The Real Face of "Satan"

I'm a Black Republican!  Ha-ha-ha... just kidding!  But, I could be. 

I'm not necessarily a Democrat either. I mean, contrary to popular belief, African-Americans aren't genetically coded to vote Democratic.  In fact, after passage of the 13th Amendment, it's likely that the first ex-slave cast his ballot for the Republican Party, the progressive party. You see, it's about how you look at things...your worldview, so to speak.

When a picture of Mehdi Ouzanni, a Moroccan born actor portraying "Satan" in the new History Channel series "The Bible," went viral, right-wing apologists squinted hard to find a resemblance to President Obama. This is not exactly shocking.  Conservatives have perfected the persistent "demon-ization" of the President.

Okay, maybe I'm a little crazy. But, when I saw the picture of "Satan," I immediately saw the "John Boehner tanned" face of the Republican Party...wearing a hoodie in honor of Trayvon Martin. Yeah, right!  Seriously, perhaps this photo is an interesting psychological Rorschach test, of sorts. What you see depends on where you stand.

So, what do African-Americans see from where they stand?

Assuming it's possible for a racial/ethnic group to have a collective worldview, then it's fair to say that African-Americans have a progressive political worldview. That makes sense since their collective "human-ness" has always been affirmed, confirmed, and defended by progressives. In 1856, the first candidate for President of the newly created Republican Party, John C. Freemont, ran on the slogan, "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men."  So, progressive Republicans welcomed African-Americans into the human family while conservative Democrats were content with our place among the livestock.

I mean, just take an "old-school" hip-hip roll call for past progressive Black Republicans:

Former slave and Abolitionist, Frederick Douglas - "Holla!"
First Black to serve in the US House of Representatives, Joseph Rainey - "in da house!"
Conductor of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman - "fight the power!"
Abolitionist and Suffragist, Sojourner Truth - "Peace!"

All Republicans...yes! But more importantly, they were all PROGRESSIVES and dedicated themselves to expanding the American dream to those who had been systematically and historically disenfranchised. Now, check the mic for the "new-school" conservative Black Republicans: 

Court-martialed former Army Officer, Rep. Allen West
Pizza Man, Skirt Chaser, and Sponsor of the number 9, Herman Cain
Country Singer and Court Jester, "Cowboy" Troy Lee Coleman III
Disgraced Talk Show Host and Strom Thurmond protege, Armstrong Williams

All together now, "Yessuh, boss!"  I'm only kidding...don't be so damn sensitive. LOL

But, you get the point. The modern Republican Party has abandoned its progressive roots, and conservative Black spokespersons for the party have no standing in the "neighborhood." I mean, when former RNC Chair Michael Steele and General Colin Powell are exiled from the party while boxing promoter Don King and Jimmy "Kid Dy-no-mite" Walker are embraced, something is terribly amiss.

Last week, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) national convention, African-American speaker, K. Carl Smith, was chastised by a couple of confederate flag carrying attendees. One attendee, Scott Terry, said, “It seems to me like you’re reaching out to voters at the expense of young white southern males like myself....I feel like my demographic remains systematically disenfranchised.” Terry audaciously interrupted Smith by asserting that slave owners sacrificed greatly by providing enslaved Africans with food and shelter. Roll the tape...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGfCX9sJqqc

 



Terry totally takes Booker T. Washington's philosophy out of context and reportedly said in a later interview that African-Americans should vote in Africa rather than in America!! Why would any sane African-American be a part of THAT conservative movement? THAT is the FACE of the conservative Republican Party.  THAT is the face that K. Carl Smith saw, and that was the face of EVIL...the face of anti-minority rights...anti-women's rights...anti-gay rights...anti-workers' rights...anti-voter rights...anti-government...anti-immigration...anti-environment...anti-Islam...pro-gun...pro-war...pro-corporation...pro-rich...pro-state's rights...pro-"legitimate rape"...everything but pro-gressive.

Combine all those conservative inkblots and it forms the "Face of Satan." (I hope Smith got home safely.)

Yes. Theoretically, I could be a Republican, but never a conservative Republican...or a conservative Democrat for that matter. You may lynch me, but please don't ask me to hold the rope! For some reason, conservatives and ropes have formed a historically close working relationship.

Frederick Douglas said, "I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress."

However, unless the GOP rejects its new "reactionary" conservatism, brushes off its Reagan-style "hustle and flow," and re-commits itself to FREEDOM and PROGRESS, it will learn the lesson taught to Republican presidential candidate Herman "Big Daddy" Cain...that "it's hard out here for a pimp!"

Until we rendezvous...

Peace!!