in chains, who said there is no diversity of thought in the Black community. Mr. Vice President, look at me. I am Black; we are not all the same, sir. I am not in chains. My mind is my own, and you can’t tell me how to vote because of the color of my skin.”
– AG Daniel Cameron
For Larry Elder’s commentary on his new documentary “Uncle Tom,” check out the link below:
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Jackie Chea is a blogger from San Antonio, Texas who holds a B.A. in Psychology and an M.A. in Community Counseling from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She writes on political and cultural issues from a conservative, religious standpoint. She lives in the Lone Star State with her husband Nick, her 5-year-old son Lincoln, and her rescue dogs. |
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