Did I read it correctly? I read it again. The flyer, littering the wall in Denney Hall did indeed say it. “Picket Connerly?” Now come on, I know the guy hasn’t quite lived up to all expectations, but he did hit the game winning trifecta against Illinois last week.
The flyer also said his visits to Michigan and North Carolina attracted “500+” protesters. That must have came when he was at Providence College, because we didn’t play at Michigan or at North Carolina this year. Anyway, I’m not going to protest him, because he will be a key in the NCAA tournament. If he could get hot, hit four or five treys in a second round game, then we’ll be on our way to the Sweet 16.
Then I realized they weren’t talking about Ohio State sophomore guard Sean “Connerly” Connolly. Hey, it was early, it was Tuesday, I wasn’t seeing right quite yet. The subject of ridicule on the flyer was Ward Connerly.
Ward Connerly is a black Republican who supports civil rights through his opposition to the racial barriers imposed by Affirmative Action. He is indeed a visionary in the black community. He takes a stand on a controversial issue that is not popular amongst other blacks. He goes against the grain. Yet on the flyer I saw, he was the puppet.
Did I see that correctly?
Drawn with strings holding him up under the direction of an invisible hand, the impressive artwork showed Connerly as a puppet, much like the fellas of ‘NSYNC are shown at the beginning of the “Bye Bye Bye” video.
The drawing implies that someone else is controlling Connerly. In the artist’s mind, under no circumstances could a black man ever oppose Affirmative Action. Nevermind that the growth of the black middle class was fastest before Affirmative Action programs were put into place.
From the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s, the level of racial economic inequality in the United States shrunk. The following rise in inequality, by no mistake, coincides with the advent of Affirmative Action.
A supporter of Affirmative Action believes the government is responsible for all the successes of anyone black. Blacks, they contend, can not be counted on to better themselves. Only the government can do this.
Because Democrats are no foe of a larger government, they gladly accept the role as supporters of Affirmative Action. As black leaders and Democrats alike perpetuate myths of successes, blacks have become a potent tool of the Democratic Party. In fact, the last Democratic presidential candidate to win the white vote in the U.S. was Lyndon Johnson, nearly 40 years ago.
If one were to look, issue by issue, it would seem odd that blacks do continue to vote Democratic. For example, Democrats oppose privatization of Social Security. Blacks have a significantly lower life expectancy rate and hence are not receiving their fair portion of the Social Security pie.
Blacks also overwhelmingly support school vouchers and school choice. Yet the candidates they vote for, do not.
The reasoning of Democratic politicians is simple. If blacks were to attend good schools, and rise above their current socioeconomic fate, there would be a chance that they could break away from the Democratic Party. And we all know the lengths Democrats go to get a couple extra votes.
I go back to the drawing of Connerly on the flyer. It seems odd to me that he is the puppet. I contend that black people, those who do not share the same vision as Connerly, are indeed the puppets of the Democratic Party.
Looking at their voting pattern in the previous presidential election, it’s hard to dispute this claim. Over 90 percent of blacks voted for the Democratic candidate. Black Republicans are consistently alienated from their brethren with slurs of “sell-out” and “Uncle Tom.” If you don’t “toe the company line” in the black community, you are a sell-out. Does this seem odd to anyone else?
So I ask you, who’s the puppet? A man who goes against the sentiments of his people for the good of his people or the man who simply votes Democratic because that’s what everyone in his family has always done?
By the way, I checked out the “protest” of Ward Connerly on Tuesday afternoon. “500+” protesters were not present. It was more like “0-,” as in, there was no one. My already low opinion of Michigan has sunk even lower.
Dave O’Neil is an Ohio State-based free-lance writer who thinks Chuck “Ardo” knows that he’s right and you’re wrong.
