Alternet is a left-wing blog and below is a heinous post instigated by Herman Cain (and Allen West’s) speeches at CPAC. Cain joins the ranks of Dr. Walt Williams, Dr. Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder and many other African-Americans who are attacked for speaking against the leftist machine or, more specifically, President Obama.

If I hadn’t witnessed the race card being an aggressive play by liberals I would not easily believe what language and tone of the attack on Herman Cain.

Read it for yourself and watch Cain’s speech for yourself.

Posted by Chauncey DeVega at 3:12 pm
February 12, 2011

Black History Month is Herman Cain Playing the Race Minstrel for CPAC

In the immortal words of Megatron in Transformers: The Movie, Herman Cain’s speech at CPAC really is bad comedy. As you know, I find black garbage pail kids black conservatives fascinating not because of what they believe, but rather because of how they entertain and perform for their White Conservative masters.

When race minstrelsy was America’s most popular form of mass entertainment, black actors would often have to pretend to be white men, who then in turn would put on the cork to play the role of the “black” coon, Sambo, or Jumping Jim Crow. Adding insult to injury, in a truly perverse and twisted example of the power of American white supremacy black vaudevillians would often pretend to be white in order to denigrate black people for the pleasures of the white gaze.

Herman Cain–an ironic name if ever, and one more suited to a tragic figure in a Harlem Renaissance era novella–is not “blackening twice” as some race minstrels chose to do.

[Unfortunately, the attendees at CPAC are not the butt of some type of joke where the white man wearing the cork is really a black man in secret.]

Instead, Herman Cain’s shtick is a version of race minstrelsy where he performs “authentic negritude” as wish fulfillment for White Conservative fantasies. Like the fountain at Lourdes, Cain in his designated role as black Conservative mascot, absolves the White racial reactionaries at CPAC of their sins. This is a refined performance that Black Conservatives have perfected over many decades and centuries of practice.

Let’s consider the routine. First, Cain enters the stage to Motown music. Then Cain feigns swimming after rolling up his sleeves to show them his black skin and how he is a hardworking negro (not like those other ones). Cain bellows in a preacher affected voice and channels the folksy negro down home accent of his late grandpappy. In the money shot, Cain gives the obligatory “black folks who are not Republicans are on the plantation” speech to the joyous applause of his White benefactors. And he doubles down by legitimating any opposition to President Barack Obama as virtuous and patriotic regardless of the bigoted well-springs from which it may flow.

In total, CPAC is a carnival and a roadshow for reactionary Conservatives. It is only fitting that in the great tradition of the freak show, the human zoo, the boardwalk, and the great midway world’s fairs of the 19th and 20th centuries, that there is a Borneo man, a Venus Hottentot or a tribe of cannibals from deepest darkest Africa or Papua New Guinea on display. For CPAC and the White Conservative imagination, Herman Cain and his black and brown kin are that featured attraction.

We always need a monkey in the window, for he/she reminds us of our humanity while simultaneously reinforcing a sense of our own superiority. Sadly, there are always folks who are willing to play that role because it pays so well.

Editor and founder of the blog We Are Respectable Negroes which has been featured by the NY Times, the Utne Reader, and The Atlantic Monthly. Writing under a pseudonym, Chauncey DeVega’s essays on race, popular culture, and politics have appeared in various books, as well as on such sites as the Washington Post’s The Root and Popmatters.

This is Herman Cain’s CPAC speech:

STATE OF THE NATION – ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The “State of the Nation” column by Brandon Jones began on a website called Crazed Fanboy to discuss topics that the regular media were not reporting or barely discussed. While there was a strong political tone, there were no limits to topics or arenas discussed.

As the relationship with Crazed Fanboy deteriorated, the partnership between Robert Herriman (author “Insights”) and the Brian strengthen to for the current “Desk of Brian”.

Just as we have John Does or Average Joes, we created the “Regular Guy” approach to sorting through the news, adding our own commentary and opinions, fused with contributors from all over the globe.

Read past articles of “State of the Nation” by Brandon Jones click here

(SOTN banner created by Nolan B. Canova)

The Desk of Brian recommends:

Letter to the editor calls Liberals RacistsJaneane Garofalo says Herman Cain supporters are just trying to hide their racismAttacks on Cain have a racist tinge: op-ed by David GriffinFour lily white Liberals smear a black man: op-ed by Peter BeckHerman Cain takes strong stance against abortionHerman Cain: Runaway Slave by Lloyd MarcusSean Penn attacks Tea Party as more hollow liberal insults continueKaren Kraushaar, Herman Cain accuser, works for Obama administration