Tim Wise: Of Broken Clocks, Presidential Candidates, and the Confusion of Certain White Liberals

[Plantsmantx]

126. How will...which black people feel?

Well. That's not an altogether bad essay, but I think Ta-Nehisi Coates has a better, more nuanced take on the same subject:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/01/the-messenger/250685/#comment-408868777

The first part of Wise's post is very effective, to say the least. If people don't get the point from the comparison with David Duke, they don't want to get it. But for me, this is where is starts to go a little wrong:

"How do you think that sounds to black people..."

Which black people? There's an assumption that "that" will sound and feel the same to all of us.

And how do you think they take it that you praise this man, or possibly even support him for president, all so as to teach the black guy currently in the office a lesson for failing to live up to your expectations?

It's not easy to explain, but there's something a little repellent about this...for me, anyway. He seems to be certain about how all of us take it, and seems to be certain that we all take it in the worst way possible. First of all, he thinks that all white liberals who approvingly point out Paul's seemingly liberal policy stances are doing it to teach the guy currently in office a lesson, and beyond that, he thinks that all liberal black people will see them all as racists because the guy currently in office is black. That's not my basic, kneejerk reaction to the spectacle of white liberals "praising" Ron Paul. I think some of them don't really want to have anything to do with Paul, see him for what he is, but can't help pointing out the obvious ironies in the foreign policy differences between Paul and Obama. Some others aren't insensitive to concerns, but think the bad things Paul would want to implement won't happen. Still others are single or few-interest voters, and frankly, care more about the issues they care about than they do about black people. I certainly don't like that, but I will take their indifference over the malign attentions of the white right any day.