By Kevin Palmer
On Wednesday, June 19, 2019, the U.S. Congress conducted a hearing on reparations for slavery. According to Errin Haines Whack, a writer for the Associated Press, Republicans had two Black witnesses who testified against paying reparations. They were Coleman Hughes, a student at Columbia University, and Burgess Owens, a former Oakland Raiders football player and Super Bowl champion. What would possess two African Americans to oppose reparations?
In his book, Black Labor, White Wealth, Dr. Claud Anderson explained, “Becoming a conservative has historically provided personal rewards to individual Blacks. Blacks found that it was not difficult to establish beneficial relations with Whites once they accepted a subordinate position and committed themselves to placing the welfare of the White class first.” This ex-plains the mindset of Hughes and Owens.
Moreover, Anderson continues, “Black conservatives who place their personal advancement above the welfare of their race often gain significant personal and financial benefits, recognition and access to power. They are anointed by Whites as “leaders” and touted as role models. In political and social situations, a Black conservative is closely akin to Sambo in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In an historical context, a Sambo was Black America’s worst nightmare. Sambo represented the extraordinary success of social control, which was the ultimate goal of the slavery conditioning process that transplanted a White mindset into a Black personality.”
Indeed, a Black conservative symbolizes slavery’s success.
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