New Blog Roll Entry: The National Conversation

Just added to our blog roll, The National Conversation, by blogger James Harris.

Readers who listen to Charlie Sykes will know about “James from Sherman Park.” Yep. This is indeed James from Sherman Park.

Since Harris is black and conservative, a certain number of politically correct whites and race baiting blacks are going to consider him a traitor to his race.

We, however, think that it’s inherently demeaning to think that black people aren’t allowed to have different political opinions.

After all, we expect whites to disagree among themselves.

Of course, if varies by issue. It will be a cold day in hell when any significant number of black people decide that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was a bad idea.

And blacks clearly lean in a liberal direction on economic regulation and social welfare spending. Here, however, there are a fair number of blacks who own businesses, or work for corporations that are the targets of liberal politicians (energy, pharmaceuticals, health care).

But on a variety of social issues rank and file black folks are not particularly liberal at all. Blacks are split down the middle on the death penalty. And there is an often hidden but intense condemnation in the black community of behaviors that make upward mobility for youth impossible: drug use, promiscuous sex, contempt for academic achievement and hostility toward authority.

Just listen to Bill Cosby give his talk in front of a black audience.

So blacks who are in the business of telling white liberals and leftists what they want to hear aren’t the only “authentic” voices of the community.