The 911 commemorations
across this nation that were on every TV and radio station were generally
thoughtful. There were a few lapses. One such lapse was NPR's brief interview
of John McWhorter.
Gibbs has not been kind to John McWhorter and most black conservatives, but for McWhorter there is good reason. With his foot in its usual place (in his mouth) he dared to speak about the attitudes concerning 911 he saw in Berkeley, CA.
Amidst respectful commemorations, what this assistant professor from Berkeley said was awful--again! Somewhere in Berkeley (probably in his head only) he came across a school of individuals immediately after September 11, 2001 who represented all of Berkeley, or at least the predominant views of Berkeley's citizens. And those views were that the bombing of the WTC was what America deserved. This, he claimed, was the overall attitude of Berkeley's citizens.
There were a few attitudes like that in Berkeley and in just about every part of America, including New York. But to characterize that attitude as being the generally accepted stance of Berkeley's citizens, as they sipped their $8 glasses of chardonnay is ridiculous and offensive.
With a great deal of animosity he further stated he is glad to rid himself of this Berkeley crowd, as he is in New York for a year as a Hoover Fellow. And he could not resist snipping at Congresswoman Barbara Lee for her vote concerning war.
I and others in the Berkeley area, as well as the nation, listened to his diatribe with amazement. A UC Berkeley student, stunned by this casuistic comment, called to the talk show to take issue with his view, as she voiced distain for his immature and acerbic chatter.
Poor John, he has made such an public buffoon of himself since his book Losing the Race was such a hit with white conservatives, giving him media recognition and inclusion in the selected crowd of Black Conservatives. Now he must prove he is worthy of his credentials and their recognition and inclusion of him among Black Conservatives. So he rants absurdities and vitriolic words about blacks, and now against all Berkeley. To him, that is what it means to be a Black Conservative. A Colin Powell, J.C. Watts, or Condalezza Rice is not black enough or conservative enough to be in his crowd--a crowd that secretly follows the majority of Berkeley's citizens as they sip $8 glasses of California chardonnay and bemoan how bad America is and how deserving it is of the terrorist attack on the WTC.
His crowd includes Ward Connerly, Shelby Steele, and other such men who have benefited initially from affirmative action and later saw a greater personal benefit in disapproving affirmative action; his crowd includes the schizophrenic, ranting crowd of blacks who are trying to start a cottage industry of invectives against all things black and non-conservative or things that are disapproved by white conservatives who are their mentors and movers.
But this McWhorter crowd of Black Conservative are not conservatives at all. They do not have the black community's interest at heart as they heave scripted words at that community; instead, their financial interests are the overarching motivation for their actions. They are crude mouths for hire by their white conservative lords.
But a word of advice: historically, black people have seen him many times, and we do not regard these types of untrained, but scripted barkers. It's a hard way to make a buck, but we understand that the brother is just trying to make a living. We also understand that his audience is conservative white America, not black America.
John McWhorter is finding his voice as one of the anomalous black conservatives; so his bark is disjointed, offensive, and crude. But for effect sake, a good master trains a dog before he/she allows it to hunt.
Poor McWhorter is trapped in an urn of his own making. His quandary is this: he should take the money he has and run, but he cannot because Alan Greenspan's infectious greed has come to his house, and he wants more. And to get more, he has to speak as he is trained, prompted, and paid to speak. But he is doing it so badly, he makes an ass out of himself, as he did on September 11, 2002 on NPR. []