Black Man Angry at ‘War on Rich White Men’

Lloyd Marcus seen here with Conservative darling Ann Coulter
Lloyd Marcus seen here with Conservative darling Ann Coulter

Wow. Do I have a lot to say. Tea Partier Lloyd Marcus recently wrote about a segment in which MSNBC Host Melissa Harris-Perry sort of, indirectly, compared Obamacare to the N-word. Now, I do not necessarily agree and yes, other terms have been created to match a politician to a policy, like Hillarycare and Reaganomics. This is something that Marcus thinks he so intelligently points out in his response to Perry’s piece.

However, the term itself may not convince people that it was created by wealthy white men (as Perry alludes to) to demean Obama as a person, but the aftermath of it passing and becoming legislation sure has brought out the worst in people. The attacks against Obama have wreaked of racial undertones and often, overt prejudice and ignorance. For instance, during his bid to become the Republican nominee for President in 2012, Newt Gingrich constantly referred to Obama as the ?food stamp president.? Could this possibly have been used to equate an ethnic President with the main beneficiaries of food stamps: black people? Oh but wait, blacks are NOT the main beneficiaries of food stamps, something Newt doesn’t really address when calling Obama this name. These attempts at creating racialized connections appeal to our subconscious, and that is dangerous. Negative traits like laziness have been researched and shown to be used most often to describe people of color, as opposed to positive traits that are used to describe whites. So calling Obama the food stamp president is appealing to these beliefs that some of us may not consciously think we even have.

And dare I even try to tackle the abundance of racist signs at these tea party rallies? One said ?Obama’s Plan White Slavery.? Yes, because let’s pretend Obama is not half white and didn’t have a white mother and countless other white family members. I am sure as President, he would want to personally be responsible for their enslavement. Or what about the common waving of the Confederate Flag at these rallies? Sorry. The Confederate flag is racist. It represented the South during the Civil War; that’s not hard to figure out. How about Republican Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn saying he didn’t even want to be associated with Mr. Obama because it was like touching a tar baby? Or the default Leader of Conservatives, Rush Limbaugh, saying Obama only had a chance of winning in 2008 because he’s black. I mean, yes, because blacks have been winning so much since our nation was founded?

?except not.? The most troubling aspect of this is that the writer of this article condemning Melissa Harris-Perry is black. Lloyd Marcus is a black man from Baltimore whose father was actually almost lynched. It is tragic that such a man is clearly blind to the reality present-day racism. Throughout his article, Marcus dismisses notions of racism as just liberal fluff; things used to divide America and cause racial tensions. But all of those things I mentioned in the previous paragraph are what, not doing those things? I guess it’s ok when it is coming from Conservatives. Marcus says:

?Who is out there giving rich white men props for their many positive contributions to society? Where are their advocates??

Um?again, I am almost speechless. But I will proceed. ?He is embodying how ideas of white superiority can reside in a black man as well. Let me say this to you Marcus, wealthy white men RUN EVERYTHING. Sure, President Obama was elected twice, but the majority in the Cabinet, U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate are white men, who tend to lean on the ?wealthier? side. If controlling government doesn’t lend itself to ?power? and ?advocacy? then what does? On the business side; only 1.2% of Fortune 500 Company CEOs are black, 1.8% Latino, and 1.8% Asian. I am sure these wealthy CEO’s have a lot of power and voice in society, don’t you? Looking at crime; 1 in 15 black men are incarcerated compared to 1 in 106 white men. I do not think all these black men have so much power and voice in prison. According to the Human Rights Watch, research has shown that there are NO STUDIES showing that blacks use or sell illegal drugs more than whites. While African-Americans only make up 14% of the regular drug users in this country, they are 37% of those arrested for drugs. Again, where is there power in that?

If there is a war going on in this country, it CERTAINLY is not against wealthy white men. Those that can hire the best attorneys and get out of any situation, or those that are the top notch attorneys. The wealthy lobbyists who funnel in millions and millions of dollars to our political system to get any policy they want. The ones that will never have a child but create laws controlling women’s reproductive decisions. The ones who make millions off of radio shows or who control most of the media. Those who own sports teams and make way more money than the mostly black athletes who play for them? Big wealthy CEO’s who vacation on yachts and have million dollar bonuses, while their average worker can barely make a living? Yeah, those guys don’t really get my sympathy.

Sure, Marcus is entitled to his opinion. And maybe this won’t go down as Perry’s best segment to date, but I will support Perry over Mr. Lloyd Marcus any day. Melissa Harris Perry, like her or not, actually knows her stuff. She received a B.A. in English from Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke. Her writings on race and politics have been published in many scholarly journals. She has been a professor at Tulane University and an associate professor at Princeton.

Lloyd, on the other hand, flunked out of the Maryland Institute College of Art. Now I know that Conservatives seem to disdain intelligence and the learned, but diving deep into these issues as Perry has, gives her a smart, complex understanding of these issues. She is able to critique things that some of us may not see, because we do not have the knowledge. Unless there is the word ?nigger? spray painted on someone’s front lawn, people like Marcus do not seem to think racism is real. Well I’m sorry for him. Mr. Marcus, you run around tea party circles and you may sadly feel bad for these wealthy white men, but they probably don’t feel that bad for you and others who look like you.

Read Lloyd Marcus’ incredible article here.

Edited/Published by: SB

I was born on January 13, 1990. I was born and raised in Charlotte, NC. I moved up north and attended the University of CT from 2008 to 2012. I currently also work at a law firm in Uptown Charlotte and have been helping with this organization entitled the National Independent Voter Coalition. My interests include: Politics (obviously), Basketball (playing and watching) and watching almost any sport, movies, reading, the law, human rights, entertainment, mostly Angelina Jolie and Beyonce. I am fun, caring, passionate, intelligent, and unique!