Because Kira Davis was Hurt by Toure and the Word "Niggerization": My Open Letter to a Black Conservative on Youtube

As I have written about here, Toure's more than accurate observation that Mitt Romney is trying to "niggerize" President Obama has been met with gasps, complaints, and no small case of the collective vapors by Conservatives throughout the Right-wing echo chamber. Social media is afire with protests about Toure's "racism." Blogs and muckrakers are driving some traffic with their manufactured outrage at his "racism." Romney's people are calling MSNBC's people in an effort to get Toure fired from his job as a guest commentator on the network.

Regular folks are chiming in as well; they are talking to cameras on Youtube and sharing their pain for all who will listen. One of them is Kiradavis422, (a relatively young) black conservative who is so very hurt and offended by Toure's use of the word "niggerization." I love these videos as they represent the best and worst that digital democracy has to offer, as the Internet allows citizens to give voice to their concerns about political and social matters on a huge stage. 

I also love these Youtube talking head videos because they are teachable moments. As such, if I knew Kira Davis, and could talk to her directly, I would share the following bit of advice regarding her "pain" and "hurt" about Toure's choice of language.

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I found your video very entertaining. You are quite sincere in your upset and hurt at Toure's use of the word niggerization to describe Mitt Romney's campaign tactics against President Obama. I do think that you misunderstand the origins of the word and should do a bit more work before you swallow the simple talking points and explanations offered up by Fox News, conservative media and websites, and perhaps even your own family and friends. Those are important details; but my concerns are more basic and fundamental.

You are a young black conservative. I applaud your interest in politics. More people should be so inclined. It is also hard to be a black conservative because you will be subject to much criticism--a good deal of this will be deserved given how conservatism and the Tea Party GOP have been so nakedly hostile to the political and economic interests of people of color. Likewise, some of the criticism will be knee jerk and unfair.

I have a bit of advice: if you are going to be a conservative be a principled one. Read alot. There is much more to conservatism as a political tradition than Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Fox News, and the half-trained bloviators you read online and see on TV. If you are a black conservative because you come from money, and want to protect your class interests, then so be it. 

If you are a black conservative because you want to restrict women's reproductive rights, then so be it. Alternatively, you could be what we call a "single issue voter" who cares so much about one thing that it decides which political party they will support. That is not my cup of tea, and I do think that simple decision rules are very problematic for a good society, but such is life--at least you will have a foundation for why you choose to vote the way that you do.

As a woman of color, who is also a conservative, and supports the Republican Party, you are going to be asked some hard questions. Have answers ready. Don't fall back onto silly slogans and talking points such as "Republicans are the Party of Lincoln," "they supported the Civil Rights Movement," or "Dr. King was a Republican so I am too!" Those are tired answers which will quickly be exposed as weak and facile. 

You are also going to need an answer for what political scientists call the Southern Strategy, what was/is Republicans' strategic and planned use of white racism to win elections. They have admitted to this ploy; you will need to have a good answer when queried about your support for a political party that does such things.

You have probably realized from the comments on your Youtube video, emails, and even things said to you by colleagues, friends, and family that you are "special" and "unique" because of your political views. I know that you have been called "one of the good ones," a "special" type of young black woman who can "think for herself." Republicans are going to fawn over you. They will also reach out to you in the form of invitations to retreats and think tanks for young conservatives. 

Because you are a woman of color they will see you as a prized commodity and will even offer up free travel, room, board, and stipends to get you to come on board.  Such moments are validating; your hard work is acknowledged by someone; the difficulties and perhaps even taunting and jeering you face as a black conservative are now being rewarded by a group of people who "get you." 

How do I know this? Many years ago in high school, I was a black conservative, just like you are now. I can personally testify to, and share stories about, the types of outreach which the Republican Party and its various allies have in place to recruit young people of color to their cause. 

You will, and apparently already have, quickly realized that being a black conservative can be quite lucrative and rewarding. Your mentors will tell you great stories about how you can be a young black leader who can help "uplift" their people...and oh by the way there is money to be made by doing so. The Right takes care of their favorite black and brown people--quite well, in fact. 

Your sincerity about how Toure's comments hurt you, how they brought up memories about a racial incident from your earlier years, is transparent. You are good on camera and in communicating your feelings and emotions. But, I want to challenge you just a bit by asking a direct question: why did Toure's comments hurt you so? Was it because a black man used language that you dislike? Or was his suggestion, that conservatives use racism for political purposes, taken as a personal affront, a blow to the home team so to speak?

And here is where black conservatives become befuddled and confused when talking about their relationship to a political party which intentionally devises tactics to gin up white anxieties and fears--what we call "racial resentment"--in order to win elections by smearing people of color. I hope you do not fall into the trap. 

Some other questions:

1. Were you upset when Mitt Romney has repeatedly suggested that Barack Obama is not a real American, that somehow his blood is not pure enough to be President?

2. Do you get upset when Republican candidates suggest that black people are social parasites who just want free money and to live off of white people?

3. Are you brought to near tears by the Birthers, the Graders, and the other assorted nonsense that the country's first black president has had to confront, what are attacks based solely on the assumption that a black person is not fit to be President of the United States?

4. Is there any anger or tears when Mitt Romney uses campaign ads that channel very pernicious and decades old stereotypes about Obama wanting to give free money to black people through welfare? Do these vicious lies that are based on stereotypes about black people--black and brown women like you in particular--cause emotional upset? 

5. Were you angry and pissed off when Tea Party members would show up at rallies with guns, calling for armed revolt, carrying signs that depict the country's first black president as a monkey, ape, witch doctor, gorilla or Nazi? Some of the Tea Party member, the base of the Republican Party at present, even used racial slurs to describe Barack Obama at these rallies; others have been caught sending out racist emails about the President and his family. Did this make you cry too?

Republicans want to claim that they are not racists. In fact, many on the Right want to argue that racism is something exclusive and common to "liberals" and "progressives." If they are in fact so principled, you should ask your mentors and the conservatives you admire, where was their outrage at the examples of racism and bigotry I highlighted above. Has the Republican Party disavowed and dishoned the racists in their midst? 

You may meet with some evasion and consternation when you ask such a simple question. But, you should persist anyway.

There is a phrase that you have likely heard: the personal is political. This is just a fancy way of saying that there are many things about us, our identities and life experiences, which are impacted by politics. Moreover, we internalize many lessons from our society about what it means to be black or brown, male or female, straight or gay. 

I have long believed that part of the appeal of being a black conservative, especially for the young people I have discussed politics with, as well as encountered in my classes, is that it reinforces a sense that you are "special," "unique," or "different." Black conservatives, and other people of color who are Republicans, are members of a small club. I would not call this club exclusive per se (because they always want new members) but it is not a large group. Being a member of this circle can be ego gratifying. 

However, for many black and brown conservatives their political decisions are rooted in their experiences of living in a society that systematically devalues people of color. Let me unpack what I mean here in more detail.

In American society, black people are stereotyped as criminal, poor, lazy, uneducated, dangerous, unsuccessful, hyper-sexual, and violent. For example, in the mass media, the face of poverty and crime is a black and brown one--despite what statistics actually tell us about the social realities of crime and poverty in this country.

When a person steps back and examines the sum total of how black people are depicted in the United States's media (and popular imagination)--and the ways how even in "post racial" America that the color line still heavily determines people's life outcomes and success--who the hell would want to be born black in this country?

From your video it is apparent that you are smart and intelligent. In a society that is sick with racism, you are likely told that you are an "exceptional" black person. By implication--and here is where many black conservatives miscalculate--you may be tempted to generalize from your "special" abilities that the majority of black people who vote for the Democratic Party (and yes, are in many ways "conservative") are part of the "blackness" which you want to run away from. Consequently, being a black conservative, a Republican, is a logical extension of how you are special and unique in other ways.

I urge you to not mistake the white gaze, and how it misrepresents black and brown personhood, for the sum totality of our humanity. Do not see yourself through "white eyes." Black genius, success, beauty, intelligence, accomplishment, and creativity is common; we are not pathological, deranged, sick, and/or ugly. Many black conservatives confuse white supremacy's understanding of black humanity for an authentic representation of who we are as a people. 

Our society is sick with racism. All of us, across the color line, have been impacted by it to one degree or another. Tragically, many black conservatives have internalized racism very deeply--Clarence Thomas, Larry Elder, Herman Cain, C.L. Bryant, Lloyd Marcus, Shelby Steele, Thomas Sowell, and others are sick with it. That is why they are met with derision, laughter, and at times mocking tones by the black community. 

Ultimately, I urge you to be a principled black conservative who has really meditated upon, and considered, these issues. I also urge you to realize that tens of millions of black Americans support the Democratic Party based on principled, reasoned, thoughtful political calculations. They have simply reached a different conclusion than you have. Despite what some black conservatives would argue, the black community is not on a Democratic Plantation, waiting for salvation, or in need of saving by conservatives such as yourself. 

There will be many temptations along the way; you will be offered incentives to belittle, berate, and mock the black community. Please do not take them. Conservatives will want you to be a sock puppet for the poison pills that they want to deliver to the working people, as well as people of color, in this country. Do not let yourself be used; do not let yourself become what we call a "slave catcher."

Based on what I have read and seen about you online, I am unsure if the damage can be undone. There is always time, and a chance, to make a change.