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Thursday, Nov 26, 2009
Rush Limbaugh proved what many African-Americans fear: Even if right-wingers aren't racist, they'll kick blacks to score political points.
Oct 2, 2003 | Rush Limbaugh's resignation from ESPN's "NFL Countdown" should bring the immediate controversy over his comments about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to a mercifully quick end. However, his remarks have damaged his reputation and once again delivered another body blow to the conservative movement in the area in which it can least afford it: race.
And this time it's not a creation of the liberal media; this was a self-inflicted wound.
If conservatives seriously wonder why it is so difficult for either the movement or its political manifestation -- the Republican Party -- to attract African-Americans, this incident should be Exhibit No. 1.
Sure, there are specific political issues on which many African-Americans disagree with the GOP. But the most important step in building political coalitions is convincing your target group that you are trustworthy when it comes to their central issues -- that they'll have a basic comfort zone in the coalition.
And the crude lesson many African-Americans will likely take from Limbaugh's comments is that even if a conservative isn't personally a racist, he may not be above turning a black person into a political football for ideological or entertainment value.
On Sunday, Donovan McNabb became Limbaugh's football:
"I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL," Limbaugh opined. "I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there's a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."
Now, on the face of it, this could be seen as a harmless if politically incorrect statement for which Limbaugh should have been given a pass. (Although it's worth noting that Limbaugh wanted to crucify Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker, who is black, for his seat-of-the-pants theorizing that blacks and Latinos suffer heat better than whites.) But Limbaugh's statement wasn't just provocative -- it was just plain ignorant on the recent history of the NFL. He was acting as if McNabb was one of two or three black quarterbacks in the game.
Three years ago today, I wrote about the progress of black quarterbacks in the National Review, noting that "In addition to [Tennessee Titan Steve] McNair, the league today features starters Daunte Culpepper (Minnesota), Tony Banks (Baltimore), Akili Smith (Cincinnati), Jeff Blake (New Orleans), Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia), Charlie Batch (Detroit) and Shaun King (Tampa Bay) plus back-ups/part-time starters [Randall] Cunningham (Dallas), [Warren] Moon (Kansas City Chiefs), Kordell Stewart -- and Tee Martin! (Pittsburgh), Ray Lucas (New York Jets). That comes to eleven NFL teams either starting a black quarterback or who have one in a featured role -- a full third of the league."
What was refreshing, I observed, was that the media hadn't erupted in orgiastic frenzy at this development, as opposed to a decade before when sports analysts seemed obsessed by the fact there were only two starting black quarterbacks in the entire league (Cunningham -- then with the Eagles -- and one-time Houston Oiler Warren Moon).
