Wednesday, June 25, 2003
James Taranto is all over this Maureen Dowd editorial in today's New York Times.
Says Taranto:
[...]Dowd has not a word to say about Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's majority opinion, or about the dissenting opinions of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia. She concentrates on the dissent by Justice Clarence Thomas. She doesn't grapple with his arguments, quoting a mere 35 words from the decision, of which 27 are from a Frederick Douglass quote Thomas used. Instead, Dowd simply throws racial slurs at Thomas, who is black[...]
I couldn't agree more. If groups like the NAACP had any intellectual consistency, they'd be out picketing the Times. But, you see, Thomas isn't "their kind" of Black Man. Dowd's attack is offensive, base and hypocritical. Transpose Dowd to the right and Thomas to the left and The Times would be running editorials for weeks decrying Dowd's racism.
But then, as Orson Scott Card discusses in the essay below this item, the group one belongs to is more relevant than the arguments one makes.
Update: Andrew Sullivan also hits the issue.
No, the NAACP is not out picketing for Clarence Thomas and why should they be. As an African-American he has no social conscience. He has intentionally shyed away from a connection with the black community. Yes he is given a harder time then others for not supporting affirmative action.As a black man she should have a better understanding of the plight of black people in America.
So the NAACP should only be concerned with bigotry toward blacks if said black folks agree with them politically? How sad.
Maybe he does understand well the plight of black people in this country and comes to a different conclusion. Maybe he knows that affirmative action does absolutely NO GOOD for the black community or for anyone else.
So I guess black groups like the NAACP have gone from the admirable battle for equal treatment and into the far more questionable activity of pressuring for extras. And if you don't agree...to hell with you...black, white or whatever.