Do you think Herman Cain has any black friends?

[Major Hogwash]

I haven't seen any blacks in his entourage or on his staff.

[DesertFlower]

1. interesting. nt.

[kestrel91316]

2. I can think of a couple who might fit in with him. I'm drawing a blank on the

names, though (senior moment/brain fart, lol).

Betcha Condi is a pal.

[DURHAM D]

3. Clarence Thomas

[woolldog]

4. His wife for one.

There are plenty of black conservatives and blacks who don't choose friends on the basis of politics. The OP is a dumb question.

[Ikonoklast]

5. No, it's not a dumb question.

The question wasn't about politics at all, it was about race.

That seemed to escape you in your rush to defend a fellow right-wing nutcase.

[woolldog]

7. It's a racist question.

[ClarkUSA]

8. How is it a "racist" question? Why are you defending Herman "Uncle Ruckus" Cain?

Is he a friend of yours?

[woolldog]

17. Why do YOU

and Empowerer only care about racism when it's directed towards people whose politics you agree with? Awfully hypocritical.

[Empowerer]

19. You didn't answer my simple question.

Why do you think that it's racist to ask if Herman Cain has any black friends?

Herman Cain talks about his race from sunup to sundown and then all through the night. He holds himself up as somehow being a more "authentically" black than those who criticize him. He chastises black Democrats as being "brainwashed" because we don't vote Republican.

In that context, why is it racist to ask about his interaction with other black people? I would ask the same question of any white politician who held themselves out as an expert on the black experience, black voters and the black community as Cain does.

If there's any hypocrisy at play here, it is among those who are so quick to attack anyone who dares to suggest that some of the criticism against the President might be based on his race but who turn around and scream bloody murder when a right wing Republican who trades on and leverages his blackness as an in as an integral part of his campaign is asked whether he has any black friends.

Now please answer my question.

[woolldog]

22. You're no different than those who questioned Obamas "blackness". nt

[Empowerer]

23. I guess you would see it that way

Your failure to see the difference speaks volumes and certainly explains why you think it's "racist" to ask whether America's loudest self-proclaimed expert on what it means to be black has any black people in his intimate circle.

If a white politician did and said what Cain is saying and doing about race, I would expect them to be asked the same questions that Cain is being asked. Should Cain get a pass from such questions just because he's black?

FYI, I don't question Cain's "blackness." But I don't have a problem with people questioning his frame of reference for running around the country questioning mine and that of everyone else who disagrees with him.

He can't have it both ways. He can't go around proclaiming himself "uber black man" and then expect people not to raise questions about his own interactions with blacks.

If Barack Obama strutted around telling the world about how black he is, invoked his race at every opportunity, and loudly denounced other blacks for not being as black as he is, I would have had no problem with people questioning him in the same way that Cain is being called to task. But, of course, President Obama has never turned his race into a ridiculous sideshow the way Cain does, so that would never be an issue.

But you still haven't explained what is "racist" about it.

[Enrique]

25. I think it's racist

I actually thought of you when I saw this thread. I hope you find that flattering.

I find it interesting which racism gets called out here and which doesn't.

[Empowerer]

27. Why do you think it's racist?

Would you think it racist for a white politician who talks about race as much as Cain does and insists that black Democrats are "brainwashed," that Obama does not come from a real "black experience," etc. to be asked if he has any blacks in his inner circle?

[Enrique]

30. a number of things

first, it's never made clear why we should care about the color of Cain's friends.

Second, even if you concede, which I don't, that the color of Cain's friends has any relevance to us, no one seems to care about the factual answer to the question. Everyone is staying in the world of their impressions. Is the OP's observation about his staff even true? I don't recall ever seeing his staff, where did the OP see his staff? No one seems to care. And if we did see his staff, does that have anything to do with his friends? My impression is no one really cares about the actual answer, it's just about our impressions of him. We're gonna go with he has no black friends.

Third, there's an assumption that he should have black friends. I guess we get to pick the color black people's friends.

Fourth, there's the "he's not black enough" angle. Right out of the playbook of Herman Cain himself.

[Empowerer]

31. I think you're assuming the wrong premise

I don't think that the question about Herman Cain's friends is relevant because he's black. At all.

What makes it relevant, in my view, is how he approaches race. As I have said, the fact that he insists that he is somehow more "authentically" black than other blacks (such as President Obama), that he insists that black Democrats are "brainwashed," etc., makes this relevant - because HE raised the issue.

Any politician who said the things Cain says about race would leave themselves open to similar questions. If, for example, Perry or Romney went around lecturing us about what it means to be black, how black people think, etc., I would expect the same questions to be asked of them. I would want to know what they are basing their assumptions on, how they've come to form these opinions and what kinds of racial dynamics and interactions are happening in their own lives. That's not racism.

It seems to me that some people think that Cain should get a pass from these tough questions because he's black - to do so assumes that he has some inherent understanding of what it means to be black, just by virtue of having black skin that his views and comments cannot be questioned since to do so is somehow racist. But refraining from asking any of these questions because he is black is far more questionable than asking if he has any blacks in his inner circle.

Herman Cain is not being accused of "not being black enough." He's being asked why he believes that he is somehow MORE black than other black people and why he feels qualified to lecture us about what it means to be who we are.

Cain is not being asked this question because he's black. He's being asked this question because he brought it up.

[a simple pattern]

33. I think it's a mistake

to take anything Herman Cain says at face value. I think it's all word salad for his crazy base, and signals to the powers that be that he will say or do absolutely anything for a dollar.

[NICO9000]

38. Uncle Ruckus! I love it!

:fistbump:

[Empowerer]

12. You might not like the question. But what is racist about it?

[EffieBlack]

36. How is it "racist" to ask about the extent and nature of the "black experience" of a man who

claims his "black experience" is so much more substantial than the President's?

This question didn't just spring up from nowhere - Herman Cain has provoked such questions with HIS claims, accusations and boasts.

This is a very valid question that doesn't come close to being "racist."

[Chipper Chat]

6. Joe Watkins, Ron Christie, Uncle Thomas,

and that dude in Florida that wants to kill all liberals - Congressman Alan East or something like that.

[golfguru]

26. You forgot to add Mr. Johnson

Cain's math teacher who according to Cain, inspired him.

[Skittles]

9. he is black?

:rofl:

[Hutzpa]

16. I thought I was the only one with that question

:rofl:

[no_hypocrisy]

10. Armstrong Williams

[lunatica]

11. The question I would ask is does he have friends.

I doubt he has any in the way we think of friends. Buddies who you can pour your heart out to and their friendship makes you stronger.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

13. He's got black relatives. But

he couldn't avoid that.

[mucifer]

14. It's offensive to think that just because people are African American they can't be

crazy right wingers. Believe me they have their right wingers just as my people , the Jews, have right wingers and left wingers.

[Empowerer]

20. I don't think that a black person can't be a crazy right winger

But crazy black right wingers who make a big deal of the fact that they are black - and that they are more "authentically" black than everyone else shouldn't be surprised when other black people criticize them.

[WI_DEM]

15. I'm sure he does.

[stevenleser]

18. Clarence Thomas, Condi Rice, Tavis Smiley, Cornell West. Thats four.

[ecstatic]

21. lmao! nt

[Enrique]

24. let's list all the black people we don't like

fun at DU! :woohoo:

[stevenleser]

28. Oh god, FFS get over yourself. n/t

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. I Have A Problem Going Where The O P Is Going But It's His World View Not His Hue That Troubles Me

.

[emilyg]

32. unrec.

[Cursive]

34. The liberal church of Herman Cain

I read this earlier and it might answer your question. :hi:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/18/the-liberal-church-of-herman-cain

[EffieBlack]

37. That's interesting. Thanks for finding it and posting it.

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. I'm going to have to answer that with a simple...

yes. I do.