“Just because I work hard, just because I value education does not guarantee you a specific achievement or the advancement in American society because racism exists.” In part two of this conversation about Black Republican voters, Michael Harriot explains why some of the things conservatives value most, aren’t enough to guarantee success for Black people.
READ FULL TRANSCRIPT:
[00:00:00] You are now listening to theGrio’s Black Podcast Network, Black Culture Amplified.
Michael Harriot [00:00:05] Thanks for joining us for part two of this conversation on Black Republicans. You know, I think we left off on the converse, but let’s get into the next category. The Rejects. I’m world famous wypipologist Michael Harriot and this is theGrio Daily, the only podcast that is willing to explain The 5 Kinds of Black Republicans. Some people are lost in space. They are ships without a port. And the first person who accepts them. Becomes the party of choice. And it’s not necessarily that they are rejected by the Democratic Party. It’s just that they believe that they are rejected by the Democratic Party. For instance, the idea that I went to an all Black school and they made fun of me because I was smart. I know we’ve heard that before, but the reality is like people get picked on in high school and people kids are mean, first of all, and they don’t, you know, know how to taper or control what they think and say. And then, you know, young people are mean. And some of those people take that meanness or that ridicule and let that fuel them. They are fueled by hate and they stamp that ridicule on to the face of every Black person they see. And so it’s doesn’t become the high school football captain didn’t like me or teased me, it becomes Black people made fun of me. They said Black people said I acted like a quote unquote white person. Black people made fun of me for being study. All the Black people. And because that ideology, that perception lines up with the public perception, right? When a Black person does something, all of Black people have done it. They feel like they are rejected from Black people and embraced by whiteness.
Michael Harriot [00:02:30] And not just those people. Right. Like there are some people who, for instance. I went to all white high schools and they adopted the ideology and the affinity for whiteness just to fit in. And those people rejects too. Because once they are around people who act and look and talk and grew up like them. Because they have latched on to whiteness they believe, again, if you were in that environment, everybody else is wrong. I grew up believing that if you work hard and dedicate yourself to learning or to education, then you can achieve anything. And they believe that. Like, for instance, Clarence Thomas, because they achieve things and they achieve those things around white people. So they acted like the white people and they achieved something. So white people must be right. Those are the rejects.
Michael Harriot [00:03:39] But then they are the true believers. Of which Clarence Thomas is one. See Clarence Thomas actually believes that conservative values could work. He actually believes that if you work hard, you will achieve more. He actually believes that if you dedicate yourself to education, you can achieve anything because that’s what happened to him. And he’s the straw man argument. I don’t think he’s necessarily wrong. Because what people on the other side are saying is, is not that hard work doesn’t pay off. It’s not that education is not valuable. What we are saying and what people on the progressive side or who are not Republican will say is that just because I work hard, just because I value education does not guarantee you a specific achievement or the advancement in an American society because racism exist. So they’re not saying that racism negates or makes all of those other ethical qualities invalid. What they are saying is that everybody should be able to work hard. But some of those white people, they worked hard and I worked hard and they got ahead because they are white. And we have to construct a society where only how hard you work and your talents are what gives you or affords you opportunity to advance.
Michael Harriot [00:05:30] But because there are certain segment of people who did all the right things and escaped the plague or the disease of racism they truly believe that racism doesn’t exist or we’re overblowing it, or that racism is like something you see from the KKK. Those people are true believers. Who are some true believers? Ben Carson. Ben Carson went to medical school, worked hard, worked on conjoined twins, and became a brain surgeon. And now we should see him as a hero. But those liberal left wing people want to cry racism. Instead of telling you to work hard. He truly believes that. And he’s a true believer.
Michael Harriot [00:06:18] And the last segment, the fifth kind of Black Republicans are dummies. Some people are dumb. And I know I said Candace Owens was dumb. But Candace Owens is not informed on political issues and has allowed herself to only examine one side. But then they’re dumb people. Their are dumb people like Kanye West who will wear a Donald Trump Make America Great Again hat, because he says he has an alternative viewpoint. He has freedom of thought. But he dumb. He says he doesn’t read books. He says he doesn’t know anything about politics. He freely admits this. So, he’s more likely like, you know, I would imagine that Donald Trump is like if you don’t spit in your drink, he’s a cool guy. If you’re rich and powerful, so Kanye he has been able to exist in a space where the racial aspect, even though he’s Black, in some instances, he gets treated as a human being because he’s Kanye West. And I imagine that Donald Trump is cool with him. And so he divorces all of the stuff that Donald Trump had done and said about Black people because of that privilege, because he’s dumb, because he doesn’t know about politics, because he probably hadn’t read the newspaper articles about what Donald Trump’s policies are.
Michael Harriot [00:07:58] Same thing with one of my favorite examples of dummies. Herschel Walker. Herschel Walker. Like Herschel Walker is not a conservative. Like what values, conservative values has Herschel Walker ever espoused? Like is not like he believes in Christian conservative values. Like he skeeted in more white women than anybody. He got children spread out all around the world. So he doesn’t believe in family values. He doesn’t believe in hard work. Like he lied his way through, he said he was a business owner, owned one of the biggest Black owned businesses in America, which wasn’t true. He said he was, you know, an FBI agent and that turned out not to be true. He said he graduated from college. That turned out not to be true. So, he doesn’t value education. Like what conservative values does he espoused? None. Not Christian. He’s a liar. He beats women. He cheats. He has either sex outside of marriage or fornication. So that ain’t Christian. But he is willing to talk about Jesus. So it ain’t the Christian values. He doesn’t really know anything about fiscal conservative. Right. Like he want to spend your money on a wall. So that’s not fiscally conservative, right? He wants to give corporations tax breaks. So that’s not fiscally conservative. Like he does not know anything about conservative values. He didn’t have any values. He’s just a dummy. And maybe he’s a little grifter too, but mostly dummy.
Michael Harriot [00:09:50] If you listen to him talk, he admits that he’s not smart. So I’m sure he wouldn’t, you know, disagree with me calling him a dummy because kind of that’s the definition of a dummy. And he is like three or four points away from becoming the next senator for the state of Georgia. Because white people will embrace his ideology because, again, you ain’t never really seen like a smart, well-informed person who is trained in politics on the conservative side. No, it’s just like random Black people who are, they basically pick up Black people from the side of the road and say, hey, want to be a Black Republican? Alright, put on this suit. And those are The 5 Kinds of Black Republicans. Don’t hate them. Congratulate them. They found a place in the world to fit in. And as for you, you should go and find theGrio app and download it. And as always, I’m going to leave you with a famous Black saying and today’s Black saying is, “you better hope your mama don’t see doing that.” If you like what you heard, please give us a five star review. Download theGrio app. Subscribe to the show and share it with everyone you know. Please email all questions, suggestions and compliments to podcasts at theGrio dot com.
[00:11:29] You are now listening to theGrio Black Podcast Network. Black Culture Amplified.
