Check out this video from YouTube. If you don't have 6 minutes of your life to waste, here's the main take-away: Senator Boxer is holding a committee hearing on green jobs which includes Harry Alford, the President and CEO of the Black Chamber of Commerce. Alford has taken up a position in opposition to Boxer.
To prove that her side of the issue is valid, she erroneously cites an NAACP resolution as well as several other "diverse" sources. By diverse, she means published by black people. Alford, himself a black man, points out that it seems a little inappropriate to bring race into a discussion on climate change, and he finds it offensive. She counters that the black man she was quoting would be PROUD she was reading from HIS report.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say, although Boxer came across as condescending, this is normal politics in our country. Politicians are constantly going after the 'Black Vote' and the 'Hispanic Vote,' etc., and in doing so they promise to pander to those particular groups. That's telling them, "you can't make it in this country without us. You need us to make special legislation for you."
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that sort of undermine the whole non-discrimination thing? Going out of your way to point out that your argument is supported by minority groups is just another side of the same attitude. Boxer is essentially saying to Alford, "you may be black, but plenty of other black people support this cause. (So that makes it okay)"
The underlying message is that a cause or a position has no merit unless it is supported by black people – and/or other minority groups. Boxer underscored diversity several times. I must have missed the sections on diversity in my science and economics classes, but it comes up disturbingly often as a reason for supporting a policy.
The implications of this are deeper than being condescending to minorities: we're talking about a matter that should be considered in light of facts and expert opinion. The decisions these people ultimately make will affect millions of others. Who cares if the side supported by fact is composed of a bunch of white people or a bunch of black people? It doesn't matter!
I don't think Boxer was being stupid, or that she is necessarily racist against blacks. She's a politician. She knows how to maneuver in our political environment, which encourages this sort of behavior.
If we don't like it, we should stop rewarding politicians for catering to specific groups and start demanding equal treatment under the law.
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I would have to say that Boxer's behavior constitutes racism and that if this had come out of someone like Sen. Kyl's mouth we would have never heard the end of it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, but a different kind of racism than, say, KKK. But you're absolutely right that it would be a HUGE scandal if she had been a Republican. Thanks for commenting!! :)
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