� The Gay Marriage Catagory | Main | New Orleans Diary: Day Three �

April 11, 2005

It's OK If You Don't Get It

I'm starting to read Whizbang more and more. I have to say that it's starting to replace Dean's World on my list of big blogs. So imagine my surprise when I find that The Brotherhood is the subject of discussion.

A commenter posts:

Why not "Conservative bloggers" or blogroll, whatever. Why the racist theme, membership requirement? And, is that REALLY a characteristic anyone can be assured of as to who joins? Not like you can discern racial type by User I.D., typing, etc. Perhaps you are also suggesting that "black" conservatives display distinct communication skills? And that "white" ones do, too?

I mean, the entire premise is embarrassingly racist. Be conservatives but drop the elitist racist tags. It's embarrassing for the rest of us...conservatives of any/all racial types.

While it's clear that he flunked Race in America 101, I think he expresses a sentiment that is not uncommon. In fact, during my time as a race man I came across that fallacious logic so many times that I gave it a name: The Ugly Baby Theory.

The analogy is pretty good. One childless white couple sees a black couple with a baby and they call the baby ugly. They ask why on earth would anyone have a black baby? They ask, what if all the white people decided to have a baby, implying that the black couple would be as disgusted with white babies.

The Conservative Brotherhood is our baby. We think it's pretty smart, good looking and fun to be around. We put ourselves into it and this is what we get. We are proud and we're going to show off our baby every chance we get.

I understand that people don't get it. The impetus behind our ganging up into the Brotherhood is primarily for exposure, no different than the Bear Flag League for me. But the impetus behind the writing we do is deep and complex - it is nothing more nor less than the content of our character and it is inevitably what we would produce, whether or not we were affiliated. Such complexity is not easily explained nor contained. I have trouble explaining it myself. So hey, people who write 500 words on black conservatives have their 500 words. We've got years.

But that's really not what upsets me today, it's that David Anderson is holding a grudge, or at least smacking me en passant. It's an unintended consquence of a simple oversight on my part, one that I think I've probably not even fixed to show you how dumb I am. For no reason at all, I have failed to blogroll him, and he's taken it personally. At least I think this is the substance of his gripe.

I understand how important blog patronage is. Clearly, when I had the opportunity to help, I did not. It was a foolish mistake on my part not to take advantage of that opportunity. I respect David as an Angeleno, as a businessman and as a humanitarian, although he could have chosen a better frat. Be that as it may, I accept my smack and blogroll ISOU like I should have done many moons ago.

Posted by mbowen at April 11, 2005 05:19 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.visioncircle.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3604

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference It's OK If You Don't Get It:

� Rolling with the Brotherhood from Uncle Sam's Cabin
The expansion of the Conservative Brotherhood has caught the attention of Wizbang. Predictably some folk don't like it. We're racist, uncle toms, and what not for getting to together to share common ideas and goals. Whatever. That hood rat un-Christi... [Read More]

Tracked on April 11, 2005 06:46 AM

� Justifying The Brotherhood from Ramblings' Journal
The Conservative Brotherhood's expansion (that I mentioned last week) was noted this weekend by Wizbang (among other places), and appears to have caused a bit of a dust-up (at least in the comments on their entry). The predictable bitching and... [Read More]

Tracked on April 11, 2005 07:29 AM

� Linkology from Nykola.com
Racial Affiliations: There's an interesting if not typical conversation going on at Wizbang Blog (a place that too frequently lacks civility IMHO) about the "reverse racism" (barf) of "The Conservative Brotherhood. The conversation jumps off of course ... [Read More]

Tracked on April 11, 2005 11:03 AM

� The Conservative Brotherhood from Chapomatic
Amendment I, Ratified 12/15/1791. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and... [Read More]

Tracked on April 11, 2005 09:56 PM

� One Final Thought on the Conservative Brotherhood... from ISOU
J, you have class, much more than I would have when faced with the bullshit racist comments in this thread. The temptation is to tell all of you, that I love you in spite of our differences, but that now... [Read More]

Tracked on April 12, 2005 02:37 PM

� Conservative Brotherhood Controversy from Parableman
The Conservative Brotherhood recently accepted some new members, and apparently this has drawn some attention to them. Wizbang highlights the group (mistakenly calling it a blog), and a commenter decided to make the impossible to defend claim that it's... [Read More]

Tracked on April 12, 2005 04:37 PM

Comments

Well done on the extension of the olive branch to David. However, I'm still trying to figure out the conservative who has a problem with the CB being a coalition of black conservatives attempting to spreading conservatism to the black community. Considering how few blacks openly embrace conservativism, I would have expected that comment from a liberal.

Anyway, I appreciate the way the Brotherhood brought the smackdown to Wizbang today! She just gave CB more pub.

Posted by: Jim at April 11, 2005 01:17 PM

Oh, this is TOO DAMN FUNNY!!!!
Project 21.

'nuff said.

Cobb, kudos to you for doing what you have done.

Posted by: DarkStar at April 11, 2005 01:45 PM

Jim, it's from a notion that sounds nice at the outset but doesn't make any sense when you really think about it. That notion is colorblindnes. There's a reason colorblindness is a biological deficiency, and I think it's appropriate that the politically colorblind would choose the name of a deficiency for a view that seeks to be deficient in its understanding of the world. People come in different colors, and that's led to people doing awful things to each other because of their being a different color. If we pretend none of that has any bearing on today, then we can call each other colorblind and feel absolved of any responsibility to deal with race issues.

This is why I think it's immoral to charge the Conservative Brotherhood for gathering together on the basis of race. Race is important, even if it would be better if it didn't have to be. The colorblindness ideal is at best something we wish could be true someday. To assert it now is just wishful thinking.

Posted by: Jeremy Pierce at April 12, 2005 02:51 PM

I like the way Ambra put it. Nothing about me is irrelevant.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 12, 2005 02:53 PM

The whole concept of a "colorblind society" is really just an orouborus. The commenter is obviously taking the tack that it is impossible to ever have a colorblind society as long as some people keep bringing up race. Likewise he seems to ignoring the fact that acting colorblind in the company of those who do not no more produces a colorblind society than closing your eyes makes you invisible to those searching for you.

Like it or not, Cobb and the rest of the CB experience a different response to their conservative ideas in many cases simply because of their race. I, for one, find it interesting and informative to try and understand that experience in order to expand my own understanding of the system as a whole.

Posted by: submandave at April 13, 2005 02:10 PM