If I've been critical of the Left in my previous post about the proposed erection of statue honoring "Che " Guevara ( and its tongue tied attitude towards Soviet and particularly Stalinist/Maoist/Castroite oppression in general), I might as well go to another matter nearly as much as a matter of concern to me- the American right wing and race. When forming the modern day US conservative movement, the late William F.Buckley reportedly took care to explicitly purge or otherwise disassociate themselves from Nazi, anti-Semitic and other highly undesirable (or at least socially unacceptable) viewpoints- but significantly he gave anti-black sentiments a free pass). Throughout the 1950s, 60s and right up to the present, the NR has long been noted for its airing of unapologetic bigotry towards people of colour< beginning with its defence of segregation in the South of the US and apartheid in South Africa- "states rights" presumably take priority over civil rights- and just a few months ago John Derbyshire a longtime NR contributor was fired from the magazine for airing racism extreme even by the Review's standards. Opinions difffer as to why Buckley was so indifferent(to put it mildly!) to the long struggle for equal justice for African Americans. Conservatism by definition lays heavy stress on keeping things much the way they are- if it's equality you seek( black America) then why not move to Sweden? It is true that before his death, Buckley later regretted his movement's callous indifference to the Civil Rights movement(see his Wikipedia entry), but the damage has been done. As Malcolm X quipped in his autobiography "the difference between conservatives and liberals in America is that the former say flat out "let's keep the n----rs in their place", wheas the liberals say "no, no, let's keep the "knee-grows " in their place"!". of course it may be argued that the NR is entitled to its views in a free society and so it is- but like leftist apologists for Stalin, Mao or Castro, it is also open to criticism for said views. Of course there are millions of good, decent Americans (of both sexes -Patricia Heaton, Gary Sinise, Kelsey Grammer, Cheryl Ladd, Danny Aiello, my friend Julia Millard-, who would not only be appalled by the charge of generic bigotry but genuinely outraged, but to quote one of the founding fathers of Anglo-American conservatism, philosopher Edmund Burke "evil flourishes when good men-or women- do nothing" If the Left is open to criticism for failing to decry the reality of Soviet oppression, then the Right(esp in America) is likewise due for reproach for failing to accept the transcendantal injustice towards minorities( esp African Americans).
Anybody else think as I do?
Terry
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