by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World.
Since the interesting sexual harassment allegations emerged against the inexperienced and unqualified super-candidate Herman Cain, the GOP has jumped to his defense. I found myself taken aback by the GOP’s immediate grab onto the obvious, comparing Cain’s criticism to the “high tech lynching” reference made by Clarence Thomas almost exactly 20 years ago. So, like the horny teenage boy who gropes his girlfriend’s booty before even saying “hello,” the Republicans have gone straight for the ridiculous.
Cain has good reason to worry. If it is indeed revealed that he is the dirty old man that these women have portrayed him to be, his campaign could be over as quickly as it started. He is already a man without any serious endorsements, no political experience and non-existent fundraising capability. This set of allegations could truly put his campaign into the grave.
“I think the left is totally and completely terrified of a conservative black man coming to power and prominence,” said Debbie Dooley, a leader of Atlanta Tea Party Patriots. “They are trying to do the same thing to him that they did with Clarence Thomas.”
Not that I would ever be tempted to listen to someone named Debbie Dooley (you just have to laugh at that name), but I love seeing the GOP use racism as their excuse for the mistreatment of their one-of-a-kind political figure. One thing that Ms. Dooley can’t get away from is the fact that harassing women on the job and having attorneys making deals to cover up your bad behavior implies a (as Political Science Professor Wilmer Leon expressed) serious lack of discipline on the part of Cain, even without regard to the hypocrisy of his being a “good Christian man.” With all of Cain’s talk about taking responsibility for your actions, it would be ironic to see him dodge responsibility for his own indiscretions.
The emergence of Herman Cain has taught us a few lessons about blackness in America today. One thing we’ve learned is that conservatives don’t hate us solely because of the color of our skin. The manner by which they’ve come to defend Herman Cain lets us know that black people can be fully accepted, as long as we’re willing to insult other black people for political gain. The Cain candidacy has also, honestly, taught us that there are many perspectives on what it means to be black in America. Cain is no less a black man than Barack Obama, Malcolm X or the Great MC Hammer. Cain presents a set of ideologies that may not sit well with the masses of black folks, but can be deemed valid nonetheless. So, I might dislike Cain for being a greedy, hypocritical, unqualified conservative, but I have no right to say that he’s not “black enough.”
Even Rush Limbaugh has jumped into the fold, defending Cain like a brother in the struggle. Limbaugh said that by attacking Herman Cain, the mainstream media is using ”the ugliest racial stereotypes they can to attack a black conservative.”
“This is about blacks and Hispanics getting uppity,” Limbaugh said. “(Liberals) cannot have a black Republican running for office, can’t have a Hispanic, the Left owns those minorities, those two groups can’t be seen rising on their own.”
It appears that Rush Limbaugh and others are disappointed that their favored candidate isn’t smart enough to know that sexually harassing women while on the job might hurt his chances at becoming President of the United States. But I would encourage them to remember that sexual harassment is a very serious problem that plagues millions of women (and men) across the country. Minimizing this list of very serious allegations to a simple political attack only serves to ignore the pain and suffering experienced by women who’ve had the misfortune of interacting with the “horny little Republican.” This kind of professional terrorism should not be tolerated, and GOP members should show respect to the women who were insulted by Cain by avoiding the temptation to blame the victim.
When it’s all said and done, this is NOT a lynching, high or low tech. Just like 20 years ago, the black Republican who made his living by verbally assaulting the masses of black people is now screaming racism for his own convenience. Perhaps Herman Cain needs a lesson on personal responsibility to realize that in this life, you reap what you sow. No one felt sorry for those women you hurt Mr. Cain, and no one is going to feel sorry for you.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and Ambassador for Ujamaa Deals, an initiative to promote the support of black business. He is also the founder of the Your Black World coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
